Ministries of True Life BPC
An extract of the Clerk of Session’s report for the year ended 31 December 2012 presented at the ACM of True Life BPC on 28 April 2013
The Church is blessed by the Lord with steady attendance in its worship services as well as prayer meetings, Sunday School and fellowship groups. Average attendance at each Lord’s Day for worship service is about 420, including children.
Worship Service
The Church holds its Worship Service every Lord’s Day, 10.30 am at the Regional Language Centre (RELC), 30 Orange Grove Road, Singapore 258352. The pulpit is jealously guarded, with only preachers of the same doctrinal persuasion, i.e. of the reformed faith, taking a stand for biblical separation and standing squarely on the perfect inspiration and perfect preservation of Scripture, are invited to preach the Word. Our preachers include: Rev Dr Quek Suan Yew, Rev Stephen Khoo, Dr Tow Siang Hwa, Rev Errol Stone, Rev Nguyen Gia Hien, Rev Dr Mark Kim, Pastor Jeffrey
Kyu, the pastor who had started the Service, decided to return to South Korea after graduating from the FEBC to help start a fundamental theological seminary in Seoul. The Korean brethren continue to worship every Sunday at RELC. They are no longer under True Life BPC, and are now in the process of registering themselves as Elim Church.
Children’s Ministry
The children are ministered to each Lord’s Day through the Children’s Ministry. They go to the 6th floor for the Children’s Worship Hour around 11 am after joining the Church Worship Service with the adults at 10.30 am until the offering time.
Prayer Meeting
Prayer meetings are held every Friday evening at the RELC, and for the first Friday of each month, Family Worship cum Prayer Meeting is held at the homes of True Lifers. In keeping with the format of John Sung revival meetings, the study of God’s Word is led by Pastor Jeffrey Khoo and followed by a season of thanksgiving and testimonies, whereby the faith of members are fortified by hearing how the Lord has been good to the brethren. Prayer meeting has a regular attendance of about 90, with a good number of parents bringing their children with them to pray and seek the Lord’s blessing.
Sunday School
The Adults’ Sunday School is an important teaching ministry that seeks to ground believers in the Word of God. It is held each Lord’s Day from 9.15 am to 10.15 am. In January 2012, Eld J T Joseph completed the book of Job. From February 2012, Bro Clement Chew taught the book of Romans. A distinctive feature of each lesson was the concluding session on “Lessons for Life”, these being applications derived from the chapter covered on that occasion. On average, the attendance numbered eighty, with a good mix of older and younger adults.
Chinese Sunday School is held each Lord’s Day from 9.15 am to 10 am at Tanglin 1, RELC. After Bro Lin Yang left for China in May 2012, Dn Tai Mern Yee and Bro Samuel Eio shouldered the teaching responsibility and they continue to teach the Book of Psalms to the Mandarin- speaking brethren. Average attendance is about 5-10.
The Children’s Sunday School is led by Mrs Jemima Khoo, and ably assisted by a committed team of teachers and helpers.
Catechism Class
Catechism class is held once a year for 12 weeks (January to March) for those who wish to be baptised, reaffirmed in their faith or join the church as members. Basic doctrines of the Christian faith and of the Bible-Presbyterian Church are taught. In 2012, the catechism class was conducted by Rev Stephen Khoo (English Service).
Evangelism
Door-to-door HDB flats’ evangelism is held at Toa Payoh every last Lord’s Day of the month, with close to 30 (including children) coming each time to share the good news of salvation.
Missions and Outreaches
The Church supports missions in Australia (Rev Nguyen Gia Hien and Brisbane B-P Church, and Rev Errol Stone and Faith Presbyterian Church, Perth), Malaysia (Dr Wee Tiong Soon and Kemaman Life B-P Church), Myanmar (Amos Go in Chin State, and Thang No and New Life Orphanage in Yangon), Palestine/ Bethlehem (Rev Danny Awad and Baraka Bible Presbyterian Church), and Africa (Missionaries Bai Eun Young and Joshua Yong, and Bible College of East Africa in Kenya and in Tanzania).
Choir Ministry
The Choir ministers to the congregation through music. The Church Choir is 30 strong and the Youth Choir, 18 strong. The Church Choir is led by Mr Tay Bee Heng and the choir committee. They sing every first Lord’s Day of the month as well as on special occasions. The Youth Choir is under Mr and Mrs Herbert Goh and they render a song item every quarter. Choir practices are held every Sunday after Worship Service.
Bible Study Groups
The Church has two foreign language Bible Study groups meeting on the Lord’s Day. The Indonesian and the Filipino Bible Study groups are led by FEBC students as part of their ministry practicum.
Adults Fellowship
The Adults Fellowship (AF) meets monthly on the 3rd Saturday at the home of Mr and Mrs William Teo. The group has completed the Study of Ten Commandments, Functions of the Ten Commandments and God’s Law Fulfilled in Our Heart by the Holy Spirit with Rev Quek Suan Yew. The children were ministered to by Mrs Jenny Kan who taught them Bible lessons. The Fellowship celebrated their 7th Anniversary on February 18, 2012 and Pastor Jeffrey Khoo was the speaker. For the evangelistic Christmas Carolling on December 15, 2012, the AF visited Mr Leong Kin Meng’s mother and his sister’s family as well as Dr Maurice Chew’s father-in-law to bring the gospel to the unsaved loved ones and to minister to the brethren’s families. Average attendance is about 15-18.
Chinese Fellowship
The Chinese Fellowship meets once every two months at the homes of its members where the Word of God is preached by ministers of the Word from churches of the same doctrinal stand and persuasion. What follows would be a time of testimony and hearty fellowship around the kitchen table. The Chinese Fellowship, other than fostering greater kinship amongst brethren, is also a giving ministry: brethren from the St John’s Home of the Elderly are always invited to the meetings, and the Fellowship presented a thanksgiving praise item at the Chinese Worship Service Anniversary in May 2012. Average attendance is about 15.
The Chinese Choir was started in August 2012. The Chinese Choir aims to encourage brethren to learn the good old fashioned hymns in Mandarin, as a means of grace to aid their spiritual lives. The Chinese Choir prays that through the singing of these hymns, unsaved loved ones, family and friends may also hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and be saved.
Family Bible Fellowship
The Family Bible Fellowship (FBF) seeks to build up godly families. It meets on the last Saturday of every month at the homes of various members to listen to God’s Word followed by fellowship over dinner. The group was privileged to have Rev Stephen Khoo who conducted a study of the book of Genesis. The children were ministered to by mothers who were teachers in the Children’s Sunday School. On January 28, 2012, the FBF held their 7th Anniversary at the home of Mr and Mrs Ng Choon Seng and the speaker was Rev Stephen Khoo. The FBF Outing was held at West Coast Park on May 26, 2012. On September 29, 2012, the FBF and YPF had a combined meeting and fellowship at RELC where Rev Stephen Khoo was the speaker. Average attendance is about 50.
Ladies Fellowship
The Ladies Fellowship (LF) meets every 1st Wednesday evening of the month at 7.45 pm at the RELC. The Fellowship welcomes all True Lifers, and not just the ladies of the Church, to come and be spiritually uplifted by the Word of God, and be encouraged by the sharing of prayers and testimonies. The LF was blessed by Pr Dennis Kabingue who did a chapter-by- chapter study of Galatians and Colossians on “The Work of the Lord and the Glory of Christ”. Following the exhortation first given by our beloved founding Pastor, the late Rev Timothy Tow, to give to missions, the LF has been giving to the Bible College of East Africa in Kenya. The LF celebrated her 8th Anniversary on February 1, 2012 and the Lord’s messenger was Pastor Jeffrey Khoo. Average attendance is about 15.
Young Adults Fellowship
The inaugural meeting of the Young Adult’s Fellowship (YAF) was on October 20, 2012 at Pastor Jeffrey Khoo’s residence. The motto of the Fellowship is “A Living Sacrifice” (Rom 12:1-2). The YAF meets on the first and third Saturday of the month at the home of its members. The average attendance is about 15.
Young People’s Fellowship
The Young People’s Fellowship (YPF) ministers to about 25 young people, ranging from primary school to young adults. It meets every Saturday at Berean BPC. The YPF Motto is “to know Christ and to make Him known.” The youths adopted the theme “Risen with Christ” taken from Colossians 3:1 for 2012. Besides studying God’s Word, the youths have activities like combined Bible Study with brethren of Berean BPC on the last week of the month, cottage meetings at the homes of Church members, combined meetings and youth conferences with the YF of other like- minded churches. The 8th Anniversary was held on March 3, 2012 at RELC, and the speaker was Pastor Jeffrey Khoo who spoke on “The Word for the Young”. The YPF Camp was held at Resort Lautan Biru, Mersing for 5 days, December 25-29, 2012. Pastor Jeffrey Khoo was the theme speaker and Bro Joshua Yong, the devotion speaker and they spoke on the theme: “Faithful to the End”.
Special Services and Activities
The special services on the Church calendar included the Good Friday Service April 6, 2012, Easter Sunrise Baptismal Service at Labrador Park, April 8, 2012, Christmas Eve Service, December 24, 2012, and the Watchnight Service, December 31, 2012.
The 8th Annual Congregational Meeting was held at RELC on April 29, 2012 at 9.15 am.
The 2nd Anniversary Thanksgiving of the Chinese Service was held at RELC on May 6, 2012. Rev Koa Keng Woo was the Lord’s messenger.
The Sunday School Teachers’ Training Seminar was held at RELC on May 19, 2012 and the speaker was Rev Dr Quek Suan Yew who spoke on “The Why of Christian Education”.
The 5th Vacation Bible School (VBS) was held from May 30-June 1, 2012 at Calvary Pandan BPC. The theme was “Transformed in Christ”. There were 59 children who signed up for the activities and an almost equal number of volunteers to assist in teaching and running the event.
The 9th Church Camp, June 11-15, 2012 was held at Rainbow Paradise Beach Resort, Penang, with 273 campers. Speakers were Pastor Jeffrey Khoo (English Service) and Rev Koa Keng Woo (Chinese Service) who spoke on the theme, “Knowing the Will of God”.
A Combined Filipino Gospel Rally conducted by the Filipino Fellowship (Calvary Pandan BPC) and the Filipino Bible Study (True Life BPC) was held on July 15, 2012 at Calvary Pandan BPC and Pastor Jeffrey Khoo spoke on “Prepare for that Appointment”.
A total of 350 (including children) attended the 9th Anniversary Thanksgiving lunch on October 7, 2012 at Ban Heng Restaurant, RELC, after the Thanksgiving Service.
In thanksgiving to God for FEBC’s 50th Anniversary, the True Life Church Choir rendered to God a praise item “The Bible Stands” at the Alumni Thanksgiving Service on September 21, 2012 at Life BPC Sanctuary. On Sunday, September 23, 2012, at the Golden Jubilee Thanksgiving Service at Calvary Pandan BPC, the True Life and Truth Church Choirs combined to present the hymn “The Solid Rock”. The Golden Jubilee Yearbook of FEBC (1962-2012) “To Magnify His Word” was also distributed to commemorate the event.
FEBC’s 2nd Bible Lands Pilgrimage in the footsteps of the Apostle Paul, December 10- 20, 2012 was led by Pastor and Mrs Jeffrey Khoo. There were a total of 46 pilgrims.
The Christmas Gospel Meeting was held on December 22, 2012 at RELC and the speaker was Pastor Jeffrey Khoo.
There were a number of Christmas carolling sessions organised by the various fellowship groups to spread the good news of salvation in Christ.
