O Worship the LORD in the Beauty of Holiness

THE PRESBYTERY OF SINGAPORE BIBLE-PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES

    The word “Presbyterian” in the name of our church shows that we entrust the governing of the church to a group of elected elders. This means that there is plurality of leadership. Proverbs 11:14 – “Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.” This distinguishes it from the Episcopal form of government, where the leadership takes the form of a hierarchical structure, and from the Congregational form of government, where authority is vested in all the members of the church.

    In the presbyterian system of church government, a presbytery is the court or representative body next above the Session of the local church. It is composed of the ordained ministers and elders nominated by the Session of each church in a given community (see 1 Timothy 4:14; Acts 15).

    On the afternoon of Saturday, 4 February 2023, 72 brethren from like-minded Bible-Presbyterian Churches gathered together in the Sanctuary of Calvary B-P Church to give thanks to God for the inauguration of the Presbytery of Singapore Bible-Presbyterian Churches. The interim board was officially installed to run the presbytery. The interim board will serve until a new board is elected at the first Annual Presbytery Meeting which will be held in August 2023. The presbytery presently consists of 19 representatives from Abundant Life, Calvary, Life, New Life and Sharon B-P Churches.

The History of the Presbytery

    In 2007 several pastors and elders began gathering for a monthly fraternal fellowship. The fraternal fellowship provided a platform to collaborate and to build up greater ties among like-minded churches. The following year an idea of starting a Bible college was mooted. This idea was developed into a series of lectures conducted at Beulah Centre. Then in August 2016, Emmanuel Reformed Bible College was registered as a school with the relevant authorities and the first semester began in January 2017. So, the need for providing a biblical reformed training institution for future preachers was met. Our first combined B-P Churches conference was held in August 2017 with the commemoration of the 500^th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.

    Meantime, the pastors fraternal expanded to include several other B-P churches. In 2015, the pastors’ fellowship wrote a positional statement on the issue of homosexuality. 31 pastors and preachers representing 13 churches in Singapore and Malaysia signed on the statement. This was followed up in 2018 with a letter of appeal to the authorities to retain section 377A of the Penal code. It was at this time that the Pastors’ Fraternal broached the idea of forming a presbytery.

The Formation of the Presbytery

    A plan to start the process was drawn out in early 2019 by a committee consisting of Rev Lim Chee Boon, Rev Isaac Ong, Rev Ho Chee Lai and Rev Charles Seet. The first task was the drafting of the white papers in English and Chinese. It was completed in July the same year and was sent to the fraternal churches for their consideration. There were two meetings with the session members of the fraternal churches to review the white papers on 29 January and 5 March 2021. The churches were well represented in the two review sessions. The next step was the review of the constitution and the manual.

    The presbytery constitution and manual were ready for review by October 2021. The sessions of the fraternal churches reviewed both documents and their questions and concerns were adequately addressed in a meeting on 5 November 2021. At this stage, the working committee had already engaged the law firm, Allen & Gledhill, to help in the fine touches of the constitution and the manual. Mr Jerry Koh and Ms Jessie Lim were our legal representatives.

    An interim board was appointed for the purpose of making application to the Registrar of Societies (ROS) for the registration of the presbytery. The board consisted of:

Chairman:     Rev Peter Chua

Vice Chairman:       Rev Charles Seet

Secretary:     Rev Frank Low

Treasurer:     Rev Tan Chor Kiat

Members:      Elder Clement Tan and Elder Su Hong Zee

    The collection of necessary documents for the application to register took some time. The legal team was most helpful in this process. The application to register the presbytery was submitted on 2 March 2022. For the next six months, the lawyers and the officers from ROS had back and forth email and phone exchanges. The questions asked by ROS were relevant. The officers were very helpful in tidying the constitution.

    Finally, on 30 September 2022, the lawyers conveyed to us the good news via email that the Presbytery of Singapore Bible-Presbyterian Churches was given the approval. The official date of the approval was recorded as 3 October 2022.

    A few days later the lawyers wrote to say that the work they had done for the presbytery would be on a pro bono initiative. The presbytery is appreciative of the many hours they had put in for the project. The interim board decided to host an appreciation dinner to thank them for their good work.

The Logo of the Presbytery

    This was designed in October 2021. The burning bush motif in the logo has been used by presbyterian churches since 1691. It is based on Exodus 3:2 which records how the Lord appeared unto Moses “in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.”

    God’s people are just like a frail and humble little bush. God is a consuming fire who can easily destroy us (Hebrews 12:29). But God in His grace is with us and works through us, and yet we are not consumed.

    The open Bible that frames the logo depicts the fact that we are Bible-Presbyterians. Thus, we seek to stand firm on the Word of God and to reach forth by declaring it faithfully to the world.

    Moving forward, it is hoped that this presbytery will serve as a platform for encouragement, help and support to the fraternal B-P churches and their pastors to keep standing firm and reaching forth. All glory be to God!

– Pastor

Appointments for the Week

Monday, February 20

        7.30 pm     ERBL: OT Historical Books (Rev Charles Seet)

Tuesday, February 21

        8.00 pm     Prayer Meeting (Dn Woon Sin Wei)

Thursday, February 23

      10.00 am     Ladies’ Prayer Group

        7.30 pm     ERBL: History of Presbyterian & B-P Churches (Rev Lee Hock Chin)

Friday, February 24

        7.30 pm     MM BS

Saturday, February 25

        2.30 pm     Ladies’ Tea Fellowship

        3.00 pm     YAF / MM BS

Sunday, February 26

  8.00 am Selfless or Selfish Service? (Acts 4:32-5:11; Ephesians 6:5-6) Rev Charles Seet

  8.00 am Choir Practice

  9.15 am Library (Sanctuary Balcony)

  9.40 am Sunday School / Catechism Class

10.15 am Coffee Corner

11.00 am Selfless or Selfish Service? (Acts 4:32-5:11; Ephesians 6:5-6) Rev Charles Seet

11.00 am Children’s Ministry

11.00 am Chinese Service

11.00 am Filipina Service (Rm 1-6)

12.15 pm Library (Sanctuary Balcony)

  2.00 pm Session Meeting

  2.30 pm Thai Service (LMH)

  4.00 pm Indonesian Service (Rm 1-6)

Announcements

Church Camp 2023

13-16 June 2023

Anchoring Our Faith In A Postmodern World

Speaker: Pastor Tan Soon Yong

Radisson Golf & Convention Center, Batam

Registration for church camp 2023 is now open. Online registration is now available. Please register early!  

Vacation Bible School

Vacation Bible School (VBS) is back!

Theme: Mission Himpossible.

Date: 31 May-2 Jun 2023.

Lifers needed for the available areas of service: teaching, logistics, craft, games, F&B and photography.  To register, visit lifebpc.com/vbs
Note: Children’s registration (4-12 years old [N2-P6]) will commence in March.  

Job Vacancies

Life B-P Church

a) Assistant Finance Officer (AFO)

Assists in the finance operations of the organization, and HR administrative/operational functions of the Church. https://www.lifebpc.com/index.php/component/k2/job-opportunities-afo

b) Assistant Media & Technology Officer (AMTO)

Assists in the Audio-Visual (AV) functions of the church. https://www.lifebpc.com/index.php/component/k2/job-opportunities-amto

Candidates with relevant qualifications and experience may submit your application and CV to the Church Operations Manager at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. We regret that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. 

Emmanuel Reformed Bible College (ERBC) is looking to hire the following:

1. College Administrator: The candidate will have the oversight of the administrative duties in managing staff, resources and facilities of the College.  The candidate must be a Christian and needs to work closely with the faculty, and reports directly to the principal.  Working experience in a similar position in an academic institution and good communication skills, both spoken and written will be added advantages.

2. College Assistant Administrator: The candidate will be supporting the College Administrator in the administrative duties in the operation of the College including helping students in their application, entry into Singapore, and all incidentals relating to their studies in the College.  The candidate must be a Christian proficient in using word processing software and spreadsheets dealing with database, basic book-keeping and communication skills, both spoken and written.

Interested parties can enquire at the ERBC Office for detailed job descriptions.

1 Tao Ching Road, Singapore 618720

Tel: (+65) 6594-9397 | Fax: 6250-6955 | Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Website: www.erbc.sg

Exploring Christianity

What is the meaning of life? Why am I here? If there is a good and powerful God, why do we have global pandemics and unrest in this world?  The answers can be found in the Bible, which is God's word to man.

Exploring Christianity is a course that looks at how the Bible addresses these pertinent questions about life. It is a 5-part series and is suitable for (1) Non-Christians searching to know who God is (2) Christians who would like to understand the basics of what it means to be a Christian.

The seminar will be held on 1 May 2023, from 9am-12.30pm at Beulah Centre. Lunch will be provided. All Lifers are encouraged to bring their non-Christian friends and family members to this introductory course on the Christian faith.

To register, please visit: https://tinyurl.com/ExpChr2023

Participating in upcoming Mission Trips in 2023 

We would like to encourage Life B-P Church members to participate actively in missions both in support and involvement (short-term or otherwise), including medical and dental (MaD) missions, with the hope that some may be called to be full-time missionaries. If you are interested to participate in the upcoming mission trips being planned for 2023, please register your interest by filling in this form: https://forms.gle/Cc4Q22b8csiFmqEY6 

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