What’s On

(CE’23) Sermon Series: That Your Soul May Prosper

Presented as part of the Connect Experience 2023 (CE’23), the upcoming sermon series will explore some of John Wesley’s most important messages that Methodists must hear anew for today.

These include:

Who really is a Christian?

Can someone lose his salvation and end up in hell, and what is hell anyway?

Is “going to heaven” the reason why we try to be good Christians?

Addressing the above questions and more, the eight-week series means to bring all listeners to the wells of an abundant life (John 10:10) so “That Your Soul May Prosper“.

“That Your Soul May Prosper” pulpit schedule:

1-2 Jul  – “The Important Question” (Matt 16:26)
8-9 Jul  – “Witness of the Spirit” (Rom 8:16)
15-16 Jul  – “On Predestination” (Rom 8:29-30)
22-23 Jul – “Of Hell” (Mk 9:48)
29-30 Jul  – “The Good Steward” (Luk 16:2)
5-6 Aug  – “On Working Out Our Own Salvation” (Phil 2:12-13)
12-13 Aug – “Almost Christian” (Acts 26:28)
19-20 Aug – “Christian Perfection” (Phil 3:12)

About the Connect Experience 2023 (CE’23)

CE’23 is an eight-week experiential exercise that helps us to connect with God and one another for the sake of the world.

Participants will meet weekly between 1 Jul and 20 Aug in either newly-formed CE’23 Experience Groups, or in their current Connect Groups. You will be following the sermon series while re-discovering the Wesleyan way of being God’s community.

Learn more and sign up to CE’23 

New monthly Chapel in refreshed Seniors programme

A new Seniors Chapel will be held monthly from June, providing a space for seniors to worship God and enable them to pray with and intercede for one another. It will be held at 3.15pm to 4.15pm on every third Wednesday of the month at the Sanctuary, starting 21 June.

The Chapel session is part of a refreshed Seniors programme of online and on-site opportunities fellowship, including a regular brunch fellowship.

Weekly Online Fellowship         

• Fridays, 10am – 11.15am
• Sundays Post-Service, 10.30 – 11.15am

Monthly In-Person Events

• Seniors Brunch Connection
  1st Friday of the month, 10am – 12pm (July onwards)
• Seniors Chapel
  3rd Wednesday, 3.15pm – 4.15 pm
• Shalom Dementia Care Fellowship
  3rd Saturday, 2pm – 4pm

All Seniors are welcome to join us and connect with the church family through these events so that you may G.R.O.W. (Gracefully Ripening, Overflowing with Wisdom from God).

Seniors who are homebound and require pastoral visits are welcome to get in touch.

Event Calendar 

2023 Primary One Registration exercise

This is for children of Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents, born between 2 January 2017 and 1 January 2018 (both dates inclusive).

Members who wish to enrol their children in Methodist Schools under Phase 2B may apply for a membership certification letter.

Enquiries 

Enter in to the new Connect Experience 2023

Barker Road Methodist Church is going back to basics.

We are inviting everyone to enter in to Connect Experience 2023 (CE’23) and rediscover the Wesleyan way of being God’s community and experience the joy and truth of the Christian life that’s transformational through the power of the Holy Spirit.

“I believe He has already started the renewal of our church,” says Rev. Lai Kai Ming, the pastor leading in CE’23. “And He is preparing us for greater things to come. “The first step is to re-discover what being a Christian and a Church is really about.”

The CE’23 journey will start on 22 April with a 3-week sermon series on what it means to be in koinonia, or fellowship, apart from congregating on Sundays. It will examine the “4As” underlying Christian love for one another:

1. Authority of God’s Word: We are called to be doers of the word, not just hearers.
2. Authenticity in relationships: How real and honest are we with each other?
3. Accountability for Good Works: We are commanded to watch over one another in love.
4. Acts of the Holy Spirit: The Spirit helps us connect with God and one another for the sake of the world.

Based on the 4As, the CE’23 journey continues in July-August with an eight-week guided experiential exercise in connecting with God and one another for the sake of the world.

Registration for CE’23 will open from 22 April to 17 June.

You can take part in CE’23 in the following ways:

• Join us in examining the 4As of Biblical Koinonia over 3 weekend services from 22 April to 7 May 2023
• If you are not part of a connect group, sign up to an Experience Group when registration opens
• If you are part of a connect group, join us as our church family rediscover, exercise and experience transformational community life

ENTER IN

Holy Week Services (6-9 April 2023)

Easter is the most important celebration in the Christian calendar, which is why we celebrate it as a worship service in many parts this Holy Week, and reflect on Holy Communion, loving one another, sacrifice, death, and the forgiveness of sins – themes that make sense as a whole only in the light of the resurrection.

Let’s come together, then, to Watch and Wait at the Table on Maundy Thursday evening, at the Cross on Good Friday morning, at the Tomb on Holy Saturday afternoon, and finally, on the Mountain on Easter Sunday morning.

Maundy Thursday, Thu, 6 Apr
8pm | Sanctuary

Good Friday, Fri, 7 Apr
8.30am* | Auditorium
10.30am* | Auditorium

Holy Saturday, Sat, 8 Apr
5pm | Sanctuary

Easter Sunday, Sun, 9 Apr
8.30am* | Sanctuary, URS
10.30am* | Sanctuary, Shine Forth (Livestream)
5pm | Sanctuary

*Livestream available

Lent Sermon Series: Disciplines of the Holy Spirit

As a follow-up to the “Acts of the Holy Spirit” sermons, this Lent series from 22 February to 2 April 2023 focuses on the inner life of the Christian.

The wind might blow strongly, but only a hoisted sail can catch its power. God is always speaking, but only a soul attuned to His voice can hear His words of love. Saints through the ages have discovered that while the sovereign Spirit “blows wherever it pleases” (John 3:8), His presence and power rest upon those who seek Him through a life of joyful discipline and obedience.

We look forward to seeing you at our worship services on the weekends.

View more upcoming events 

Lunar New Year weekend services

Please note that there will be no afternoon services on the 21-22 Jan weekend.

OneBRMC Services will be held as follows:

Sunday, 22 January

8.30am | Traditional | Sanctuary (Livestreamed)
10.30am | Contemporary | Sanctuary (Livestreamed)

Livestream link

First Corporate Prayer Meeting of 2023

Following her Vision Sunday sermon to ‘Wait, Watch and Pray’, Pastor-in-Charge Rev Wendy Watson invites all to join in the church’s first corporate prayer meeting this year.

The meeting will be held on Friday, 6 Jan, 7.30pm at the Sanctuary.

Like Jesus’ disciples who were called to be His witnesses in Acts 1, we are also called to wait, watch and pray in community.

This year, we will be focused on connecting with God and with one another in small groups.

Let us therefore gather and pray in unity for empowerment to go forth and fulfil God’s calling in our lives.

#CONNECT2023

Connect Survey 2023

New Year, New Start!

We are working to better connect our church family with God and with one another this year.

To do this, we are carrying out Connect Survey 2023 until 31 January to find out what drives people to be part of a Connect Group, or what may be stopping them from joining one.

Through Connect Survey 2023, you are also invited to suggest ways to improve church communications.

Registration for Baptism and Membership Course Opens

Registration for baptism and membership at Barker Road Methodist Church is now open from 1 January to 15 January.

Please visit our FAQs for the criteria and other details. 

Register now

Adult Baptism/Confirmation

Infant/Child Baptism

BMC Easter 2023 Schedule

Sermon Series 2023: Acts of the Holy Spirit

We will be starting 2023 with a new sermon series on Acts of the Holy Spirit.

Someone once asked: “If the Holy Spirit left our church today, would anything change? Or would we go on with business as usual?” This is a sombre reminder that it is possible for churches and churchgoers to have “an outward form of religion but denying God’s power” (2 Tim. 3:5).

Over eight weeks from 1 January to 19 February, we will learn to recognise the presence and work of the Holy Spirit in BRMC.

More importantly, we pray that God—Father, Son, and Spirit—will transform us for the sake of the world He loves so much.

#Connect_Disciples

Remote Holy Communion to cease

Remote Holy Communion will cease from 31 December 2022.

BRMC members are encouraged to join us regularly at our 10 worship services on weekends, as we enter a new year of connecting closer with God and our church community.

Those unable to come on site for Holy Communion may register for pastoral visits, where Communion will be celebrated.

Register here 

Pastoral appointments 2023

We thank God for the successful 47th Session of the Trinity Annual Conference hosted by BRMC on 21-24 Nov 2022.

At the Closing service, five of our current pastors were re-appointed to BRMC for 2023. Rev Wendy Watson continues as Pastor-in-Charge.

At the same time, we bid farewell to Rev Lawrence Chua who’s stepping down in retirement after almost four decades as a pastor.

Last but not least, we thank God for the Rev Gilbert Lok, who was ordained to the office of Deacon of the Methodist Church in Singapore.

May God guide our pastors and bless this church with His presence as we seek to be a light for Him on this hill.

Advent Sermon Series: The Long-Awaited Saviour

Christmas is coming….soon!

Join us amidst your festive preparations for a new Advent-oriented sermon series every weekend from 19 November to 18 December.

We will trace how in the Old Testament, God makes various promises to his people, which culminate and find ultimate fulfilment in Jesus, the Messiah. And see while God gave various promises, their fulfilment was not immediate, but required patient hope.

Take heart that, today, God is still faithful and still fulfils his promises, as His faithful people continue to wait on him with hope.

See the Pulpit Calendar for more information. 

See our Service timings. 

华语崇拜 – 重返卫斯理堂

MANDARIN SERVICE- HOMECOMING

The Mandarin Service is returning to Wesley Hall at 10.30am from 11 Sep 2022. 

华语崇拜将于9月11日重返卫斯理堂，恢复上午10:30的主日崇拜。

Let’s invite our Mandarin-speaking friends and family to worship alongside our English services on Sunday mornings at the same time.

欢迎弟兄姐妹参加我们圣山上的主日崇拜。阿们。

Safe Measures Update

From Monday, 29 Aug 2022, the wearing of masks will be optional in indoor settings. ​

We advise members and visitors to keep exercising individual and social responsibility, and to stay home if you are feeling unwell. 

Please refer to the MOH COVID-19 Phase Advisory for the latest guidelines. ​

BRMC’s response to the repeal of Section 377A

The Government has announced that it will repeal Section 377A of the Penal Code, which criminalises sex between men. At the same time, it has promised to protect the definition of marriage from being challenged constitutionally in the courts (1).

In response, the pastoral leadership of Barker Road Methodist Church stands in alignment with the National Council of Churches of Singapore (NCCS) and the Methodist Church in Singapore (MCS). We understand “same-sex sexual acts as contrary to God’s order” and affirm “the position of one man and one woman in a monogamous marriage relationship”(2).

We note the rationale and reasoning behind the repeal, and “trust that this decision was not taken lightly” (3). Members and visitors are encouraged to refer to the detailed statements put out by NCCS and MCS to better understand our position in light of more debates to come, within and without the church.

The decision to repeal s377A is contentious and potentially divisive. The pastors would like to encourage our congregational family at BRMC to recognise God’s sovereignty, and to uphold one another in love and compassion whilst we seek to live out God’s standards of holiness.

As we continue to promote our understanding of family, please pray for divine wisdom for the leaders of our country, community and homes.

“Though we walk a long and broken road
We are here to bear each other’s load
And forgive as You’ve forgiven us
Let us walk in love for we are one”

(Excerpt from “We Are One (In the Father’s Love)” by Emu Music;
Theme song of BRMC Sermon Series 2022: We Are Family)(4)

References

(1) PM Lee’s NDR speech: https://www.pmo.gov.sg/Newsroom/National-Day-Rally-2022-English
(2) The National Council of Churches of Singapore Response to Government’s Decision on the Repeal of Section 377A: https://nccs.org.sg/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/NCCS-EngChi-Stmt-on-s377A-20220823.pdf
(3) MCS Response to the Repeal of S377A of the Penal Code: https://www.methodist.org.sg/index.php/what-s-happening/789-mcs-response-to-repeal-of-section-377a-penal-code
(4) BRMC Sermon Recordings & Study Guides: https://www.brmc.org.sg/services/sermons/

New Sermon Series: We Are Family

“Sister, let me wipe your tears
Brother, let me bear your fears
Come on, every daughter, every son
Let us walk in love for we are one”

(lyrics from We Are One, by Emu Music)

What does it mean to live as God’s family? To be a faithful family and a family of faith?

Join in our upcoming sermon series starting 13 August to 18 September as we hear God’s Word about both our biological and marital families, and our church family.

Please refer to the pulpit calendar for more information.

2022 TRAC Special Session Update

Congratulations to Pastor Gilbert Lok for being elected to the office of Deacon at the 2022 Trinity Annual Conference (TRAC) Special Session on 16 July.

He will be ordained at TRAC in November, which Barker Road Methodist Church will be hosting.

In the video below, Ps. Gilbert explains to one of our youths what ordination means.

BRMC to host TRAC 2022

We are preparing to host the annual gathering of pastors and laity of the 21 English-speaking Methodist churches in Singapore in November.  

The 47th Session of the Trinity Annual Conference (TRAC), to be held 21-24 November 2022, will mark almost a year of Rebuilding Koinonia as BRMC congregations return to pre-pandemic service timings and activities this year.

BRMC members can look forward to celebrating the ordination of Pastor Gilbert Lok to the Office of the Deacon at TRAC. After the event, he will wear the clerical collar and may then be addressed as Reverend Gilbert Lok. 

The last time BRMC hosted TRAC was almost 20 years ago, in 2003.  

As many as 300 delegates are expected over the four days.  

Watch this space

Join us in demonstrating the hospitality of Jesus to our brothers- and sisters-in-Christ from the Methodist church family, and celebrating community through service – as ushers, musicians, prayer partners and other roles.  

So, save the dates and watch this space for volunteer calls in the coming months.  

What is TRAC?

TRAC is an annual meeting where delegates reflect on past programmes, and to discuss God’s direction for us as a family of Methodist churches. Election of certain office holders may also be held in some years at TRAC.  

The conference is scheduled to be held on site, subject to last minute changes that may arise due to the ongoing pandemic. It was held online last year.  

Key sessions will still be livestreamed, for e.g. the Ordination and Closing Service of TRAC 47th Session.  

The Trinity Annual Conference (TRAC) is also the organisation that trains and manages our pastors. Under the Methodist system, pastors are not tied to a specific church, and are often reassigned after several years.