Ang Mo Kio Presbyterian Church (AMKPC) celebrated her 30th Anniversary on 11 August 2021. All glory be to God for the three decades of AMKPC life!
On 11 August 1991, we had our first worship service in the PHS school hall. Our worship services were held in the school hall for five years. In 1995, the chapel was built and we were able to hold our worship services there from January 1996 to October 2003. We shifted back to holding our worship service in the school hall for another one year for the extension of the chapel until it was completed in December 2004.
AMKPC was inaugurated as a full congregation on 15 January 2005. The Inaugural Service was held in the newly extended chapel. It marked the beginning of a new chapter in our journey of faith and dependence on God as we became a full congregation.
Another strong affirmation of God’s goodness and faithfulness is having four old boys of PHS as our Pastors today. All of them had joined AMKPC as a result of the School Ministry. Our Senior Minister Rev Srimal Marthenis and Preacher Li Wencong were from the Boys’ Brigade 27th Company. Our Associate Minister Rev Jackson Wan was actively involved in the Christian Fellowship and Preacher Jordan Tan was among the first group of PHS students who attended the worship service in the school hall. Indeed, AMKPC is blessed with the privilege of journeying with each of them, from the point of their calling to full-time ministry, to becoming our in-house Ministers and Pastors.
AMKPC’s primary mission field is PHS. The foundation work in the school was tough but the teachers and students gradually accepted us. One of the highlights was the first Post-Examination Programme in October 1992, in which 80% of our AMKPC congregation was involved. After that event, more than 100 students prayed to receive Christ. Indeed, there were many more such encouraging stories as the years went by, which testified of God’s blessings upon us. The most rewarding was having converts from PHS getting baptised at every Christmas Baptismal Service since 1994.
Our efforts to reach out to the community in the early years was through the Vacation Bible School for children. We stepped up our efforts in reaching out to the community from our 25th Anniversary onwards when we organised the ‘Love our Neighbours’ Carnival on 30 July 2016 and Kids’ Camp in the subsequent two years. Another hallmark of AMKPC has been the Mission Trips to Thailand every year and our focus on missions on every month of July for the past many years.
AMKPC adopted the Cell Group structure from the start of our journey. Since 1992, we have organised ourselves into Cell Groups, which are the life wires of the church across all People Ministries. The congregational profile has changed over the past decades. Mistaken before by some invited speakers to be predominantly a youth fellowship group with a handful of adults and a couple of toddlers, we have since matured into a congregation consisting of a diverse range of ages – from families with 1 to 4 children, youths from PHS, children from the neighbourhood, young adults, middle-aged adults to senior adults. The children of our pioneer members have grown up, with some of them being married and becoming parents themselves. From a humble beginning of 50-60 members, we currently have over 300 members. We are greatly encouraged to witness many of the children of our members stepping forward for confirmation of their faith over the past 10 years.
The Elders and Deacons Court (EDC) is made up of the pioneer generation leaders (first-decade) and the leaders raised from the second-decade and third-decade generations. Although the execution of our church growth plans has been interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic that has affected the world and our daily lives, the church has risen to the occasion in dimensions that we would not have explored before.
“For the first time in AMKPC history, we had to stop worshipping and meeting physically. We had to embrace online worship and meetings. Despite the challenges, each Ministry adapted and carried out most of its plans. We remember that God is with us, and He will enable us and cause the growth to happen. With prayer and faith, the Pastors and Worship Ministry Team picked up new skills and enabled us to worship online. COVID-19 seemed to have derailed the plans for church growth and for Alpha to happen. But the Outreach Ministry Team did not give up. The team led the church to conduct Alpha online. And God caused the growth to happen. Some received salvation and dedicated their lives to Jesus through the Youth and Adult Alpha sessions. We started the Boys’ Brigade and Girls’ Brigade ministry in Anderson Primary School in January 2020 but had to stop the program within a few months. But our volunteers did not take a backseat. They continued to engage the children creatively through the online platform. Others continued to pray, serve and give. Although the pandemic is not over and we are still working out a ‘new normal’, one thing we can be sure of is the Lord is faithful, and His promises are certain.” – Challenge to AMKPC on ACM 2021 by Rev Srimal Marthenis, Senior Minister.
Standing on God’s goodness and faithfulness and staying faithful to our calling and mission will continue to guide us in focusing on God and discerning His will for AMKPC as we aspire to be a vibrant church, growing and influencing others towards Christlikeness.