EMMANUEL Tamil Annual Conference (ETAC) has seen a growth in membership and attendance, mainly attributable to the increasing number of expatriate members being received.
The increase in the year 2008 of 16.5 per cent in the total membership of the Conference is primarily due to the formation of the Telugu Methodist Church (Singapore), although the quadrennial membership increase was slightly more than 25 per cent.
The inauguration of the Telugu Methodist Church (Singapore) was held on July 27, 2008 at Tamil Methodist Church, Short Street, making it the eighth ETAC church.
A ministry to university students initiated nearly three years ago has grown and is well received by foreign and local students alike. Their in-depth Bible studies were conducted by Pastor Paul Asveen, who is unfortunately relocating to India, and a new director is needed.
ETAC President the Rev James Nagulan made these points in his President’s Address, in which he reviewed the theme and events of the past year. His address was later accepted by the Conference.
He welcomed the new ETAC Women’s Society of Christian Service President, Ms Gnanamani Aruldoss. He noted that there are problems getting people to come forward to take leadership in an organisation that has done much in missions and evangelism, and recently, helping to reach out to the community and promoting a deeper study of the Word in order to help them grow and lead in serving the Lord.
He pointed out that the spiritual life of the ministers was supported by regular Friday prayers and a monthly fellowship meeting.
The lay leadership is expressed through the Conference Programme Boards, all of whom serve in their respective Local Church Executive Committees (LCECs), spending long hours in planning conference-level programmes. More such leaders are required to consider Conference leadership.
At issue also is that there is a lack of support for the programmes the Boards plan, and perhaps they need to be more aware of the needs of local churches.
Two concerns stand out: the Jurong Tamil Methodist Church has had to relocate to an Anglican church at the West Coast Recreation Centre. It is hoped that the congregation will be able to get a more permanent location; at the same time, Ang Mo Kio Tamil Methodist Church has to raise $780,000 for an extension project jointly with the Chinese Annual Conference and Trinity Annual Conference congregations, and the Rev Nagulan hopes that ETAC will fully support fund-raising efforts.
An important characteristic of ETAC churches is the influx of migrant workers and expatriate professionals. They should be welcomed by us as a Christian community, despite social and cultural differences, said the Rev Nagulan.
The responsibility may be called a “Mission at the Doorstep” or “Reverse Missions”, and is already taking place through worship services catering to these people, and he hopes that the new Board of Evangelism will be challenged to do even more to meet their spiritual needs.
Earnest Lau is the Associate Editor of Methodist Message.