Christ Church | |
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Christ Church, Malacca
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2°11′40″N 102°14′59″E / 2.1944°N 102.2497°E | |
Location | Malacca City, Malacca |
Country | Malaysia |
Denomination | Anglican |
Previous denomination | Dutch Reformed |
History | |
Former name(s) | Bovenkerk (High Church) |
Founded | 1753 |
Dedicated | 1776 |
Consecrated | 1838 |
Architecture | |
Functional status | Active |
Architectural type | Dutch Colonial |
Groundbreaking | 1741 |
Completed | 1753 |
Specifications | |
Length | 82 feet (25 m) |
Width | 42 feet (13 m) |
Height | 40 feet (12 m) |
Administration | |
Archdeaconry | Lower Central Archdeaconry |
Diocese | Diocese of West Malaysia |
Province | Province of South East Asia |
District | Malacca |
Clergy | |
Archbishop | Most Rev Bolly Lapok |
Bishop(s) | Rt Rev Ng Moon Hing |
Vicar(s) | Rt Rev Dr Jason Selvaraj, Assistant Bishop of West Malaysia |
Honorary priest(s) | Rev.Lionel Gan |
Pastor(s) | Rev.John.E. William |
Laity | |
Reader(s) | Arul Money |
Chapter clerk | Amos Makeswaran |
Coordinates: 2°11′39.6″N 102°14′57.8″E / 2.194333°N 102.249389°E
Christ Church is an 18th-century Anglican church in the city of Malacca, Malaysia. It is the oldest functioning Protestant church in Malaysia and is within the jurisdiction of the Lower Central Archdeaconry of the Anglican Diocese of West Malaysia.
The Dutch conquest of Malacca from the Portuguese Empire in 1641 saw the proscription of Roman Catholicism and the conversion of existing churches to Dutch Reformed use. The old St. Paul's Church at the summit of St. Paul Hill was renamed the Bovenkerk (Upper Church) and used as the main parish church of the Dutch community.
In 1741, in commemoration of the centenary of the capture of Malacca from the Portuguese, the Dutch burgher community decided to build a new church to replace the ageing Bovenkerk. The foundation stone was laid by the Malacca born Captain of the Malacca Burghers, Abraham de Wind, on behalf of his father, Claas de Wind, a prominent Burgher who had been the Secunde (Deputy Governor) of Malacca. The church was completed 12 years later in 1753 and replaced the Bovenkerk as the primary Dutch Reformed Church in Dutch Malacca.