Paya Lebar Methodist Church (PLMC) was established on 10 July 1932, and currently has more than 2,800 members. As God’s family, many of our church members meet regularly in cell groups to study His Word, minister to and pray for one another.
The vision that God has given to us is “We are a family blessed to bless the community and the nations”. We do this by becoming a ‘Redeeming Community’ that seeks to redeem the image of God in ourselves and others.
The church must not only function as a social agency or a ‘do-good club’. We must also carry the presence and power of God in our love for God and our neighbours. It is only through the carrying of God’s Presence that we can become a blessing to the community and the nations. We are learning to move in the power of God through the Holy Spirit in the community and the foundation of our ministry is the Word of God.
We built on our past thrust in missions by encouraging people to go on mission trips on three levels: Exposure trips with family and friends; at a deeper level of participation in the mission field; and as team leaders or going for field attachment for a season.
During our 80th Anniversary a few years ago, more than 100 mission trips were organised for the year and there is a continuing thrust to encourage people to go for missions. Besides the normal mission trips, we also conduct a leadership training programme (with materials by International Leadership Institute) in various cities and towns, through which more than 1,400 leaders have been trained. We have also held healing and teaching rallies, where God has surprised us with many miracles and healings and the faith of the people have grown.
PLMC also explores ways we can bless the community within a 5-km radius.
We are already ministering through our Family Service Centre, Hope Student Care Centre, PLMC Kindergarten, and our language ministries. We have also started to minister to the women and children in a nearby women’s shelter, to those in St. Luke’s Eldercare Centre in Serangoon, to a Kindergarten not attached to our church, and to two nursing homes. Gradually, our working partnership with the Braddell Heights community grew and today, PLMC is one of the key anchors for the National Day and Christmas programmes in our vicinity.
God has opened our eyes to see the homeless in our community who had been invisible to us until three years ago. We now visit them weekly in their regular sleeping places with hot drinks and snacks late in the night. Some have even become comfortable in attending our church services.
Most of the time, they come cleanly washed and almost indistinguishable from the other attendees. On the few occasions that they were not, the congregation still remained gracious and has received them as they would have received Christ. By the grace of God, seven of these persons have been baptised in the last two years.
Our ministry to the migrant workers has also borne fruit. The Men’s Ministry plays soccer and other games with them, and computer classes are conducted in their dormitory. Recently, we organised a walk to raise funds for injured migrant workers at a church anniversary and it was well attended by both migrant workers and church members!
There are many needs in the community and the nations that cannot be met by social action alone. These needs can only be met by the power and grace of God.
Please pray with us that PLMC will continue to grow in Power and Love – love for God and love for our neighbours.
Paya Lebar Methodist Church
(Trinity Annual Conference)
5 Boundary Road, Singapore 549954
Sunday Services:
7.30 a.m. Peranakan (Sanctuary)
9 a.m. English (Sanctuary), 9 a.m. Mandarin (Covenant Chapel), 9 a.m. Youth (PLMGSS, Concert Hall)
11.15 a.m. Filipino (Conference Room), 11.15 a.m. English Celebration (Sanctuary), 11.15 a.m. Mandarin (Covenant Chapel)
Contact us: plmc.org or 6285-1234
The Rev Dr Jonathan Seet –
is Pastor-in-Charge of Paya Lebar 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.