Looks Back in Gratitude, Part 3.
Aldersgate Methodist Church
Welcome to Part III of AMC’s early milestones, uploaded for the month of March. Have you read Parts I and II, uploaded in January and February? Make sure to take a look if you haven’t.
These milestones have been curated with our church’s 45th Anniversary in view, which we celebrate in May. This is an occasion to express gratitude to God for 45 years of blessings on our community of believers!
In this spirit, AMC’s Archives and History Committee invites you to embark on a journey through several milestones of AMC’s history. Each month, our church website will feature new write-ups on significant moments and developments in AMC’s early years.
For longtime members of AMC, these milestones will be brief but valuable reminders of how far we have come, and how thankful we must continue to be.
For those who have recently joined us, we invite you to meditate on these milestones with gratitude, to give thanks to God for the vibrant community we are part of today.
For those still reading, pay close attention to the details shared in these milestones—there will be quizzes during church service from time to time, and prizes, too!
Ready? Let’s Begin!
(2 - 5 mins read)
“It shall be called Clementi Methodist Church!”
A Pause to our Nomadic Life
At Portsdown, the Lord saw fit to bring a welcome pause to our nomadic life. In stark contrast to being constantly on the move in 1978, we were able to grow and nurture our congregation at Portsdown for a full six years from December 1978 to December 1984.
At Portsdown, the Lord saw fit to bring a welcome pause to our nomadic life. In stark contrast to being constantly on the move in 1978, we were able to grow and nurture our congregation at Portsdown for a full six years from December 1978 to December 1984.
Yet, none of us could have known what the future held when we first settled into Portsdown. It was a mere Temporary Occupational License from the government that enabled us to use the premises—we might have been required to vacate the property at any time. From a certain point of view, being able to worship at Portsdown was more precarious than what we had experienced in our first year of “pioneer work.”
Nevertheless, the uncertainty about how our congregation would find a permanent home never stopped us from stepping forward in faith, from even making a leap!
What the future holds?
Fig. 1: The front page of the January 1979 issue of Methodist Message reporting that the “Clementi New Town Pioneer Work” congregation sought to form a local church that year.
Clementi New Town Pioneer Work
Indeed, as we crossed into 1979, we strove to constitute our “pioneer work” congregation, known as the “Clementi New Town Pioneer Work,” as a Local Conference (aka a “local church”) in the Methodist Church in Singapore (see Fig. 1). This was a critical issue for many individuals in our congregation who had recently professed their faith by baptism—they were not members of any Methodist church, nor was the “pioneer work” able to receive them as members. Only as a full-fledged and legally recognized Methodist church, could we at last officially accept members.
By early 1979, much of our congregation had heartily expressed the desire to organise the “pioneer work” into a Local Conference. Many worshippers had also formally requested to be charter members of the new church. Inspired, committed, we moved quickly to hasten the process of constituting.
Everything came to fruition in a few short months! On Sunday, 6 May 1979, with 78 chartered members (90 by month’s end), the Clementi New Town Pioneer Work attained Local Conference status in the Methodist Church in Singapore. We held a Thanksgiving Celebration service that Sunday with Bishop Kao Jih Chung and Rev. Ho Chee Sin (pastor of Faith Methodist Church, our sponsor church) in attendance (Fig. 2).
6 May 1979
Fig. 2: Thanksgiving Celebration Service at Portsdown on 6 May 1979.
The Clementi Methodist Church
That morning, the ritual began with the President of TRAC Rev. T.C. Nga asking: “By what name shall this Church henceforth be known?” Our representative, Mr. John Tan, answered: “It shall be called The Clementi Methodist Church.” Rev. Nga then pronounced the Declaration of the Constituted Church.
Our time as a “pioneer work” had ended, but our pioneering work for the Lord would certainly continue.
Nomads once again?
Nomads once again?
By November 1979, with our church now six months old, the average attendance at worship had risen to more than 200. The newfound stability of being based in Portsdown, of not uprooting the congregation every few months, was a true blessing.
Today, many senior members of our Church have fond memories of Portsdown. Nestled in the idyllic surroundings of Wessex Estate, with clusters of black-and-white bungalows, the A-shaped chapel sat upon wide-open grounds unrestricted by fences, gates and school traffic wardens. Some will remember the dark blue prayer cushions that they knelt upon to pray, others the wooden hymn boards that carried the hymn numbers to be sung during worship. Our Easter Sunrise Services were held outside in the cool morning of Easter Sundays.
Looking back, perhaps things had come together for us too easily following our first year as nomads. We had constituted our “pioneer work” as a local church so quickly, and our congregation had grown steadily. As months turned into years at Portsdown, we may have become too comfortable, complacent.
Inevitably, the rude shock of a government notice arrived in early 1982, mandating that we must leave Portsdown by the middle of that year!
It was only by God’s grace and multiple delays dogging the government’s redevelopment plans that we somehow remained in Portsdown, postponing our unavoidable “eviction” for nearly two years. During this time, we would experience that deep insecurity of our inaugural year once more. Indeed, we would also fail miserably in our efforts to secure a permanent home for our church. In the early 1980s, there were very few sites up for tender and the cost of sites had risen about five to six-fold. We made a $1.2 million bid for a site in Jurong East, buoyed by financial support from Wesley Methodist Church, but lost narrowly to another Christian denomination by $100,000.
Eventually, the final notice to quit Portsdown arrived, stating that we must leave the premises by the end of 1984. As that year drew to a close, we still had no ready alternatives for our church.
Government Notice
Desperate and anxious, we approached Fairfield Methodist Primary School (at Dover Road) for permission to use the school hall as a provisional measure, and were greatly relieved when the principal agreed.
But, our relief was swiftly met with crushing disappointment!
The Fairfield Methodist Schools Board of Management promptly overruled the school principal’s decision, turning us away. The rejection, from a school in the Methodist family no less, was truly hurtful. By then, we had only a few more weeks of access to Portsdown. We would be nomads again, but this time without a sure destination at which to seek refuge. Disappointment began spiralling into despair. Had God forsaken us?