Aldersgate Methodist Church (AMC) is located at Dover Road, a place which has a high number of educational institutions, and enterprises which are cutting-edge, forward-orientated and leadership-developing, poised to have significant impact on future generations locally and internationally. We are strategically placed at the “brain” of Singapore.
Our name – Aldersgate – reminds us of the encounter of the heart that John Wesley (the father of Methodism) had in a street by that name in England, in 1738. We are therefore called to be the Methodist Church of the “Encounter” – a place where people will have an inward encounter with God which will change their lives and transform their communities.
AMC began as Clementi New Town Pioneer Work in September 1977 under the Rev Denver Stone. The inaugural service was held on 9 Jan 1978 at the Singapore American School. By 6 May 1979, the church became the 13th local conference of Trinity Annual Conference and was named Clementi Methodist Church. The name of the church was changed in 1997 to Aldersgate Methodist Church.
Today, there are at least 21 ministries in the church. We have vibrant youth and young adult ministries: Youthphoria has 75 attendees, and the young adult ministry has 150. Many of these are from the Fairfield Methodist Schools and The Boys’ Brigade (BB). Several of our Local Church Executive Committee (LCEC) leaders are home-grown, mentored by those who came before them. They now mentor the younger ones.
A unique ministry we have is Animal Ministry. We hold an Annual Blessing of the Animals service in October along with a team who will pray for animals and their humans, provide bereavement support, and educate people regarding the Christian approach to animal rights and welfare. We also help out in small ways at the Christian-run Mercylight dog shelter, and the Lily Low Shelter for cats.
The primary challenge faced by AMC is limited space. We run an after-school care called Aldersgate Praise Centre which services mostly children from Fairfield Methodist School (Primary). During the weekdays, a large section of the church is cordoned off for this important and growing ministry (which has a long waiting list).
We would love to be able to do more for parents, helpers, uniformed groups like The Girls’ Brigade and BB, and workers from the nearby one-north offices (e.g. Fusionopolis, Mediapolis, Launchpad) and educational institutions (e.g. INSEAD), but are hampered by the lack of space. Our LCEC is at present exploring the possibility of a comprehensive revamp of our facilities.
When AMC came to our present location, the key area of ministry was clearly the Fairfield Methodist Schools. Over the last 10 years, the Lord has brought major changes to the surroundings of the church. The call is now to reach out also to the marketplace offices of one-north and the other international educational institutions just opposite our church. He will hold us accountable for our faithfulness in ministry to both the schools and the offices, our very close neighbours.
Aldersgate Methodist Church
(Trinity Annual Conference)
98 Dover Road, Singapore 139647
Sunday Services:
8.30 a.m. English (traditional),
10.30 a.m. English (contemporary),
10.30 a.m. Mandarin, 10.30 a.m. Youth
Contact: www.aldersgate.sg, contact@aldersgate.sg or 6773-1964
The Rev Dr Lorna Khoo –
is Pastor-in-Charge of Aldersgate 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, we may discover more opportunities to forge cross-church partnerships and collaborations.
Photos courtesy of Aldersgate Methodist Church