St. Thomas Cathedral

History of the Cathedral

The first Anglican missionary, the Revd. Francis Thomas McDougall, priest and doctor (who later became the first Bishop of the Diocese) came to Sarawak on 29^th June 1848. The present Church compound, which was an area of jungle covered hill behind the old town was given to the Church by the Rajah and on 25^th August 1849 this site Dr. McDougall began the erection of a fine wooden church capable of holding 250 persons. On 22^nd August 1851 Bishop Wilson of Calcutta (within whose jurisdiction Kuching then lay) consecrated this Church to the glory of God and in honour of St. Thomas, the Apostle.

The foundation stone for the present Cathedral was laid on 15^th October 1953 by H.R.H. the Duchess of Kent and the building was completed by May the following year. The Consecration of the Cathedral took place on 9^th June 1956 at the hand of Bishop Nigel Cornwall.

The Parish Vision

To be a Church which Lives and Proclaims in Words and Deeds the Good News of God’s Saving Love in Jesus Christ.

Parish Boundary and Population

Our official census register has 6,356 Anglicans. This is an urban parish which mainly covers the areas in central Kuching city, including Batu Kawa suburb. Congregation members, however, come also from all areas including the outskirts of Kuching. Batu Kawa is served by St. Basil’s Church, which was completed in 2000 and caters for a predominantly Iban-speaking congregation.

Services at the Cathedral:-

Morning Services	6.15 am 6.30 am	except on Wednesday Wednesday
Holy Communion	6.30 am 5.30 pm	except on Wednesday Wednesday (Healing Service on 3^rd week)
Evening services	4.00 pm 5.00 pm	except Wednesday and Saturday Wednesday
Sunday Services	6.45 am 8.15 am 10.00 am 5.30 pm	Holy Communion in English Solemn Liturgy in English (in B.M. on the first Sunday of the month) Holy Communion in Chinese Evensong with Holy Communion

The average communicants at the 4 Services at the Cathedral on Sunday is about 1,800.

Ministries and Organisations:-

1. The Parochial Church Council

2. Women’s Fellowship

3. The Sisters’ Fellowship (CSC)

4. The Parish Youth Fellowship (PYF)

- English-Speaking Youth Fellowship

- BM Ministry Youth Fellowship

- CSC Youth Fellowship

- St. Basil Youth Fellowship

- The Boys’ Brigade

- The Girls’ Brigade

- 8.15 Choir

- Anglican Tertiary Ministry (IPT Students)

- Cathedral Servers Guild

5. The Choirs

6. The Sunday Schools

7. Healing Ministry

8. House & Bible Study Groups

9. Praise & Worship Committee

10. Intercession Committee

11. Music Ministry

12. Bahasa Malaysia Ministry

13. Prayer Groups

14. Library & Archives Committee

15. Unity Magazine Committee

16. The Mission and

17. Kuching Anglican Senior Fellowship

18. CSC Senior Fellowship

Major Project

Beside the heavy costs of maintenance of buildings, vehicles and compound, the main project at hand is the building of a RM 1.5 million New Parish Centre. Fund raising for this project hopefully will begin in the new Year (2005).

To contact the Cathedral, please call the following telephone numbers. To send an email, pls click Dean of Kuching.

Tel : +60 82 242625, 230376

Fax : +60 82 419646