Recap of Members' Meeting (14 July 2024)
We held our Members' Meeting on 14 July 2024. During this meeting, members participated by voting on various matters, heard updates about our life together as a church and committed all these things to God in prayer.
Our Members’ Meeting on 14 July 2024 was slightly different, as we also held our English Congregational Meeting (ECM) during this Members’ Meeting. The ECM agenda included the voting in of new pastors and elders, and though it meant some new processes, we are thankful that everything happened quite smoothly.
Voting Matters
Elder Gerald opened the meeting with a prayer, and committed the rest of the agenda to God. He recapped the resolutions that we were voting on by ballot. Questions relating to these resolutions were addressed at the two prior Q&A meetings on 23 June and 7 July 2024. Many members turned up to get to know the candidates, and to ask their questions of these men.
Members were also reminded that resolutions are passed with a 75% majority votes of those present and valid proxies received by the office at least 48 hours before the meeting, as stated in our AoA. “For” and “Against” votes marked on the proxy forms are counted, while the “Abstain” votes are not counted.
With this, the 4 resolutions were voted on and the votes were collected.
Membership Matters
Members heard the Elders share about new members whom we sought to affirm and welcome.
Pastor Oliver then took the time to speak of membership matters as the votes were being counted. Meaningful membership in a local church is lived out when we believe and obey Christ, and also meet and gather regularly with the other members in the body for worship, fellowship and encouragement.
Pastor Oliver then invited different elders to come up to introduce the members whom we sought to welcome in. These elders have done an Elder Chat with each individual and affirm their profession of faith. A total of 7 individuals were presented, and all of them are seeking to join us by baptism. Once again, we marvel at how God has worked in their lives to save them from their sins and in Christ, has given them new life, hearts and desires.
Members present affirmed and welcomed each of them as a member of GBC.
All members present affirmed and welcomed each of them as a member of GBC. As a church, we affirmed that “that these brothers and sisters have, along with us, repented of their sins and believed in Jesus Christ alone for salvation”. We also pledged to “receive them as fellow members of Grace Baptist Church, and therefore commit to walk with them in Christ-like love and unity, for our mutual encouragement and for building up the body of Christ”.
Pastor Oliver also led us through the Members’ Covenant. A copy of this Covenant can be found on the Membership page of our website. The regular recitation of this at our Members’ Meeting is a good teaching opportunity and also a reminder of our roles and responsibilities to one another as members of GBC.
Next, Elder Chuan-Xin shared with us the names of members who are transferring out. We thank God that these members have found another gospel-preaching church that they are seeking to be a part of, and we pray that they will continue to grow there. Members voted to affirm their transfer.
Elder Chuan-Xin also shared the names of members who have not been attending our worship services for more than the past twelve months. The names of these members had been shared at our January, March and May meetings. Throughout this process, the elders have encouraged the rest of the church to reach out to these members. As fellow church members, we are responsible for exhorting one another towards love and good works. This includes gathering regularly with the church for worship and encouragement, in obedience to Scripture (Heb 10:24-25).
The elders are thankful for how members have reached out to those who are non-attending. It is especially heartening to hear that some have returned to our worship services, thanks to members’ efforts.
Some, however, continue to be unresponsive to elders’ and members’ attempts to reach out. It was with a heavy heart that the elders presented a list of names of those who continue to be non-attending. Upon the recommendation of the elders, the members removed the non-attending individuals from membership. The elders urged members to keep reaching out to these individuals out of concern for their spiritual well-being. Therefore, continue to seek them out and to pray for them to return to gathering regularly with God’s people for corporate worship. Do speak with any of our elders if you have any questions or concerns.
Looking Ahead
We heard from Pastor Eugene, who is back from the first part of his sabbatical.
Pastor Eugene, who returned from the first part of his sabbatical, took us through the plans for the next few months. He shared that he will take the second half of his sabbatical from October to December 2024.
As we seek to grow in the word, we will return to the book of Isaiah for our sermon series. We will look at Isaiah 40 to 66 in the months ahead. It has been a while so if you need to find the previous sermons, or need a refresher on the themes, you can do so here. The sermon schedule is also available here, and we encourage members to prepare for service by reading ahead!
EQUIP will also be running a few series:
Singleness (Jul)
Bible (Jul-Aug)
Conflict (Aug)
Gender (Aug)
Check out our EQUIP page for more information. More details can also be found in the ministry guide or Sunday announcements as the date draws nearer.
Pastor Eugene also shared about a new Women’s Training series by the Women’s ministry. The goal of this short, 4-session series is to help women be better readers of the Bible, and to help them do so with others. The 4 sessions will take place on Thursday mornings, from 9-10.30am on 22 August, 5 and 20 September and 3 October. We hope to repeat this training at another time slot (i.e. weekday nights or on Saturday/Sunday), for women who are unable to make this session.
Pastor Eugene introduced our Trainees to the members.
In terms of growing the gospel, Pastor Eugene introduced the 6 trainees that are joining the Traineeship programme. They are Nicholas, Aurelia, Teng Yun, Deborah, Anna (“Mimi”) and Jocelyn. You can find out more about them here.
He also shared about the Weekender, which will take place from 5 to 8 September. This is a pastors’ training event with the goal of encouraging healthy churches locally and regionally. This will be held at GBC, and currently, more than 40 church leaders are planning to attend, with 30 from overseas. Besides participating in teaching sessions and discussions, these church leaders will have an opportunity to observe the body life of GBC over a long weekend. For instance, they will sit in for an elders’ meeting, attend a Church Matters membership class, and observe a Members’ Meeting.
Joshua, who is helping to plan this, also came up to share some prayer needs and ways members can help out. He encouraged members to show hospitality – e.g. welcome them when they attend service, take them out to explore Singapore during their R&R slot etc. Members who are interested to help out can speak with Joshua! Let us also continue to be keeping this in prayer.
The Elders also highlighted the following events for members to note:
GBC’s 65th Anniversary Thanksgiving Prayer Service (10 August, 5pm) — More information, including the dinner signup link can be found here.
Reformation Concert (26 October, 8pm) — We are thankful for all that have signed up! If you are still interested to join the choir or musicians, you can do so here.
Church Camp (4-7 June 2025) — Save the dates!
Results of Voting
Elder Gerald came up to share the results of the earlier voting. After tallying the votes, all 4 resolutions had been passed with more than 75% majority votes. We thank God for this, and welcome the addition of Andrew as a staff elder, and Toshiyuki and Steven as lay elders. Their terms begin on 1 August 2024.
Small Group Prayer and Closing Prayer
After an eventful and packed meeting, members were encouraged to break up into smaller groups to pray for these items, as well as for one another. We committed our elders and trainees to God as we thanked God for these members and also sought His sustaining grace upon them. We also prayed for our life together as a church as we participate in the upcoming activities, praying that we will grow to magnify God in Christ Jesus. It is always heartening to see God’s people praying together for His church and His people.
Our next Members’ Meeting will be on 8 September 2024, see you there!
If you have any questions about any part of this meeting, we encourage you to speak with our elders in person, or you can also write to them at info@gracebaptistchurch.sg.