This week in Christian history: The final papal coronation; Andraé Crouch born

By Michael Gryboski, Editor
Sunday, June 28, 2026

Anglican missionaries arrive in Borneo – June 29, 1848

Francis Thomas McDougall (1817-1886), a British clergyman who became the first bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Kuching, located in Malaysia. | Wikimedia Commons

This week marks the anniversary of the arrival of a group of Anglican missionaries in Borneo, establishing the first Anglican Church presence on the large Southeast Asian island.

The missionaries were led by the Rev. Francis Thomas McDougall, a priest and doctor who is believed to be the first official medical missionary of the Church of England.

McDougall would serve as the first bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Kuching in Malaysia, which was also known as The Anglican Church in Sarawak and Brunei.

“The missionaries established their base on a tract of land provided by the Rajah in Kuching, at a short distance from Sarawak River,” explained the modern diocese. “Within the walls of these buildings, the mission station cradled the infant Church in Borneo.”

“Here, allocation was made for a church which was to serve as pro-cathedral for many years, a school which later grew into St. Thomas’s and St. Mary’s, and a dispensary which speedily won McDougall the affection and trust of the Chinese and Native townspeople who lived nearby.”