The Methodist Church in Singapore (MCS) is the church that Methodists in Singapore belong to. The Church has 46 churches island-wide with around 42,000 members, and is the largest mainline Protestant denomination in Singapore.[1] Its current bishop and head of the Church is Bishop Dr Gordon Wong, who was elected at the 12th Session of the General Conference on 7 September 2020.[2]
The Church also has 15 schools, 13 kindergartens and five childcare centres under its umbrella.[1]
From this Singapore base, the mission then spread to the Malay Peninsula and Sarawak in the 1890s. The Methodist Mission in Singapore and Malaya expanded over time, eventually growing to the administrative status of a conference in the Methodist Church. Eventually, the church spread throughout Southeast Asia, leading to the establishment of the Southeast Asian Central Conference in 1950.
The Methodist Church in Singapore, which consists of 46 local congregations, is organised in conferences: general conference, annual conferences, district and local conferences.
Christ Methodist Church was established in 1930. It is situated along East Coast Road.
The General Conference, which meets every four years, is the highest decision-making body of the MCS, led by the elected Bishop and an equal number of elected representatives (both clergy and laity) from each of the three Annual Conferences. For day-to-day matters between sessions of the General Conference, the powers of the General Conference are to be found in the General Conference Executive Council (GCEC).
The General Conference is the only body that speaks officially for the church. No person, no paper, no organisation has the authority to speak officially for The Methodist Church, this right having been reserved exclusively to the General Conference under the Constitution.
The Women's Society of Christian Service (WSCS) was set up to help Methodist women grow in the knowledge and experience of God as revealed in Jesus Christ, challenge them to respond to God's redemptive fellowship, to make Christ known throughout the world and to develop a personal responsibility for the whole task of the Church. Its ministries include Spiritual Life, Social Concerns, Christian Education and Missions.
The Methodist Missions Society (MMS) was established in 1991 as the missions agency of The Methodist Church in Singapore. MMS seeks to establish indigenous churches supported by mission endeavours in communities across the region where there is no Methodist presence. The current focus is on the Asian region, particularly Cambodia, China, Nepal, Thailand and Vietnam, owing to their proximity to Singapore and the multiple opportunities to reach the large numbers of unreached people groups in these countries for religious conversion.
The Methodist Welfare Services (MWS) is the outreach and social-concerns arm of The Methodist Church in Singapore. It provides care, support and practical help to communities experiencing poverty in well-being – such as poor health, fractured relationships, broken dignity and financial distress – through an integrated range of 22 healthcare and social services. These include a home care & hospice service, nursing homes, a senior care centre, active ageing centres, the Christalite Methodist Home for the destitute, family service centres, parenting and marriage support, a debt clearance and asset building scheme, a girls’ residence and student care centre. MWS’ support extends to all, regardless of their ethnicities and religions.
The Methodist Church in Singapore is organised into three branches called "Annual Conferences" as each of them meets once a year. These are the Chinese Annual Conference comprising churches with largely Chinese-speaking congregations, Emmanuel Tamil Annual Conference for churches with largely Tamil-speaking congregations and Trinity Annual Conference for churches with largely English-speaking congregations. However, many churches now conduct services in languages other than the language appropriate to the annual conference that they belong to.
The three Annual Conferences are headed by the Bishop. Each of the three Annual Conferences is headed by a President.
Edwards, Norman; Keys, Peter (1996) [1988], Singapore – A Guide to Buildings, Streets, Places, Singapore; Kuala Lumpur: Times Books International, ISBN978-981-204-781-6.
Lee, Geok Boi (2002), The Religious Monuments of Singapore, Singapore: Landmark Books, ISBN978-981-3065-62-8.
Lau, Earnest (2008). From mission to church : the evolution of the Methodist Church in Singapore and Malaysia, 1885-1976. Singapore: Genesis Books. ISBN9789814222426.
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