The expanding ministry of Vijayee Methodist Church makes a building upgrade necessary to keep up with the growth of the church. The literacy rate is gauged to be lower than the national average of 57 per cent. Yet, in this challenging environment, Vijayee Methodist Church (first set up in 2007) is growing steadily, becoming […]
Chinese New Year (CNY) is an important festival in the Chinese calendar – the beginning of the lunar year symbolises the act of “starting over”, with renewed hopes for happiness and prosperity. It is also a time to renew ties with family and friends, through family reunion dinners and social visits. However, celebrations are traditionally […]
… how the brain affects many aspects of human behaviour ranging from mental illness to how differently men and women fall in love. Last December, I attended a conference named “The Evolution of Psychotherapy”. Held every four years, it gathers leading researchers and clinicians in the fields of psychiatry, psychology and counselling to present […]
If we are to make resolutions for the new year, we could consider once again following the instructions in the General Rules. This will be of great help to us as we continue to evidence our faith in our lives. The latest edition of The Book of Discipline of the Methodist Church in Singapore (BOD) […]
“Religious harmony is not about harmonising religions and beliefs, but about finding harmony between people of diverse religious faiths.” In these days of increased religiosity, the need for inter-faith dialogue has become more pressing. Yet, for the church, this need has never been an easy thing to acknowledge. The reason is not hard to find: […]
Festivals bring families, relatives and friends to reconnect with one another. They draw communities together and serve a unifying purpose. Festivals were integral to the lives of people in the Old Testament. There were daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly festivals. Most of these were religious, as instructed by the Law. Even feasts such as birthdays, […]
In our December 2013 issue, we reported on the devastation wrought by the strongest typhoon recorded in terms of wind speed to ever hit portions of Southeast Asia. With 14.1 million people affected, and 4.1 million displaced, the Philippines was the worst- affected country. While current news of this catastrophe may have fallen off the […]
Worship architects are wise to truly understand what takes place in worship and who the participants are. “There’s a method to my madness!” Have you ever heard anyone use this little idiom? It’s usually said with a smile when someone is trying to convince someone else that their crazy approach to doing something isn’t so […]
… I suggest that we at least do what common market practices inherently try to get us not to do – to think and take moral responsibility for our decisions however uncomfortable it may feel. Common market practices are those practices that are accepted as normal and are generally useful to make complex situations simple for […]
At the cusp of a new year, I pause at the hallway lined with many doors. There is the door of new beginnings, departing from the zones of the familiar, along uncharted pathways novel, fortuitous, with unanticipated pitfalls leading upland or down slippery slopes.There is the door of new relationship, enticing, alluring that could bring […]
