SINCE 2008, all the six Anglo-Chinese Schools here have seen groups of students’ fathers meeting up regularly to pray for the students and their families. Known as Fathers’ Prayer Groups, they meet at pre-arranged times with each school appointing a coordinator.
The Anglo-Chinese School (ACS) Fathers’ Prayer Movement began in 2002 at ACS (Junior). Then-Principal Mr Peter Tan noticed that the existing Parents’ Prayer Meeting was attended mostly by mothers. He was led to call for fathers to pray, applying the teaching of Bill Gothard of the Institute of Basic Life Principles that fathers provide the umbrella of protection and coverage for their wives and children.
Mr Tan, who is now Principal of ACS (Barker Road), sent out invitations to the fathers of students in ACS (Junior), expecting that even if two or three gathered, God would hear them. e first meeting had an attendance of 12 men and since that day, there were no fewer than 12 fathers turning up to pray in ACS (Junior).
When the first batch of praying fathers moved on with their sons to other schools in the ACS family two years later, Mr Tan shared the idea of the Fathers’ Prayer Group with his fellow principals and left it to the fathers, the schools and the Spirit to lead.
Over the next few years, the motivation spread and by 2008, all the schools in the ACS family had started a Fathers’ Prayer Group.
Since the inception of the Fathers’ Prayer Movement in 2002, the fathers have always come together for a retreat. As the number of groups grew, an annual summit was organised to encourage and fan the flame of prayer amongst fathers as they take their place of leadership in their family.
Shared Mr Tan: “ The praying father plays a critical role in God’s Kingdom as he stands in his place for his family, as well as corresponding with God for the families in the school.
“Fathers praying also set an example for their children. e child knows that the father is going for a prayer meeting in the school. is sends a powerful message of the father’s love and care for his child’s education and development. is, I hope, will also lay the groundwork for the child to one day become faithful in prayer.”
For more information, please contact any of the schools listed below, or Mr Tan at peter_tan@acsbr.org about setting up Fathers’ Prayer Groups in other Methodist schools.
MSM faculty to give March recital
EACH YEAR, faculty members from the Methodist School of Music (MSM) take the stage, sharing musical gems with the public.
This year, they will put up a recital entitled “Sonic Streams”, which will be held at the Esplanade Recital Studio on March 24 at 7.30 pm. Members from the string, flute and piano faculty of the MSM will present solo and chamber instrumental music.
The recital will feature Mark Chang on the flute, Lydia Wong and Judy Tay on the viola, Chan Si Han on the cello, and Chee Sook Wan and Christine Lau on the piano.
The repertoire will include Mozart’s “Flute Concerto in D” and other solo and chamber works by Beethoven, Doppler and French composers.
Tickets are available from the MSM at $20 each, with concessions for students, NSF and senior citizens.
The recital will last 1 hour and 35 minutes, including a 15-minute intermission. Please call 6767-5258 for more details.
A Christian response to interspecies research
INTERSPECIES RESEARCH, which involves the mixing of human and animal genetic materials, is attractive because of its potential benefits to genetic science and medicine. How should Christians respond to such research?
Dr Roland Chia, Chew Hock Hin Professor of Christian Doctrine at Trinity eological College and Chairman of the Bioethics Committee of the National Council of Churches of Singapore (NCCS), has written a book on this topic entitled Hybrids, Cybrids and Chimeras: e Ethics of Interspecies Research.
Commissioned by the NCCS, the book explores the theological and ethical implications of interspecies research from a Christian perspective, in response to a report published in September 2010 by the Bioethics Advisory Committee (BAC) of Singapore. e report was titled Human-Animal Combination in Stem Cell Research, and recommends certain forms of chimera research, especially the creation of cytoplasmic hybrid embryos.
Dr Chia, a regular columnist of Methodist Message, has written other books dealing with Christian ethics, including e Ethics of Organ Trading, e Right to Die: A Christian Response to Euthanasia and Bioethics and the Church.
Hybrids, Cybrids and Chimeras retails at $14 (excluding GST) and is available at Armour Publishing (tel: 6276-9976).