St. Michael's and All Angels Church, Sandakan
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St. Michael's and All Angels Church or for short St. Michael is an
Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
church in the
city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
of
Sandakan Sandakan (, Jawi: , ) formerly known at various times as Elopura, is the capital of the Sandakan District in Sabah, Malaysia. It is the second largest city in Sabah after Kota Kinabalu. It is located on the Sandakan Peninsula and east coast of ...
in the
Malaysian Malaysian may refer to: * Something from or related to Malaysia, a country in Southeast Asia * Malaysian Malay, a dialect of Malay language spoken mainly in Malaysia * Malaysian people, people who are identified with the country of Malaysia regard ...
state of
Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indone ...
in northern
Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...
. St. Michael is the oldest stone church in Sabah. The impetus for the construction of the church dates back to the clergyman William Henry Elton, who is also known as the founder of
St. Michael's Secondary School St. Michael's Secondary School is a dual session secondary school located in the city of Sandakan, state of Sabah, East Malaysia. It is located at the foot of Elton Hill which is at the hub of the city on the Churches Road. The school was establ ...
, located next to the church. The church is also part of the
Sandakan Heritage Trails Sandakan Heritage Trail ( ms, Jejak Warisan Sandakan) is a trail connecting several historical sites in Sandakan, a town in the east Malaysian state of Sabah. It is marked with white concrete tiles placed on the ground showing a red footprint t ...
, a ''Heritage Trail'' which connects the historic sights and monuments of Sandakan.


History

The North Borneo Chartered Company controlled
North Borneo North Borneo (usually known as British North Borneo, also known as the State of North Borneo) was a British Protectorate, British protectorate in the northern part of the island of Borneo, which is present day Sabah. The territory of North Borneo ...
in 1881. The mostly British employees of the company desired for an Anglican church to be established. Initially, laymen were used to conduct religious ceremonies in a detached room in the Colonial Secretary's House and, if present, would take over the service from the highest-ranking government officials, Governor William Hood Treacher.
William Burgess Pryer William Burgess Pryer (7 March 1843 in London, England; – 7 January 1899 in Suez, Egypt) was the first British Resident in Sandakan of North Borneo. Pryer's character is described as adventurous, diligent, and goal-oriented. For example, he kne ...
, founder of Sandakan and an active layman himself, already wrote in January 1883 a pleading letter to the head of the
Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...
, the
Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...
. During mid-1888, a news reached Sandakan that Reverend William Henry Elton was appointed as a priest for Sandakan. Elton arrived in Sandakan on 2 September 1888. Governor Charles Vandeleur Creagh asked the religious authority to select a vacant piece of land for the construction of a mission station. Assisted by Von Donop, Elton explored in the following weeks around the forest and finally found a two-acre property, in which the construction of a temporary church with the associated vicariate, schools for boys and girls and the necessary outbuildings seemed suitable. His plan was unanimously adopted on 5 October 1888. The church building is also the first completely built stone building in Sabah. The foundation stone was laid on 29 September 1893 by Governor Creagh and it took more than 30 years to complete. When the plans of the
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
architect BW Mountfort were unveiled, Elton was hugely involved in choosing the materials. The use of ''Eusideroxylon zwageri'' ( Bornean belian wood) would dramatically increase the cost of construction, while the usage of bricks was not considered to be cosmetically pleasing, so they finally agreed on a building made of stone blocks, specifically granite. While the white stones that adorn the windows and doors were imported from Hong Kong, the darker stones came from a quarry near Kampong Buli Sim Sim, where they were carved by prisoners at a cost of about 1.50 Straits dollar per cubic meter. One of the stone blocks is 30 cm in length and weighed about 63 kilograms. The
sanctification Sanctification (or in its verb form, sanctify) literally means "to set apart for special use or purpose", that is, to make holy or sacred (compare la, sanctus). Therefore, sanctification refers to the state or process of being set apart, i.e. " ...
of the main
nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
was made on 30 September 1906 during
Michaelmas Michaelmas ( ; also known as the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, the Feast of the Archangels, or the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels) is a Christian festival observed in some Western liturgical calendars on 29 September, a ...
. The western portal, which is the main entrance to the church, was not completed at that time and was consecrated only in 1925, 32 years after construction began. In May 1941 Rev Reuben Henthorne and Rev Denis W.A. Brown were interned by the Japanese. Services continued at the church until 1943 when it was closed and used as a store. The church was dynamited by the Japanese forces before surrender in 1945 as
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
ended, although the shell of the church remained standing. Reconstruction began soon after the war, and St Michael's is still one of the few historic stone buildings in Sabah. The coloured
stained glass windows Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
were donated to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the end of the World War II by
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ns.


Memorial Stone

At the northwest corner of the church is a memorial stone erected in 1988, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the parish. On the stone, a metal plate is fitted with the inscription: Below the plaque are two time capsules that are to be opened in 2038 and 2088.


Pastors and priests of St. Michael

Since the founding of the parish in 1888, the following persons acted as
pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...
s and
priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...
s of St. Michael:plaques in the church; se
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Literature

* Reverend Brian Taylor
''THE ELTON HILL ‘DIARY’ — The story of the founding of St. Michael’s Church''
(PDF; 3,1 MB) Lai Hing & Company, 1976 * ''75 Years on Elton Hill, The History of St. Michael’s Church Sandakan, North Borneo'', hrsg. vom Church Council of St. Michael’s, Sandakan, 1963; Festschrift


See also

*
Anglicanism Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...
*
Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...
* Christianity in Malaysia * Church of the Province of South East Asia *
Diocese of Sabah The Diocese of Sabah is an Anglican diocese which covers Sabah and Labuan in Malaysia. Founded in 1962, the see was originally part of the much larger Diocese of Labuan and its Dependencies which was established in 1855. Following the carving ou ...


References

{{Buildings and structures in Sabah Anglican church buildings in Malaysia History of North Borneo Churches in Sandakan 1920s establishments in Sabah