John Gilbert Hindley Baker (; 10 October 191029 April 1986) was a British

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

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 State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

and became

Church Missionary Society The Church Mission Society (CMS), formerly known as the Church Missionary Society, is a British Anglican mission society working with Christians around the world. Founded in 1799, CMS has attracted over nine thousand men and women to serve as ...

(CMS) missionary in China in the 1920s. A fluent speaker of English and

Cantonese Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...

, 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 a public research university located in Tuen Mun, New Territories, Hong Kong. Lingnan University has 3 faculties, 3 Schools, 16 departments, 2 language centres, and 2 units (science and music), offering 29 degree honours ...

and Saint John's University, Shanghai. He travelled extensively over China both before and during

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

, 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 Lashio, Burma, in the south and Kunming, China, the capital of Yunnan province in the north. It was built in 1937–1938 while Burm ...

in order to reach the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

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 ( zh, t=何明華, j=Ho Ming Wah, p=Hé Mínghuá, first=j; 22 July 1895 in Newcastle upon Tyne – 22 April 1975 in Lewknor, Oxfordshire) was an English Anglican missionary bishop in Hong Kong and China in the mid 20th cen ...

. He was chosen following the decision of the previous bishop-elect, Joost de Blank (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 lait ...

, 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 and an English CMS missionary, Joyce M. Bennett, to the priesthood. His predecessor,

, 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. Bishop Baker Secondary School 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 Wa ...

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