Bedok Methodist Church (BMC) celebrated 70 years of God’s faithfulness last year. Throughout its history, God has been at the heart of the church’s central narrative, shaping a church, a community and a movement.
God builds a church
BMC began as a little house church in 1946 when 12 members of the Geylang Straits Methodist Church gathered for their first gospel service in an attap house chapel at Padang Terbakar. To meet the demands of a growing congregation, a piece of land fronting Bedok Road was bought, and a church building was built and dedicated in 1953. As the church continued to grow, the building was torn down in 1997 to build the current sanctuary.
The challenge BMC faced was to be a beacon of light in its vicinity. In the early days, the church was surrounded by kampungs or small communities which later gave way to private residential estates. Nearby Housing Development Board estates in Bedok and Tampines mushroomed, housing over 500,000 residents. Therefore, the church began to see a constant flow of visitors, such as working professionals, young families, and expatriates working in Singapore. BMC today is home to about 1,200 worshippers.
God builds a community
On defining the church’s vision in the 1990s, then-Pastor-in-Charge Rev Edmund de Souza recalled: “It was an exciting time. Together, the pastors and members dreamed a dream to make disciples for Jesus Christ.”
With that goal in mind, BMC has been intentional in discipling its members and seekers through its 65 care groups, discipleship groups, corporate Bible studies and Alpha courses. There has been a renewed sense of revival, particularly since the 2000s, where worshippers have learned the joys of spending time with God and growing in intimacy with Him.
Over the years, BMC has been described as a family church, characterised by its warm hospitality and acts of service. It has a vibrant community, where children, youth and seniors are actively involved in worship, prayer and social concerns.
God has also inspired a missions-minded church. Today, BMC supports 17 full-time missionaries who serve in cross-cultural communities in Cambodia, Philippines, East Asia, the United Kingdom and Singapore. The church regularly sends out short-term mission teams, young and old, to share the gospel with marginalised, least-reached communities in Asia through word and social action.
God builds a movement
What does the future hold for BMC?
With the recent plans to develop Bedok Road and build an MRT station nearby, BMC anticipates God bringing about physical change, preparing the church for expansion and renewal in the near future.
The church also looks forward to God bringing about spiritual and emotional transformation, equipping us to love Him and His mission for the world. The history of the church has not been without brokenness, conflict and loss, yet God has used these very vulnerabilities to teach us love, redemption and authenticity in community, and to share these precious truths with the people we reach out to.
The Rev Khoo Kay Huat, Pastor-in-Charge of BMC, said: “In Isaiah 43:19 (NIV), God says ‘See, I am doing a new thing!’ We are in the midst of change (including a new church logo), seeing ourselves not just as a church or a community but also a movement. Without compromising the Gospel, there is a sense of the need to change, so that we can adapt and communicate the Gospel in a relevant yet powerful way that makes sense to the world around us.”
Bedok Methodist Church
(Trinity Annual Conference)
86 Bedok Road, Singapore 469371
Sunday Services:
8.30 a.m. English, 8.30 a.m. Youth, 8.30 a.m. Children
11 a.m. English, 11 a.m. Mandarin, 11 a.m. Children
5 p.m. English
Saturday Service:
5 p.m. (alternate weeks)
Contact us: www.bmc.org.sg, office@bmc.org.sg or 6448-4215
Tan See Keen –
is a missionary with Operation Mobilisation and has worshipped at Bedok Methodist Church for 30 years.
Bedok Methodist Church’s Frontliners (youths aged 12-20 years) serving as ushers in the Sanctuary during Nurture 1 Sunday.
Photos courtesy of Bedok 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.