The Rt. Rev. Philip Lindel Tsen (; January 7, 1885 – June 6, 1954) was a

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of the

Anglican Church 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 ...

in China ( Chung Hua Sheng Kung Hui; ). Tsen was the first Chinese Presiding Bishop of the Chung Hua Sheng Kung Hui and was succeeded by Bishop Robin Chen of the Diocese of Anhui province.

Early life and ministry

Born in impoverished circumstances in

Wuhu Wuhu () is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Anhui province of China, province, China. Sitting on the southeast bank of the Yangtze River, Wuhu borders Xuancheng to the southeast, Chizhou and Tongling to the southwest, Hefei City to the n ...

Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...

Province in 1885. Homeless at the age of 14, Tsen was taken in by the Rev. Francis E. Lund of the American Church Mission. One of the few Chinese confirmed by James Addison Ingle during his brief tenure as Bishop of Hankow. A student at St. James High School in

thereafter Boone College in

Wuchang Wuchang is one of 13 urban District (China), districts of the prefecture-level city of Wuhan, the capital of Hubei, Hubei Province, China. It is the oldest of the three cities that merged into modern-day Wuhan, and stood on the right (southea ...

where he graduated from Boone Divinity School in 1909.

Ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

as a deacon in 1909 in St. Paul's Cathedral, Hankow by Bishop Logan Roots and as an Anglican priest by Bishop Huntingdon in 1912. In 1923 Tsen went to 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 ...

for a year of study at

Virginia Theological Seminary Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS), formally the Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary in Virginia, is an Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal seminary in Alexandria, Virginia. It is the largest and second-oldest such accredited se ...

followed by another year at the Divinity School of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Philadelphia. He also studied at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

, where he received an MA in Sociology in 1926.

Role as bishop

Tsen was consecrated as

assistant bishop An assistant bishop in the Anglican Communion is a bishop appointed to assist a diocesan bishop. Church of England In the established Church of England, assistant bishops are usually retired (diocesan or suffragan bishop, suffragan) bishops – in ...

of Honan on 23 February 1929, becoming the second Chinese diocesan bishop in an established

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 ...

diocese after Assistant Bishop Sing of Chekiang in 1919. In the summer of 1930, Tsen was also the first Chinese bishop to attend the

Lambeth Conference The Lambeth Conference convenes as the Archbishop of Canterbury summons an assembly of Anglican bishops every ten years. The first took place at Lambeth in 1867. As regional and national churches freely associate with the Anglican Communion, ...

. When Bishop White retired in 1935, Tsen was elevated by the House of Bishops to serve as the next Bishop of Honan. In 1937 Tsen visited Canada with Bishop Paul Shinji Sasaki of the Nippon Sei Ko Kai to bear witness to the unity of Chinese and Japanese Christians, despite the war between the two nations. At the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Tsen attended the

of 1948, but was placed under house arrest immediately on his return. For his courage and leadership of the Chinese Anglican community during the

, the Calendar of saints (Anglican Church of Canada) remembers Bishop Tsen annually on February 24 (along with Bishop Paul Shinji Sasaki of Japan).

Notes

University of Pennsylvania alumni Anglican missionary bishops in China Virginia Theological Seminary alumni 1885 births 1954 deaths 20th-century Anglican bishops in China Anglican bishops of Honan {{Anglican-bishop-stub