A historic gathering calls Trinity Annual Conference to hunger for more of God
On 14 March 2026, about 1,300 Methodists came together at Paya Lebar Methodist Church (PLMC) for the Trinity Annual Conference (TRAC) Prayer Conference, themed “I Say Yes”. The Prayer Conference drew inspiration from 2 Chronicles 7:14–16.
“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that my name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time.”
Organised by TRAC, a grouping of 21 churches under The Methodist Church in Singapore (MCS), the Prayer Conference unfolded in three segments. The first called participants to draw near to God—to listen for his voice and realign their hearts with his purposes. The second focused on receiving God’s restoring touch, bringing wholeness to hearts and healing to broken or strained relationships with him, with families and with the Church. The third, drawn from verse 16, led the congregation into consecration—to say “yes” to God in dedicating their lives to his calling.
A people of prayer
The road to the conference began years earlier, and perhaps one could say, was decades in the making. Past TRAC prayer gatherings included “Hour of Renewal” prayer meetings, held every Monday at Wesley Methodist Church in the late 1990s. There was also the “Day of Prayer” every New Year’s Day in the late 1990s to early 2000s.
When the Prayer Conference organiser’s chat group was formed on 2 September 2025, participants began praying daily and continued until the day after the event. For the TRAC Intercessors Corps, it was the fulfilment of years of daily intercession.
Prayer is the very essence of the Christian life, and our desire is to see every Methodist walk intimately with God through prayer. Beyond prayer itself, we longed for the tangible presence of God and genuine encounter with him.
This was how TRAC President Rev Reuben Ng framed the Prayer Conference: It was not to be a matter of numbers or another item included in the Annual Conference report. “We are gathered here as one Conference with hearts united, to hunger for, and to seek the face of God,” he said.
We are gathered here as one Conference with hearts united, to hunger for, and to seek the face of God.
~ TRAC President Rev Reuben Ng
Worship segments were seamlessly integrated into the Prayer Conference programme
He called on participants to move beyond gratitude for past blessings into a deeper longing. In his prayer, he said, “God, we thank you for your faithfulness over these few years, over these few decades. We thank you for what you’ve accomplished through us. We thank you for blessing us with everything that we have now. But Lord, we want more. We believe that as the Trinity Annual Conference, you can do more through us. And so we’re coming together and saying, Lord, we want to seek you and we want to posture and position ourselves so that you can do more in and through our Conference, in and through our 21 churches—not for the sake of our Trinity Annual Conference banner or flag, but so that we can reach the nation of Singapore and the countries beyond its shores.”
Children, too, were included in the gathering, a deliberate choice reflecting the belief that lasting revival must span every generation. The inclusion of the young underscored the urgency of seeing the next generation engulfed in the fire of revival.
Stories of healing
The Prayer Conference was marked by testimonies of healing. Among the most striking were two women who came forward in response to a call for prayer for leg conditions. After praying for them, both were able to run up and down the aisle!
One of these ladies (who preferred to remain anonymous), shared, “For the first time, I woke up with my left knee in pain this morning. I had to walk very slowly to come to PLMC and stand up slowly for worship. After coming forward to pray, the pain is now gone. The pastor asked me to run to the back of the aisle and to the front. I could do it with ease!”
Another lady, who wanted to be known as “Sharon” from Barker Road Methodist Church, shared that she had fibromyalgia and suffers from pain and insomnia. She went forward to be prayed for, and suddenly the pain left. She was in disbelief because as a medical professional, it defied logic to have no pain without any medication. But God spoke to her, gently chastising her for her disbelief. She then decided to come forward and record her testimony on video, admitting that it was rather ungrateful of her to disbelieve a miracle after experiencing it!
A gentleman who wished to remain anonymous came forward. He had a month-old elbow injury. “I hadn’t seen a doctor for it; I was waiting for something. Pastor Fred laid hands on me and my elbow, and he prayed. I didn’t know what my condition was, but God knew. By the time I returned to the pew, the elbow guard I was wearing was no longer needed. I took it off so that I could worship more freely!”
There were opportunities to pray in small groups and as a Conference
Carrying the fire home
The organising committee was emphatic that the conference was not a one-time event. The vision was captured in a prayer shared in the group chat the following day.
“I saw a train departing for the next station. At every stop, members alight at their appointed places, each carrying back what they have encountered with you. Lord, each one will bring your fire back to their home church. Let that fire burn so distinctly and so brightly that it spreads from life to life. May your Methodist Church truly experience revival!”
The hope expressed was that all 21 TRAC churches would become houses of prayer and that what was experienced at PLMC would ignite hearts across every congregation. As the organising committee noted, this may not be like the 1972 Clocktower Revival, but it was the beginning of something good that God had orchestrated—a Methodist family united in prayer.
A praying church is a growing church, and prayer is the furnace of the church. Let us light the fire and fan these flames of revival, so that the Church may grow, move in God’s will, and reach the lost.
Hear from those who attended
It was a refreshing time to seek God and hear from him, together with the many who turned up! I was also glad for the chance to pray with other brothers and sisters in Christ from the family of TRAC churches across the generations.
~ Eugenia Chioang, Kampong Kapor Methodist Church
Prayer as led by the Holy Spirit—that was what I needed to rediscover as a way of life. Am excited to be part of what I believe is a significant point in Methodist history!
~ Rachel Ong, Faith Methodist Church
John Wesley said, “Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not whether they be clergymen or laymen, they alone will shake the gates of hell and set up the Kingdom of Heaven upon Earth.” At the prayer conference, I didn’t see one hundred but more than a thousand people hungry and on fire for God!
~ Tan Bao Ling, Charlene, Bedok Methodist Church
Jesus loves me, this I know. I know it, I sing it, I teach it in the children’s ministry. That day, I sung it to myself. Tears welled up, then the dam burst. I was openly weeping with unbridled joy. How can I not say yes?
~ Anonymous
Rev Collin See is a pastor at Pentecost Methodist Church and part of the TRAC Prayer Conference organising committee. / Photos courtesy of Esther Soon and Jowell Chee from Faith Methodist Church
