The Right Reverend Joseph Charles Hoare
霍約瑟會督
(1851–1906)
Innovator in Missionary Training
傳敎士敎育之父
Joseph Hoare was born into a family of clergymen. He ran Trinity College in Ningbo (1878–98) and was the fourth Bishop of Victoria and warden of St. Paul’s College ex officio from 1898 until his death in 1906.
In Ningbo, Hoare mastered the local tongue and honed his teaching methods, termed ‘evangelical theology through ambulando’. Field missions were front and centre: Hoare led students on preaching tours through rural villages, teaching directly by example; tours sometimes lasted up to ten weeks. His leadership of Trinity College bore fruit, producing dozens of Chinese clergymen by the 1890s, all determined to spread the gospel.
Following his consecration and arrival in Hong Kong, Hoare set about transforming St. Paul’s College into a school similar to Trinity: a dedicated seminary that would provide much-needed native clergymen to the bishopric. To this end, he ended the College’s general education programme in 1901 and cooperated with the Church Missionary Society (CMS), where the Bishop taught directly and the CMS provided additional personnel and resources. Outside of St. Paul’s, Hoare was part of a coalition that organised the founding of St. Stephen’s College at the turn of the century.
Sadly, Hoare’s work came to an abrupt end. While returning from an ambulando preaching tour, Hoare and four of his students perished at sea in Castle Peak Bay on 18 September 1906, among the many thousands who died in the 1906 Hong Kong typhoon.
In September 2021, the College held a commemorative service at Castle Peak Bay, marking 115 years since his death.