Historical Background

Situated in a pleasant wooded compound overlooking the main city thoroughfare - McDougall Road - named after the first Anglican missionary and Bishop in Sarawak, stands the House of the Epiphany, the theological seminary of the Diocese of Kuching. It was opened in 1953 during the episcopate of Bishop Nigel Cornwall. Besides training candidates for ordination, the House serves as a centre offering refresher courses for the local clergy and lay leaders.

Initially the progress of mission was slow but from the start it was never allowed to deviate from its aim of building up the Church with the explicit intention of preparing locally-born Christians for the ordained ministry. One hundred and five years elapsed since the first missionaries landed in 1848 before the local Church was ready to embrace the much touted policy of self-propagating, self-supporting and self-governing. The admission of ten students under the tutorship of Canon Peter Howes for the sacred ministry signalled a historic breakthrough in the process of transferring the church leadership to the locals.