A 1837 painting of Fort Canning Hill and the area around St Andrew's Cathedral today
Providentially, every church or denomination has unique gifts and graces. Our Diocese has her Anglican nature and gifts of doing missions. Given our British colonial roots, this often starts with those in the establishment, especially civil servants and those who are more educated. Soon enough, the work will expand to other communities and these often come through educational, medical or other forms of community services. Then Services in the vernacular started, true to the spirit of English Reformation.
The Anglican Church is very much at home with the State and often work in close cooperation with echelons in the society. This explains the proliferation of language-learning classes (many want to learn English) which eventually expands into Mission schools. Medical clinics grew into full fledge medical institutions. Our diocese has pioneered Community Hospitals. We have also a strong tradition in reaching out to the mentally needy, whether it is senior care, autistic care or work with those who are mentally sick. With the advent of psychiatric medication, less patients are institutionalised and this explain the growth of care and active aging centers etc, which are often sited (or "void-decked") within heartland communities.
With the growth of foreign workers ("cycled" as opposed to permanent expats), more parishes develop language Services, often accompanied by social, welfare or skill development activities. Our Filipino ministry is a case in point. The Cathedral has a major work with Myanmar workers, ranging from a congregation pastored by a Myanmarese clergy (Revd Moses Israeli) to social work with those who picnic in the lawns or other areas in the city. One huge draw is home-cooked meals that is close to their own cuisine. The pastoral work extends beyond members of the congregation, true to the Anglican tradition where a parish has boundaries which go beyond the church land and is geographical in the residential sense.
The same pattern of missions work is now extended to our six deaneries. The degree and pace of work often depends on how open the country is to Christianity. If it is "restricted access", often the work majors on education. That the work is started by a foreign Church body (Diocese of Singapore) is open knowledge, where government officials are invited to opening ceremonies and so on. In fact, that the Church is behind it, can be a basis for trust. They know we are not only driven by business interest. And being part of a long-established "English" Church, this means we are mainstream, have wider governance and less prone to socially disruptive extremism. A "Singaporean plus Anglican" brand is indeed a trusted one which explains welcomed access in most countries.
In countries where faith practices are encouraged (like here), the work takes on a similar pattern to our own historical development: worship congregations to full-fledged parishes which eventually become deaneries and the goal to be a diocese one day. The focus is on raising local leadership. Today, most if not all deaneries have their own local clergy who were ordained by our Bishops. The deanery work also follow the same pattern of engagement with society at many levels. This mission involvement is very tangible and rewarding in the long run. Even "short-term" trips can contribute to the development of the local work, not unlike the very short trip our Zimrah team made recently to train the worship teams in Lat Krabang Anglican Church. Just as our English forebears seeded our Diocese, we do the same for their countries.
Having this "strength-finder" self-awareness is important given that there are many streams of Mission work, locally ("diaspora") or overseas, all valid and needed of course. It can also help set our priorities and focus here in MPCC and guide the steps we can take towards building on our gifts and graces (strengths).
Another way of putting it is to say, all these is part of our calling as Anglicans.
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