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Ordination service and retirement prayer during covid 19

30 November 2020 blogpastor Leave a comment

The ordination of Alvin Lim was certainly a highlight and delight in the month of November 2020. The Covid 19 makes all kinds of events unforgettable: a covid 19 ordination – what will it look like? We did not want it to be a non-event attended by 10 persons with all kinds of limitations, so we postponed it. However, when things got better and the government safety guidelines were loosened, and 100 were allowed to physically congregate, we decided to go ahead with the ordination. In addition, there was the deadline of my retirement: we had to do it before 19 November.

RESTRICTIONS DURING ORDINATION SERVICE

We had to limit the numbers who could attend. All the other measures like masks, temperature taking, two groups kept separated, no singing, a single entrance and exit for each group. Keeping safe distances all the time.

I began with a mask and later, for better communications, a full plastic shield. However, I had to make sure the microphone was under the transparent plastic shield when I spoke so that the sound is not muffled. The same goes with the Mandarin interpreter, who stood two metres from me, and the sign language interpreter who stood about ten metres from me.

This ordination service was pre-recorded and would be shown to all the three congregations on the 15^th of November, the following Sunday, giving the hardworking media team about seven days to edit and upload it. I was glad that everything went smoothly.

From the beginning, the excitement in the hall was electric – partly because it was the first physical gathering since the beginning of the circuit breaker, and partly because it was an ordination service. All this while, our services had been pre-recorded from home initially, and later at the church hall. Now this ordination service would be the dry run for future in-person gatherings for worship.

Despite the restrictions, there was no blocking the anointing of the Holy Spirit. I felt strongly his presence during the service, when I preached, and during the liturgy, but especially when I laid hands on Alvin Lim the candidate, and prayed and prophesied over him. I was filled with joy, peace and contentment.

**All the church staff of the three congregations were glad in the Lord**

**The President of the Board of Elders gave the love gift to SP Kenny**

RETIREMENT PRAYER FOR SENIOR PASTOR

Another thing we did was to pre-record my retirement service. This was done after the ordination service. The congregation had a ten-minute break, and re-gathered for the second part, where some commendations, appreciation speeches and a presentation of ex gratia offering for me, and my thank you speech was pre-recorded. The highlight was the three congregational pastors representing their congregations and praying blessings upon me. After editing, the segment will be added to the service of another Sunday and screened to all three congregations. You can watch this segment below.

Restitution at Robinson’s

22 November 2020 blogpastor Leave a comment

After Friday’s lunch at Shaw Centre, I went with my wife and a friend to Robinson’s, Singapore’s 162 year old iconic department store. There was a winding down sale. The dame has folded. The shift to online shopping and the covid 19 has taken another victim, with more to follow. I bought a pair of shorts for half-price and my wife bought two blouses at half-price.

NOT SO SWEET MEMORIES

Robinsons brought back many personal memories. I remembered being brought there by better off uncles and aunties as a school-going kid to experience the oohs and aahs of seeing an abundance of stuff you wouldn’t see anywhere else. My mum also liked walking there, even though she could not afford the rather expensive things displayed on the shelves. We could only afford things like bath towels and Airfix, the hobby kit that I was obsessed with, for gluing into plastic models of World War II aircraft.

I was so caught up in this hobby that I would save my pocket money to buy up different models. Once I was so overtaken by my lust for certain model aircraft, that I stole one or two at Robinson’s and put them among other items that had been bought. One was a Japanese fighter aircraft – the Zero. The other, I have forgotten.

I remembered how my heart palpitated as I walked out of the department store. I was relieved when I exited the entrance. It was crowded near Christmas time, so I supposed the security couldn’t cope. But my act of theft did not escape God’s eyes.

REPENTANCE AND RESTITUTION

Many years later, I would accept Jesus Christ as my Saviour and Lord. As I followed Jesus in discipleship, I learned about repentance and restitution. Convicted about my past sin of stealing, I wrote a letter to Robinson’s department store and apologized for what I stole from them years earlier in a letter, with the estimated cost of what was stolen in cash attached to the letter.

Sometime later, I received a letter from Robinson’s with a receipt, informing me that they received my money, and were glad that I turned over a new leaf! For sure if I had a smartphone then, I would have taken a photo of their letter for keepsake.

Now whenever I looked back at this incident I realize it was an important step for me as a new believer to establish a clear conscience. I would one day be a pastor, and God knew that but not me, not at that stage of my Christian life. When God invites you or convicts you to do something, just do it. It is healing, strengthening and who knows how it may impact others?

Have you done any restitution before? Do share your experience in the comment box.

Preaching at St Andrews Community Chapel during covid 19

19 November 2020 blogpastor 2 Comments

St Andrews Community Chapel has an interesting way of serving their gathered and scattered congregation, their on-site and online service. I was invited to guest preach before Covid 19 gatecrashed the Singapore church and turned every church’s program upside down. Unsure of whether they still wanted me to preach, I wrote to them and released them from any commitment to have me if the new circumstances warranted something different. They promptly replied that the guest preaching appointment was still in place as their congregation had already started to meet under the government guidelines of 100 maximum in the hall with social distancing and other safety measures in place.

Pre-recording and on-site preaching

The interesting thing was that they would also like me to pre-record the same sermon I would preach to the on-site service, and hand the recording to them beforehand so that they could screen it at the same time for the online congregation to watch. I will post this pre-recorded sermon in another post.

The chapel originally was located with St Andrews Community Hospital but due to covid 19 they were using the auditorium of the St Hilda’s Primary School in Tampines. Covid 19 has been disruptive in more than one ways.

Vicar Daniel Tong

I had a chat with the vicar Daniel Tong, a veteran Anglican vicar and notable author of five books and had a chat with him. While I think and talk about writing books, he has already written books that are selling quite well. Seeing him made me wonder if I have what it takes to write a book.

The order of service

Soon the service started and noticeably there were no songs. However, they used liturgy to establish a connect between the gathered people of God and worship of God. Before I knew it, I was at the stage preaching with a mask on. It wasn’t easy as members still trickled in in front of everyone, while I was speaking, and it affected my concentration.

The late we have with us always. Most would at least come before the sermon and they would sit at the back, but with covid 19, there is no buffer time of three songs and announcement and prayer, and in a performing art auditorium, there are no entrances near the back rows (everyone sees you when you are late!).

Online service pampering

Online services also have its late-comers. Many actually attend to the services later on. And they can use the cursor to move forward the video to skip what they are not interested in, perhaps the preliminaries, and merely watch what they like. Online services facilitate the making of churchgoers into consumers, and not disciples! The several months of online pampering have sealed the marriage of God’s children to comfort, convenience and compromise.

On site services impacted by covid 19

Covid 19 has also conditioned us pastors to offer a more compact and concise service. The service I preached it included baptism and holy communion, and all in, if I remember correctly, the service ended in one hour fifteen minutes. Safety measures meant that we had to keep our services compact and dismiss God’s people into the world (without much interaction in the church premises). Outside they can have lunch together in public eating places in groups of five. And we Asians are communal and put community above individualism and we comply with law and order.

I noticed that no offering bags were passed around. Digital giving is encouraged, but those who still want to give cash can put in in an offering box at the front of the stage. Holy Communion is by intinction, partly dipping the consecrated wafer into the wine and handing it to the communicant for consumption. Safety observed at all times.

My personal take on online services

This new normal is something I am grateful for even though it stifles the church of expression of worship in song, in prayer, and warm fellowship. I pray the church will soon go back to what it was before. I miss live worship among God’s gathered saints. I miss singing heartily and mingling around and catching up with church folks. I do not want the spiritual disconnect I feel when I watch an online service. I love the comfort and convenience and time-saving of commute free Sunday worship, but I fear it places limits on the felt experience of the Spirit’s moving and activity on the affections and desires of God’s gathered people. We must determine to awaken God’s people from their atrophied spiritual muscles, and stir holy desire and hunger for God afresh.