Church Life ¢ Church Profile: Fairfield Methodist Church Dr Cheah-Foo Fung Fong is the Vice President of the Trinity Annual Conference and Associate Lay Leader of Fairfield Methodist Church. / Photos courtesy of Fairfield Methodist Church
Bishop Dr Gordon Wong preaching at Fairfield MC’s 73rd anniversary
Blessing Chinatown and beyond
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ndeterred by the COVID-19 pandemic, Fairfield Methodist Church (MC) celebrated her 73rd Anniversary with 100 members and friends gathering for a live worship service on 31 Jan 2021. Given the government’s safety measures, the rest of the congregation tuned in from home via livestream to join those in church to hear Bishop Dr Gordon Wong preach from Lamentations 3:22–23 on God’s faithfulness in the face of darkness and hopelessness. Similarly, the Depression and threat of a world war in the 1930s did not deter Fairfield’s first pastor, the late Rev Herbert F. Kuehn, and his wife Mabel. Their pioneering work in 1938 led to the planting of the Fairfield Chapel in the school hall of Fairfield Girls’ School at 178 Neil Road. It was subsequently constituted as a Local Conference on 1 Feb 1948 with 20 members. The church has grown to its current membership of 770, with services in English, Mandarin and Cantonese. Fairfield’s vision is to be a disciple-making church, with the mission that every member be committed to “Magnify God, Multiply disciples, and Minister to all peoples in Singapore and beyond”. When we moved from Neil Road to our current location at 1 Tanjong Pagar Road in June 1986, we retained our calling to minister to the community in Chinatown. This has been done through Christmas-in-Chinatown events during Christmas and the many blessing projects held at different times of the year to bless the community. The greatest blessing project was the establishment of Yong-en Care Centre 25 years ago in September 1996 as our community outreach arm in Chinatown. Its mission is to demonstrate God’s love through value-added community services and support for the needy individuals and families in Chinatown and beyond.
We went beyond blessing locals and started our Injured Migrant Workers Ministry to provide both practical and spiritual support to Chinese, Indian and Bangladeshi migrant workers injured while working here. We thank God for His faithfulness in consistently providing for the needs of the Ministry despite high expenses and our limited resources. Being strategically located in the Central Business District, Fairfield started the City Connect Ministry on 31 May 2018. This allowed office workers to step into the church during their lunch breaks to rest and recharge. Befrienders took the opportunity to build relationships with them for further support and outreach. With a new MRT station soon to open right at our doorstep, we hope to play a bigger role in God’s plans to bless those living and working in the Chinatown, Tanjong Pagar, Maxwell and Duxton areas well beyond 2027 when our current lease is due for renewal. We covet your prayers and support to join us in this exciting journey to bless Chinatown and beyond with the love of Jesus.
FAIRFIELD METHODIST CHURCH (Trinity Annual Conference) 1 Tanjong Pagar Road S(088437) Sunday Services: (Currently) 10.30 a.m. – Mandarin 11 a.m. – English 2 p.m. – Cantonese www.fairfieldmc.org 6221-7394
METHODIST MESSAGE July 2021
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