Kum Yan Methodist Church
(Chinese Annual Conference)
1 Queen Street, Singapore 188534
Sunday Services: 9 a.m. (English), 9 a.m. (Mandarin), 10.30 a.m.
(Junior Youth), 11 a.m. (Cantonese), 1.30 p.m. (Youth), 11 a.m. (Woodlands)
Contact: 6337-6196 or www.kumyan.org.sg
Kum Yan Methodist Church (Kum Yan) â translated as âthanksgivingâ in English
â has been teaching and leading our members to live out a life of love, harmony and unity within the community so that the Lord may â[bestow] His blessing, even life forevermoreâ (Ps 133:3) upon us.
In the past 36 years, the church has grown from one Cantonese congregation to six congregations of different ages and language groups, with a total of 1,000 worshippers who worship the Lord as one in love, harmony and unity.
From the ministries the church is now focusing on and thriving in, we can see that God is growing Kum Yan to move toward making disciples of all age groups in a loving environment, conducive to them becoming mature ambassadors of Jesus to bless lives wherever God places them, locally and globally.
The ministries which excite us most are:
Alpha Courses run in both English and Mandarin. We have just completed our 10th Alpha Run in November 2014. Many have come to know the Lord through Alpha. In 2015, we intend to hold two Alpha runs, trusting that the Lord would grant us extra favour in this Year of Jubilee.
The Childrenâs Church consisting of over 60 children from six to 12 years of age led by our excellent childrenâs pastor. Together with a group of committed adults, they devote time and effort to train up our little ones in the way of the Lord, so that when they are old they will not depart from it.
Members of our Youth and Young Adult Congregation continuing to be trained, mature in the Lord and become disciples of Jesus Christ. Over 200 youths are divided into four âtiersâ: the Junior Youth Connection, 13-16 years of age; the Teens, 17-20 years of age; the Youth; and the Young Working Adults.
We adopt a multi-tier-mentoring system to nurture the youths and to develop them within the respective tiers. Each tier is led by mature members of a higher tier who are slightly older. The Youth Pastor and the youth ministry staff mentor and oversee the leaders of the four tiers.
Community outreach to elderly residents inï the Crawford Street area by members of our Cantonese congregation, and collaborating with YMCA in the ‘MY Manna’ Project to deliver groceries and necessities to needy families in the Woodlands region. This latter initiative by our Woodlands congregation has led to other congregations joining in the work.
As Kum Yan looks forward to its 97th anniversary this year, I recall the time when I first came to the church as a theological student in 1990. By Godâs grace He led me, first becoming a pastor here and now its Pastor-in-Charge since 2011.
With technological advancements and the use of social media, much change has occurred in the world, in culture and in society. This has made it more difficult for the Church to respond to the diverse needs of the people. It is an increasing challenge to help our people keep their focus on Jesus alone, to have faith in God in spite of countering voices and shifting boundary markers.
As a church we are committed to our Vision of being a caring community, a lighthouse and home in the city; bringing hope and purpose through a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ to all peoples of all ages.
We are privileged to be the venue of the daily Morning Prayer convened by the leadership of the LoveSingapore network of churches since 1 July 2012. We believe Kum Yanâs destiny is tied to the destiny of our nation, the divine calling that God has upon Singapore, and we can do no less than follow where the Spirit of God is leading us.
PRAY for Kum Yan MCÂ as it continues to reach out to people of all ages.
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 otherâs history and ministry, we may discover more opportunities to forge cross-church partnerships and collaborations.
Photos courtesy of Kum Yan Methodist Church
The Rev Herman Kan is Pastor-in-Charge of Kum Yan Methodist Church.