WELCOME TO LIVING HOPE
METHODIST CHURCH!

Mission:
“Bring Hope to the
Community and the Nations”
Vision:
“Making
Disciples of Christ, Transforming
Lives and Glorifying God”
Living Hope Methodist Church is a
disciple making cell church with the following ministries:
Discipleship & Nurture:
Baptism & Membership Class
Bible Study Class
Cell Leaders Training
Growing Kids God's Way
Library
Mission:-
East Timor & beyond
Migrants Fellowship
Outreach & Social Concerns:-
Poor & needy
Glowing Years Ministry
Sunday Services
English Service
Hokkien Service
Mandarin Service
Sunday School
Young Adults Cluster
Youth Cluster
Witness & Evangelism
Prison Ministry
School Ministry - BeFrienders Club in East Spring Pri Sch
Taxi Drivers Fellowship
Worship & Music:
Altar Guild
Altar Ministers
Audio Visual
Dance Ministry
Prayer
Ushers
Worship & Intercession Night (WIN)
A
community of faith that seek to hear the Lord’s heartbeat and move in His love
through our worship services, cells, outreach,
ministry and mission.
God bless
you!
Rev Peter Koh
Pastor-in-Charge
Updated: 28 January 2010
A SHORT HISTORY OF OUR CHURCH

Early in 1989,
some members from Wesley
Methodist Church
met regularly for prayer and Bible study in a member's home at Tampines New Town. Tampines was
then a new and growing estate. The group had the vision of planting a church in
that region of Singapore.
Their vision coincided with the vision of the Trinity Annual Conference (TRAC)
of the Methodist Church
in Singapore.
Hence in August 1989, a meeting of
Methodists living in Tampines was held at the Church of Christ the Redeemer. This led to the
formation of Tampines Outreach Project (TOP). Rev Dr
George Wan Tian Soo was
appointed by TRAC to oversee this pioneer work. About 18 Methodists and their
families (plus some people from other denominations) residing in Tampines came together to form the first congregation of
TOP. Sunday Services were held at the Salvation Army premises at 5.00pm.
Fellowship dinners, small group
meetings and synchronized prayers were the mainstay of the outreach project.
The Church Family Camp was at Golden Sands Baptist Centre in Port Dickson.
In January 1991,
the church moved into St. Georges Chapel. Sunday Service was at
8.15am. On 1st November 1991,
TOP became Tampines
Methodist Church
with 42 adult members. A Family Service Centre in Tampines
with the help of Methodist Welfare Services was started.
In 1995,
Rev. Michael Wong was appointed as Pastor-in-charge. Evangelistic video shows, outreach programmes and annual church camps were
some of the events of the church life. The highlights of the congregational
life were the church camps where members became bonded as a family.
In the year 2000,
Rev. Dr. Lorna Khoo was appointed as
Pastor-in-charge. 59 intercessors from Wesley
Methodist Church
covenanted themselves to pray for the 54 members of Tampines Methodist Church
that year. Some came and helped us during that year and a few joined as
members.
We started Year 2000 with the theme, "Jesus is Lord" and we sought to let Him
be Lord of our Church in giving us directions regarding what He wants us to be
and do as a congregation. We were given Isaiah 54 : " Sing, O barren one who did not bear; burst into song and
shout, you who have not been in labor! For the children of the desolate woman will be more
than the children of her that is married,
says the Lord... ." It was a verse that gave us hope and a new
perspective regarding the future.
During our
prayer meetings, we began to hear
from the Lord regarding major paradigm shifts:
- Our territorial commitment: Changi, parts of Tampines
and parts of Simei. Our Church's role: as a
congregation, we are to pastor Changi,
parts of Tampines and parts of Simei (not simply exist as a Christian fellowship with
the pastor as its chaplain)
- Our calling: to minister to prison releasees
and families of prisoners.
- Method of mobilizing our people: by becoming a cell church
(not just a church with cells)
- What is vital for the life of the church: Prayer covering of the
intercessors who are our 'commandos'. Our first group of key
intercessors received intensive training which lasted for 12 sessions.
- In 2000, the churches in
Changi (Salvation Army Changi
Corps, Changi Baptist Church, Changi Christian
Fellowship and us) linked up and formed the Changi
Geonetwork. Prayer meeting was held once a
month. Joint church camp and projects like LOVECHANGI with bazzaar to raise funds for light-up Changi during the Christmas period to bring more
business and blessings to the shopkeepers were organised.
- The LCEC was revamped to include hands-on ministry areas. The
Church was in transition. We became a cell church instead of a church with
cells.
- The church office was relocated from Tampines
to St. Georges Chapel grounds. Huddled in one 20-foot and one 40-foot
containers, we set up office
and a meeting room for some of our ministries.
- As a result of these paradigm shifts,
Tampines
Methodist Church
was renamed LIVING HOPE METHODIST CHURCH in 2001.
- A
second bilingual service – English and Hokkien
began at the Changi Chapel,
anchored by our Hokkien Cell and our theological
student.
MOVING INTO A NEW LOCATION
For about 15years since our congregation was started, we borrowed premises -from the Salvation Army and
later, from the Military Christian
Fellowship- for our worship services. Interestingly,
both places were in Changi. All we had in Tampines was a rented office and that,
for a season.
As mentioned above,
in the year 2000, when the
congregation was only 54 in number,
the Lord gave us a God-sized calling. He gave us Isaiah 54. He told
us that our territorial commitment would be more than Tampines
but would include the whole of northern Changi, parts of Tampines, parts of Simei, Kampong Kuantan (West
Malaysia ) and East Timor. We were pulled by
Him into the prison ministry, seeing
that all the prisons in Singapore
will be in Changi by 2008.
When the Housing and Development Board (HDB) opened
the tender for a piece of church land at Tampines
Street 33 in 2001, we did not know
about it. There were several bids but none fulfilled the minimum
expectations of the HDB. The tender was reopened in July 2002. When
the leaders of our church saw the location of the land on the map, we all exclaimed:" It is of the
Lord!". This Tampines land was flanked by Changi on one side and Simei on
the other. The Lord had set apart this land for us! Praise be to Him. The
churches of the Trinity Annual Conference (TRAC) came together to help us buy
the land and build the sanctuary. We are truly grateful.
We moved into our new church building in December
2004.
In the year 2010,
Rev Peter Koh was appointed as Pastor-in-charge.
THE FUTURE
A huge task lies ahead of us.
The church does not exist for itself. It exists for Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the Lord of Living Hope Methodist Church. We pray for
sensitivity to His heartbeat.
We pray that we will become a courageous, obedient and disciplined disciples of Christ
reaching out to the heartlanders, prison releases and their families, to the East Timorese and beyond. He has
called us to be intercessors,
spiritual watchmen,
servant-ministers to these communities.
THE CHALLENGE
To be a
simple church with a simple process of bringing people closer to God and
discovering the living hope that God has intended for them.
As we look
at what God has done in our midst over the past years,
we sensed that this church has 3 “Ps” in its DNA :
Living Hope
Methodist Church has a intercessory calling.
It also has two key ministry challenges- to reach the prisons and the poor in
our community.
The new
church building is just a means for us to be His blessing. Do pray with us, join us to be His blessing in the places that He
has called us to!
God bless.
Rev Peter
Koh
Pastor in
Charge
Living Hope
Methodist Church