“Hello! Welcome to church!”
This might be what you’ll hear me say a lot of times on a Sunday as an usher.
Welcoming all who attend Sunday service and directing them to their seats is essentially what ushers do. However, there’s a lot of thought that goes behind how ushers work together to provide the warm atmosphere as the first point of contact, when someone enters the sanctuary.
What would happen if someone called together a congress of 5,000 Christians from 200 different countries, from a wide range of ethnicities, ages, theological backgrounds and worship styles? And imagine adding to this, another several thousand joining in the conversation online, across multiple time-zones. What would result? Would this great pooling of diversity and difference result in division and disharmony? Or would this be an opportunity for the global Church to display and declare its unity in its Lord Jesus Christ? This was exactly what took place at the Fourth Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization (L4), held in Incheon, South Korea from 22 to 28 September 2024.
It’s Time to Prioritise Mental Health in the Workplace. This is the theme adopted for this year’s World Mental Health Day (10 October 2024). Recent years have generated more awareness of the importance of mental health. Today, mental illness afflicts many more of us than we used to think. We would be wise to acquaint ourselves with the different ways to promote stronger mental health in our families and friends.
Over the last few years, I have facilitated an annual workshop on mental health for Methodist youths and young adults from Chinese Annual Conference (CAC) churches. I always have a good time leading the workshops because the attendees are very engaged.
Jane’s story of her horrific abuse at the hands of her father was published in Methodist Message October 2023. While sharing her unimaginable ordeals was, to some extent, cathartic and empowering, her journey in search of healing and closure remained a dark and unending road. However, with family support and help from a therapist, the lights have turned on along her way.
I supervise someone at work. She has been in this role for almost 20 years. While I try to empower and not micromanage, I have realised that she is often not able to work independently and/or think proactively about improving work processes. How do I encourage or help her to understand that she has to think more independently instead of having me tell her what to do? ~ the reluctant supervisor
This year on 8 September, over 700 members and guests gathered at a Combined Worship Service to celebrate 30 years of God’s faithfulness to Covenant Community Methodist Church.
Every Christian aspires to obey God, avoid evil and do good. But some modern-day predicaments are not discussed specifically in the Bible. How, then, can we apply biblical principles to our lives? In this 9-part series, The Methodist Church in Singapore shares reflections on its Social Principles which, more than ever before, can help believers live by God’s firm principles in today’s volatile and complex world.
Mental health issues in the workplace are such an important concern nowadays. Whether it is open articulation or implicit concurrence, when one talks about the workplace and mental health, the word “stress” comes to mind.
When asked some months ago to conduct a workshop on relationships with in-laws, I was both intrigued and challenged. I was intrigued because I had only recently entered the phase of becoming and acquiring in-laws. I was challenged because although it is an important topic, as reflected in the number of clients who have come for counselling for in-law woes, not much research or material has been written about it.
