Joy to the

community

“TOGETHER IN GOD’S MISSION”.

What’s new about this statement? After all, members of The Methodist Church in Singapore (MCS) have been working together going about God’s business these past 125 years since the MCS was founded in February 1885.

For 125 years, we have been blessed richly by God and by the earliest missionaries who came – and the others who came after them – and they had been working together in God’s mission. So now is a good time, as we celebrate this milestone, to share our blessing with the community, especially the chronically poor, and there is no better way to remind ourselves to do our bit for society than to work “Together in God’s Mission”. This, then, is our theme for the 125th Anniversary of the MCS.

This celebration is not so much about ourselves having a big party, significant though the event is, as sharing our joy with the community.

With that in mind, the Methodist Welfare Services (MWS), the social service arm of the MCS, has been given the task of spearheading a social outreach project to bless the community with the support of our church members and the entire Methodist community.

We aim to bless the community with $1.25 million, which will be disbursed to chronically poor families, each receiving $125 a month for 12 months .

The year-long programme will include connection-wide celebrations at the local church level on Sunday, Feb 28, 2010, a special Aldersgate Convention in May, a Young Methodist Leaders’ Conference in September, and a Walk planned for October. A Commemorative Booklet will also be distributed to all churches on May 22. 

The Council of Presidents is preparing a set of liturgies which all churches will use as part of their worship on Feb 28 to kick-start the celebration. On that day all our 44 Methodist churches will be shown a short video presentation on the MCS and a rallying call for the entire Methodist community to spread some cheer to the poor.

Aldersgate Convention 2010 will be celebrated with a Hymn Festival at Victoria Concert Hall on May 19, a Dialogue with the Bishop and the Annual Conference Presidents on May 21, and the Aldersgate and 125th Anniversary Thanksgiving Service on the evening of May 22. This is the first time that no foreign Wesleyan authority has been invited to speak as the Convention committee feels that the 125th Anniversary programme is an opportunity for church members to hear out our own leaders. Hence, the dialogue at which church members can seek answers on our
Wesleyan tradition from the Bishop and the three Annual Conference Presidents.

The Young Methodist Leaders’ Conference will be held from Sept 10 to 12. About 250 young adults are expected to attend.

The Walk is planned with the aim of rekindling church members’ interest in our Methodist heritage. The proposed 3-km route will take in Methodist buildings and heritage sites such as Wesley Methodist Church, the first Methodist Church set up in Singapore, Tamil Methodist Church in Short Street, the Baba Church, the former MPH at Stamford Road, the former Methodist Girls’ School and the former Trinity Theological College, both in Mt Sophia. Some 3,000 Methodists are expected to take part.