Grace (Singapore Chinese Christian) Church
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Grace (Singapore Christian Chinese) Church (新加坡华人基督教会怀恩堂) is an independent Protestant church located at Queen Street, the central part of Singapore near Bugis and City Hall MRT station. The church has a congregation of more than 1,300 members, including children. There are 3 congregations in Cantonese, Mandarin and English language, and all are headed by senior pastor, Reverend Chan Fong. Grace (S.C.C.) Church is one of the few Protestant churches in Singapore which has a large Cantonese-speaking congregation of families from Hong Kong. The Church is supporting more than 80 Christian missionaries and Christian mission projects around the globe and also actively encourages its members to participate in the Great Commission.
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[edit] History
In the 1950s, there was an influx of immigrants to Singapore from Hong Kong and Guangdong province in China. Grace (S.C.C.) Church was founded by the late Reverend Ho Yew Kin on January 24, 1950 assuming the former name Grace Zong Hua Christian Church. During the years from 1948-1949, the church was involved in a "Stage of Courtship", as there were 7 people, one of them pastor Ho, who had a vision for the church, which was to reach out primarily to the Cantonese-speaking community in Singapore. On the 14th August 1955, Ho was officially appointed as the head pastor of the church. Sister Au Yue Kwai was then appointed as the first female pastor of the church who also headed the congregation. The church then, with only 50 members, held its services at a temporary rented location, the worship hall of the Selegie Road Chinese Christian Youth Fellowship. The main language used at that time was Cantonese. Subsequently, many felt that continuing to worship on rented premises would encumber church development. It was only until the 1970s, that the church raised enough funds through its members to buy a plot of land at the current No. 14 Queen Street site, beside the Roman Catholic Church of St. Joseph. Construction and restoration works were carried out at the old building which stood on the site, and finally, on the 22nd August 1971, the new church building was officially opened for permanent use. On the same year, Reverend Jacob Fung became the 2nd senior pastor, and on 1983, Reverend Chan Fong was appointed as the 3rd senior pastor who is still currently serving the church. The English Congregation (EC) and Mandarin Congregation (MC) were eventually formed in October 1983 and 1 January 1985 respectively to cater to the diverse needs of its members as English and Mandarin were widely spoken among the descendants of the older immigrants who came from Hong Kong and China. The church later underwent several major restoration works to enlarge its area to cater for the increasing number of members, currently, a new building beside the main one, has just been constructed.
[edit] Statement of Faith of the Church
1. The Holy Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, are the inspired Word of God, the complete revelation of His will for the Salvation of man and the Divine and final authority for Christians’ faith and life.
2. Believe in the One, True and Living God, eternally existing in three persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
3. Believe in God the Son, Jesus Christ, true God and true man, conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He died on the Cross and shed His blood as atonement for the sins of man and was raised bodily from the dead. He ascended into Heaven. He will return imminently and personally according to His promise.
4. Believe in the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Godhead, who is of one substance, equal in power and co-existent with the Father and the Son. His ministry is to convict man, regenerate the believing sinners and to indwell and empower the believers for godly living and service.
5. Believe that man is created in the image and the likeness of God, but in Adam all men have fallen into sin and as sinners men are in need of God’s Salvation.
6. Believe that penitent sinners are regenerated solely by God’s grace and justified through faith in Jesus Christ alone.
7. Believe that there shall be a bodily resurrection of the just to eternal life and of the unjust to eternal punishment.
8. Believe that the Church is one body, consisting of those regenerated by the Spirit of God and of which Christ is the Head, expressing itself in worship, fellowship, evangelism, discipleship and service.
[edit] Sunday Services
The Church holds all of its services of the 3 congregation on Sunday mornings. A typical Sunday worship service lasts for approximately one and a quarter hours, which consists of an opening hymn, followed by prayer, praise and worship with hymns, offerings, a sermon and a closing hymn. In the year 2008, the church has sent 66 missionaries to various countries. The Church held its 34th Mission Convention on the 22-24 June 2007, which celebrates 34 years of mission activities.
