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A mosaic of disciples

At Holland Village Methodist Church (HVMC), we’ve decided to focus on becoming a church of disciples who are disciplers. We want to be a mosaic of disciples – a faith community that calls persons of all walks of life to believe and follow Jesus seriously, where loving God and loving others matter.

HVMC is almost two years old – we became the 45th Local Conference of The Methodist Church in Singapore on July 8, 2012, with 132 founding members. HVMC had begun as a preaching point in 2007 planted by the joint efforts of Barker Road Methodist Church and Anglo-Chinese School (International).

While relatively young, we have already established growing and vibrant work through our Outreach and Social Concerns Ministry, Filipino Ministry, Children’s Ministry, a strong Women’s Society of Christian Service chapter, and a growing ministry to the students, parents and teachers of ACS (International) which is our primary mission field. Sunday attendance has grown about 35 per cent since we first started.

We see our church as a mosaic of people drawn from different situations and experiences to a shared faith and purpose centered on the Lord Jesus. That is why our logo is formed by a mosaic of different shapes, and our church magazine is called MOSAIC.

Every mosaic reflects the design and intention of its creator. The way we fit together – how we journey together in unity of heart and mind – reflects God’s design.

Because this is so important, at HVMC we have identified five areas of activity that should exist in the life of every disciple who desires to live in obedience and love.

A ccountability for discipleship – taking sin and faithful living seriously

R everence for God – worshipping God with both praise and the witness of our lives

I ntegration of God’s Word – where the Bible infuses and shapes our attitudes and actions

S haring of life – being involved with each others’ lives, leading to real family intimacy

E ncouragement of service – doing good works in the church, community and marketplace

Together, these activities form the acronym ARISE, reflecting our hope that Isaiah 60:1 will be both our experience and witness, as a church that reflects the glory of God.

 

“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.”

Isaiah 60:1

Just like no mosaic is comprised of only one piece, but a pattern of myriad pieces, being a disciple means being part of the body of Christ – the church. For us to ARISE, we need meaningful relationships within our faith community.

At HVMC, we want to encourage flexibility and variety in our small groups. We recognise that the church draws people into community at different stages of their faith journey and in different seasons of life. We can have small groups of three, five or fifteen persons. We can have groups composed of a family or families, youth, or young adults. We can have women’s or men’s groups.

There is no compulsory form, just a common commitment to nurture disciples into disciplers for whom loving God and loving others matter, and to be actively working towards the disciple’s five areas of activities. Because of the Great Commission, every group should be ready to welcome and care for new persons.

Holland Village Methodist Church (Trinity Annual Conference)
61 Jalan Hitam Manis, S(278475)
Sunday service: 10.30 am (English)
Contact: 6476-7795 or visit www.hvmc.sg

PRAY * with Holland Village Methodist Church, and encourage us to follow Jesus seriously.

Pictures courtesy of Holland Village Methodist Church

We continue our series of profiling local churches from our three Annual Conferences of The Methodist Church in Singapore. As we come to have a better understanding of each other’s history and ministry, there may be opportunity to forge cross-church partnerships and collaborations.

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The Rev Bernard Chao is Pastor-in-Charge of Holland Village Methodist Church.

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