This week in Christian history: ROC pastor gets 40 years in prison, Francis McDougall becomes bishop

Francis McDougall consecrated bishop – Oct. 18, 1855

This week marks the anniversary of the consecration of Francis Thomas McDougall, an English-born clergyman, as the first bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Kuching in Malaysia.

A native of London who was also a doctor, McDougall led a group of missionaries to the region in 1848, establishing what was initially known as the Borneo Church Mission.

“McDougall was consecrated in the cathedral at Calcutta, which made him the first bishop of the Church of England to receive his orders overseas,” wrote David A. Edwards for the International Bulletin of Mission Research.

McDougall is credited with helping to create multiple church centers in Sarawak, reforming local ministerial education, and overseeing the translation of the Bible into the Malay language. He was also considered the first official medical missionary of the Church of England.

Also known as The Anglican Church in Sarawak and Brunei, the Diocese of Kuching would hold a special celebration marking the 170th anniversary of its creation in 2018.