Gilbert Baker (bishop)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

John Gilbert Hindley Baker (; 10 October 191029 April 1986) was a British
Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
bishop who served as Bishop of Hong Kong and Macao (diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Hong Kong and Macau) from 1966 to 1980.


Early life

Baker was born in 1910 as the fourth child of Arthur Ernest Baker and Agnes Flora Baker (née Hindley). His birth records and Census records show his name as John Gilbert Hindley Baker — all the children in the family had 'Hindley' as one of their middle names. He graduated Christ Church, Oxford in 1932, was made deacon in 1935 and ordained priest in 1936. Baker entered the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
and became
Church Missionary Society The Church Mission Society (CMS), formerly known as the Church Missionary Society, is a British mission society working with the Christians around the world. Founded in 1799, CMS has attracted over nine thousand men and women to serve as mission ...
(CMS) missionary in China in the 1920s. A fluent speaker of
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
and
Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...
, together with some
Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
, Baker taught at both
Lingnan University Lingnan University (LN/LU), formerly called Lingnan College, is a public liberal arts university in Hong Kong. It aims to provide students with an education in the liberal arts tradition and has joined the Global Liberal Arts Alliance since ...
and
Saint John's University, Shanghai St. John's University (SJU) was a Christian university in Shanghai. Founded in 1879 by American missionaries, it was one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in China, often regarded as the Harvard of China. After the founding of the ...
. He travelled extensively over China both before and during
Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...
, being in Canton at the time of the fall of the city to the Japanese. He later had to leave China via the
Burma Road The Burma Road () was a road linking Burma (now known as Myanmar) with southwest China. Its terminals were Kunming, Yunnan, and Lashio, Burma. It was built while Burma was a British colony to convey supplies to China during the Second Sino-J ...
in order to reach the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
to marry his wife, who was another missionary in China.


Bishop

In 1966, Baker was appointed Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Hong Kong and Macau, succeeding
Ronald Hall Ronald Owen Hall (; Cantonese: ''Ho Ming Wah''; 22 July 1895 in Newcastle upon Tyne – 22 April 1975 in Lewknor, Oxfordshire) was an Anglican missionary bishop in Hong Kong and China in the mid 20th century. As an emergency measure during th ...
. He was chosen following the decision of the previous bishop-elect,
Joost de Blank Joost () was an Internet TV service, created by Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis (founders of Skype and Kazaa). During 2007–2008 Joost used peer-to-peer TV (P2PTV) technology to distribute content to their Mozilla-based desktop player; in la ...
(former Archbishop of Cape Town), not to take up his new appointment due to ill health. Baker was consecrated a bishop on 6 December 1966, by James C. L. Wong, Bishop of Taiwan, at St John's Cathedral, Hong Kong. Baker was able to ordain, with approval of the
Anglican Consultative Council The Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) is one of the four "Instruments of Communion" of the Anglican Communion. It was created by a resolution of the 1968 Lambeth Conference. The council, which includes Anglican bishops, other clergy, and laity ...
, the first "authorised" Anglican female priests worldwide. In February 1971, the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) held its first meeting in Limuru, Kenya, each province sending a bishop, a priest, a layman and a woman observer. By a narrow majority, the ACC passed Resolution 28 which confirmed that "the question of the ordination of women was an urgent matter" and that if the Bishop of Hong Kong decided to ordain women to the priesthood, "his action will be acceptable to this Council". On 28 November 1971, Baker ordained
Jane Hwang Jane may refer to: * Jane (given name), a feminine given name * Jane (surname), related to the given name Film and television * ''Jane'' (1915 film), a silent comedy film directed by Frank Lloyd * ''Jane'' (2016 film), a South Korean drama fi ...
and an English
CMS CMS may refer to: Computing * Call management system * CMS-2 (programming language), used by the United States Navy * Code Morphing Software, a technology used by Transmeta * Collection management system for a museum collection * Color managem ...
missionary,
Joyce M. Bennett Joyce Mary Bennett (; 22 April 1923 – 11 July 2015) was the first Englishwoman to be ordained a priest in the Anglican Communion in 1971. Biography Bennett was born in London. She was educated at Burlington school, Westminster, which was eva ...
, to the priesthood. His predecessor,
Ronald Hall Ronald Owen Hall (; Cantonese: ''Ho Ming Wah''; 22 July 1895 in Newcastle upon Tyne – 22 April 1975 in Lewknor, Oxfordshire) was an Anglican missionary bishop in Hong Kong and China in the mid 20th century. As an emergency measure during th ...
, had ordained the first "unauthorised" female priest. During his time as bishop, Baker remodelled the Bishop's House to incorporate a residence, as Bishop Hall had chosen to live in a bungalow above
Dao Fong Shan Tao Fong Shan (), officially known as To Fung Shan, is a hill with a height of . It is in Sha Tin, New Territories, Hong Kong. A road called To Fung Shan Road leads to the summit, where a Christian Centre can be found. Place of Religious Worship ...
.
Bishop Baker Secondary School A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
in
Yuen Long Yuen Long is a town in the western New Territories, Hong Kong. To its west lie Hung Shui Kiu (), Tin Shui Wai, Lau Fau Shan and Ha Tsuen, to the south Shap Pat Heung and Tai Tong, to the east Au Tau and Kam Tin (), and to the north Nam Sang W ...
is named after him. He was succeeded as bishop by Peter Kwong in 1981.


Bibliography

*''Flowing Ways - Our life in China''


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Gilbert 20th-century Anglican bishops in China 1910 births 1986 deaths Anglican bishops of Hong Kong and Macao