TRAC, ARPC and RHC collaborate to hold worship concert and workshops by CityAlight
Worship band CityAlight was in Singapore for a one-night only Worship Night, “One in Christ”, on 30 September 2023 at The Star Theatre. The Worship Night, and Workshops held on the Sunday after, were co-organised by Trinity Annual Conference (TRAC), Adam Road Presbyterian Church (ARPC) and Redemption Hill Church (RHC).
CityAlight, the worship band of St Paul’s Anglican Church Castle Hill in Sydney, Australia, is known for producing music with simple melodies and biblically rich lyrics. The TRAC Board of Worship and Music (BOWM) was in the process of inviting CityAlight for the annual In Deep Worship Conference this year when they learnt that CityAlight was already planning to come to Singapore in September. TRAC BOWM’s In Deep Worship Conference is an annual event to gather all who are involved in the worship life of our local churches to learn, be inspired, and be equipped in different aspects of worship and music. BOWM had wanted to inspire and encourage the worship and music ministries of TRAC churches with the ethos of CityAlight’s ministry, especially in songwriting.
“When the opportunity to partner ARPC and RHC arose to host CityAlight for the event (in lieu of the In Deep Worship Conference), we were glad to team up with them to bless the Church in Singapore,” said Rev Benjamin Fong of Barker Road Methodist Church (BRMC).
TRAC was responsible for hosting the CityAlight team and extending hospitality to them over their three days in Singapore. In addition, TRAC had the responsibility of designing, planning and implementing the set design which included a plant and floral installation. About 15 ladies from the combined floral teams of BRMC and Holland Village Methodist Church (HVMC) arranged the floral installation for the stage at the Worship Night, a familiar Methodist practice of floral arrangements as an expression of worship. BRMC was also the venue and host for the Workshops which took place on the following day.
“The team from CityAlight was very authentic and humble in their interactions with us. They took pains to emphasise that they are not celebrities but church folk who serve in the worship ministry of their local church. In fact, on one of the days, even though we catered a nice buffet spread for them for lunch, they were quite happy with McDonalds!” said Rev Jeremy Ong of HVMC.
“We were asked to help prepare a surprise for one of the younger team members from CityAlight whose birthday fell on the same day as the Worship Night. When they surprised him just before the Worship Night over dinner, we could feel such genuine warmth and love from the team members for one another,” Rev Ong added.
For the Worship Night, presale tickets allocated for TRAC were sold out within 24 hours. For the Workshops, an estimated 120 participants (about a third of the total) were from Methodist churches, many of whom were serving in their respective church’s Worship & Music ministries. The Workshops were divided into four tracks—for musicians, songwriters, worship leaders and audio-visual crew.
One such participant was Anthony Peh, Worship & Music Chairperson of Living Hope Methodist Church. “I was immensely warmed by the Worship Night, which was incredibly genuine. The CityAlight team share their hearts through the lyrics they write, and my prayer is that their songs will continue to impact the Church in a profound and personal way.”
Ethan Mok, the Youth Ministry Worship Service Head at Wesley Methodist Church, said, “The Worship Night was refreshing because CityAlight and the pastors didn’t focus on emotions or experiences, but on truthful God-centred worship.”
Another participant, Michael Lau, Pastoral Team Staff (Worship & Music) at BRMC said, “I am inspired to help BRMC set up a songwriting team within the worship ministry!”
