The Presbyterian Church in Malaysia today is the result of the convergence of two parallel historical developments that shares common roots but diverged early in work and emphasis - the
English-speaking
Synod of the English Presbytery and the
Chinese-speaking
Singapore Presbyterian Synod.
Early developments The earliest contact with the
Presbyterianism was through the
Dutch control of the
Portuguese Malacca in 1641. The staunchly Reformed
Protestant Dutch banned the practice of
Roman Catholicism in Malacca and converted all existing churches in Malacca for
Dutch Reformed use. The main church used was the old St. Paul's Church (renamed as the
Bovenkerk by the Dutch) built by the Portuguese in 1521 as the
Nosa Senhora () chapel on the summit of St. Paul's Hill. Construction of a new church started in 1741 to replace the ageing
Bovenkerk and was completed in 1753. This church reflects distinctive Dutch Presbyterian traditions within its interior architecture and continues to be used for Christian worship today. When control of
Malacca passed on to the British as a result of the
Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, the church was re-consecrated according to the rites of the
Church of England by the Anglican
Bishop of Calcutta in 1838 and renamed
Christ Church.
Pioneering work Many early missionaries from the
London Missionary Society (LMS) such as
William Milne who arrived in Malacca in 1815 were from Presbyterian or Reformed backgrounds and many LMS missionaries assisted in the providing spiritual nurture to the
Scots community in
Penang and
Singapore along with chaplains of the
East India Company who conducted worship for
Church of England members. One of the early missionaries was Benjamin Keasberry of the LMS who arrived in Singapore in 1839 while en route to China. Seeing the potential of
Malay language work, he opted to stay in Singapore engaging the noted teacher,
Munshi Abdullah, to assist him in improving his Malay linguistic skills. He started Malay language services in the LMS Chapel at
Bras Basah and in 1843 acquired a piece of land in Kampong Bencoolen to build the
Malay Mission Chapel. The chapel became popularly known as
Gereja Keasberry or "Keasberry's Church" This eventually became the
Prinsep Street Presbyterian Church when the
English Presbyterian Mission bought over the property from the LMS. With the departure of LMS missionaries to China after the
Treaty of Nanking in 1847 with the notable exception of Keasberry, the local Scottish communities took steps to call their own ministers. This led to the arrival of Charles Moir in
Penang in 1851 followed by Thomas McKenzie Fraser in Singapore in 1856. The
Orchard Road Presbyterian Church in Singapore was established in 1856 to minister to the expatriates.
The expatriate churches The Chinese mission Ministering to the Chinese diaspora Both Moir and Fraser attempted to extend work beyond the expatriate communities. Moir resigned in 1857 without much success although the congregation in Penang remains functioning, at times, for extended periods without a minister. Fraser successfully recruited an
ethnic Chinese catechist from south
Fujian, Tan See Boo, who was later ordained an elder in 1864. Unfortunately, Tan left in 1866 to join the
Brethren. In 1881, the Orchard Road congregation finally succeeded in obtaining a full-time missionary to the Chinese. The Rev. J.A.B. Cook, who was fluent in the
Swatow and
Southern Fujian dialects arrived in Singapore in November 1881. The English Presbyterian Mission under the supervision of the Cook organised the first Chinese congregation in
Bukit Timah. It was the arrival of Cook that was eventually chosen to mark the founding of the present Presbyterian Churches of Malaysia and
Singapore. Work was expanded to
Muar in 1892 with the Rev. Liau Thian Ek as the first pastor. == 20th century ==