The Bishop of Sabah is an Anglican prelate who oversees the Diocese of Sabah in the Church of the Province of South East Asia. Following the death of Albert Vun Cheong Fui on 14 July 2014, Melter Tais was installed as the sixth bishop on 14 May 2015. His seat is All Saints' Cathedral, Kota Kinabalu.
History
Anglican worship in the territory administered by the diocese today began as early as 1846 when the Lieutenant Governor of Labuan, John Scott, was given authority by the Bishop of London to perform burials and weddings using the 1662 Book of Common Prayer.
The Revd Dr Francis McDougall was one of the first group of Anglican missionaries to arrive on the island of Borneo in 1847. He laboured in the ministry from his base in Kuching. In 1855, McDougall was consecrated in Calcutta as the Bishop of Labuan and its Dependencies. Bishop McDougall continued to operate, however, from Kuching, the title of his bishopric being due to the then Church of England’s practice of only setting up a diocese in a Crown possession, which Labuan was, while the Kingdom of Sarawak under Rajah James Brooke was not.
The first church in the present-day diocese, the Church of Our Holy Saviour, Labuan was built and consecrated by the bishop on 18 December 1866.
The diocese then included Anglican churches in the Labuan, North Borneo, and Sarawak. With the transfer of jurisdiction of the Anglican churches in the Straits Settlements from the Diocese of Calcutta to the diocese, it was renamed the Diocese of Labuan, Sarawak and Singapore in 1869. In 1909, the Straits Settlements was separated from to form its own diocese and the diocese was renamed the Diocese of Labuan and Sarawak. In 1949, the diocese was again renamed the Diocese of Borneo.
In 1962, the diocese was divided into the Diocese of Jesselton and the Diocese of Kuching. The Diocese of Jesselton was renamed the Diocese of Sabah in 1968 after the renaming of the Jesselton to Kota Kinabalu and to reflect the new political situation after the formation of Malaysia.
In 2015, the first native Sabahan of Kadazan-Dusun descent, Melter Tais, was consecrated the Bishop of Sabah.
List of bishops Bishop of Labuan and its Dependencies From Until Incumbent Notes 1856 1869 Francis McDougall Bishops of Labuan, Sarawak and Singapore From Until Incumbent Notes 1869 1881 Walter Chambers Churches in the Straits Settlements separated from the Diocese of Calcutta and placed under the Diocese of Labuan and Sarawak. Diocese renamed Diocese of Labuan, Sarawak and Singapore. 1882 1908 George Hose Bishops of Labuan and Sarawak From Until Incumbent Notes 1909 1916 Rupert Mounsey Churches in Singapore were separated from the Diocese to form its own Diocese of Singapore. The Diocese reverted to the name of Diocese of Labuan and Sarawak. 1917 1931 Logie Danson 1932 1937 Noel Hudson 1938 1948 Francis Hollis Bishop of Borneo From Until Incumbent Notes 1948 1962 Nigel Cornwall The diocese was renamed the Diocese of Borneo and included Anglican missions in Kalimantan. Bishops of Jesselton From Until Incumbent Notes 1962 1964 James Wong Chang Ling The diocese was separated into the Diocese of Jesselton and the Diocese of Kuching. 1965 1968 Roland Koh Peck Chiang Bishops of Sabah From Until Incumbent Notes 1968 1970 Roland Koh Peck Chiang The diocese was renamed the Diocese of Sabah; Koh was translated to West Malaysia 1971 1990 Luke Chhoa Heng Sze 1990 2006 Yong Phing Chung Archbishop of South East Asia, 2000–2006 2006 2014 Albert Vun Cheong Fui 2015 present Melter Tais First native Sabahan to be appointed Bishop; Archbishop of South East Asia since 2020 Sources:
Yong Chen Fah (1943–2021) (younger brother to Yong Phing Chung) was made Assistant Bishop in 1998 and seconded to the Anglican Diocese of Sydney in 2006 and retired upon turning 65 in 2008.
See also Diocese of Sabah Church of the Province of South East Asia Diocese of Kuching Diocese of West Malaysia Diocese of Singapore Anglicanism Anglican Communion
References