There are concerns and challenges ahead for the Trinity Annual Conference (TRAC) in this new quadrennium (2025- 28), said the outgoing President, Rev Stanley Chua. And these include an ageing congregation and the use of AI in churches.

Making his last address as TRAC president at the 49th Session held at Paya Lebar Methodist Church from 18 to 21 November 2024, Rev Chua highlighted five pressing concerns:

1. An ageing congregation

The ageing ratio in Methodist churches is higher than the national average, said Rev Chua. The ratio of those who are 60 years and above in the 21 TRAC churches has moved up to 41.2 per cent in 2024, from about 25 per cent in 2017, representing  an  annual  growth of 8.5 per cent.

In contrast, the ratio of Singapore citizens who are 60 years and above, rose more gradually from around 25 per cent to 33.6 per cent, representing an annual growth rate of only 3.1 percent.

The implications of an ageing congregation are indeed pressing, given the limited increase in younger members. Rev Chua pointed out that TRAC membership grew at a compounded rate of only 1.3 per cent over the last 5 years, and 1.6 per cent over the last 10 years.

There are a host of practical implications because of an ageing congregation. These include a loss of institutional memory and leadership, a shift in ministry needs, financial sustainability and missional continuity and community impact. An ageing congregation brings changing ministry needs—more resources need to be channelled to end-of-life care, bereavement support and senior pastoral care, said Rev Chua. Also, an ageing congregation may focus more on inward care than outward mission, potentially impacting churches’ influence and witness in the broader community.

2. Re-engagement of retired pastors

A second concern highlighted by Rev Chua was TRAC’s current Pastors’ Re-engagement Policy, which mandates that retired pastors between 66 and 67 years old be re-engaged at 100 per cent workload and remuneration, while pastors above 68 years old be re- engaged with only 50 or 75 per cent workload and remuneration.

He suggested that a more flexible policy be adopted to honour the unique situations of each pastor and allow TRAC to make the most of a pastor’s gifts and experiences.

This flexibility would help to take into consideration that churches preferred full-time pastors.

3. Conference commitment

On this third concern, Rev Chua said that 90 per cent of the conference commitment now goes towards the salaries of pastors and staff. There could be a point when churches find it impossible to continue to increase their contributions and suggested that TRAC should consider diversifying its funding model with other streams of income.

4. Use of AI technology in churches

Rev Chua also voiced concern on the use of AI, which presents promising possibilities but also possible ethical and pastoral issues that need to be addressed. “We need to look into how to integrate the use of AI into our ministry while preserving spiritual discernment and pastoral efficacy.”

Sharing a video of a church in Germany that had adopted the use of AI to conduct worship services, he said, “AI, though efficient, lacks the empathy, spiritual discernment and relational understanding essential to truly engage in the complexities of people’s faith journeys. An over-reliance on it could inadvertently lead to spiritual disengagement and weaken the relational foundation that is so central to our faith community.”

Given these potential risks, Rev Chua suggested forming a taskforce to examine AI’s implications, establish ethical guidelines, and support churches thoughtfully as they integrate AI in their worship planning while upholding our commitment to human connection and spiritual integrity.

5. The call to maintain orthodoxy

Rev Chua’s fifth and final concern which he deemed possibly “our greatest challenge”, is upholding the orthodox faith that defines us as Methodists. He said, “Our founder, John Wesley, was a steadfast defender of orthodox Christianity and we must remain vigilant against any drift in our orthodox doctrine.”

“One of the most pressing challenges to orthodoxy today is the rise of liberal and revisionist theology, particularly on issues related to human sexuality,” he said. “Growing voices, particularly from Western contexts, call for the Church to revise its teachings on marriage, sexuality and gender under the banner of inclusivity and social progress.”

He emphasised the need to select pastors and leaders carefully, choosing those who are deeply committed to the orthodox faith and are equipped to shepherd the Church in sound doctrine.

Besides highlighting the five challenges ahead, Rev Chua also updated the Conference on two of his observations based on responses from churches to his Conference Directions 2023, as well as progress made on the proposals so far.

• Mobilising the laity
  Sharing his observation based on feedback received, Rev Chua stressed that mobilising laypersons to serve in full-time staff positions within our local churches is not solely about addressing the shortage of pastors, but it is also a matter of sustainability, particularly considering our ageing congregations.”Many of our churches are reaching a critical point where staff salaries consume a huge portion of the local church’s budget, limiting resources for other critical ministry areas. This is not a matter of diminishing the value of our full-time staff; rather, it is about being wise stewards of the resources that God has entrusted to us.”

• Accountability in leadership
  Another observation based on feedback received concerns accountability in leadership. Rev Chua said, “From the responses that I received on this direction, 10 of our 21 churches reported having no formalised systems to keep pastors and leaders accountable to each other,” he said. “This absence is rather troubling.”Rev Chua said the intent of this direction was to facilitate an accountability system where pastors and leaders could engage in healthy conversations to address warning signs of moral failings or abusive behaviours before it escalated out of control. Developing an internal accountability structure within each local church must include both pastors and lay leaders, fostering a supportive environment where they could engage in open, loving and preventive conversations, he said.

• Traditional worship services
  In 2023, Rev Stanley had highlighted the need to continue offering traditional worship services. To this end, Rev Benjamin Fong will be going on paid study leave, starting 1 August 2025, to pursue a Master of Theology (MTh) in Divinity and would be researching into how John Wesley ordered worship for the early Methodists.

• Streamlining and standardising Local Conference reports
  Adopted at the July 2024 Special Session, Rev Chua said a unified format for our Local Conference reports across the 21 churches would promote efficiency, consistency and clearer communication, ultimately supporting more effective collaboration and decision-making throughout TRAC.

• Wesley Sandbox: The Young Methodist Change Makers
  Conference Lay Leader, Mr Henry Tan, convened a taskforce in early 2024 to oversee the execution of this initiative, which had been conceived to engage and empower Methodists aged 15 to 35 to take the lead in shaping our worship services and outreach efforts through innovative, generation-focused ideas.In June, Mr Tan presented the Taskforce’s recommendations to the Executive Board, affirming that the vision behind this initiative was promising and well-aligned with our goals. However, it recommended an extended timeframe for implementation, considering the ongoing leadership transitions within our Conference. As a result, TRAC Executive Board decided in June 2024 to assign the Board of Laity, along with our Young Adults Taskforce, to carry this project forward into the next quadrennium.

• Lay supply pastors
  At the 47th Session of TRAC in 2022, Rev Chua highlighted the pressing issue of our shortage of pastors and proposed the idea of appointing “Lay Pastors” to help address this gap. He updated delegates that the Board of Ministry (BOM) has taken ownership of this initiative of appointing Lay Supply Pastors. BOM has completed their work and presented a report to the President in Nov 2024. The newly-elected President and BOM will present a concrete proposal in due course.

• Revised church membership manual
  Rev Chua said the TRAC Board on Discipleship & Nurture expects to complete the revision of the Church Membership Manual by 2025. He added that it was being reviewed because the current membership manual does not include any teaching of key Methodist doctrines.The new resource will offer study materials on Methodist doctrines, supported by videos and study guides, to enrich understanding and encourage active engagement with Methodist beliefs.