“When Christians deprive others of legitimate rights, the Gospel is brought to disrepute,” was the emphatic opening statement by Dr Philip Satterthwaite, Principal of Biblical Graduate School of Theology (BGST), as he gave the first lecture at the ETHOS Public Conference on 30 Sep 2017. “When the Church fails to uphold justice, that is when […]
Recently, I was asked to conduct a seminar on worship for church leaders, including worship leaders. This church observes a certain order of service on Sunday which includes recitation of the Apostles’ Creed. I began by bemoaning the fact that many modern Christians could not appreciate the richness of a traditional liturgy, because they do […]
“Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.” – John 17:11 Since assuming office almost a year ago, I have had the opportunity to attend several Methodist regional conferences as well as interdenominational meetings. These were eye-opening experiences for me as […]
Did you know about this? “A member of any local Methodist church is a member of the total Methodist connection.” (¶108 of The Book of Discipline of The Methodist Church in Singapore) What does this mean? Fundamentally, it means: You are not alone. Most of us know this at some level; we know that the […]
The 25th Anniversary of the Methodist Missions Society (MMS) culminated with a banquet held on 27 Aug 2017 at The Fullerton Hotel. The theme of this banquet highlights the commitment of MMS in carrying out our Father’s business by being a “disciple-making movement that transforms lives”. My Father’s Business Banquet has been held since 1996 […]
On a recent trip to Manchester in August, I stumbled upon the Methodist Archives and Research Centre (MARC) at the John Rylands Library, located at the University of Manchester on Deansgate Road in the city centre. I discovered that the MARC had moved there in 1977 from its original place at John Wesley’s Chapel, City Road, […]
It is 2017! It is the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation! As we approached this milestone, I was asked again and again, “How are the Lutherans in Singapore going to celebrate this anniversary?” Each time I had to explain that we will certainly commemorate this occasion, but we are hesitant to call it a celebration […]
Statue of Martin Luther in front of the Frauenkirche in Dresden Germany. What event is commemorated on 31 Oct every year? A common response, including from Christians, would be “Halloween”. Some, perhaps a little more cognisant of the Church calendar, would reply “All Saints’ Eve”. If the response “Reformation Day” is given, it is usually […]
It has been 500 years since the Reformation movement occurred, but the Christian Church has a history that far exceeds that. Although the movement resulted in the emergence of Protestantism which split from the Western Roman Catholic Church, church history was not curtailed. Moreover, the Eastern Orthodox Church based in Constantinople remained relatively unaffected by […]
Stack of books and school bell on desk with chalkboard Many people hate history and find it boring or irrelevant, because they have learnt it badly, having to study it as a chronology of events and lists of names to be memorised. However, bookstores have shelves filled with history books, historical novels, and books of […]
