The Diocese of West Malaysia is an Anglican diocese which covers the entirety of West Malaysia. The Diocese of West Malaysia (DWM) was founded on 8 April 1970, as DWM together with Diocese of Singapore split from Diocese of Singapore and Malaya. As a result, the Diocese of Singapore and Malaya was dissolved.

History Anglicanism came to the Malay Peninsula following the establishment of the British East India Company's administered settlement on Penang island in 1786. The local magistrate, George Caunter, was appointed a Lay Clerk/Acting Chaplain to provide spiritual ministry to the settlers. Under his ministry the first entry into the church register was made in 1799.

The See of Calcutta provided episcopal supervision for the chaplaincy work on Penang island and the first Anglican Church building, the Church of St. George the Martyr, was built and consecrated by the Metropolitan, Thomas Fanshaw Middleton, in 1819.

The See of Calcutta extended from India to New Zealand and was thus practically unmanageable. As a result, in 1855, a Diocese of Singapore, Labuan and Sarawak was created by Letters Patent for the better administration of these outlying areas. The new diocese became a missionary diocese of the Archdiocese of Canterbury.

In 1867 the whole of Penang island came under direct British rule, precipitated by the foreclosure of the East India Company. Consequently, the chaplaincy of the Madras Presidency in Penang ceased. Meanwhile, a major shift in mission outlook took place with the Society for the Propagation of Gospel in Foreign Parts taking an active role in procuring ‘chaplains' for the Crown in its colonies. This led to a time of great missionary activity in the new Diocese and a period of Chinese and Indian immigration.

For better administration in-line with the political changes taking place in the region, the Diocese of Singapore, Labuan and Sarawak was further reorganised into the Diocese of Singapore in 1909 with the See located in Singapore. After 120 years, the Anglican church in South-East Asia was finally positioned to take responsibility for its own mission and growth.

Church life and ministry was drastically affected by World War II and the Japanese Occupation of the peninsula between 1941 and 1945. In the midst of great hardship and war-time atrocities, Christian witness continued to thrive. Bishop Wilson, the incumbent, proved a great example of godly leadership in times of great distress. Without the benefit of its expatriate clergy who had been interred, the work of the church fell on Asian shoulders. These Asian workers operated with surprisingly responsible independence.

The War and the loss of its expatriate leadership precipitated a sense of self-determination among the local Christian community, and an urgent need for training Asian leaders for this developing part of the Anglican Church. This need led quickly to the establishment of Trinity Theological College, Singapore.

Malaya gained independence from British rule in 1957. Following this, in 1960, the Diocese was renamed the Diocese of Singapore and Malaya to give due recognition to the political importance of Malaya. In 1963, Malaya became the Federation of Malaysia with the inclusion of Sabah and Sarawak under one central government.

Ten years after the creation of the Diocese of Singapore and Malaya, in 1971, a new and independent Diocese, the Diocese of West Malaysia, was incorporated by an Act of the Malaysian Parliament.

In 1996, the Church of the Province of South East Asia consisting of the dioceses of Sabah, Sarawak, Singapore and West Malaysia was created by the Archbishop of Canterbury, thus making the Anglican Church in the region self-governing, self-supporting, self-propagating and truly indigenous.

In 2015, a decision was made by the Diocesan Synod to further divide the diocese into three separate dioceses and in 2016, two area dioceses were created, the Area Diocese of the Northern Peninsula and the Area Diocese of the Southern Peninsula, in preparation and two suffragan bishops were licensed to oversee the area dioceses. Provisional approval of the Provincial Synod for the creation of the new dioceses by 2020 has since been obtained.

Organisation

The diocese of West Malaysia is overseen by the Bishop of West Malaysia. The area dioceses of northern peninsular and southern peninsular were created in 2016, each overseen by a suffragan bishop. The diocese is further divided into archdeaconries.

Area diocese Archdeaconry States & Territories Covered Archdeacon In-Charge Northern PeninsulaOverseen by the Suffragan Bishop of Northern Peninsula Upper North Archdeaconry Perlis, Kedah, and PenangVen Soong Hoe Pin Lower North Archdeaconry PerakVen John Kennady Samuel Central and Eastern PeninsulaOverseen by the Diocesan Bishop of West MalaysiaUpper Central Archdeaconry Kuala LumpurVen Doctor Vijendra DanielMiddle Central Archdeaconry Selangor and PutrajayaVen Stephan Chan Mun Koon Eastern Archdeaconry Kelantan, Terengganu and PahangVen Jacob George John Southern PeninsulaOverseen by the Suffragan Bishop of Southern PeninsulaLower Central Archdeaconry Negeri Sembilan and MalaccaVen Ng Peng Yoon Southern Archdeaconry JohorVen Edward M John

Past Diocesan Bishops

Episcopal supervision of the parishes within the Diocese of West Malaysia can be traced back to the oversight of early Anglican chaplaincies in the Malay peninsula from the metropolitan Bishop of Calcutta since 1814.

Bishops of the Diocese of Calcutta (Also Metropolitan See of India and Ceylon from 1832)FromUntilBishopNotes 1814 1823 Thomas Fenshaw Middleton Supervision of all Anglican chaplaincies in the territories of the British East India Company 1823 1826 Reginald Heber 1827 1828 John Thomas James 1829 1832 John Matthias Turner 1832 1858 Daniel Wilson Also consecrated as the first Metropolitan Bishop of India and Ceylon 1858 1866 George Cotton 1867 1876 Robert Milman Anglican churches in the Straits Settlements reorganised as the Church of England in the Straits Settlements after the transfer of the Settlements to the British Crown in 1867. It remained under the supervision of the See of Calcutta until 1869 Bishops of the United Diocese of Singapore, Labuan and SarawakFromUntilBishopNotes 1869 1881 Walter Chambers Also Bishop of Labuan and Sarawak since 1868. The Church of England in the Straits Settlements transferred to the Diocese in 1869. 1881 1909 George Frederick Hose Bishops of the Diocese of SingaporeFromUntilBishopNotes 1909 1927 Charles James Ferguson-Davie The united diocese was separated to form the Diocese of Singapore and Diocese of Labuan and Sarawak 1927 1940 Basil Coleby Roberts 1941 1949 John Leonard Wilson 1949 1960 Henry Wolfe Baines Bishops of the Diocese of Malaya and SingaporeFromUntilBishopNotes 1960 1966 Cyril Kenneth Sansbury The diocese was renamed the Diocese of Malaya Singapore 1967 1970 The Right Rev. Joshua Chiu Ban It First local born clergyman to be elevated bishop Bishops of the Diocese of West MalaysiaFromUntilBishopNotes 1970 1972 Roland Koh Peck Chiang The diocese was separated into the Diocese of West Malaysia and the Diocese of Singapore 1972 1994 The Right Rev. John Gurubatham Savarimuthu 1995 2006 Tan Sri Lim Cheng Ean 2007 2020 The Rt Rev Datuk Ng Moon Hing Also Archbishop of The Church of the Province of South East Asia (2016 - 2020) 2021 2026 Rt Rev Dr D Steven Abbarow 2026 Present The Right Rev. Dr. Stephen Soe Chee Cheng

Education

Affiliated Seminaries

Name Location Year Established Notes Seminari Theologi Malaysia Seremban, Negeri Sembilan 1979 (1974)Started as Kolej Theologi Malaysia which was a merger of the diocese's Saint Mark's Training Centre (1970) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Malaysia's Christian Training Centre (1969) St. Paul's Theological College Kuala Lumpur 2016 An affiliate of St Mellitus College of the Church of England's Diocese of London and Diocese of Chelmsford.

Diocesan Mission Schools

The Anglican Mission Schools’ Board overseas the diocesan mission schools and runs the Bishop Tan Sri Roland Koh Teaching Scholarship for Malaysian Anglicans from the Diocese of West Malaysia who desire to pursue a teaching career.

Name Location Type Year Established SMK Saint Gabriel Kuala Lumpur National Secondary School 1946 SMK Saint Mary Kuala Lumpur National Secondary School 1912 SMK Perempuan Pudu Kuala Lumpur National Secondary School 1914 SMK Tinggi Saint David Malacca City, Malacca National Secondary School 1912 Penang Free School Georgetown, Penang National Secondary School 1816 SMK Saint Mark Butterworth, Penang National Secondary School 1901 (1885 as Butterworth School) SK Saint Gabriel Kuala Lumpur National Primary School 1912 SK Saint Mary Kuala Lumpur National Primary School 1946 SK Perempuan Pudu 1 Kuala Lumpur National Primary School 1914 SK Yong Peng Yong Peng, Johor National Primary School 1951 SK Saint Aidan Bahau, Negeri Sembilan National Primary School 1958 SK Saint Mark Butterworth, Penang National Primary School 1901 (1885 as Butterworth School) SK Saint Mark (M) Perai, Penang National Primary School 1931 (as St. Anne's English School) SJK (C) Saint Michael and All Angels Ipoh, Perak National Primary School 1932 SK All Saints Kamunting, Perak National Primary School 1937 (1878 as the English School, Kamunting)

Diocesan Anglican Care Homes and Centres Wellspring Retreat Center, Rawang St Nicholas Home, Penang Ray Of Hope, Ipoh St Mark’s Cozy Home, Sungai Buloh Beacon of Hope, Sri Manja Petaling Jaya St. Paul’s Day Training Center & Bethel Centre Early Intervention Programme Pushpa Nesam Children Home, Johor House of Delight (Community Centre), Ipoh Rumah Damai (Senior Citizen Home), Kuala Terengganu St Barnabas Home & Community Centre, Klang Rumah Shalom, Gopeng

References