Francis Ah Mya Explained

Francis Ah Mya was an Anglican Archbishop^[1] in India and Burma (now Myanmar) in the mid-20th century.^[2]

He was educated at the Bishop's College in Calcutta and ordained in 1933. He was a tutor at the Divinity School, Rangoon from 1933 to 1940 and then the incumbent at St Matthew Moulmein until 1949. He became archdeacon of Toungoo in 1946^[3] and was placed in charge of St Peter's Bible School when it was moved to Kappli.^[4]

He was appointed to the episcopate as assistant bishop of Rangoon in 1949; he and John Aung Hla were the first native bishops in Calcutta.^[5] He was consecrated a bishop on Pentecost day (5 June), by George Hubback, Bishop of Calcutta, at St Paul's Cathedral, Calcutta. In 1966 he became its diocesan^[6] and in 1970 established a new Anglican Province with himself as Archbishop,^[7] resigning in 1972.^[8]

Ah Mya transformed Rangoon into an autonomous province independent of the Province of India, Pakistan, Burma and Cylone;^[9] he also worked on lay associations within the church as well as self-supporting projects and an evening Bible school.

In 1981, he reopened the Mindon mission.

WWII

During the Second World War he was held as a prisoner of war by the Japanese. It was said that he became the leader of other POWs. He managed to persuade the Commandant to release other prisoners and himself under a plan given to him by God. — This story is told in the book "Going My Way" by Godfrey Winn.

Notes and References

1. http://anglicanhistory.org/asia/burma/appleton1946/ Project Canterbury
2. Crockford's Clerical Directory 1975-76 London: Oxford University Press, 1976
3. http://anglicanhistory.org/asia/sea/my-ang-tl.html Anglican History website, Time Line of The Anglican in Myanmar Church of the Province of Myanmar (Burma), 1825-2001, by Bishop Stephen Myint Oo Than (December 2004)
4. https://www.anglicanmyanmar.org/history.php Church of the Province of Myanmar (Anglican) website, History
5. https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=JHgxEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT300&lpg=PT300&dq=Francis+Ah+Mya++anglican+church&source=bl&ots=oFyfn7AkHa&sig=ACfU3U2T7mkGLBRn2KXa0m2iS0CVgE5jnA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjbxoHB66-EAxXXUUEAHWj-Bj04ChDoAXoECAIQAw#v=onepage&q=Francis%20Ah%20Mya%20%20anglican%20church&f=false Google Books website, Christianity in East and Southeast Asia, edited by Ross Kenneth R. Ross
6. New Bishop Of Rangoon The Times Tuesday, Jun 07, 1966; pg. 12; Issue 56651; col D
7. https://www.uspg.org.uk/worldwide/global-relationships/myanmar-2099.php United Society Partners in the Gospel website, The Church of the Province of Myanmar (CPM)
8. http://www.ttc.edu.sg/csca/rart_doc/ang/my-ang-tl.html ttc
9. https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=rbwKNhBueasC&pg=PT365&lpg=PT365&dq=Francis+Ah+Mya++anglican+church&source=bl&ots=fKfGwvRQyP&sig=ACfU3U0ziukjp1FMakdCPVgBU1_VY0Wg4A&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjbxoHB66-EAxXXUUEAHWj-Bj04ChDoAXoECAMQAw#v=onepage&q=Francis%20Ah%20Mya%20%20anglican%20church&f=false Google Books website, The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to the Anglican Communion, edited by Ian S. Markham, J. Barney Hawkins, IV, Justyn Terry and Leslie Nuñez Steffensen