Patrick Comerford
During my extended visit to Kuching in October and November, I went to the Cathedral Eucharist in Saint Thomas’s Anglican Cathedral each Sunday, and visited many other churches, chapels and places of worship.
They include Saint Joseph’s Roman Catholic Cathedral, Saint Peter’s, a new church about to open in Padungan, the chapels in the Bishop’s House and the House of the Epiphany beside Saint Thomas’s Cathedral, and the former chapel of Saint Mary’s School in the Marian, a boutique hotel that was once the Anglican diocesan guesthouse and where we stayed for the first week.
In addition, with my long-standing commitment to interfaith dialogue, I also visited the Masjid India Bandar Kuching or ‘floating mosque’ on the Waterfront, the original Masjid Bandar Kuching or Masjid India (Indian Mosque) behind the shopfronts and stalls on Gambier Street and India Street, and the Kuching Mosque (Masjid Bandaraya Kuching) with its golden domes, known as the ‘Old Mosque’ or ‘Old State Mosque’; the Sikh temple or Gurdwara Sahib Kuching, with its golden domes; and five Chinese or Taoist temples: the Tua Pek Kong Temple, also known as Siew San Teng Temple, near the waterfront and the Chinese History Museum, the Hiang Thian Siang Ti Temple and the Hin Ho Bio Temple, both on Carpenter Street, the Hong San Si Temple at the corner of Wayang Street and Ewe Hai Street, and the Hing Ann Thien Hoe Kong Tian Hou Gong, also known as the Ma Cho Temple in Padungan.
I also went in search of a supposed Jewish cemetery in Kuching, only to learn that Kuching never had a Jewish community, a synagogue or a Jewish cemetery.
During those weeks, the Revd Dr Jeffry Renos Nawie also took us on a number of whirlwind tours of the seven churches and chapels in his parishes and seven other churches and chapels in the Diocese of Kuching. His parish and mission area in the Diocese of Kuching covers vast rural areas south of Kuching.
Father Jeffry is a former principal of Saint Thomas’s, the Anglican diocesan boys’ school in Kuching, and has a doctorate in education. After he retired, he worked as the diocesan secretary in the diocesan office close to Saint Thomas’s Cathedral, and at weekends he served in Saint George’s Church, Punau, on the fringes of Padawan.
Today, Father Jeffry is the parish priest of Saint Augustine’s Church, Mambong, which was designated a mission district seven months ago (26 May 2024) by Bishop Danald Jute of Kuching.
He also brought us to visit nine neighbouring churches and chapels in neighbouring parishes, including Saint James’s Church, Quop, with its new 1980s church, alongside an earlier church built in 1863-1865, and Saint Patrick’s Chapel, a mission chapel in Semadang that dates back to the 1930s.
Father Jeffry is the parish priest of Saint Augustine’s Church, Mambong, near Padawan and Siburan, which was designated a mission earlier this year on the feast day of Saint Augustine of Canterbury (26 May 2024) by Bishop Danald Jute of Kuching.
During our visits to Father Jeffry’s parish, Charlotte and I presented a bell to one of those chapels, Saint Matthias in Sinar Baru, as a thank offering to mark our first wedding anniversary, and I have described Saint Matthias in an earlier posting (24 November 2024).
But during those whirlwind tours, through the Diocese of Kuching, we also visited the other six churches or chapels in Father Jeffry’s newly-designated mission district: Saint Augustine’s Church, Mambong, Saint Francis, Petag; Saint Alban, Sitang; Saint Monica, Bangau; Saint Edmund, Tabuan Rabak; and Saint Clement, Patung. The mission area has 3,570 parishioners, and previously came under Saint Paul’s Parish in Bunuk.
Saint Augustine’s Church, Mambong, is named after Saint Augustine of Canterbury. It dates from 1931, and the present church was consecrated on Saint Augustine’s Day, 26 May 2018.
The Holy Communion is celebrated in the church every Sunday, with a robed choir and a congregation of up to 500 people. About 400 children attend the school attached to Saint Augustine’s, which also dates from 1931 and it has 68 teachers on the staff.
The church is near both an imposing prison and a large cement factory.
Bishop Danald Jute was back in Saint Augustine’s Church, Mambong, last weekend (7 December 2024), when he lead a confirmation service.
Saint Francis Chapel, Petag, dates from 1963, and has a congregation of about 140, and the regular services include a mid-week Holy Communion on Wednesdays.
When we visited Saint Francis Chapel, the Seventh Day Adventist Church across the street was going through an extensive rebuilding work and restoration programme. A near neighbour is Saint Luke Evangelical Church.
Saint Alban’s Chapel, on a hilltop in Sitaang, is reached along a narrow pathway across a valley beside the village, which has a Bidayuh majority. The chapel has a Sunday congregation of 80-90 each week.
Saint Alban’s Chapel was consecrated by Bishop Made Kitab of Kuching on 10 May 1997.
Two nearby landmarks include the Dragon Tree and the Petrified Pig, which are associated with the local legend of a woman called Siruman who allowed some wild pigs to drink at the bathing waters of the Sitaang people. But when she had allowed them to drink there, the pig, her four piglets and a boar were turned to stone, and the ‘Sacred Stones’ of the Sitaang people appeared.
The name of the village of Bangau means hornbill, the national bird of Sarawak. Saint Monica’s Chapel in Bangau, dates from 1973, and the present chapel was consecrated by Bishop Bolly Lapok of Kuching on 28 August 2011.
The chapel is named after Saint Monica, the mother of Saint Augustine of Hippo, although Saint Augustine’s Church in Mambong is named after Saint Augustine of Canterbury.
Saint Monica’s has a Sunday congregation of about 60 each week.
Saint Edmund’s Chapel in the village of Tabuan Rabak dates from 1982, and Canon Michael Woods, who was Warden of the House of Kuching, was once the priest at Saint Edmund’s.
Saint Edmund’s has an average Sunday congregation of 120-130, although this can be as large as 200 in major festivals and holy days.
Saint Clement’s Church in Patung was founded around 1957. At 10 am on Sundays it has a congregation of 200-300 Sunday. There are Sunday celebration of Holy Communion once a month, with Communion by extension on the other Sundays.
Saint Jerome’s is the neighbouring Roman Catholic parish church.
In addition, Father Jeffry brought us to visit nine other churches or chapels in neighbouring parishes and mission areas: Saint George’s Church, Punau; Saint Martin’s Chapel, Nyiru Grait; Saint Giles Chapel, Git; Saint John’s Church, Punau; Saint Gregory’s Chapel, Giam; All Saints’ Church in the Bengoh Dam Resettlement Scheme; Saint Patrick’s Chapel, Semadang; Saint James’s Church, Quop; and Saint Francis Church, Kota Samarahan, in suburban Kuching.
Father Jeffry served at Saint George’s Church, Punau, at weekends while he was the Diocesan Secretary. The church, on the fringes of Padawan, south of Kuching, is being rebuilt at present, and as this work nears completion the church is using a local community hall on Sunday mornings.
Nyiru Grait is a village with a Bidayuh majority, with small Chinese and Iban minorities. Saint Martin’s Chapel has a Sunday congregation of about 200. The chapel bell was made from an old truck wheel.
Saint Martin’s was consecrated by Bishop Made Katib of Kuching on 20 April 1996.
Saint Giles Chapel in Git marked its sixtieth anniversary this year. The chapel stands on a hilltop location above the village, and is reached by a steep climb of steps.
Saint Giles Chapel has an interesting belltower, with an old graveyard behind the chapel, and a school below the chapel.
Saint John’s Church, Punau, is officially named after Saint John the Evangelist, although Father Jeffry told us that historically it was named after a Father John, who was an early missionary priest with the Anglican mission agency SPG (now USPG).
Saint Gregory’s Chapel, Giam, is a new Anglican church being built high on a crag overlooking a beautiful valley and close to the Giam and Petu waterfalls.
A new chapel was needed after floods damaged an earlier chapel in 2003 and again in 2004, and also became too small to accommodate a growing congregation. We met the chapel architect, and the building is expected to be completed early next year (2025).
The church is close to Saint Gregory’s school in the village.
All Saints’ Church in the Bengoh Dam Resettlement Scheme in Siburan, south of Kuching, was consecrated by Bishop Aeries Sumping Jingan, Assistant Bishop of Kuching, eight years ago, on 18 December 2016, and All Saints’ Church was designated a parish by Archbishop Datuk Bolly Lapok, Archbishop of South-East Asia and Bishop of Kuching, at a special service in March 2017.
The mission district attached to All Saints also includes four chapels that were previously under Saint Paul's Parish, Bunuk: Saint Patrick’s Chapel, Semadang; Saint Matthew’s Chapel, Karu; Saint Richard’s Chapel, Danu; and Saint Thomas’s Chapel, Bengoh.
Father Joshua Jo is the priest-in-charge of All Saints’ Church, which was built to serve people resettled to the area after the Bengoh Dam was built. Villagers in the four villages affected by the dam – Kampung Taba Sait, Kampung Pain Bojong, Kampung Rejoi, and Kampung Semban Teleg – initially agreed to be resettled in the area on the understanding they were given houses, land, and basic infrastructure.
However, they say they were kept in the dark about the resettlement schedule, and their move was complicated in 2013 when a logging company illegally moved onto the land the government had put aside for the villagers.
Saint Francis Church, Kota Samarahan, is one of the biggest suburban churches in Kuching. The church was completed in May 2019, and was consecrated on 29 September 2019.
The church holds three principal Sunday services: in English at 7 am, in Iban at 9 am, and in Bahasa Malysia at 2 pm. The Iban and Bahasa Malysia services are live-streamed on YouTube. The priest-in-charge is Father Wilston Trin.
The church can hold a congregation of up to 1,000 and was also built as a venue hosting youth camps and other gatherings too and in the hope of hosting ecumenical services including national day services and combined Christmas services.
