The Bishop of Lichfield has paid tribute to the retiring Archbishop of South East Asia and welcomed the election of his successor.
The Diocese of Lichfield has formal links with three of the four dioceses in the province – West Malaysia, Kuching and Singapore – and informal links with Sabah.
The Most Revd Dr John Chew will retire as Bishop of Singapore in October 2012 and will step down as Archbishop of the Anglican Province of South East Asia before then.
The new Archbishop will be the Rt Revd Bolly Lapok, Bishop of Kuching. He will be installed at a service in St Thomas’ Cathedral, Kuching, in the north-west corner of the island of Borneo, on February 12, 2012.
The Bishop of Lichfield, the Rt Revd Jonathan Gledhill, said:
“I am delighted that Bishop Bolly Lapok of Kuching has been elected as the new Archbishop of South East Asia. Archbishop John Chew has been a distinguished Archbishop and leader of the Province of South East Asia and we pay tribute to all that he has done in steering the Province through some challenging times.
“Bolly and his wife Mary are old friends of Lichfield Diocese and we look forward to a close and growing relationship. We know they pray for us as we do for them and we believe that the partnership will go on bearing fruit on both sides of the world.”