Following Christ – EPHWC 2026

EP Holy Week Convention, 1 – 3 April 2026

We praise God for the privilege to gather once again as a Presbytery family to reflect on and commemorate the sacrificial death of our Lord, Jesus Christ. 

This year, True Way Presbyterian Church English Congregation warmly hosted us for the first two days of the 3-day convention, on 1 & 2 April.  We are grateful!

We are also thankful for the worship teams from Covenant Presbyterian Church (CPC) (who led us in worship on the first night , 1 Apr), Bukit Batok Presbyterian Church (BBPC) (who led us on the 2^nd night , 2 Apr), and Orchard Road Presbyterian Church (ORPC) (who led us in worship on Good Friday, 3 Apr). 

We are grateful for the worship teams who were well prepared, and led us through God’s Spirit, to prepare our hearts to receive and respond to God’s Word.  Thank you very much, CPC, BBPC, and ORPC!

We are also appreciative of all the churches who sent their volunteers to serve the wider EP family in various capacities.  Thank you, volunteers!

The attendances for the 3-day convention were as follows:

Attendance	Onsite	Online (actual day)	Online (as of 30 Apr)
1 April	430	1300	2500
2 April	506	1100	1600
3 April	3800	850	1200

At the Good Friday service, Rev Stanley Soh from True Way Presbyterian Church English Congregation gave an engaging sermonette, in the form of a skit, to the children, encouraging our children to remember the marvellous salvific story of cross.  He was ably assisted by Ms Tan Yi Ling, one of his Sunday School teachers. 

If you want to show Rev Stanley Soh’s sermonette to your children or grandchildren again, you can find it on the EP Holy Week Convention website, https://epholyweekconvention.org/#sermon.

For each day of the convention, 3 of our English Presbytery Senior Ministers took the pulpit.  The overall theme was that of “Following Christ”. 

1.     Wednesday, 1 April:  Rev Ong Chee Hong (Toong Chai English Presbyterian Church) preached on Following Christ in Scripture (Mark 4:1 – 9)

The parable of the Sower, sometimes otherwise called the Parable of the Soils, challenged our congregants to examine our hearts. 

Are our hearts hardened, or proud?  Are our hearts shallow, or careless?  Or are our hearts “competed” for, in other words, distracted?

The challenge for anyone of us, is that we need to examine our hearts, with God’s Spirit’s help: to open the eyes of our heart, and then to repent where we have been hardened, careless, or distracted. 

Following Christ in Scripture requires us to be willing to submit ourselves to the Holy Spirit’s work of sanctification, because all of us are still works in progress. 

2.     Maundy Thursday, 2 April:  Rev Dr Clive Chin (Orchard Road Presbyterian Church) preached on Following Christ in Service (Mark 8:27 – 38; 10:44 – 45)

Jesus came to die – so following Him as His disciples requires sacrificial service. 

What does it mean to follow Jesus?

-        To know His true identity (vv 27 – 33): Jesus our Lord came to suffer, be rejected, and die before rising again in three days 

-        To follow by way of the cross (vv34 – 38): we are each called to take up our cross to follow Jesus. 

-        To serve with humility and sacrifice (10:44 – 45):  for even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.

Following Jesus is to accept and embrace that we, His disciples, are called to serve, even when it is not convenient, especially when it costs us something. 

3.     Good Friday, 3 April:  Rev Srimal Marthenis (Ang Mo Kio Presbyterian Church), EP Moderator, preached on Following Christ in His Suffering (Mark 15:21 – 39). 

Following Jesus is to accept and embrace that the cross must come before glory. 

-        The cross was a place of real and dreadful suffering, fulfilling Old Testament prophecy, where Christ felt forsaken from God (15:24 – 25).

-        But the cross was also a place for the salvific death of our Lord Jesus – where He “took upon the sin of the world” (John 1:29), where God the Father “laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6), and where God the Father “made Him to be sin who knew no sin” (2 Corinthians 5:21), in order than mankind might be restored to fellowship with Holy God once again. 

-        What is our response to the cross?  If Jesus truly is the Son of God, as the centurion declared (Mark 15:39) – then we are called to deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow Jesus (Mark 8:34).

-        As Bunyan depicted in his allegory, “The Pilgrim’s Progress”, we are called to follow Christ in His Suffering, in whatever circumstances we find ourselves in.  Because Jesus is Lord. 

If you want to revisit our three ministers’ sermons, you can find them on the EP Holy Week Convention website, https://epholyweekconvention.org/#sermon.

On behalf of EP Holy Week Convention Committee

Rev Kelvin Chen

PSPC