ANNUAL MINISTRY REPORT 2022
Grow Communities Team
GROW COMMUNITIES TEAM
The Grow Communities Team makes disciples by calling the church to “Grow with us” in authentic communities of Life Change Groups (LCGs), which are equipped in Grow Classes.
Khoo Seng Khong (SK), Ps Daniel Seow, Raymond Wong
Who we are
Team Head: Raymond Wong
Staff & Ministries: Lee Twee Kim, Raymond Wong, and Daniel Seow (LCG); SK Khoo and Daniel Seow (CE); Joshua Lim (Prisons)
What we did
The Grow Communities team’s strategies and activities closely followed the church discipleship focus “FUN Discipleship in my family”. We continued with Zoom meetings for the first half of 2022, and are thankful that the eventual relaxing of Covid regulations allowed us to meet in-person for our small group meetings and Grow classes. Being able to meet face-to-face enhanced fellowship, learning and life-on-life impact in a way that Zoom meetings cannot.
Didactic teaching complemented by obedience-based discipleship continued to be our key strategy for discipleship. The Grow Communities team also began working more closely together on jointly planned activities, such as leadership training and combined events. There is now a growing synergy in the team.
Life Change Groups (English):
Many LCGs resumed meeting in-person, and although some have found it difficult or inconvenient to meet, more groups are considering to do so this year (2023). We adopted a two-prong bible study theme: (a) “FUN Discipleship” passages, and (b) the book of Genesis, our sermon series. It was encouraging to see many LCGs forming huddles for deeper sharing and accountability. Based on their feedback, they enjoyed the huddle time, and it played an important role to help them live out what they learnt in obedience, with the support of community. Several LCGs faced challenges with crafting their “I will” statements and some were not yet ready to begin their huddles, but we are nonetheless thankful for progress made. In fact, “I will” has become one of our church’s buzzwords that we now instantly recognise.
Our New Life Group (NLG) worked together with the LCGs to jointly organise monthly breakfast sessions for members to get to know one another better. So far, this has been a positive experience, with new friendships formed over good food and fellowship.
Life Change Groups (Chinese):
2022 was a year when we saw our Chinese LCGs gradually returning to normalcy. Most groups have resumed physical meetings since July, after a hiatus of two years. We also saw a change in the leadership to Ps Daniel, with Ps Paul leaving for the UK in June. Our sermon discussions in LCGs had a special focus on FUN discipleship, and were closely linked to the sermons for each week. Our Chinese congregation members were encouraged to practise what they learnt in their families.
Prison Ministry:
After two years of not being able to gather as a ministry, many of the NLG brothers and sisters returned to church and NLG gatherings when the situation finally allowed us to. We had two focus areas for the year: (a) rebuilding relationships, and (b) application of God’s word in our daily lives. We did these through resuming many of our NLG activities that we used to have pre-Covid, such as weekly breakfast and teaching sessions. With regards to spiritual growth, we discussed selected bible verses and explained them in ways that were easy for them to understand and apply in their daily lives.
A buddy system was set up to provide guidance, support and accountability — somewhat like a two-person huddle. In 2023, we hope that many of our NLG brothers and sisters will continue to grow in maturity and spur one another on towards love and good deeds.
Christian Education (English):
Praise be to God for the over 1,000 attendees who enrolled into some 40 different Grow classes, workshops and forums last year! From learning how to study and read the Bible to learning how to share the Gospel, from being baptized to being free in Christ, 2022 saw our church embark on making lifelong learning a strong pillar in our discipleship journey. The introduction of Phase 1 of the new CE Roadmap in 2022 was just the beginning as we continue to roll out Phase 2 this year.
May we continue to grow, not just in our knowledge and understanding of the Bible and biblical principles of living, but in our love for God and obedience to His commands.
Christian Education (Chinese):
In 2022, CE provided a series of classes catering to the different needs of the Chinese congregation, including classes on baptism, emotional healing, leadership, studies on Genesis, and a motivational class for teachers. We designed many of the lessons to include the FUN discipleship component. For example, in the Genesis class, we placed special emphasis on the importance of building strong families grounded in truth and teaching members God’s blueprint for navigating their biblical roles in their families. We also engaged the services of 逃城 (City of Refuge) to equip our LCG leaders to better journey with our members in FUN discipleship. This year, we hope to provide a more comprehensive array of Chinese classes to equip our members.
Where we are going
The Grow Communities team will continue to to bring the teaching-obedience approach to discipleship to our church members. This is challenging as it will require a more seamless approach to ministry. With regards to the church discipleship focus, we are a key stakeholder and have an active role in all three aspects of “Say Yes to Jesus!” especially in the goals on deepening huddles, and holding spiritual conversations that lead to prayer. Developing and equipping lay leaders are important to us, and we will plan appropriate training programmes for this.
ANNUAL MINISTRY REPORT 2022
Grow Communities Team