33RD SESSION OF EMMANUEL TAMIL ANNUAL CONFERENCE: NOV 7-8, 2008
THE Rev James Nagulan was reelected President of Emmanuel Tamil Annual Conference (ETAC) at its 33rd Session, which was held at Ang Mo Kio Tamil Methodist Church on Nov 7 and 8. He was voted in on the 6th ballot on Nov 8.
Thanking the delegates for their renewed confidence in his leadership, he assured them of giving of his best, with God’s help. Mr Stephen Shadrak was elected the Vice-President.
The 8th Quadrennium ended on a blessed note for ETAC as the Telugu Methodist Church (Singapore) was constituted on July 27, 2008 and became the 8th Local Church in ETAC.
Pastor Anil Kumar Samuel was ordained as a Deacon by Bishop Dr Robert Solomon. Pastor Anil was appointed as the Pastor-in-Charge of the Telugu Methodist Church (Singapore) by the ETAC President.
It was indeed a happy occasion for the Telugu members who witnessed his ordination and were commended by the Bishop for their participation in their first Annual Conference session.
In his sermon at the Opening Service on Nov 7, the Bishop urged the congregation members to “be on your guard and to grow spiritually”.
The Church today faces the danger of being an “open house that allows all kinds of things in”.
“We must be guarding at the door,” he said. “We must guard our spiritual lives.
Paul’s advice is important: ‘Watch your life and doctrine closely’ ” (1 Tim. 4:16).
“We are also called to grow spiritually as children of God. Notice that our growth has to do with our Lord Jesus Christ. Without building our relationship with Him,
we cannot grow.
“Growth is not to be measured in terms of our involvement in some programme, or even how many verses we have memorised, or how much we are doing for God. Growth is measured in terms of how much we relate to Jesus, how much we know Him, and love Him.”
Key officers elected include Mr R. Selvathurai as the Conference Lay Leader, Mr Solomon Joseph as Assistant Lay Leader, Ms Shanthi Jeremiah as the Conference Secretary, Mr Melvin Dineshraj as the Treasurer, the Rev R. Prabhu as Chairman of the Board of Nominations, Mr M. Geevananthan as Chairman of the Board of Finance, and Mrs Veronica Poore as Chairman of the Board of Presidency.
Shanthi Jeremiah is a member of Tamil Methodist Church / STORY AND PICTURE BY SHANTHI JEREMIAH
