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MCS 135
The Rev Benjamin Lau has a heart for Discipleship & Evangelism and a passion for mentoring the younger generation. He currently serves on the TRAC Board of Youth Ministry. Formerly the pastor overseeing the Youth Ministry at Christ Methodist Church from 2018–20, he started his new appointment at Wesley Methodist Church in Jan 2021 and is the pastor overseeing the Children Ministry and BeTweens Ministry (11–14 year olds).
Speakers and participants
Youth matters! As part of the MCS 135 celebrations, the MCS Youth Conference Committee organised an online “Youth Matters” forum on 10 Dec 2020. The Rev Bernard Chao, a lecturer at Trinity Theological College who teaches a “Rethinking Youth Ministry” course to youth workers, moderated the forum together with a panel comprising Pastor Ian Wong, a youth pastor from Kum Yan Methodist Church (MC), Bernice Toh, a youth leader from Paya Lebar MC, and Samuel Wan, a youth from Christ MC.
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he panel had an engaging and authentic dialogue with youth practitioners and youths from different Methodist churches in Singapore. Four key questions were brought up for discussion.
Have we prioritised programmes over people? A research paper titled “Youth Ministries Realities in Singapore” highlights that many ministries are strong in organising large-scale events and programmes. However, this strength could also be a weakness, especially when programmes take priority over relationships, resulting in people getting lost along the way.1 Pastor Ian shared five steps to describe the journey he hopes to see in a person coming into youth ministry. 1. Fun: The excitement that someone feels when they first get drawn in. 1
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2. Friendship: Making genuine connections with people within the church. 3. Feeding: Growing deeper roots by being taught and learning something. 4. Fruitfulness: Where the learning produces fruit. A season of growth where you see a change in the person’s character. 5. Faith: The place of surrender. You become a disciple of Jesus Christ when He tells you to do something and you actually do it. Events are important for bringing a youth into the church but it is hard for anyone to get to the fifth step without first building genuine personal relationships. What matters to the youths are authentic relationships and not just the programmes per se.
Dr Calvin Chong, “Youth Ministries Realities in Singapore: Insights and Wisdom from the Ground” (April 2016), METHODIST MESSAGE FEBRUARY 2021
