Church Times Two is Twice as Nice

I attended church yesterday for the first time since embarking on this adventure. I spent some time online perusing the listing of 100+ Christian churches in Singapore trying to find one that met my specifications. My home church denomination is Disciples of Christ, but alas, there are none in Asia. The DOC is a very mainstream church not dissimilar to Presbyterian or Methodist. Finding one close to an MRT stop was a good way to begin the search.

Sofie rode her scooter to the market Sat.

The other qualifier needed to be a worship service not too early on Sunday. I was not having a great deal of luck with my search, finding only one within 600 meters of the MRT, which sounds a little far to walk in this hot climate. Besides, it required a transfer to a second MRT line and then a ride to the last stop on the outskirts of the city. The eleven o'clock start time, however, made this Christian Church (United Churches of Christ demonomination) a reasonable though not ideal option. So I read the website, which gave me some doubts. Then...call it luck, call it serendipity, or call it divine intervention, but here's what happened. On Saturday, Hapny wanted to find a local source for bottled water other than the Seven-Eleven Store at our MRT stop, which ran out of her preferred brand.

Tap water in my bottles.

I've told Hapny she's a water snob! She doesn't (can't...won't) drink tap water anywhere. She grew up in a village without potable water and only knew bottled or boiled water. She claims she can smell and taste the chlorine in 'city' water. But her palate is such that she rejects many brands of bottled water. Perhaps this makes her an aquafarian (my term). I have no such refinement in my water preferences. Tap is fine as long as it's not sulphur water which smells like rotten eggs! Getting back to the 'aha!' part of this tale....We knew there was a Cheers market attached to a gas station a few blocks from our residence. We had gone there once to ship documents to Aron using DHL service. Previously, I had noticed on the side street we walked that there was a Methodist sponsored junior high school. On Saturday, I looked more closely as we walked past and noticed the banner identifying this as the meeting place for Cairnhill Methodist Church! Voila! As soon as we returned with our water bottles, I went online to find out more and learned that Sunday morning service (in English) took place at 9:30, a reasonable time for such a short walk. I guess because this church meets in a school might explain why Google Maps failed to target it. 

I found a good church right in my neighborhood.

May 25 was the perfect Sunday for me to attend church. It was, after all, the date marking what would have been Alex's 30th birthday. What better way to celebrate his life? I couldn't help but think back to the day of his birth never imagining where I would be 30 years hence! It pleases me beyond words to report that my worship experience with the Methodists was outstanding. What a friendly and welcoming congregation they are! I arrived early (sans Hapny and Sofie) and sat next to the aisle in this spacious auditorium. Before services, I met the Pastor-in-Charge, Rev. William Sam, who had been tipped off about the visitor, no doubt. He called me by name during the service and so I waved as requested as all eyes looked my direction, which was fine. Many other members made a point to come by before the service to welcome me. I'm guessing attendance was around 100 people in this auditorium designed for many more than that. The service was contemporary, very similar in structure and music to the Bridge service occurring early evenings at my home church, Woodmont Christian.

The band at Cairnhill Methodist Church.

There was a five-piece band with guitars, keyboard, and drums and the service began with a succession of five songs with lyrics projected on a screen. Video played twice during the service; once with announcements and the second time showing activities during a mission trip to Borneo, Indonesia, which looked like a revival. The mission trip leader, Mr. Ronnie Yeo, gave the sermon, titled "The Transformative Power of God." He was inspirational and left me feeling uplifted. The only thing absent from this service was communion. Is that typical for Methodists? Weekly communion and emphasis on its meaning is integral to my normal worship experience. Afterward, I accepted an invitation to share tea with congregants in a covered outdoor area with picnic tables. It was there I met one of the very few non Asian members, an Englishman named Garth and his lovely Singaporean wife Sheila and their two young boys. We swapped life stories and I committed to return next week. After I described my experience to Hapny and Sofie, they expressed interest in attending with me. It's not that they chose not to accompany me this week, they had not yet made an appearance from their bedroom when I left the apartment.

Before mass at St Alphonsus Catholic Church.

Later in the day, we attended a worship service at the St. Alphonsus Catholic church at Novena, which we had walked past many times. Hapny is Catholic and I had told her on several occasions I was more than willing to accompany her or keep Sofie. I haven't attended mass in many years, but afterward Hapny said this service was very similar and familiar to what she was used to. This parish church has long established history to the 19th Century. The sanctuary building was dedicated in 1950, I noticed, and a campaign is underway to construct a new no doubt larger facility. There was a special collection for the building fund in addition to the regular collection. In contrast to the morning service I attended, I would say there were at least 500 maybe more in attendance. I stood as invited with the parishioners, and recited and sang, but did not kneel, or genuflect, or go forward for communion, as did Hapny and Sofie. The contrast between the two services could not have been more pronounced. I'll just leave it at that. To each his or her own! On this Memorial Day Monday, freedom of religion (or from religion, for that matter) is one of the rights our Armed Forces are willing to fight...and die for. God bless!

A lovely parting gift of 'Chillout Hymns' from the Methodists!
If only I had CD player!