St John's Cathedral (Hong Kong)

The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Evangelist is the cathedral of the Anglican Diocese of Hong Kong Island, and mother church to the Province of Hong Kong and Macao. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Hong Kong and the Bishop of Hong Kong Island.

St John's Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of St John the Evangelist
聖約翰座堂
St John's Cathedral
Location4–8 Garden Road
Central, Hong Kong
DenominationAnglican
ChurchmanshipHigh church[1]
Websitewww.stjohnscathedral.org.hk
History
StatusCathedral
DedicationSt John the Evangelist
Consecrated1852
Architecture
Heritage designation
Designated5 January 1996
Reference no.60
StyleGothic Revival
Groundbreaking1847
Completed1849
Specifications
Materialsstucco, wood
Administration
DioceseHong Kong Island (since 1998)
ProvinceHong Kong & Macao
Clergy
ArchbishopAndrew Chan
Bishop(s)Matthias Der
DeanMark Rogers (Acting)
Laity
Director of musicFelix Yeung
Organist(s)Jonathan Yip
Music group(s)Cathedral Choir
Evensong Choir
Children's Choir
Chinese Choir
St John's Cathedral
Traditional Chinese聖約翰座堂
Simplified Chinese圣约翰座堂
Church tower

At Garden Road, Central, the Cathedral is located in a prime central position, surrounded by the Bank of China Tower, Cheung Kong Center, HSBC Building, Court of Final Appeal Building, Former Central Government Offices, and the Former French Mission Building.

St John's Cathedral is one of the five cathedrals in Hong Kong. The others are Holy Trinity Cathedral (Anglican), All Saints' Cathedral (Anglican), St Luke Orthodox Cathedral (Eastern Orthodox), and the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (Roman Catholic).

History

The congregation that would become the cathedral held its first Sunday service on Sunday, 11 March 1849, as "Hongkong Colonial Chapel", the founding church of the Diocese of Victoria.[2][3] It was consecrated as St John's Cathedral by The Rt Revd George Smith, Bishop of Victoria in 1852.[3]

On the morning of 8 December 1941, the day after their attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese attacked Hong Kong. On Christmas morning 1941 the Reverend Alaric P. Rose took the morning service in St John's with a congregation of one hundred, while shelling continued on the island.[2]

During the Japanese Occupation of Hong Kong, the cathedral was converted into a club for the Japanese. Many of the original fittings were stripped out, including the original stained glass windows, which had been created by William Morris' firm.[4]

On 9 September 1945, the first service after the arrival of the Royal Navy was held in the Cathedral.[5]

In 1981, Peter Kwong became the first Chinese Bishop of Hong Kong.[6]

The site of St John's Cathedral is the only freehold land in Hong Kong, granted in fee simple pursuant to s.6(1) of the Church of England Trust Ordinance (Cap.1014) of 1930. All other land tenure in Hong Kong is leasehold in nature.[7]

On 5 June 2012, there was a service of thanksgiving at the Cathedral in honour of the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II.[8][9]

Architecture

It is the oldest surviving Western ecclesiastical building in Hong Kong, and the oldest Anglican church in the Far East.[10]

The cathedral's architectural style is a plain, unadorned adaptation of 13th century English and Decorated Gothic, which was the popular revivalist style for churches at the time. Along the north wall is a memorial tablet to Captain William Thornton Bate RN, who was killed in the battle on Canton in 1857.[11] A similar tablet is found at St Ann's Church in Portsea, Portsmouth, Hampshire.[12]

The bell tower of the cathedral is decorated with a large "VR" on the west face, in commemoration of the institution's founding during the reign of Queen Victoria. The north and south faces of the tower are decorated with the coats-of-arms of two former Governors of Hong Kong, Sir John Davis and Sir George Bonham.[4]

There were reports that the main doors of the cathedral are made with wood planks salvaged from HMS Tamar, but according to a 2016 article published by the South China Morning Post, that is untrue.[13]

The first pew on the south side of the interior bears the Royal Arms, as it was formerly reserved for the Governor or any member of the Royal Family visiting Hong Kong before the Handover in 1997.

It was declared a monument of Hong Kong in 1996.[14]

War Memorial

Next to the cathedral is a large Memorial Cross, unveiled by Governor Sir Reginald Stubbs in 1921 in memory of the soldiers killed in the First World War. During the Japanese occupation the cross was reduced to a straight granite column. In 1952 it was replaced by a Celtic cross, with an inscription added to commemorate those who had died in both World Wars. The original bronze tablet with the names of the First World War dead is held inside the cathedral, in St Michael's Chapel.

Every year ex-British Army members hold a memorial service at the Memorial Cross.

Beside the Memorial Cross is a tombstone covering the remains of Private Ronald Douglas Maxwell, who was killed in Wan Chai three days before the ceasefire. This is the only grave within the cathedral precinct, and is registered by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.[15]

Clergy
Clerical position Name[16]
Archbishop of Hong Kong The Most Revd Andrew Chan
Archbishop Emeritus of Hong Kong and Bishop Emeritus of Hong Kong Island The Most Revd Dr Paul Kwong
Bishop of Hong Kong Island The Right Revd Matthias Der
Dean The Revd Mark Rogers (Acting)
Chaplains Ministries The Revd Franklin Lee Community Building
The Revd William Newman Christian Education, and St Stephen's Chapel Stanley
The Revd Mark Rogers Outreach Ministry, and Discovery Bay Church
The Revd Robert Martin CMP Liturgy and Spirituality, and Emmanuel Church Pokfulam
The Revd Canon Dwight dela Torre Filipino Congregation
The Revd Sharon Langbis Filipino Congregation
The Revd Canon Peter Douglas Koon Chinese Ministry
The Revd Amos Poon Chinese Ministry
Honorary Chaplain The Revd Dr Philip L. Wickeri
  • View from Garden Road
  • Interior of St John's Cathedral
  • the grave of Ronald Douglas Maxwell

See also

References
  1. Wang, David; Tsai, Freda (2018). Encountering Twelve of Asia's Greatest Churches (in Chinese). Taipei: China Times Publishing. p. 170. ISBN 9789571376875. 聖約翰座堂因為保留和天主教相似的「高派」崇拜儀式，也成為望彌撒的最佳場所。[St John’s Cathedral is also the best place to attend a Mass, because the congregation worships in the ‘High Church’ tradition, which is similar to that of the Catholic Church.]
  2. Stuart., Wolfendale (2013). Imperial to international : a history of St. John's Cathedral, Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. ISBN 978-9882208469. OCLC 843532263.
  3. Bard, Solomon (2002). Voices from the Past: Hong Kong, 1842-1918. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. ISBN 9622095747.
  4. "St John's Cathedral – A Historical Tour". www.stjohnscathedral.org.hk. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  5. "A Brief History of St John's Cathedral". St John's Cathedral. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  6. "The Right Reverend Peter Kwong". anglicansonline.org. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  7. Goo, S.H.; Alice Lee (2003). Land Law in Hong Kong (2nd Edn). Hong Kong: Lexis Nexis. p. 3. ISBN 978-967-962-535-6.
  8. "Home". Government of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 14 December 2012. Retrieved 6 June 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. "Hong Kong Tourism Board will organise some training programs preparing the Tour Guides" (PDF). Hkia.net. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  11. English: Captain William Thornton Bate RN Memorial in the grounds of St Paul's Cathedral, Hong Kong, 24 December 2017, retrieved 29 December 2017
  12. Museums, Imperial War. "Captain W T Bate, RN". Imperial War Museums. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  13. Davies, Stephen (12 August 2016). "All about the ship that gave Hong Kong's Tamar complex its name". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  14. "St John's Cathedral, Garden Road, Central – Declared Monuments – Antiquities and Monuments Office". Government of Hong Kong. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  15. "CWGC Casualty Record". Cwgc.org. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  16. "St John's Cathedral – Cathedral Clergy". www.stjohnscathedral.org.hk. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
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