Recap of 4Q23 QCM
On 1 October 2023, we had our final Quarterly Congregational Meeting of the year. It has been quite a busy and encouraging quarter and year, and our pastors and lay elders shared various updates about our life together as a church.
Ministry thanksgiving
Members young and old packed out the Fellowship Hall after the morning’s service, and Elder Nehemiah shared five main points of ministry thanksgiving.
1. Two new elders
We've recently elected and installed two new elders -- Beh Soo Hee and Jeremy Lee. Jeremy is also our Pastor for Family Ministry too. We thank God for these men that have stepped up tp serve the church in this way, and for the church coming alongside them by affirming them. Let's get to know them, and their families, and find ways to care for them even as they seek to serve and love the church.
2. Pua missions trip
10 members were in Pua in September. We thank God for providing for them through the trip and we continue to pray that God will bear fruit from their ministry, as well as the ministry of missionaries, Mak and Narola. A team goes up every quarter, and the next trip will be from 16-20 November. Read more about past trips here or contact Elder Beh (9788 6171) or Siew Kim (9752 5589).
3. Seniors’ ministry
Since our recent Church Camp, our seniors have been gathering more regularly and that has been encouraging. We are thankful for the chance they had to gather to hear a sharing by one of our members on aging from the medical perspective. They recently gathered to hear a sharing by the Yeo Family on “Well-being in atypical aging”. We continue to pray for their gatherings, that they’ll be encouraged when they gather and build deep relationships with one another.
4. CC-EC Relationships
Our Young Adults (YAs) have been working with the YAs in the Chinese-speaking Congregation (CC). Some of our YA leaders met with their leaders to read the gospel primer from July to September. It has also been encouraging to have some of their leaders join a training on Bible Study leading that our YAs are currently having. Let us continue to pray for fruit from such efforts, that they too, will continue to grow in their knowledge of, and love for His word and people.
5. Meaningful membership
In the next section, we are going to introduce a number of new members that have joiend our church this past quarter. Elder Nehemiah pointed us to thank God for these people, and also encouraged us to build relationships with each other!
Membership updates and members’ covenant
Pastor Eugene shared some membership updates. Apart from sharing about members that have transferred to other churches, he also shared some names of absent members. These are members who have not be attending, and also unresponsive to previous efforts to reach out to them. The main goal of sharing these names at this meeting is to encourage members to reach out and care for them if they know them. We encourage members to chat with the pastors and lay elders if they have questions about this aspect of membership, and also if they know of members who are struggling and in need of pastoral care.
Pastor Thian Chye introduced us to the new members, as well as how we could be praying for them. 23 members joined us this past quarter, and you can read more about their baptisms and transfers here.
It was therefore timely to read out the members’ covenant together at this point. It served as a good reminder of our commitment to one another.
Budget highlights and Q&A
Elder Chuan-Xin took us through some of the highlights for the 2024 Budget. There are two new items in this budget:
New pastoral position
Conferences
As mentioned at the previous QCM, we see a need for, and are looking to recruit a pastor for the role of Church Planting and Missions. This is in line with our desire to see more healthy churches built around the gospel in our nation. Therefore, our Budget for 2024 reflects this goal.
The second new item is a budget for conferences held at GBC in 2024. Lord willing, we hope to organise or hsot the following next year:
Women’s Ministry Conference (Keri Folmar, author of books and Bible study resources)
Missions Conference (John Folmar, senior pastor of Evangelical Christian Church of Dubai)
Partnering with Project Timothy
Weekender for Pastors
Elder Chuan-Xin also took us through some of the numbers and helped members see the main areas that we are putting our resources into. By going through this, he wanted to encourage members to participate by keeping these efforts in prayer, and also attending the upcoming Members’ Meeting and Q&A:
Townhall Q&A regarding this Budget, via Zoom (11 Nov 2023, 1.30pm)
Members' Meeting (Extraordinary General Meeting) (19 Nov 2023, 10.45am)
Looking ahead
Pastor Eugene walked us through some key events in the upcoming quarter.
Growing in the Word
We will be finishing up our current series in Hebrews in November. We hope that you have been encouraged by the series thus far. Following that, we will begin a new Advent series on Matthew’s Gospel, titled, “A Son is Given”.
EQUIP will be continuing the parenting in October and November, and will have a series on evangelism thereafter. More information can be found on the EQUIP page.
Those who are interested to find out more about what we believe, as well as how to be a member are invited to Church Matters on 28 October. Sign up here.
Growing the Gospel
There are a couple of evangelistic opportunities in the coming months that we’d like to encourage the church to pray for and participate in:
Christmas Brunch Celebration for Friends (Sat 16 Dec, 10.30am - 12.30pm)
Christmas Evangelistic Service and lunch (Sun 24 Dec)
As part of the preparation for these events, there will be block visits to the nearby community to get to know them and invite them to join us. These will take place on 18-19 Nov, 25-26 Nov. Volunteers are needed for the visits and the Brunch Celebration. To volunteer, sign up at: gracebaptistchurch.sg/christmasoutreach2023.
There are also 2 equipping opportunities to help us to grow in our heart for and practice of evangelism:
Cross-cultural Evangelism Training with guest speaker, Shanyl Philips) (12 Nov)
Evangelism Training: Equip -- Speaking of Jesus (3, 10 and 17 Dec)
We will also make available evangelistic tracts and resources from the end of November.
Elder Jonathan also shared about efforts to grow the gospel overseas. Due to the sensitive nature of the work, we are unable to report in great detail the efforts. Members who are interested to find out more can write to the Missions Committee at info@gracebaptistchurch.sg. Members can also continue to pray for Christians in the region, that they will be steadfast in their calling and boldness to share the Gospel. Pray that the Holy Spirit would stir up a heart of repentance amongst the people.
Growing as a body
Pastor Eugene also shared some events that serve to grow our community. Firstly, there are a series of conferences with Mark Dever on 20 and 21 October. We hope that you have signed up for the conferences and are looking forward to gathering with other churches.
There will also be another Church Picnic on Monday, 13 November. This is a public holiday and more details will follow.
Lastly, our women will be gathering on 18 November for another Women of Grace event, titled "Growing in the gospel". Read more and sign up here.
Small group prayer and closing prayer
All who were present were encouraged to commit these things to God in prayer with fellow church members. After all, unless the Lord builds the house, the labourers labour in vain. We humbly seek God’s help and strength to do these things.
After a time of prayer, Elder Lup Meng also closed the session with prayer. What was encouraging was that many stayed behind to help restore the Fellowship Hall, and also to chat with other members. Many members also took the opportunity to have lunch with each other. We pray that as a church, we will grow in our love for one another and not grow weary of doing good.