News ¢ Jason Woo is the Communications Executive at MCS Comms. / Photos courtesy of Holland Village Methodist Church, Queenstown Chinese Methodist Church and Telok Ayer Chinese Methodist Church.
It is good to gather
A
again!
s Singapore, along with the rest of the world, battled the COVID-19 pandemic, places of worship were some of the first gathering points to be shut down as they were deemed to be high-risk.
This is especially so for churches, due to the fact that congregants are very often seated close to each other. The singing of hymns and other songs are common, which increases the risk of the air-borne virus spreading when droplets and aerosols are emitted. For much of 2020, physical services had been stopped since March as churches in Singapore opted to go online and have their services streamed over the internet. Churches and other places of worship were allowed to be re-opened since the end of June, and their gathering capacity limits were lifted gradually from 50 to 100 attendees recently as the Singapore government took tentative steps in easing COVID-19 gathering restrictions. Methodist Message checks in on some of our local churches that had moved quickly to adopt the newly increased cap on congregants, following Sengkang Methodist Church, one of the first batch of worship venues to have their caps on attendance increased in August. Queenstown Chinese MC
Telok Ayer Chinese MC
“We want to give thanks for being able to resume the 100-member on-site livestream cum Holy Communion English service since the morning of 1 Nov 2020 at TA and another Mandarin service at TA2. While emphasising the importance of physical on-site service, we would also encourage our members to attend at least one Holy Communion service per month while worshipping at home through our online platforms, until the restrictions on physical gathering relaxes.
Holland Village MC
Despite having to register before attending physical services on Sunday due to restrictions in gatherings, it is still our prayer and hope to be able to worship together with other brothers and sisters in the temple of the Lord. May God have mercy on us, help us to be thankful for today and be hopeful for the future.”
The Rev Chua Ooi Suah / Telok Ayer Chinese MC Pastor-in-charge
“It has been a long journey since Holland Village Methodist Church (HVMC) reopened in August for short Holy Communion Services capped at 50 members per service. In November, we were glad to be able to progress to 100-member weekly Advent Services. Even though these services are not the same as those we had pre-pandemic, with no singing and all things kept brief, we are glad and grateful to be back. We look forward to celebrating Christmas on-site together as a community.”
The Rev Joel Yong / HVMC Pastor-in-charge For more information on various service timings and registration details of respective Methodist churches, please kindly refer to their websites or contact them directly. METHODIST MESSAGE DECEMBER 2020
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