The District Commissioner
Addendum 21: History of the Anglican Church
in PNG
Additional information for Chapter 5 - Getting away from trouble by sea and Chapter 6 - Surviving the Japanese invasion
The following are extracts of the History of the Anglican Church from the Papua New Guinea Church Partnership website at www.pngcp.org.uk/about/history/as at 23 May, 2021.
“On 10th of August, 1891 two priests The Rev’d Albert Maclaren from England and The Rev’d Copland King from Australia, landed at Kieta near Wedau in Milne Bay Province” approximately 60km north of Alotau. They were the first Anglican missionaries to arrive in Papua New Guinea and used posts cut from a Modawa Tree to erect their first temporary chapel at Dogura in 1891.
Famously, the corner post of that first bush chapel
took root and grew into the Modawa Tree
(pictured right) and is still there today, symbolising
the growth of the Anglican Church in Papua New
Guinea. The word Modawa is the Wedauan name
for the Papua New Guinean rosewood tree.
From there, despite illness, hardship and many other setbacks, they and other missionaries began to preach in Papua.
(The Anglican Church over the years established missionary stations up to the outbreak of World War II – priests, teachers, nurses, and other lay people volunteered to spend between months and years building Christian faith communities among the local tribes.)
​
In 1894, The Rt Rev’d Montague Stone-Wigg became the first Bishop of New Guinea, and established mission stations along northern Milne Bay and the Oro coast. In 1896 the first 15 baptisms took place.
Wikipedia states at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglican_Church_of_Papua_New_Guinea that “stations were established at Wanigela and Mukawa on Collingwood Bay in 1898, and Mamba at the mouth of the Mambare River in 1899. By 1901 there were eleven stations along the coast of north Papua (in what are now Northern (Oro) and Milne Bay Provinces) and Anglican influence had extended along 480 kilometres (480,000 m) of the coast”.
www.pngcp.org.uk/about/history/ states that “Bishop Stone-Wigg was succeeded by The Rt Rev’d Gerald Sharp, then The Rt Rev’d Henry Newton, and then The Rt Rev’d Philip Strong. Newton started building a new concrete cathedral at Dogura” (pictured below), which was dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul. It took 5 years to build at a cost of four thousand seven hundred and fifty pounds, and was consecrated in 1939 by the Archbishop Wand of Brisbane.
The photo here of the Cathedral of St Peter & St Paul at Dogura with Wedau Wharf in the foreground where David Marsh would have landed and stepped ashore in 1942, was sourced online, photographer unknown. It was posted by Michael Ambo on 7 September 2021 and also posted by the Anglican Board of Mission - Australia on 10 August, 2021. The Dogura Mission was founded by Rev Albert Maclaren and Rev Copland King in 1891
Wikipedia at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglican_Church_of_Papua_New_Guinea states that “it is the largest Anglican church in Papua New Guinea and seats 800.”
www.pngcp.org.uk/about/history/ states that “During World War II, Bishop Strong told his staff to stay at their posts. In July 1942 the Japanese landed at Gona, and among those who lost their lives were Anglican priests, teachers, nurses and evangelists. Tragedy struck again in 1951 when Mt Lamington erupted on 21 January, killing nearly 4,000 people including many attending a Diocesan Synod at Sangara.
The Rev’d David Hand took up a missionary post in PNG in the mid 1940’s and he became Bishop of New Guinea in 1963. He evangelised parts of the highlands and New Britain. Anglican parishes were also started in all main towns.
At this time New Guinea was part of Australia’s Diocese of Queensland, but in 1977 Papua New Guinea’s Anglicans became an autonomous Province within the Anglican Communion called the Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea (ACPNG). Five new dioceses were created – Aipo Rongo, Dogura, New Guinea Islands, Popondetta, and Port Moresby. Bishop David Hand was Bishop of Port Moresby as well as Archbishop of the Province.
During 1977 to 1983 The Most Reverend Geoffrey David Hand KBE GCL was the first Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea.
He was succeeded by The Most Rev’d Bishop George Ambo the first Papua New Guinean to hold this post.
He was followed by The Most Rev’d Bevan Meredith in 1989, The Most Rev’d James Ayong in 1996, The Most Rev’d Joseph Kopapa in 2010, The Most Rev’d Clyde Igara in 2013, and The Most Rev’d Allan Migi in 2017.
Since 2010, the Archbishop has been freed from the responsibility for a diocese in order to lead the Church from a base at the Anglican National Office in Lae”.