Reflections

This year, I attended my second BPCIS Leaders’ Retreat (7-8 July) at Opero Hotel, Johore Bahru. It has been a full ten years since the first. And the differences between the two events were quite profound: 

• Bigger! This year there were ninety-nine persons at the Retreat, a hundred if we count a beloved retired BP pastor who dropped in on us on the first day!
• Larger & more diverse! This year we had representatives from all eleven member churches as well as observers and guests from three other churches, one all the way from Perth, Australia!
• Younger! The younger generations were clearly prominent and appear to be on the increase over the years!
• Livelier! Not just in our worship, but in our discussions and in every item of the scheduled program. Even at mealtimes and informal interactions, there was a distinct sense of energy and enthusiasm!
  

And all this despite the Retreat speaker having to leave midway due to an urgent family emergency back in Singapore. Our BPCIS Moderator stepped in with stand-in speakers to flesh out the theme “Revitalising Ministry” with interviews, testimonies and workshops.

Some older ones remain

• Ps David Wong, the General Secretary, after ten retreats, seems to have weathered the decade well, no doubt energised by God’s grace and favour.
• Ps Oh Boon Leong who gave the morning devotions in 2015 is now Senior Pastor at Mount Carmel.
• Elder Patrick Kang, whom I got to know in 2015 Retreat, helmed this year’s retreat. 
  

I particularly enjoyed the mealtimes

• Sitting in on a discussion between two young leaders from Shalom  and a ministry staff from Bishan  on how to 'do' YF Camp. These three young men were dead serious on the proper teaching of God’s Word to the next generation!
• Hearing how the delegates from Perth, Australia, knowing that our constitution does not provide for overseas member churches, asked to come anyway to see what partnering in the work of the Gospel looks like.
• Engaging in a fascinating and heart-felt theological discussion with a Tamil language pastor from Bishan, an Elder from Shalom, and a Deacon from Hermon, on the meaning of “fellowship in suffering” from Philippians 3:10-11, over breakfast!
• Reminiscing with the pastor of Emmanuel  about years of listening to the sermons of Ps Quek Swee Hwa, and
• Listening with a Bishan  staff, to a Deaconess from Hermon, excitedly tell us about a potential space addition to the premises at Hermon.
  

But some things have not changed...

In all the program and discussions, our clear legacy, our distinctive heritage, our continuing focus and emphasis on the primacy of the ministry of the Word to us as Bible-Presbyterians shone through brightly. It defines us. From sharing preachers, to revamping the pulpit ministry, to regular Bible reading; the diligent, faithful preaching of the Word of God and teaching our members to delight in it, is a BP distinctive that even other denominations credit us with. We affirmed it, we celebrated it, we committed ourselves to it in 2015 and again in 2025. 

The next decade...

We closed our retreat looking ahead, attempting to forecast what the next ten years, from 2025 to 2035, will bring. But perhaps we have already stumbled over it. We just haven’t seen it yet. The diligent, faithful preaching and teaching of the Word of God, is irresistibly attractive: preach Christ and He will draw all men to Himself. It is the legacy left to us. It is the distinctive that defines us. It should be the focus that we press towards. 

Elder Oswald Goh is a medical General Practitioner and has served in Zion Serangoon for over two decades.