​Like many millennials, I have a myriad of social media accounts – Facebook, Instagram and Linkedin. I use them mainly to connect with my friends abroad. However, social media can be a blessing or curse. The rise of social media has been correlated with the increase in mental health issues. Like any tool used correctly, social media can bring glory to God and minister to His people. 

​On 7 April 2020, Singapore entered its circuit breaker period in its attempt to curb the rising COVID cases in the country. People had to work from home, schools switched to home-based learning and only essential services were allowed to operate. Churches had to quickly switch to online services. Zion Serangoon chose to switch its worship service to Zoom which was also recorded for uploading to YouTube. 

Over time, as Singapore went through the various phases of reopening, the church decided to switch back from Zoom to Youtube livestreaming service. 

Physical services gradually opened up with people eventually returning to church for services. We now run three Vaccine-Differentiated Worship Services (8.45 am, 11.15am and 5pm) in line with the latest government measures as of 14 February 2022. More changes may follow after new relaxations after 29 March.

​In addition to the changes to worship service medium, the lines of communication to its members had to adapt with the ever-changing measures. The church started to use Whatsapp broadcast to disseminate important church announcements, pastoral letters, weekly bulletin and service Youtube link.

COVID has made the need to communicate information to church members even more vital, given the lack of physical meetups. 

In tandem, there was much change in the Communication and Engagement Committee. Speaking to two members of the committee: Megan Loong and Manfred Ong, they share how Zion Serangoon is taking advantage of social media, the church website and other communication channels for the purpose of ministering to our church members and friends.

The role of COVID and its timing for the ministry

Megan shared that “although these outlets were present pre-COVID, these communication outlets were not effectively used. COVID was the catalyst for the change.”

The church decided to engage Tabitha Tan, an external consultant who worships at 3:16 Church (founded by Pastor Ian Toh) who assisted in the team in streamlining the channels and better utilise the various outlets for three months in 2021. 

Given her expertise and background in this field, the team approached her as they wanted to learn how to go about building the church social media channel. She gave the team direction and help to think more analytically and in depth about the identity and culture of Zion Serangoon. 

This was in the hope of better reaching out to church members and to people outside of church. The consultant taught the committee how to better tailor content to the respective audiences in line with different media. 

This revamp was timely as 2021 was a tumultuous year where COVID variants resulted in frequent tightened and relaxed restrictions. 

During the first Phase Two Heightened Alert, a nostalgic 2004 youth camp reaction video was launched on the church Instagram and Facebook. Church members reacted to the camp video. In addition to seeing how youth camps were conducted in the past and seeing some church members in their youth, exhortations and encouragements were also shared by those in the video.

“Through the React to Past YF (2004) video, the people were blessed. The experience was the closest to being able to fellowship with others without physically fellowshipping,” said Manfred, one of the participants. 

Megan agreed and added on, saying “There were people connected and came to Zion Serangoon because of the website and Facebook.”

This revamp was timely as 2021 was a tumultuous year where COVID variants resulted in frequent tightened and relaxed restrictions. 

During the first Phase Two Heightened Alert, a nostalgic 2004 youth camp reaction video was launched on the church Instagram and Facebook. Church members reacted to the camp video. In addition to seeing how youth camps were conducted in the past and seeing some church members in their youth, exhortations and encouragements were also shared by those in the video.

“Through the React to Past YF (2004) video, the people were blessed. The experience was the closest to being able to fellowship with others without physically fellowshipping,” said Manfred, one of the participants. 

Megan agreed and added on, saying “There were people connected and came to Zion Serangoon because of the website and Facebook.”

Future of the ministry

Beyond the weekly posts and midweek sermon recaps, the committee has big plans to eventually use social media to reach out to non-believers. Despite the limited capacity and other personal responsibilities, the committee hopes to continue exploring, and deliver content which edifies and draws all towards our loving God

Interested to find out more? Follow us at

Website: https://zionserangoon.org.sg/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zionserangoon/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zionserangoon/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3CAtPUenF-Q16HlOtdkpYQ

React to YF (2004) video: https://www.facebook.com/zionserangoon/videos/240534380910397