Moses Tay Leng Kong (Chinese:鄭靈光; born 1934) is a retired Singaporean Anglican bishop. He was the 7thBishop of Singapore from 1982 to 2000 and the firstArchbishop of the Province of Anglican Church in South East Asia from 1996 to 2000.
Tay was educated in medicine at theUniversity of Singapore.
Tay practiced medicine in Malaysia for eight years.
In early 1982, Tay was posted as director of theTan Tock Seng Hospital, following the career path that the Ministry of Health had charted, but a few months later tendered his resignation to be appointed as the Bishop of Singapore.[1]
Tay was Dean of theDiocese of Singapore from 1974 to 1982. In 1982, Tay was installed as the 7thBishop of Singapore.[2]
Philip Jenkins noted that when Tay visitedStanley Park inVancouver in the early 1990s, he was deeply troubled by thetotem poles he saw there. He concluded that "as artifacts of an alien religion, these were idols possessed by evil spirits, and they required handling by prayer andexorcism."[3] Jenkins goes on to suggest that this behavior "horrified thelocal Anglican church," which "regarded exorcism as an absurd superstition."[3]
On 2 February 1996, Tay was installed asarchbishop ofProvince of South East Asia.[4][5][6]
Tay was involved in founding theAnglican Mission in the Americas in the late 1990s to give support to orthodox Anglicans in North America. He was involved in the consecration ofChuck Murphy andJohn H. Rodgers Jr. as their bishops in 2000.[7]
In 2000, Tay stepped down as Bishop of Singapore and handed over his office toJohn Chew.[8]
Tay was one of the most outspoken voices in theAnglican Communion in opposition to the theological liberalism of theEpiscopal Church of theUnited States.[9]
| Anglican Communion titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Bishop of Singapore 1982–1999 | Succeeded by |
| New creation | Archbishop of South East Asia 1996–2000 | Succeeded by Datuk Yong Ping Chung |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
