Discipling the Church: A Study of Christian Education in the Anglican Church of Myanmar

By Saw Maung Doe

Christian education is an essential component of church development and transformation. Due to the low level of Christian education among lay mission workers the growth of the Diocese of Yangon was almost stagnant since 1877. Such low level of Christian education in the diocese is mainly due to the failure of the successive bishops in not training lay workers and lay leaders since the formation of the diocese. They may have worked hard for the mission but made very little provision for the development of lay ministry. Therefore, to move the diocese one step forward, all bishops and clergy need to understand the importance of training lay workers, catechists and the heads of all the lay departments.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Regnum Studies in Mission
• Release date: Feb 1, 2016
• ISBN: 9781911372486

Book preview

Chapter 1

Introduction

This work considers Anglican mission in Myanmar from 1854 to 2003 and assesses the development of CE (Christian Education) through studying the works of U Tun, a native lay leader in the Yangon Diocese, from 1955 to 2003. In making the critical review of the promotion of CE from 1955 to 2003 through the work of U Tun, the historical development of the Yangon diocese and promotion of CE from the beginning, that is 1854 to 1954, is surveyed so that the root causes of the low standard of CE in the diocese can be seen more clearly.

Werner Graendorf defined Christian Education (CE) as

a Bible-based, Holy Spirit-empowered teaching-learning process. It seeks to guide individuals at all levels of growth through contemporary teaching means toward knowing and experiencing God’s purpose and plan through Christ in every aspect of living. It also equips them for effective ministry, with the overall focus on Christ the Master Educator’s example and His command to make mature disciples.¹

According to Zuck:

Christian education is the Christ-centered, Bible-based, pulpit related process of communicating

God’s written Word through the power of the Holy Spirit for the purpose of leading others to Christ

and building them up in Christ.²

CE in this work is defined as a teaching-learning process which is conducted by the Church, which is the people of God in which all have something to give, and prepares believers to become the disciples of Jesus Christ. CE is teaching believers about the God in whom they believe, the church in which they are members, the faith, order, and traditions of the church which should be maintained, and the Bible which is the source of the above. CE basically involves teaching four main areas: (1) The Bible, (2) God the Creator, Jesus Christ the Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit the Sanctifier, (3) The Church which is the Body of Christ and (4) Faith and order, and essential Church Traditions.³ In Burmese, there is only one term, ‘Dhama-Pyinya’, for Christian Education (CE), Christian Religious Education (CRE), Religious Education (RE), and Theological Education (TE). For the Burmese there is no difference between the four terms: CE, CRE, RE and TE. The writer has chosen the term ‘CE’ because it is the most familiar term for the Burmese.

Although ‘CE’ is not a biblical term, the teaching of the Bible implies that CE is for all ages (Matthew 28:20). For Church growth, teaching of CE is essential in the church (Acts 2:42). Teaching CE is one of the most important requirements for mission as shown by Jesus and His Disciples in the New Testament. CE ought to reach all levels of society and all races and be done by all believers.⁴ In the Old Testament parents played a very important part in teaching religious education (Deut. 6:6-7), because religious education by the parents to children started at home. Therefore, Christian parents should not only have a good knowledge of CE but also know how to impart this knowledge to their children at home.

The proper design of courses in CE needs to fit in with different age groups and teachers who can teach the courses. Just taking spiritual food regularly at Holy Communion⁵ on every Sunday is not enough for church members. CE is required for every member for his or her full spiritual development. Therefore, teaching and equipping all church members is essential for involving them in the mission of the church, working hand in hand with the ministers or parish priests.⁶

CE has at least a triple function. The first, and most basic function, is preparing lay leaders (men and women) to help in the educational ministry of the church and those who minister in family, hospital and schools. The church is called to teach the people the way of justice, mercy, and obedience to God. It demands a congregation be well informed about the Christian faith, and its socio-political implications. CE ought to develop the foundation of lay theologians in each church for prophetic and pastoral ministry in their respective places of work and residence.⁷

The second function of CE is the development of ministers of the Word and Sacrament. They encourage and teach the whole people of God in their faith, cultivate and develop leaders for the different facets of the mission of the church, the teaching ministry in particular, and help the church to increase the faith with clarity in every situation. The spiritual care of its members is the task of the pastoral ministry. Therefore, pastors should be teachers and practical theologians.⁸ Teaching CE is to help all people discover their ministries. Gifts, passion, experience, personality, training and life situations all contribute to the ministry a person should be doing. Classes, seminars, workshops, publications and consultations can facilitate people in their search.⁹ The task of CE is to let people know that the church is people, equipped to serve, meeting needs everywhere in Jesus’ name.¹⁰

The third function of CE is to prepare teachers, ministers and ‘scientists’ of the faith. CE requires the development of scholars who can provide the intellectual tools and resources for the development of Christian teaching. Without the presence of scholars and theologians, the teaching ministry of the church lacks its backbone.¹¹

This work is original in the following ways. No diocesan bishop or scholar from the time of the formation of the Diocese of Yangon (from 1877 to 2003) has been particularly concerned in the role of CE for lay mission workers and lay members, despite the fact that the promotion of CE among lay members is very important for the growth of the church.¹² CE for lay mission workers and lay members was neglected throughout the whole Anglican Church history in Myanmar. No one has systematically written a history of the Anglican Church in Myanmar, much less written on the role of lay people in the Anglican Church in Myanmar. The one exception is a history of the development of the CE in the Church of the Province of Myanmar from 1854 to 1984 which was written by U Tun for the HCTC Golden Jubilee Record. 200 copies were produced in mimeograph form in 1984. In making a critical review of the apathy over CE in the diocese of Yangon, a major emphasis will be made on the contribution of U Tun to CE in the diocese from 1955 to 2003. His contribution has endured almost despite the institutional church. Most mission studies focus on expatriate missionaries or indigenous bishops.

U Tun’s contribution of CE to the diocese of Yangon is worth studying and recording, for he is an ‘unknown famous person’ in the Diocese of Yangon. This was mainly due to his approach in the promotion of CE. He accomplished most of the works under the names of the lay associations and committees such as the AYPA (Anglican Young People’s Association), RED (Religious Education Department), MA (Men’s Association) and MU (Mothers’ Union). Whenever a new CE programme was started U Tun seldom carried it out under his own name although people knew that something new had happened. Except those who worked closely with him, most people did not know who led, initiated and advised the new programme to be started which was carried out by such committees or lay associations. When doing research on the promotion of CE in the Diocese of Yangon from 1955 to 2003 the researcher noticed quite a number of changes, progress and improvements in the work of CE in the diocese. When the researcher traced who was responsible for these changes through interviews with people who were involved in the lay movements at different places and different groups, the answers pointed to U Tun. When the researcher interviewed U Tun during the course of preparing this thesis it became clear that these answers other people had given were true.

Furthermore, U Tun dictated part of his autobiography to the researcher, clarifying many of his contributions to the promotion of CE in the Diocese of Yangon which only his intimate co-workers knew. All these new findings have been included to reflect the extent of U Tun’s contribution in promotion of CE in the Diocese of Yangon. While all information has been cross-checked where possible, the study on the life and work of U Tun came from the original source of his dictated record. The core depends on interviews over several years.

Quite a number of books and reports are available in Burmese regarding materials mentioned in this thesis. But these books only describe the accomplishments. They fail to mention the failures and long-term ill effects due to poor supervision, changes of plan and abandoning of projects. Due to this, the researcher again used interviews as part of the process of cross-checking the materials.

Moreover, this work has been prepared with an unprecedented number of interviews with Anglican Christians in Myanmar by an indigenous Anglican and with an unprecedented study of original documents. Interviews were made with the existing bishops of the province both retired and in service, clergy from different age groups, prominent lay leaders and lay members who had served in the diocese for many years, and also those who knew U Tun over the last 50 years. The interviews also included indigenous church members from both towns and villages in the diocese about formal education, CE and participation in church activities. Interviews were also made with co-workers of U Tun including professors, lecturers and his old students of YIT (Yangon Institute of Technology, then known as Rangoon Institute of Technology) and those who knew the condition of the political, economic and educational policy of Myanmar very well. Interviews were also made with denominational leaders in Myanmar especially those from the MCC (Myanmar Council of Churches). This research therefore makes a unique contribution to knowledge by setting out the history and development of the Anglican Church as it was experienced by the indigenous people. Nearly all old people whom the researcher interviewed during 2000-06 passed away one after another which meant the researcher was not able to interview them for a second time. Due to this timely interview, many important facts about past history and their experience in CE could be integrated into this thesis. The primary sources which are some of the letters of the missionary diocesan bishops of Yangon and others to SPG mission headquarters can be found only at USPG archives at Rhodes House, Oxford, and in Partnership House, 157 Waterloo Road, SE1 8XA, London (now at the CMS archives in Birmingham University Library), USPG library and archives. Up to 2003 the researcher is the only Burmese and Kayin Anglican priest who could access these archives. Moreover, the primary sources which are the Yangon Diocesan Reports, Provincial Council Reports, and reports of the four lay organizations can be found mainly at the Yangon diocesan office, the Yangon Diocesan Trust Association and the provincial head office. So this overview itself is an original contribution, quite apart from the material on U Tun which serves as an extensive illustration of the lay contribution.

The CE standard in the diocese of Yangon was very low among the indigenous members at its inception in 1877 and it is still very low up to 2003 and onwards.¹³ It was a chronic disease from the very beginning. The attention given to the teaching of CE to the lay members was very poor and is still insufficient in the diocese up to the present day of globalization and quick technical and social changes.¹⁴ Giving sufficient CE to all members of the church is particularly important in this age of racial and religious pluralism, unequal economic development among the nations and differences in living standards among the rich and the poor.

The inadequate CE given to the indigenous members who offered themselves to serve the Lord and the Church full-time, part-time or as lay members in the Diocese of Yangon¹⁵ has created many problems in church leadership and was a great hindrance in working towards a well developed church which could stand on its own in this quick changing era of strong national sentiment.¹⁶ At present, in the CPM (Church of the Province of Myanmar), there is only a single theological college. This offers a B.Th. degree for all students coming from all the dioceses in the province. In spite of this, the college has the capacity to accept 12-15 students each year and only two to five from the diocese of Yangon. This number is insufficient even for the need of the diocese for training ordinands and future leaders. This B.Th. programme was started for the first time only in 1989. Although there are Bible Schools in some of the dioceses, they are only meant for Catechists and full-time mission workers to serve in rural areas. In the Diocese of Yangon, after the formation of the CPM in 1970, a separate Bible School of its own was only opened in 1999. There was no facility for other lay members of the church who wanted to study for the improvement of his/her knowledge of CE. Students at these Bible Schools had a relatively low standard of formal education and have very poor ability in reading, writing or understanding English. There were no regular competent teachers at these Bible Schools.¹⁷ As a result, the CE standard of those who passed from these Bible Schools was also relatively low.

For the lay members of the church, the only place where CE was given was at the Sunday schools opened in many of the churches. Some short courses were organized occasionally by the lay departments, that is, MA, MU, AYPA and RE departments of the diocese as well as in the province. To aggravate the problems of teaching to promote CE among the adult lay members in the churches, Sunday schools which were opened at the churches were meant only for children under confirmation age, that is, age 12-14 in the Myanmar context.¹⁸

To make the situation worse many who were confirmed in young adolescence between 12-14 were never prepared properly and taught Catechism fully before they were presented to the bishops by the responsible priests for confirmation.¹⁹ Many who were presented to the bishops had never attended Sunday school and never had a proper chance to study the Catechism.²⁰ They usually were given half or one day of instruction from the responsible priests telling them what they were supposed to do and know when they were presented to the bishops.²¹ Those who had attended the Sunday school classes before, stopped attending the classes (if there were any in the church), from the time they were confirmed.²² Those confirmed like that might attend the church and receive Holy Communion regularly or occasionally, but their basic Christian knowledge was very low.²³ As a result, they failed to live a true Christian life. When they got married they could not give their children the required CE needed for leading a true Christian life. They could not teach their own children and even failed to send them to the Sunday school if there was one in the church where they belonged.

The church itself never had programmes for teaching CE to the adults or to these young adolescent lay members after they were confirmed.²⁴ The only source of gaining CE for their future adult life was if they attended the church regularly at the Sunday services where they heard the Bible readings and sermons given by the priests. To make the matter worse many priests at the parishes in the diocese preached their sermons without proper preparation. They did realize the importance of preparing the sermons properly for preaching, but were incapable of doing it.²⁵

Another problem was a long rooted traditional practice among the church members. They went to the church preferably for worship and receiving Holy Communion only, but were not interested in listening earnestly to the Word and teachings given in the sermons during the service.²⁶ They were not interested in Bible studies conducted at the church and the teaching of basic Christian faith which were essential for their development in CE and their spiritual life. This traditional prejudice created and made the church a ‘Liturgical or Ritual Church’ instead of ‘Bible-based Church.’²⁷ This ultimately weakened the CE of its members in the church as a whole and limited the availability of good and competent CE teachers for children as well as adults.²⁸

Formerly, the backbone of teachers for teaching CE at Sunday schools in churches was the mission schools. Usually they took charge of the Sunday schools at the churches which they were attending or at the village mission schools where they were working as teachers. Since the mission schools of the diocese were nationalized by the government together with all other private schools in 1963-64, the church lost its prime source of Sunday school teachers. The new education policy of the government prohibited religious teaching at all the schools. From that time the church gradually faced a scarcity of competent and mature CE teachers in the diocese.²⁹

To make the situation worse many priests failed to take an interest in teaching CE in their own congregation, to organize the Sunday school in their parishes properly or recruit or train capable Sunday school teachers for their own parishes. Up to 2003, most Sunday schools in the churches were taken care of by some young people who became interested in teaching of CE a few years after their confirmation and took up the role of Sunday school teachers with little or no training or teaching experience. Most received their training at the short Sunday school training courses only for a few days conducted by the RE Department once a year. Their religious knowledge was very limited and usually they did not get proper guidance from the parish priests concerned. Most were serving the church on their own initiative. As a result, they could only take care of children under 12 years of age or younger.

What made matters worse was the attitude of both clergy and adult laity towards teaching CE. Up to 2003, most adult lay members and priests of the church regarded the teaching of CE as only meant for children in the church. They had no plan or programme to give continuous CE to the adult members after they were confirmed.³⁰ This fact was very obvious from the way the RE Department of the diocese which was opened in 1960 was functioning. From the beginning up to 2003, the main concern of the RE Department was teaching CE to only the church.

The RE department was opened in the former diocese of Yangon in 1960. When the province was formed in 1970 RE departments were opened in all the dioceses except the new Yangon diocese which was taken care of by the RE Department of the province. A separate RE department for the present diocese of Yangon was opened only in 1988 by Elizabeth San San Htay who had completed the four-year course at the HCTC in 1981. Since the department was catering only to the children of pre-confirmation age, it was regarded by every one as the children’s department. The Diocese of Yangon had conducted Sunday School Teacher Training Courses up to a week annually but most of those who had attended the training courses were young people usually between the ages of 16-25 who were teaching Sunday schools in their own parishes. Even then, the department could not train enough Sunday school teachers of this minimal calibre for all the parishes in the dioceses. The church as a whole could not recruit capable middle age Sunday school teachers with some teaching experience like those in the days of mission schools.³¹

Another problem in the diocese was the lack of Christian literature in Burmese both for the clergy and the lay members alike to study or read for gaining Christian knowledge on their own. There was also a lack of proper teaching aids and materials for Sunday schools classes which aggravated the situation. Although there is a Printing and Publication Department in the CPM head office, its main concern is the publication of liturgical books such as Book of Common Prayer, and hymnbooks in different dialects, annual calendar, a monthly News Letter and some books whose publication is paid for in full. The church members themselves have a very low interest in habitually reading religious books. A book on ‘General Knowledge of the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer’ produced by the Printing and Publication Department in 1986 took nearly twenty years to sell the 1,000 copies which were produced. This made the publication department reluctant to produce CE related books on its own as it involved a slow return of its financial investment and limited rolling funds. The only publication which contains CE articles produced by the department is the monthly ‘News Letter’, which has a circulation of 1,800 copies a month for the whole province. The numbers of the ‘News Letter’ circulated in the diocese of Yangon are about 600³² with its present membership of 10,552.³³

In spite of these shortcomings, the leadership of the diocese failed to give enthusiastic support to promote writing and publication of books on CE and also teaching programmes to promote CE among its adult members in the diocese. They left the matter wholly in the hands of the RE Department which has no capacity to teach CE to adult lay members. The head and assistant of the RE Department were not highly qualified theologically, and lacking in the teacher training necessary even for working with children. They did not have the capacity to organize, lead or promote teaching programmes as well as writing and producing CE literature for the adult church members.

Another problem was the way the parishes in the diocese were organized, especially in the rural areas. Since the church members in the diocese are widely and thinly scattered all over the diocese, each parish covers a wide area although it may have only a few hundred members. Most parishes in the rural areas consist of at least four villages. Some may have up to six villages. There maybe only a few families in some villages. Some villages in these parishes are quite far apart and it may take a few hours or half a day to make the trip. Thus, the parish priests could visit the villages in their parishes in rotation only for giving Holy Communion or when there were special occasions at these villages such as a wedding or funeral. There was very little time for the clergy to conduct teaching of CE during their visits.³⁴ Although there were catechists in many of these villages they were not able to teach CE to the adult members due to their low standard of both formal education and theological education. As a result, the level of CE among the adults in these places was almost at the bottom.

Due to internal unrest caused by the insurgency during the period 1949 to 1965, quite a number of villages in some parishes of the diocese became disorganized, resulting in the congregation moving to safe places to avoid danger. They went either to big towns or to some isolated safe places and became displaced people. Therefore, with the political, social and economic changes which were taking place in the country, teaching to promote CE to these sorts of church members was out of question.

Great changes in social and economic conditions have taken place in the country due to the government policy on religion, trade and social welfare since 1962. Due to these changes and the rapid rise of the cost of living, earning enough money for the survival of each family became a great problem especially among poor church members. Since these church members had to struggle every day for their daily bread, many had no time to care for their spiritual life. Therefore, acquiring CE for these people was also out of question. If the church wants to improve the CE of these sorts of members, organizing and teaching of CE alone will not be enough. The Church needs to consider ways and means of helping or solving these social and economic problems faced by the church members. This would be a costly process and needs long term planning. The church did have some plans but did not have enough finance or personnel.

There were many missionary schools before 1962 and CE was taught in the mission schools before regular classes. But there were very few Anglicans in those schools. On the one hand, the main Anglican community of about 5,000, from 1875 and onwards, can be found at the 110 villages at the Toungoo hills who came from the Baptist Church. On the other hand, the Mission Schools were stationed at towns such as Yangon, Mawlamyine, Thayetmyo, Hinthada, and Toungoo and were originally meant for the Burmans, the Eurasians, Chinese, Indians and so on who lived in towns, not specifically for the native Anglicans. A study of the letters of the missionary bishops to the SPG Mission Headquarters revealed that there were no more than 300 converts through these mission schools from 1854-1928.³⁵ Again, only the rich Anglicans from the Toungoo hills could come to Toungoo and study. But not many were rich. There were only a few people, for example, the grandfather of U Tun, Saw Shwe Tu, who could come to Toungoo, the nearest town from the hills, and study there. He later became a government officer. That particular Anglican community did not benefit much from the mission schools which were opened in towns.³⁶

From 1960, although the lay organizations and lay departments were officially formed by the diocesan councils, they existed in name only because most of the heads of these lay departments did not receive any appropriate training to carry out their work. There were changes of church leadership, but all the successive bishops neglected the training of lay workers. Even the HCTC (Holy Cross Theological College), the only sole theological college in the CPM, was upgraded to a degree conferring college only in 1989. But again, the B.Th. degree offered by the college was accredited only on 13 March 1999 by the ATESEA (Association for Theological Education in South East Asia). Due to the gradual declining standard of formal education and the changing of the teaching of every subject into Burmese, except English, in the country since 1960s, the English standard of those who passed the matriculation examination from the early 1970s and onwards was quite low. Consequently, among the young people who attended the HCTC and received the B.Th. degree their English knowledge was relatively low.³⁷ The diocesan bishops were reluctant to send the clergy, heads and assistants of lay departments and other full-time mission workers as well as young and bright prospective theological students trained at the HCTC for higher theological education or post graduate study inside the country or abroad. This greatly hindered the promotion of CE in the diocese and also the training and promotion of future leadership.³⁸ As a result, the diocese was faced with a shortage of CE teachers and the problem of getting capable church leaders, whenever a new vacancy appeared for an administrative job in the head office of the diocese and a new bishop was to be elected when a diocesan bishop retired.

This work is divided into ten chapters. It is a critical study of the development of CE in the Diocese of Yangon from the early years through the life and work of U Tun, a prominent lay man from Holy Cross Church, Yangon, Diocese of Yangon, between the period 1955 and 2003. He played a key role in establishing CE in the Diocese. Chapters eight and nine will examine the contribution of U Tun to the development of the diocese in general and the promotion of CE in particular through mostly the lay organizations or lay departments. An effective study requires proper knowledge of the background of the early development of the Christian mission in Myanmar as well as the development of the Anglican Mission in the Diocese of Yangon prior to the period mentioned above.

Chapter one tells the readers what to expect. Chapter two is a general review of the early contact of Christian mission with Myanmar and initial development of the Anglican Church from 1854-76. This initial study is required because the development of mission at this early stage had an adverse effect on the development of CE in the diocese of Yangon in the later period up to 2003.

In chapter three a brief survey of the CE development in the diocese of Yangon from 1877-1954 spans the inauguration of the diocese of Yangon to the beginning of the period under study. Since the diocesan bishops and their policies on mission played a major role in the development of the diocese as a whole and CE in particular, a brief study of the episcopates of each of the six bishops, explores the reasons why and how these developments occurred due to weakness and failure on the part of the bishops and missionaries.

During that period the political, economic and educational changes in the country also greatly affected the development of the diocese particularly in connection to CE. Through the brief review of these situations it becomes clearer that the problems faced by the diocese in promoting CE were due not only to the failures on the part of the some responsible persons, especially the bishops, but also to the changes in the internal situation of the country. The growth of the church in the country is linked to the historical background of the country itself. To shed more light on the development of CE in the diocese from another angle, a brief study and reflection on the political, economic and educational development of the country which greatly affected the growth as well as set-back of the Yangon Diocese will be made in chapter four where the highlights of the political, economic and educational changes in Myanmar from 1948 to 2003 are briefly reviewed.

After a brief survey of the political, economic and educational changes in the country, the thesis returns to the history of the Diocese of Yangon from 1955 to 2003. There were six diocesan bishops during this period. The study will focus on what kind of programmes each diocesan bishop emphazised during his episcopacy. Without proper knowledge of the history of the diocese fair judgment on the contribution of CE by U Tun cannot be made. Despite U Tun’s tireless endeavour for the promotion of CE in the diocese why was the standard of CE still low? Why has there been there such a lack of capable leaders or clergy to do teaching ministry until 2003 and onwards? A study of the history of the Yangon Diocese from 1955-2003 will be made in chapter five, and will answer some of the why questions. After studying the history of the Yangon Diocese from 1955-2003 in its context, a study of U Tun’s life is made in chapter six. Amidst these situations U Tun, a lay man, born in 1935, the year the HCTC was dedicated, who grew up during this period, began to play an important part in the promotion of CE in the diocese after 1965.

Since the spotlight is on the contribution of U Tun in development of CE in the diocese of Yangon, the life of U Tun will be studied from different perspectives, which includes his early life, his initiation to the Anglican Church in Myanmar, his academic career and wider influences such as his involvement in church work, opening a clinic and medical shop, a printing press and publication work and social work in his community. These activities and work experiences show why U Tun was able to contribute much to the development of CE. U Tun is a multi-vocational person. Apart from his academic career and involvement in church works of the Diocese of Yangon, quite a number of other works in which he was engaged greatly supplement his church works and promotion of CE. Therefore chapter six studies the life of U Tun from his childhood up to his retirement from the Yangon Institute of Technology. His post-retirement work in academic involvement at the DSIT (Defence Services Institute of Technology) and as author of technical books is also covered.

U Tun is a man with sound spirituality which enabled him to commit a large portion of his life to the service of the Lord since the 1960s.Therefore, a close study of the development of his spirituality is needed to understand and appreciate his endeavour for the service of the church and the promotion of CE in the diocese. Hence, in chapter seven the spiritual development of U Tun is studied through the thorns in his flesh, God’s calls and his responses, his denials and the guidance of the Holy Spirit which ultimately led him to make a commitment to God.

Chapter eight looks briefly at U Tun’s involvements in promotion of CE in different capacities in the diocese is made. He was influenced by the concept of voluntaryism similar to the Baptist concept and brought this bottom-up system into the Anglican Church which is a strongly hierarchical, top-down system. As the bishops and most clergy understand only the top-down system, most of U Tun’s works were greatly hindered by the bishops and clergy. This chapter clearly shows how the hierarchy system practised by the successive bishops hampered greatly the development of the diocese. As a result U Tun alone could change the condition of the diocese.

U Tun started to serve the church in a minor role starting from 1955 and gradually got more involved in church works after 1966. When the province was formed in 1970 U Tun’s role in the province as a lay man became more prominent and he took a very active part up to 2003 and afterwards. During this period one of his greatest contributions was the promotion of CE in the diocese and the province. Therefore, chapter ninegives a critical review of the works of the diocesan bishops of Yangon from 1955 to 2003 together with a critical review on the contribution of U Tun for the promotion of CE in the diocese during this period. Chapter ten, the conclusion, reveals that the main reason which made the CE level quite low in the diocese of Yangon is the lack of lay training for the diocese which has to be linked not only to a lack of resources but a lack of appreciation and respect for the role of the laity.

The Purpose of this Work

The purposes of this work in considering the above problems are:

(1) To investigate the root causes of the slow growth of the Diocese of Yangon,

(2) To investigate the role of CE in the development of the diocese,

(3) To discover how CE could be improved in the diocese,

(4) The method chosen for achieving these purposes is to study CE through the contribution of a significant leader, U Tun, who sought to develop CE in the diocese of Yangon.

Limitation of the Work

The study will begin with a general survey of the development of CE in the diocese of Yangon from 1854, that is, the year the Anglican Mission started in Myanmar, before the inauguration of the diocese in 1877. This will be followed by a general survey of the period between the years 1878-1954, and a critical study of CE development during the period from 1955-2003.

¹ Werner C. Graendorf, ed., Introduction to Christian Education. Chicago: Moody Press, 1981, 16.

² Roy B. Zuck. Spiritual Power in Your Teaching. rev. edn. Chicago: Moody Press, 1972, 9.

³ Padilla, C. Rene, ed. New Alternatives in Theological Education. Oxford: Regnum Books, 1986, 5-18.

⁴ Padilla, 3.

⁵ In the Anglican Church Holy Communion is also called ‘Holy Eucharist’, ‘The Last Supper’ and ‘The Lord’s Supper’.

⁶ U Aung Hla Tun. CE for all Ages. Paper presented on 13 July 2004, RE Consultation held at Holy Cross Church (HCC), Yangon, 2-6. The writer was the priest-in-charge of HCC at that time. When the teaching course was conducted on the last Sunday of the month starting from August 2004 after the Holy Communion, out of 115-130 communicants only 40-55 attended the teaching courses. The rest were going home. People who were attending the teaching courses mostly were the same people. This showed that the majority of the parishioners came to the church for Holy Communion only and were not interested to learn CE.

⁷ Padilla, 8-9.

⁸ Padilla, 10.

⁹ Melvin J. Steinbron. The Lay-Driven Church. Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1997, 84.

¹⁰ Jerry Cook with Stanley C. Baldwin. Love, Acceptance & Forgiveness. Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 4th printing, 1980, 45.

¹¹ Padilla, 9-12.

¹² Paul Bayer and Tim Sledge., et al. eds. Mission-shaped parish: traditional church in a changing context. London: Church House Publishing, 2006, viii-xii, 1-46. Forward by Richard Chartres, Bishop of London.

¹³ This is according to the assessment made by the 27 parishes (parish priests and church council members) in the Diocese of Yangon in the end of 2003. Concerning CE standard of the 27 parishes nearly all the parishes gave Grade ‘E’, in which the highest standard is ‘A’ and the lowest standard is ‘E’.

¹⁴ This is according to the interviews with 27 parish priests in the Diocese of Yangon. They all said that although there is weekly Holy Communion, teaching CE cannot be conducted for the youth and adults. Sunday school classes can be conducted weekly by 15 parishes but Sunday school teachers are not well-trained and most Sunday school teachers are young people who do not have teaching experience.

¹⁵ Interview with Rev Saw Ye Shaw on 21 January 2002. He said that he passed 4th standard only and he attended St. Peter’s Bible School at which none of the teachers had higher theological education at that time.

¹⁶ Interview with Archbishop Andrew Mya Han on 12 February 2001. He said that the Church had very few educated clergy and lay workers. They were not well qualified in their respective jobs.

¹⁷ Interview with eight teaching staff of Bible Schools on 21 March 2001 and 3 October 2001 . Some of the teachers at these Bible Schools passed high school but some of them passed only middle school education. Due to the shortage of educated ministers the bishops assigned them to teach at these Bible Schools. These teachers could not read, write or speak English so could not enhance their theological knowledge. Students who passed through these Bible Schools served mostly as Catechists in rural areas. After some years the outstanding Catechists were ordained into priesthood. Also see, Nan Chin. Autobiography of ordained and lay ministers: Church of the Province of Myanmar. U Charli Press, 2000, 172. Rev Paul Pauk Kyine passed only sixth standard. He served as teaching staff at the St. Peter’s Bible School from 1982-90 and as principal from 1990-95. Then he was transferred as a parish priest in 1995 because the bishop of Toungoo recruited more qualified teaching staff and bishop himself served as the principal from 1995 up to the present, that is 2007.

¹⁸ Interview with 20 Sunday school teachers in the Diocese of Yangon 22-23 October 2003 when there was a short training for Sunday school teachers at St. George’s Church, Yangon. They all said that they tried their best to teach the children but they knew they could not teach effectively due to their limited biblical knowledge, teaching methodology and so on. There is no teaching for youth and adults in their respective churches.

¹⁹ Interview with former Archdeacon Joseph Than Pe and present Archdeacon John Thein Myint on 4 April 2003. Both said that most of the parish priests did not prepare these young people to receive confirmation. When they made investigation they found out that these young people did not want to attend preparation classes for confirmation because they were bored of hearing about church traditions, sacraments and biblical stories. They felt that these teachings were not practical in their daily life.

²⁰ The most appropriate persons to teach Catechism are the Catechists appointed by the diocesan bishop. But due to their low formal education and CE they are not capable to teach the pre-confirmation class. When the researcher interviewed the Bishop of Yangon and the Assistant Bishop on 1 May 2003 they said that they knew the situation but they really did not know where and how to start training qualified Sunday school teachers and Catechists. They knew well that one-week training for the Catechists and for the Sunday school teachers annually was not sufficient but they did not know how to improve and equip them.

²¹ Interview with Rev Shwe Min on 24 April 2004. He said that he prepared