In 2018, Fairfield Methodist Church (FFMC) will be celebrating our 70th Anniversary.
Pioneering work initiated by the late Rev and Mrs Herbert F. Kuehn in 1938 led to the planting of FFMC. Consequently, the Fairfield congregation was constituted as a Local Conference on 1 Feb 1948 with 20 members. The church has grown to its current membership of 820, holding five weekly services in English, Mandarin, and Cantonese.
There are also 27 small groups from the English congregation and 11 from the Mandarin Ministry, not including small groups in the Youth, Children, and Cantonese ministries.
FFMC’s vision is to be a disciple-making church, with the mission that every member be committed to “Magnify God, Multiply disciples, and Minister to all peoples in Singapore and beyond”.
When FFMC moved from 178 Neil Road to our current location at 1 Tanjong Pagar Road in July 1986, we retained our calling to minister in Chinatown through the Christmas-in-Chinatown events at Kreta Ayer Concourse in the late 1980s to 1990s, and the Blessing Projects started in 1999.
This is further evident through the establishment of Yong-en Care Centre in September 1996 as our community outreach arm in Chinatown. The mission of Yong-en Care Centre is to demonstrate God’s love through value-added community services and support for the needy individuals and families in Chinatown and beyond. Currently, it runs a dementia day-care centre and family services. Other services are being planned, and we pray that they will come to fruition soon.
FFMC’s Injured Migrant Workers Ministry to the Chinese, Indian, and Bangladeshi nationals provides both practical and spiritual support to our migrant workers who are injured in their course of work. This ministry offers practical love and care by meeting their daily needs and assisting in their compensation claims. Spiritual support is provided through befriending, fellowship, teaching, and prayer. While the major concern of this ministry is its sustainability due to high expenses and limited resources, God has amazingly and consistently provided almost exactly as needed every year.
What weighs most on the minds of our congregation here in Fairfield is our lease renewal, which is due in 2027. Fundraising efforts started earnestly in early 2016, and we are hoping to be able to secure our lease renewal of this piece of land we are currently sitting on.
We are confident that we will be able to stay in this community, to continue answering God’s call for us to reach those staying around the Chinatown area, and also those working in the Maxwell Road, Duxton Road, and Tanjong Pagar Road areas.
The opportunities for ministry in these areas are great and exciting. Many lives can be touched in these districts, and with the new MRT station right at our doorstep come 2021, the area around FFMC will be a hive of activity. We hope to be able to play an important role in God’s plans for those who are based in these areas, whether for work or residence.
As we look forward, we are excited about the ministry that can be done, and we seek your support, praying that we can fulfil God’s calling for us to stay on to minister to people for His glory.
The Rev Daniel Cornilius Tan and Daisy Lee –
are Pastor-in-Charge and administrative co-ordinator of Fairfield Methodist Church respectively.
Fairfield Methodist Church
(Trinity Annual Conference)
1 Tanjong Pagar Road Singapore 088437
Sunday Services:
8.30 a.m. and 10.30 a.m. English (Sanctuary); 10.30 a.m. Mandarin (Kuehn Hall); 2 p.m. Cantonese (Sanctuary); 7 p.m. China Nationals Ministry (Kuehn Hall)
Contact us:
Website: www.fairfieldmc.org
Photo courtesy of Fairfield Methodist Church