[ACNS, by Rachel Farmer] The Dean of St John’s Cathedral in Hong Kong has been appointed as the new Bishop-Coadjutor of the Diocese of Hong Kong Island.

Bishop elect, Matthias Der, was one of four candidates standing for election last month and received the two-thirds majority in both the Houses of Clergy and Laity at a diocesan synod in November.

Archbishop Paul Kwong welcomed him into the new role during the synod at St Stephen’s Church, Hong Kong.

The Bishop elect has lived, studied and served in Hong Kong, Taiwan, the US, and Canada. He was ordained in 1990 in the Diocese of Toronto in Canada and was made an Honorary Canon of St James’ Cathedral, Toronto in 2007. In 2012, he was appointed Dean of St John’s Cathedral, Hong Kong in July 2012 and officially installed later that year in October.

Matthias Der is passionate about nurturing disciples and making the Christian faith relevant to people’s lives and is actively sharing the gospel, doing pastoral work and guiding the outreach ministry in ways that are relevant to society.

The new bishop will be Coadjutor Bishop until Archbishop Paul Kwong steps down as Bishop of Hong Kong – a role he took up in 2007.