The President's Gallery: When You See All These Things 当你们看见这一切
Photo taken by President at Sarawak, Malaysia, February 2023.
会长摄于2023年2月马来西亚뻟砂拉越。
The following was taken from the President’s Report at the 48th Session of the CAC.
“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door.” (Matt. 24:32, 33) We thank God for guiding us through 2023. Our lives have now returned to pre-Covid times, and we are once again busy with face-to-face meetings and social gatherings. However, while things may seem promising, especially in this technologically advanced world, we are still living in a world of volatility and hostility where we experience pandemics and wars. We need to do God’s work with a strong sense of urgency. Here are some of my reflections on our Conference’s ministries.
1. Re-examining Age-Group Ministries
The age demographics of our membership are developing in a direction akin to that of national, even international, trends.
Our Annual Conference has a membership count of approximately 14,600, and almost half (48%) of our members are ages 60 and above. That equates to a good 7,102 members, with 4,051 of them aged 60-74.
This makes it equally important that we invest in this group of people as we do in our youth and young adult ministries. This faithful segment of members has seen their church through its ups and downs; they also carry with them vast experience in the marketplace. We ought to care for them pastorally as we equip them with the understanding of today’s church ministry and encourage them to serve alongside the younger generations.
2. Re-thinking Ministry Models
Worship places were ordered to close during the Covid lockdown period and it brought us to see the importance of at-home cell groups and ministry within the family. However, after the restrictions were lifted, we quickly reverted to our pre-Covid ways of seeing the physical church building as the main location for ministry and church activities. We limit ourselves to the space constraints of the church premise and subsequently deem it a necessity to rebuild or extend the church building when membership grows. Can we instead see homes, offices, cafés and parks as “extensions”, embrace ministry outside the walls of the church and extend God’s grace to more corners of society? Ministries in the marketplace, schools and campuses should be duly considered. Small groups (also termed Class or Band) is key vehicle of the Methodist revival movement. Not only does it help extend pastoral care and communicate a church’s direction, it provides Christian conferencing and accountability. It is crucial in transforming lives and growing one spiritually. As a people called to be the salt and light of the world, we need to be out there in the world!
3. Re-focusing: The Great Commission as Our Utmost Priority and Non-negotiable Calling
The Church exists today solely to fulfil the Great Commission given by Jesus, which involves evangelism and discipleship––ministries that will cease when Jesus comes again. Given that, the health of these ministries should be the main indicators of our churches’ “performance” and faithfulness to God. John Wesley placed great emphasis on the importance of spiritual discipline and discipleship. He put people into class/band meetings, took attendance, and issued tickets to partake in Holy Communion. His zeal for lost souls to hear the Good News led him to allow for lay preachers and to start ministries such as education, medicine and publication. His zeal for evangelism and discipleship sits at the heart of Methodism and is exactly what I believe CAC should be marked by.
Brief Updates on CAC Initiatives and Ministries
1. Loving Families Sunday (30th April) and Carnival (1st May)
We thank God for His provision and a successful run of the Loving Families events. It was heart-warming to witness the unity displayed throughout the event’s planning and on the event days itself. We have received many positive feedback from church members, who have also expressed a desire to see more events like this in the future. While decisions on future runs of the Carnival will be left to the next quadrennium’s Executive Board to make, our present Executive Board has approved of and thus designated the last Sunday of every April to be Loving Families Sunday.
2. Illumine – Christian Worldview Curriculum
This project began in August 2022, with CAC’s engagement of Ms Jillian Lee, the writer and trainer of this curriculum. The project is progressing well with Module 1 (Introduction to Worldviews) and the Illumine website launched during the CAC Special Session on 23 July 2023. Two rounds of the Module 1 Leaders’ Training have been held and was attended by participants coming from various churches. To date, we have trained up 23 curriculum leaders and have had the curriculum run in three churches. A Community of Practice has been set up to provide ongoing prayer and support to leaders. We are looking into the translation of Module 1, and Module 2 (Work and Economics) is targeted for completion by end May 2024. Feedback on the curriculum videos and guidebooks have been positive, with many users praising their quality, clarity, and logical structure. While the small sample size from initial stages of this project makes it too early to measure the impact of the curriculum in the local church, there is consensus that its content is vital for the discipleship of the next generation. Modules 2-6 will further explore the implications of worldview study and faith-life integration.
3. Christian Counselling Ministry
A Basic Counselling Skills training held earlier this year saw the attendance of 48 CAC church members. We have also selected and onboarded six individuals to serve as lay counsellors for two years (2024-2025). These individuals have each completed their 10-session Lay Counsellor course and are due to attend two group supervision sessions every month beginning January 2024. Our counselling team currently consists of 2 trained counsellors and 13 counselling interns. Altogether, we have received 30 counselling cases thus far. A working committee was also formed to further work on the structure and scope of this ministry as well as to look into establishing the ministry under the President’s Office.
4. Schools Outreach Ministry Task Force (SOM_TF)
To encourage the deployment of more Christian Ministry Staff (CMS) into our Methodist Schools, we have set up a CMS Salary Support Fund to partially fund the salary of the CMSs our churches employ. I would like to appeal for churches to participate in this mission field through your contributions to this fund.
5. North-East Outreach Strategic Planning Taskforce (NEO_TF)
The task force has made considerable progress. Other than the establishment of roles and responsibilities, we have also had discussions on collaboration between churches and considerations to establish a new school/student outreach ministry in the area. We have engaged with key leaders and plan to form an Operations Committee to devise a strategy and budget for the ministry.
以下内容取自吴会长在年会第48届议会上的会 长致词。
“你们要从无花果树学习功课:当树枝发芽长叶 的时候，你们就知道夏天近了。同样，当你们看见 这一切，就知道那时候近了，就在门口了。” (太 24 : 32, 33) 我们感谢上帝引领我们度过了2023年。我们 的生活现在已经恢复到新冠疫情之前的状态，我 们再次忙于面对面的会议和社交聚会。然而，尽 管在这个技术先进的世界里一切似乎很有希望， 我们仍然生活在一个充满波动和敌意的世界，我 们正经历着疫情和战争。我们需要迫切地去做上 帝的工作。 以下是我对我们年会事工的一些反思和感触。
1. 重新思考分龄事工
我们会友的年龄结构正朝着类似于国家甚至 国际趋势的方向发展。 我们年会的会友人数约为14,600人，其中将 近一半（48%）的会友年龄在60岁及以上。这意 味着有7,102名会员年龄在60岁及以上，其中 4,051名年龄在60-74岁之间。 这样看来，我们应该像投资于青年和年轻成 人事工一样投资于这群人。这个忠实的会友群体 经历了教会的起起伏伏；也在市场上拥有丰富的 经验。我们应该在牧养他们的同时，装备并 帮助他们了解当今教会事工，并鼓励他们与年轻 一代一起服侍。
2. 重思事工模式
疫情封锁期间，宗教场所被要求关闭，这使 我们意识到在家庭中举行小组聚会和家庭事工的 重要性。然而，限制解除后，我们迅速恢复到疫 情前把教堂建筑视为主要事工和教会活动场所的 方式。我们将自己局限于教堂场地的空间限制， 随后认为随着会友人数增长，重建或扩建教堂建 筑是必要的。 我们能否将家、办公室、咖啡馆和公园视为 “教会的延伸”，接纳教会墙外的事工，并将上 帝的恩典延伸到社会的更多角落？我呼吁我们堂 会认真考虑在职场、学校和大专校园中的事工。 小组（也称为班会）是卫理公会复兴运动的 关键载体。它不仅有助于扩展牧养关怀和传达教 会的方向，还提供了基督徒会谈和互相督责的平 台。在改变生活和促进灵命成长方面至关重要。 身为被呼召成为世界的盐和光的子民，我们需要 走出去，走进世界！
3. 重新聚焦大使命为我们首要及无可争辩的呼召
教会今天的存在唯一目的是实现耶稣所赋予 的大使命。大使命就是传福音和门徒训练! 这些事 工也将在耶稣再来时停止。因此这些事工的健康 状况应成为衡量教会的“表现”和对上帝忠诚的 主要指标。 约翰·卫斯理非常强调属灵操练和门徒训练 的重要性。他组织了小组/班会，进行点名并发放 圣餐礼券。他热衷于让迷失的灵魂听到福音，因 此允许平信徒作会友传道，并创办了教育、医疗 和出版等事工。他对传扬福音和门徒训练的热情 正是卫理公会的核心所在，也应该是我们华人年 议会应该具备的特质。
年会新事工和活动进展
1. 爱家倍主日（4月30日）及嘉年华会（5月1日）
我们感谢上帝的供应，使爱家倍的活动能成 功的举办。看到在整个筹划过程中和活动当天展 现出的团结令人感到温暖。我们收到了许多教会 会友的积极反馈，他们也表达了希望将来能看到 更多类似活动的愿望。未来有关举办嘉年华会的 决定将由下一届的执委会做出，但我们现任的委 会已批准并指定每年四月的最后一个星期日为爱 家倍主日。
2. Illumine – 基督徒世界观课程
年会在聘请李美璎女士作为该课程的撰写者 和培训师后，于2022年8月开始了工作。项目正 顺利进行，第一单元（世界观导论）和Illumine 网站于2023年7月23日的年会特别会议上发布。 我们已举办了两轮的第一单元导师培训，并有来 自各堂会的参加者。迄今为止，我们培训了23位 课程导师，并已有三间堂会为此课程开班。我们 也建立了一个实践社群，为导师提供持续的代祷 和支持。 我们正在跟进翻译第一单元，并计划于2024 年5月底完成第二单元（工作与经济）。对课程 视频和课本的反馈都非常积极，许多用户赞扬它 们的质量、清晰度和逻辑结构。虽然在项目初期 的小样本量使得现在衡量课程对堂会的影响为时 尚早，但大家一致认为其内容对培养下一代的门 徒至关重要。第二至第六单元将进一步探讨世界 观研究的影响和信仰生活整合。
3. 基督徒辅导事工
我们在今年早些时候举办的基本辅导技巧培 训吸引了48名年会堂会会友参加。我们也已选出 六名弟兄姐妹担任两年（2024-2025）的平信徒 辅导员。他们每一位已完成了10个单元的辅导员 课程，并将于2024年1月开始参加每月两次的小 组监督会议。我们的辅导团队目前包括2名受过 培训的辅导员和13名辅导实习生。到目前为止， 我们共收到了30个辅导案例。我们也成立了一个 工作委员会，进一步研究该事工的结构和范围， 并考虑将该事工纳入会长办公室。
4. 校园外展事工专案组（SOM_TF）
为了鼓励能有更多人成为卫理学校事工同工， 我们设立了一个校园事工同工薪资支持基金，用 来资助部分堂会聘请的校园事工同工的薪资。我 呼吁堂会通过向这个基金捐款来参与这个宣教领 域。
5. 东北社区外展专案组（NEO_TF）
该专案组取得了相当大的进展。除了确定各种 角色和责任之外，我们还讨论了教会之间的合作以 及考虑在该地区建立新的学校/学生外展事工。 我们已经与关键领导人展开了交流，并计划组建 一个运营委员会，制定该事工的策略和预算。
Rev Dr Gregory Goh Nai Lat
吴乃力牧师（博士）
President of the Chinese Annual Conference of the Methodist Church in Singapore
新加坡卫理公会华人年议会会长