OPENING & HOLY COMMUNION SERVICE 2023

OPENING & HOLY COMMUNION

SERVICE 2023

Recognition of Local Preacher

Recognition of Retirees

Session of the Trinity Annual Conference

The Methodist Church in Singapore

ORDER OF SERVICE

PRESIDENTIAL DECLARATION

Rev Stanley Chua

TRAC

President

SONGS OF PRAISE

BMC Worship Team

“Great is Thy faithfulness

”

“Blessed be Your name”

“Thank You Jesus for the blood”

PASTORAL PRAYER

Rev Dr Aaron Tay

Pastor-in-Charge,

BMC

OFFERING

Rev Dr Aaron Tay

Pastor-in-Charge,

BMC

DANCE PRESENTATION

BMC Dancers

“Called to be a blessing”

GREETINGS & WELCOME

Rev Stanley Chua

TRAC

President

DOXOLOGY

BMC Worship Team

RECOGNITION OF LOCAL PREACHER

Mr Henry Tan

TRAC Lay Leader

Lay Leader:

Dear friends, a local preacher is a member of

a local church who is ready and desires to

serve the church, who is well-informed on the

Scriptures and on the doctrine, heritage,

organisation and life of The Methodist

Church; and who has received specific

training to develop skills in witnessing to the

Christian faith through spoken

communication, in church and community

leadership and in care-giving ministries.

I present to you Mr Leon Seah, who has

completed the requirements and has been

recommended by the Board of Ministry, to

be licensed.

Pentecost Methodist Church

Mr Leon Seah

The Lay Leader addresses the candidate:

Lay Leader:

Do you believe that you are moved by the

Holy Spirit to serve as a Local Preacher?

Candidate:

I do.

Lay Leader:

Will you strive to live a life in keeping with

what you preach?

Candidate:

I will, by God’s grace.

Lay Leader:

You are hereby authorised to serve as a Local

Preacher in the Church. See to it that you

perform your duties faithfully as much as you

are able, the Lord being your Helper.

Let us pray.

All:

Almighty God, whose Word is truth, we

thank you for Mr Leon Seah, whom we set

aside in your name as a Local Preacher.

Prepare him in body, mind, and spirit for his

task so that he may grow in your grace, and

bless your Church through his labour;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

HYMN OF PREPARATION

BMC Worship Team

“Show us Christ”

SCRIPTURE READING

Isaiah 11:1-5 (ESV)

Mdm Sabrina Teo

Lay Leader, BMC

SERMON

“The Spirit Endowed Leader”

Rev Dr Isaac Lim

HYMN OF RESPONSE

BMC Worship Team

“Let Your glory fall”

RECOGNITION OF RETIREES

Bishop Dr Gordon Wong

Bishop

In order of length of service:

Pastors

1. Rev Dr Malcolm Tan

2. Rev Dr Jonathan Seet

3. Rev Lilian Ang

4. Rev See Swee Fang

The TRAC President presents the retirees to the Bishop.

Bishop:

To our pastors: Rev Dr Malcolm Tan, Rev Dr

Jonathan Seet, Rev Lilian Ang and Rev See

Swee Fang You came to us from

congregations where the Spirit of the Lord

was upon you.

Rev Dr Tan, Rev Dr Seet, Rev Ang, and Rev See,

You were charged to preach to the broken-

hearted, to visit the captive, to anoint those

who were bruised.

People:

We thank God for the community of the

faithful in which the Word of God found

response. Countless persons have

depended upon you for help. In the

providence of God, you know that both

suffering and joy can be God’s way of

teaching and healing.

Bishop:

At your ordination, you received authority to

read the Holy Scriptures in the Church of

God, to preach the Word, to equip the people

of God, and to embody the unity of the

congregation’s worship with its life in the

world. By God’s grace you did many things

that seemed to be beyond your power.

People:

We thank God that you were given the

vision to be faithful. Death and illness have

not come on schedule. The truth has not

always been easy to preach. We know

something of the grace by which you have

lived, and we thank God for your vision.

Bishop:

Never think lightly of the great good that God

has wrought through you. Continue to be

true to your calling. May God’s love and

power be with you always. Let us pray

together.

People:

God of grace, you fill your servants with the

vision of your Son. You empower your

servants with your Spirit. We give thanks

for the ministry of these pastors and for the

ways in which you have ministered to us

through them. Give them a sense of your

abiding presence, that they may continue

to love and serve you, and ever grow in the

grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, in

whose name we pray. Amen.

Bishop:

With love, we send you forth in the spirit of

John Wesley: may the world be your parish.

People:

Go into the world and respond to the love

of Christ in all you do. Live out the vision

God has given you. May God’s mercy, grace,

and peace be with you. May you be

channels for God’s mercy, grace, and peace

to the world wherever you may be! Amen.

COMMUNION

HYMN

BMC Worship Team

“Behold the lamb”

THE GREAT THANKSGIVING

Bishop Dr Gordon Wong

Bishop

Celebrant:

The Lord be with you.

People:

And also with you.

Celebrant:

Lift up your hearts.

People:

We lift them up to the Lord.

Celebrant:

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

People:

It is right to give our thanks and praise.

Celebrant:

It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always

and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father

Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

You formed us in your image and breathed into

us the breath of life. When we turned

away,

and our love failed, your love remained

steadfast.

You delivered us from captivity, made covenant

to be our sovereign God, and spoke to us

through your prophets, who looked for that day

when justice shall roll down like waters and

righteousness like an ever-flowing stream,

when nation shall not lift up sword against

nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.

And so, with your people on earth and all the

company of heaven we praise your name and

join their unending hymn:

All:

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and

might, heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who

comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the

highest.

Celebrant:

Holy are you, and blessed is your Son Jesus

Christ. Your Spirit anointed him to preach good

news to the poor, to proclaim release to the

captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to

set at liberty those who are oppressed, and to

announce that the time had come when you

would save your people. He healed the sick, fed

the hungry, and ate with sinners.

By the baptism of his suffering, death, and

resurrection, you gave birth to your Church,

delivered us from slavery to sin and death, and

made with us a new covenant by water and the

Spirit.

At his ascension you exalted him to sit and reign

with you at your right hand.

On the night in which he gave himself up for us,

he took bread, gave thanks to you, broke the

bread, gave it to his disciples, and said: “Take,

eat; this is my body which is given for you. Do

this in remembrance of me.”

When the supper was over he took the cup,

gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples, and

said: “Drink from this, all of you; this is my blood

of the new covenant, poured out for you and

for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as

often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

And so, in remembrance of these your mighty

acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves in praise

and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice,

in union with Christ’s offering for us, as we

proclaim the mystery of faith.

All:

Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will

come again.

Celebrant:

Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here,

and on these gifts of bread and wine. Make

them be for us the body and blood of Christ,

that we may be for the world the body of

Christ, redeemed by his blood.

By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with

each other, and one in ministry to all the world,

until Christ comes in final victory, and we feast at

his heavenly banquet.

Through your Son Jesus Christ, with the Holy

Spirit in your holy Church, all honour and glory is

yours, almighty Father, now and forever.

All:

Amen.

THE LORD’S PRAYER

(Tune: WESLEY TULUS)

Bishop Dr Gordon Wong

Bishop

BREAKING THE BREAD

Bishop Dr Gordon Wong

Bishop

Celebrant:

Because there is one loaf, we, who are many,

are

one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.

The bread

which we break is a sharing in the

body of Christ.

HYMN OF DEDICATION

BMC Worship Team

“My hope is built on nothing less”

BENEDICTION

Bishop Dr Gordon Wong

Bishop

POSTLUDE

BMC Worship Band

OUR RETIRING PASTORS

Rev Dr Malcolm Tan

Pastor since August 1984, the Rev Dr Malcolm Tan served 5

churches starting with Kampong Kapor Methodist Church,

followed by Bedok Methodist Church. He then became

Pastor-In-Charge of Faith Methodist Church, Barker Road

Methodist Church, and Covenant Community Methodist

Church, respectively.

He served as a Chaplain of several schools, namely ACJC,

Geylang Methodist School, ACS (Primary), ACS (Barker), ACS

(International) and MGS. He was also the Group Chaplain of

the 12th Company of Boys Brigade for 17 years and Brigade

Chaplain for 12 years. He was also a guest lecturer with TTC

for many years and serves as the Chairperson of the Council

on Archives and History. He is also the 2nd Vice President

(Asia) of the World Methodist Historical Society.

Rev Dr Jonathan Seet (early retirement)

Rev Dr Jonathan Seet joined TRAC as a pastor in 1991 and he

was appointed to Fairfield Methodist Church till 1994. He was

appointed to Paya Lebar Methodist Church from 1995 to

2000. Thereafter he was on study leave from 2000 to 2002.

He became the Pastor-in-charge of Pentecost Methodist

Church from 2002 to 2009, Paya Lebar Methodist Church from

2010 to 2019 and Pentecost Methodist Church from 2010 till

today.

He served as a District Superintendent from 2004 to 2010, and

2020 to 2023. He was the Chairperson of the Board of Archives

from 2004 to 2008, and the Board of Missions from 2012 to

2020.

Rev Lilian Ang

Rev Lilian Ang served as a Pastoral Team member at her home

church in Fairfield Methodist Church for 7 years before joining

TRAC as a pastor in August 2000.

Her first posting was to Wesley Methodist Church where she

served for 10 years. She had a short stint of 7 months at Faith

Methodist Church before serving as pastor-in-charge at

Fairfield Methodist Church for 6 ½ years. In 2017, she was

appointed back to Wesley Methodist Church and has been

serving there since.

During her ministry as a TRAC Pastor, she sat in various TRAC

Boards and served as a District Superintendent. She is

currently the Chaplain of the Girls Brigade.

Rev See Swee Fang

Rev See Swee Fang joined TRAC in 1983 as a Christian Ministry

Staff and served in various schools until she became a TRAC

Pastor in 2001. She was appointed to Aldersgate Methodist

Church from 2001 to 2005. Thereafter she was appointed to

Barker Road Methodist Church from 2006 to 2015 during

which she did church planting by starting Bukit Batok

Preaching Point and that is known as Oasis Barker Road

Mission today.

She was then appointed to Faith Methodist Church from 2017

to 2019 after a one-year special leave because of her battle

with cancer. She became a MMS Missionary to Timor Leste in

2020 and served in hostel ministry, community outreach and

transformation. She retires in December 2023.