Pentecost Methodist Church
(Trinity Annual Conference)
4 Pasir Ris Drive 6, Singapore 519420
Sunday Services:
7.45 a.m. Peranakan/Indonesian Service
9 a.m., 11 a.m. English Service
11 a.m. Mandarin Service
Contact:www.pmc.org.sg, pentecost@pmc.org.sg or 6584-0297
It is not uncommon for someone to ask me, “Pastor, isn’t the name of your church a contradiction in terms?” By this, they mean the words “Pentecost”and “Methodist”. It also intrigues me when people, both locally and overseas, refer to us as “Pentecostal Methodist Church”. Well, suffice to say that those who have problems seeing Methodists as people of the Holy Spirit are probably unfamiliar with our Wesleyan history.
Although our church started much earlier, we only got the name “Pentecost” in 1964. No one seems to remember why we changed our name from Geylang Straits Chinese Methodist Church, except for the fact that our 12 pioneers first met to worship on Pentecost Sunday, 1932.
In recent years, the Lord has been calling us to rediscover our name. That is why, in 2013, we adopted a vision statement which has as its main theme“a people of power”. God was reminding us that the power of prayer is intimacy, the power of community is authentic love, and the power of witness is joy.
This year, the Lord showed us that to be a people of power is to be a people of the Word. We realised that Pentecost signified the giving of God’s Law on Mount Sinai (Exodus) before it represented the outpouring of the Spirit (Acts). Therefore, the church began a two-year Bible reading journey, with members encouraged to read a small portion of Scripture each day.
More importantly, our people were taught how to meditate on God’s word using the 4Rs: Read, Reflect, Relate, and Rest. Every member was given a specially-designed People of Power Journal to help us remember our time with God. To guide newer believers in doing the 4Rs, the pastors post a daily devotion via our church mobile app, MyPMC.
Lastly, our journey in the Word will include 40 sermons on the book of Romans spanning the whole year. We are currently in Chapter 7, and it has been an amazing learning experience both for the people and the preachers!
In 2013, when the Lord spoke to us concerning our name, He also remindedus of our mission in Pasir Ris. In 1994, the church moved out of our comfort zone at Koon Seng Road to follow God’s call to a new town in the extreme east. Since then, the church has doubled in size, and by God’s grace has blessed our neighbours through our kindergarten, social concerns initiatives, and family-friendly activities.
On 3 April last year, we hosted 400 very special guests to lunch and dinner forour Good Friday Banquet (pictured below), following Jesus’ instructions to show hospitality to those marginalised by society (Luke 14:12-14). Church members served as ushers, chauffeurs, waiters, table hosts, performing artistes, logistics helpers and so on. God’s glory was revealed powerfully on that day as our people learnt what it meant to “wash the feet” of people whom Christ died for.
As Pentecost Methodist Church (PMC) continues to fulfill our call in Pasir Ris, we are reminded of the cost of doing so. Presently, the church has applied for a renewal of our 30-year lease, which ends in six years’ time. In April this year, we launched our lease renewal fundraising project, aptly titled“Building for our Next Generation”. The estimated amount to be raised is $5 million, within an expectedtimeframe of less than a year.
Despite the hurdles ahead, we trust that the Pentecost Spirit who has led us for 84 years will surely empower PMC to fulfill His Kingdom purposes, in Pasir Ris and beyond!
Photos courtesy of Pentecost 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.
The Rev Lai Kai Ming –is the 13th Pastor-in-Charge of Pentecost Methodist Church.