Anglican Diocese of Singapore

Diocese of Singapore
Classification	Anglican
Theology	Anglican doctrine
Polity	Episcopal
Bishop of Singapore	The Most RevdTitus Chung Khiam Boon
Suffragan Bishop	Right RevdLow Jee King
Cathedral	St Andrew's Cathedral, Singapore
Ecclesiastical province	Church of the Province of South East Asia
Associations	Anglican Communion National Council of Churches of Singapore
Headquarters	St Andrew's Village 1 Francis Thomas Drive, #01- 01, Singapore
Origin	1826
Parishes	27
Members	22,000
Official website	anglican.org.sg

Anglican Diocese of Singapore
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	Thánh công hội tân gia pha giáo khu
Simplified Chinese	Thánh công hội tân gia pha giáo khu
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Shènggōnghuì Xīnjīapō Jiàoqū Wade–Giles Shengkunghui Hsinchiap'o Chiao-ch'ü Yale Romanization Shèngūnghwèi Syīnjyāpwō Jyàuchyū
Tamil name
Tamil	சிங்கப்பூர் ஆங்கிலிகன் மறைமாவட்டம்

St Andrew's Cathedralis thecathedral churchof the Diocese of Singapore

TheDiocese of Singapore(Chinese:Thánh công hội tân gia pha giáo khu;pinyin:Shènggōnghuì Xīnjiāpō Jiàoqū;Malay:Keuskupan Singapura;Tamil:சிங்கப்பூர் ஆங்கிலிகன் மறைமாவட்டம்) is a diocese of theProvince of the Anglican Church in South East Asiaconsisting of 27Anglicanparishes inSingaporeand 6 deaneries throughout theAsiaregion.It has an established history of church-planting as well as providing educational, medical and social services in Singapore and the neighbouring region. The Diocese of Singapore is in communion with theSee of Canterbury.St Andrew's Cathedralis the cathedral church of the diocese.

The diocese is headed byThe Most RevdTitus Chung Khiam Boon,who was preceded by the bishop and former vicar of St John's-St Margaret's Church, the Right ReverendRennis Ponniah.

Coat of arms

Thecoat of armsof the Diocese of Singapore, which belongs to the category ofecclesiastical heraldry,consists of amitresurmounted on aSt Andrew's Shield. The mitre symbolises apostolic authority and divine endorsement to govern the Anglican diocese in the region. Thecroziersymbolises the bishop's episcopate and the key represents the access to heaven. Emblazoned upon the St Andrew's Shield are four bunches of wheat symbolising the harvest fields which God has entrusted to the diocese.

History

The Anglican community in Singapore has its roots in 1826, shortly after thefounding of modern SingaporebySir Stamford Rafflesin 1819 and the arrival of the first English settlers from theBritish East India Company.

Raffles allocated a piece of land betweenHill StreetandNorth Bridge Roadin hisTown Plan of 1822for the siting of an Anglican church. However, construction of the church did not begin until funds were raised by the community in 1834. The church was namedSaint Andrewafter the patron saint of Scotland in honour of the Scottish community who had donated to the building fund.

After falling under jurisdiction of the bishop of Labuan and Sarawak (and no longer Calcutta) in 1869,St. Andrew's Cathedralwas made the cathedral church of the diocese in 1870. Officially titled Diocese of Singapore, Labuan and Sarawak in 1881, a diocese over such a large area was quite unmanageable. In 1909 Singapore was made aseparate diocesecovering theStraits Settlements,Peninsular Malaya, Siam, Java, Sumatra and adjacent islands, with Bishop Charles J. Ferguson-Davie as the first bishop of the diocese. On 6 February 1960, it was renamed toDiocese of Singapore and Malaya.On 8 April 1970, the diocese was dissolved and split into Diocese of Singapore andDiocese of West Malaysia.

In 1996, theautocephalousChurch of the Province of South East Asia(the "Province" ) consisting of the Dioceses of Singapore, West Malaysia, Kuching and Sabah was established by the then-Archbishop of Canterbury,George Carey.Moses Tay,Bishop of Singapore, was installed as the first Metropolitan Archbishop of the Province the same year.

The Province, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in February 2016, declared itself to be in impaired communion with the Episcopal Church (previously Episcopal Church of the United States of America or ECUSA) following the consecration ofBishop Gene Robinsonin 2003. In 2018, the Province recognised the Anglican Church in North America ( “ACNA” ) as a fellow Anglican province and declared itself to be in full communion with the clergy of ACNA.

The ACNA advocates strict adherence to an orthodox Anglican theology based on the traditional doctrinal statement of Anglicanism in theThirty-nine Articles of Religionof 1571 and stipulates that these be “taken in their literal and grammatical sense”.In the installation of Titus Chung as the 10th Anglican Bishop of Singapore, the bells at St Andrew’s Cathedral – where the consecration and enthronement service took place – were rung 39 times to symbolise the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion of the Anglican Church.

List of bishops

• The Right RevdGeorge Frederick Hose,Bishop of Singapore, Labuan & Sarawak (1881–1909)
• The Right RevdCharles James Ferguson-Davie(1909–1927)
• The Right RevdBasil Colby Roberts(1927–1941)
• The Right RevdJohn Leonard Wilson(1941–49)
• The Right RevdHenry Wolfe Baines(1949–1961)
• The Right RevdCyril Kenneth Sansbury(1961–66)
• The Right RevdJoshua Chiu Ban It(1966–1982)
• The Right RevdMoses Tay Leng Kong(1982–2000)
• The Right RevdJohn Chew Hiang Chea(2000–2012)
• The Right Revd Rennis Ponniah(2012–20)
• The Most RevdTitus Chung(2020–)

Parishes

As of 2018, there are 27 Anglican parishes in the diocese:

• St Andrew's Cathedral
• All Saints' Church
• Chapel of Christ the King
• Chapel of Christ the Redeemer
• Chapel of the Holy Spirit
• Chapel of the Resurrection
• Church of Our Saviour
• Church of the Ascension
• Church of the Epiphany
• Church of the Good Shepherd
• Church of the True Light
• Holy Trinity Parish
• Light of Christ Church Woodlands
• Marine Parade Christian Centre
• My Saviour's Church
• Parish of Christ Church (Tamil)
• St Andrew’s City Church
• St Andrew's Community Chapel
• St George's Church
• St Hilda's Church
• St James' Church
• St John's Chapel
• St John's–St Margaret's Church
• St Matthew's Church
• St Paul's Church
• St Peter's Church
• Yishun Christian Church (Anglican)

Deaneries

There are six deaneries in the Diocese of Singapore:

• Cambodia
• Laos
• Indonesia
• Nepal
• Thailand
• Vietnam

A dean oversees the mission work in each deanery and regularly reports to the director of missions of the Diocese of Singapore.

Schools

Anglican schools in Singapore:

• Anglican High School
• Christ Church Secondary School
• Saint Hilda's Primary School
• Saint Hilda's Secondary School
• St. Margaret's Primary School
• St. Margaret's Secondary School
• Saint Andrew's Junior School
• St. Andrew's Secondary School
• St. Andrew's Junior College
• St. Andrew's Autism School

Additionally, there are eleven preschools as of 2024:

• Little Seeds Preschool (Ascension)
• Little Seeds Preschool (Church of the Ascension)
• Little Seeds Preschool (Church of the Good Shepherd)
• Little Seeds Preschool (Kiddy Ark)
• Little Seeds Preschool (Praiseland)
• Little Seeds Preschool (Sonshine)
• Little Seeds Preschool (St Andrew's)
• Little Seeds Preschool (St. Hilda's Church)
• Little Seeds Preschool (St. John's-St. Margaret's)
• Little Seeds Preschool (St. Paul's Church)
• St. James' Church Kindergarten

Medical services

St Andrew's Community Hospital, Simei

The St Andrew's Mission Hospital (SAMH) is a non-profit voluntary welfare organisation under the Diocese of Singapore. It is the corporate headquarters that oversees several medical arms:

• St Andrew's Community Hospital, located at Simei Street 3 with over 100 beds
• St Andrew's Autism Centre
• St Andrew's Senior Care which provides eldercare services at four centres island-wide
• St Andrew's Mission Hospital Clinic, a primary care clinic in Simei and Elliot Road
• St Andrew's Lifestreams, located at St Andrew's Village, this Centre provides counselling services primarily for Anglican schools
• St Andrew's Nursing Home

See also

• Church of the Province of South East Asia
• Church of England
• Bishop of Singapore
• Christ Church Bangkok

External links

• Official website
• St Andrew's Cathedral
• Anglican Communion official website