THANK GOD FOR KEEPING HIS CHURCH

The Covid-19 pandemic has not only been hard on society but also the church. But we thank God for keeping us His children both physically and spiritually throughout the two years of lockdowns and restrictions. Some of us who had been infected with the disease have made full recoveries even our elderly and those unvaccinated. Thankfully, most of us have been spared from the disease. We thank God for His healing and His protection.

We also thank God for helping us conduct our worship services, Sunday School, fellowship meetings, prayer meetings etc online, and even physically when the situation allowed. Now we are almost back to norm and many members have returned to church for the Lord’s Day services, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” (Heb 10:25).

Here is an excerpt of our Clerk of Session Dn Wilson Tan’s report on the various ministries and activities of the church last year 2021 for our appreciation of God’s good hand upon us:

English Worship Service

3–10 January: 3 services at 9am, 10.30am, & 12pm, RELC Auditorium, limited to 50 per Service.

17 January–2 May: 2 services at 9am & 11am, Auditorium, 200 per Service.

9 May–15 August: 2 services at 8am & 9.30am, Rooms 603/4, 100 per Service.

22 August–12 September: 2 services, 8am & 11am, Auditorium, limited to 170 (vaccinated) per Service.

19 September onwards: 3 services, 8.30 & 10.30am at Auditorium, 170 vaccinated per Service; & 9am at Room 603/4, 50 non-vaccinated.

Services were livestreamed for members not able to attend physically.

Speakers: Pastor Jeffrey Khoo, Rev Dr Jose Lagapa, Rev Dr Park Seungkyu, Rev Zhu Jianwei and Pr Samuel Joseph.

Chinese Worship Service

3–10 January: 10.30am (limited to 50)

17 January–15 August: 11am (50)

22 August–12 September: 9.30am (50)

19 September onwards: 11am (50 vaccinated & unvaccinated)

Services were held in RELC Rooms 603/4 and livestreamed for members not able to attend physically.

Speakers: Rev Zhu Jianwei and Pastor Jeffrey Khoo.

Prayer Meeting

Prayer meeting continued every Friday evening, 7.45pm via Zoom.

Catechism Class

For new members. Elder Tai Mern Yee and Rev Zhu Jianwei taught the English and Chinese classes respectively.

Sunday School

Online via YouTube:

English – Pr Samuel Joseph teaching Isaiah (continued from last year) and Gospel of Matthew.

Chinese – Rev Zhu Jianwei teaching Genesis and Psalms, Elder Tai Mern Yee teaching Psalms.

Children’s Ministry

The Children’s Ministry was conducted online via Zoom: The Children’s and Teens’ Sunday School classes for students aged 3 to 16 at 4.15 pm and the Children’s Worship for children aged 3 to 12 at 5 pm.

Bible Study Groups

The Indonesian, Myanmar, and Korean Bible study groups continued to meet weekly online.

Special Services and Activities

Special services (Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Reformation, Christmas Eve and Watchnight) were conducted physically at RELC and online due to COVID-19.

Rev Zhu Jianwei was ordained a minister of the gospel through the laying on of hands by Rev Dr Jeffrey Khoo, Rev Clement Chew and Rev Dr Jose Lagapa at the Chinese Worship Service on 3 January 2021.

The 17^th Annual Congregational Meeting (ACM) was conducted online via Zoom on 25 April 2021, as allowed under the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act and (Alternative Arrangements for Meetings for Charities, Co-operative Societies and Mutual Benefit Organisations) Order 2020.

The Vacation Bible School (VBS) held from 2 to 4 June 2021 was conducted virtually via Zoom. The theme was “Knowing Jesus, the Great I AM”, and the theme verse was taken from John 14:6, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” A total of 107 children (including from Malaysia, Philippines and Australia) participated in this VBS.

There was no annual Church camp due to COVID-19.

The Church commemorated her 17^th Anniversary Thanksgiving on 3 October 2021, and the Chinese Service her 11^th Anniversary Thanksgiving on 2 May 2021. Both services were conducted physically at RELC and live-streamed online.

The special Christmas programme for children was conducted virtually via Zoom on 18 December 2021.

Choir Ministry

The Church Choir continued to minister to the congregation virtually due to COVID-19 restrictions. Lyric videos of hymns were recorded individually and combined using technology.

The Chinese Choir ministered to the Chinese congregation also through recorded singing of hymns which were presented online during Worship Services and Chinese Fellowship meetings.

Fellowship Groups

In 2021 the fellowship of the various groups met physically at Godhill (with Safe Management Measures) where possible; otherwise, due to restrictions in light of the ongoing pandemic, the meetings were held online with live preaching via the Zoom platform.

An overview of the activities of the various fellowship groups is as follows:

Adults Fellowship (AF)

Theme / Topic: End Times

Speaker: Rev Dr Jose Lagapa

Chinese Fellowship (CF)

Theme / Topic(s): Book Study: Colossians and Ecclesiastes

Speaker: Rev Zhu Jian Wei

Family Bible Fellowship (FBF)

Theme / Topic: Theological Musings

Speaker: Pastor Jeffrey Khoo

Filipino Bible Fellowship (FilBF)

Theme / Topic(s): Various themes

Speaker: Rev Dr Jose Lagapa

Ladies Fellowship (LF)

Theme / Topic: Be Overcomers

Speaker: Rev Dr Jose Lagapa

Men’s Fellowship (MF)

Theme / Topic: Men as Leaders

Speaker: Rev Dennis Kwok

Young Adults Fellowship (YAF)

Theme / Topic(s): The Christian Discipline (Acts and 2 Timothy) & Local Contemporary Issues in the Light of Scripture

Speakers: Pastor Jeffrey Khoo, Pr Samuel Goh, Rev Dr Jose Lagapa

Young People’s Fellowship (YPF)

Theme / Topic(s): Church History, Gospel of Mark, Hope and Overview of Christian Missions

Speakers: Pastor Jeffrey Khoo, Pr Samuel Joseph, Rev Tan Kian Sing, Rev Dr Jose Lagapa

YPF Camp: Overcoming Challenges as a Youth by Pastor Jeffrey Khoo (20–22 December 2021, Godhill).

“Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits” (Ps 103:1–2).