The Diocese of Singapore (Chinese: 圣公会新加坡教区; pinyin: Shènggōnghuì Xīnjiāpō Jiàoqū; Malay: Keuskupan Singapura; Tamil: சிங்கப்பூர் ஆங்கிலிகன் மறைமாவட்டம்) is a diocese of the Province of the Anglican Church in South East Asia consisting of 27 Anglican parishes in Singapore and 6 deaneries throughout the Asia region.[1] 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 the See of Canterbury. St Andrew's Cathedral is the cathedral church of the diocese.[2]
The coat of arms of the Diocese of Singapore, which belongs to the category of ecclesiastical heraldry, consists of a mitre surmounted on a St Andrew's Shield. The mitre symbolises apostolic authority and divine endorsement to govern the Anglican diocese in the region. The crozier symbolises 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.
Raffles allocated a piece of land between Hill Street and North Bridge Road in his Town Plan of 1822 for 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 named Saint Andrew after the patron saint of Scotland in honour of the Scottish community who had donated to the building fund.[5]
After falling under jurisdiction of the bishop of Labuan and Sarawak (and no longer Calcutta) in 1869, St. Andrew's Cathedral was 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 a separate diocese covering the Straits 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 to Diocese of Singapore and Malaya. On 8 April 1970, the diocese was dissolved and split into Diocese of Singapore and Diocese of West Malaysia.[1][6]
In 1996, the autocephalousChurch 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 of Bishop Gene Robinson in 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.[7][8]
The ACNA advocates strict adherence to an orthodox Anglican theology based on the traditional doctrinal statement of Anglicanism in the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion of 1571 and stipulates that these be “taken in their literal and grammatical sense”.[9] 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.[10]
List of bishops
The Right Revd George Frederick Hose, Bishop of Singapore, Labuan & Sarawak (1881–1909)
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
