Refreshing No. 10
As many may know, Hebron BPC is currently renovating its premises at No. 10 Choa Chu Kang St 52. What are the challenges that we face? Aplenty.
From a practical standpoint, we needed an alternative venue for our weekly act of worship. It must be large enough to accommodate the number of our church members and regular worshippers. It must be near enough to the location of our own church premises. God willing, the rental of the alternative venue must not be too costly.
For Hebron, we decided to find alternative venues in Choa Chu Kang estate, since that is where we are located. We are therefore thankful to God for moving the leaders of Bukit Panjang Gospel Chapel and the Methodist Church of the Incarnation to host our English and Mandarin congregations respectively, for a few hours on a Sunday afternoon for our worship services and limited Sunday School and Bible study activities.
Then there is the concern about declining attendance as not every member and regular worshipper can embrace a different time slot or a different location. The number of children and youths attending the children’s and youth ministry activities has also shrunk. There is need to keep in touch with these absent members but also the need to encourage those who do relocate with the church to grow spiritually and persevere in the work of the gospel regardless.
With the concern about declining attendance comes the concern about declining income. Amazingly, we thank God that the decline in giving has not been proportionate to the decline in attendance. If anything, Hebronites have been giving more.
As disruptive as relocation has been, it has also presented unique opportunities.
Prayer for the renovation project by the members and regular worshippers happens every Sunday at the service. This not only keeps the project forefront on their consciousness but also helps build their ownership of it. It also creates in us very tangibly an utter dependence on God for all of our needs. May this discipline help us grow in our faith in God who never fails.
Because I could not renew my passport’s validity, I could not book the flight for our family trip on time. I was deeply disappointed, but I chose not to complain. Surely, God is in control. Knowing that others were praying for me strengthened my faith and confidence in God’s providence. I wondHebronites have stepped up to host ministry meetings and Bible studies in their homes. We are learning that our very homes are resources that can be stewarded for God’s work beyond the occasional small group meeting. We also take our meetings to cafes and HDB void decks where we might have 3-2-1 groups or Bible reading. We are learning that the ministry is out there where the people are and hope that when we return to No. 10, we will not go back to insisting that people come to where we are but we will actively reach out to the souls out there.
Relocation gives us an opportunity to reset certain practices, attitudes and behaviours. For example, the members of the worship ministry now have only two hours on a weeknight to rehearse for the worship service. This now requires everyone to plan earlier and every individual musician and singer to prepare better before showing up, on time, at the rehearsal. The sense of responsibility towards one another and respect for other people’s time have risen remarkably. We pray that such brotherly love will continue even when we return to No. 10.
The physical renovation has also caused us to think of, plan and execute plans for the spiritual renovation of Hebronites more intentionally than we have ever done. Accordingly, instead of organising too many mass activities, we channel these energies to acts of discipleship and mentoring, training and spiritual care-giving. We prepare ourselves for the work of ministry when we return to No. 10 and hope to do better this time in engaging newcomers and visitors than we did one generation ago when we first opened there.
We look forward to the end of the renovation project. We look forward to the return to No. 10, but not to old habits, attitudes and behaviours. We pray we will not forget the precious lessons that only a disruptive relocation can teach us. The biggest lesson has been that there are always opportunities for growth in every challenging situation. We thank God for opening our eyes to his manifold possibilities.
Written by Ps Wong Shin Hoe, Hebron BPC.
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