Church of Our Saviour, Singapore
Encyclopedia
Church of Our Saviour is one of the megachurch
es in Singapore
, currently located in a renovated ex-cinema in Queenstown
. It began as a mission in the 1950s along Alexandra Road. Since, it has grown from a small congregation consisting of lesser than 80 members to its present worship attendance of approximately 4,000. Strongly supportive of missionary work, the church is involved in numerous ministries that not only cater to different age groups, but also to ethnic minorities in Singapore, such as the Filipinos
. It also conducts a Chinese
ministry, and is a parish within the Anglican Diocese of Singapore
.
The church is also an active practitioner of spiritual healing, as evident from the numerous testimonies displayed in its website. It is currently led by Senior Pastor Derek Hong.
recover their God-intended sexual identity. In overcoming same-sex attractions, clients are empowered to take responsibility in maintaining moral and relational wholeness." Essentially an sexual orientation
conversation therapy of a religious nature, Choices uses the instrument of a safe for self-disclosure, self-discovery, change and growth, to achieve its purpose. It also emphasises on having a nurturing environment and network to support the conversion, so as to "discover life beyond the control of homosexuality."
To project a scientific basis for its beliefs on homosexuality, Church of Our Saviour, in November 2007, includes in its website a self-prepared document, which is a summation of various documents that speak against homosexuality as being a genetic
trait. Within the document, articles from various medical journals are cited, the summary of which are the following pointers:
The document mentions clearly its position is established firmly based on the Christian belief that God abhors homosexuality. It also states that Choices has effectively converted homosexuals, though it offers no numbers or statistics or case studies. No statistics or case studies are similarly showcased in the website of the Choices ministry.
due to the treatment.
In addition, Senior Pastor Derek Hong gave various sermons on the issue. In a sermon in August 2007, titled "God's Church and Homosexuality," Hong insisted on the existence of an agenda by gay activists. This agenda allegedly seeks to ultimately silence all Ex-Gay
groups, eradicate anti-homosexuality groups such as churches, strive for legalising of same-sex marriage
s, and strive to promote homosexuality as a viable lifestyle. Hong, however, did not offer any concrete evidence or proof of his accusations.
An email has also surfaced, allegedly claiming that Hong has circulated an email in April 2007, encouraging acquaintances to mobilise, influence public opinion, and lobby the government. The email recommends a suggested format of writing a protest and also the destination to submit the protest to, namely the Singaporean government feedback website at reach.gov.sg. While there is no evidence that Hong was indeed the author of the email, and Hong himself has issued no statement regarding it, an examination of the forum topics at reach.gov.sg reveals a large number of postings adopting exactly the recommended format.
is an independent advocacy organization in Singapore, noted for its work towards gender equality
in the country for 25 years. Its past campaigns led to revisions to the Penal Code
, e.g. giving Singaporean women the same citizenship rights as men in 2004. In March 2009, a majority of the management committee were replaced by members of the Church of Our Saviour, after an AGM
which was well-attended by members who had only recently joined AWARE. The takeover was organised by Dr Thio Su Mien, former dean of Law at the National University of Singapore
, who said she was concerned over AWARE's attempts to redefine marriage and family. Dr Thio Su Mien who described herself as the "feminist mentor" is also the Senior Executive Director of TSMP Law Corporation and mother of Nominated MP, Dr Thio Li Ann. Many letters to the national press questioned the nature of the reforms to be expected from the new committee members. An EGM
was called by the members to carry out a vote of no-confidence on the new committee. Senior Pastor Derek Hong urged members of the church to join AWARE to support the new committee but was criticised by the Singapore's National Council of Churches for misusing his pulpit, for which Pastor Hong subsequently apologized. The new committee was ousted on May 2009 during the EGM. Deputy Prime minister Wong Kan Seng voiced his disapproval of incident that "a group of conservative Christians, all attending the same church, which held strong views on homosexuality, had moved in and taken over AWARE because they disapproved of what AWARE had been doing", and called for tolerance, cautioning that religion and politics must be kept separate.
Megachurch
A megachurch is a church having 2,000 or more in average weekend attendance. The Hartford Institute's database lists more than 1,300 such Protestant churches in the United States. According to that data, approximately 50 churches on the list have attendance ranging from 10,000 to 47,000...
es in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, currently located in a renovated ex-cinema in Queenstown
Queenstown, Singapore
Queenstown1 is one of the early housing estates in Singapore, built before Toa Payoh and Ang Mo Kio, and was a test bed for much of Singapore's public housing...
. It began as a mission in the 1950s along Alexandra Road. Since, it has grown from a small congregation consisting of lesser than 80 members to its present worship attendance of approximately 4,000. Strongly supportive of missionary work, the church is involved in numerous ministries that not only cater to different age groups, but also to ethnic minorities in Singapore, such as the Filipinos
Filipino people
The Filipino people or Filipinos are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the islands of the Philippines. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines, and about 11 million living outside the Philippines ....
. It also conducts a Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
ministry, and is a parish within the Anglican Diocese of Singapore
Anglican Diocese of Singapore
The Anglican Diocese of Singapore consists of 26 Anglican parishes in Singapore to date and 6 deaneries throughout the Asia region. It has an established history of church-planting as well as providing educational, medical and social services in Singapore and the neighbouring region. The Diocese...
.
The church is also an active practitioner of spiritual healing, as evident from the numerous testimonies displayed in its website. It is currently led by Senior Pastor Derek Hong.
Vision
Church of Our Saviour defines its vision as, "To be a Christ-Centred community, meeting needs God's way." Missions to foreign lands are hosted and conducted, with an emphasis on cultural sensitivity for relevancy. The beliefs of the church are defined as:- God
- Jesus Christ
- Holy Spirit
- The Bible
- Salvation
- The Church
Choices
Choices is a ministry established by Church of Our Saviour in 1991, with the purpose of assisting people "who struggle with homosexualityHomosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
recover their God-intended sexual identity. In overcoming same-sex attractions, clients are empowered to take responsibility in maintaining moral and relational wholeness." Essentially an sexual orientation
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
conversation therapy of a religious nature, Choices uses the instrument of a safe for self-disclosure, self-discovery, change and growth, to achieve its purpose. It also emphasises on having a nurturing environment and network to support the conversion, so as to "discover life beyond the control of homosexuality."
To project a scientific basis for its beliefs on homosexuality, Church of Our Saviour, in November 2007, includes in its website a self-prepared document, which is a summation of various documents that speak against homosexuality as being a genetic
Genetics
Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms....
trait. Within the document, articles from various medical journals are cited, the summary of which are the following pointers:
- It is a myth that homosexuality is inborn.
- Even if homosexuality is inborn, it is a biological variant
- Many homosexuals come from abusive, broken, dyfunctional families
- The declassification of homosexuality as a mental disorder by the American Psychiatric AssociationAmerican Psychiatric AssociationThe American Psychiatric Association is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the most influential worldwide. Its some 38,000 members are mainly American but some are international...
is due to political efforts of gay lobbyists - Homosexuality is a mental disorder and a pathologyPathologyPathology is the precise study and diagnosis of disease. The word pathology is from Ancient Greek , pathos, "feeling, suffering"; and , -logia, "the study of". Pathologization, to pathologize, refers to the process of defining a condition or behavior as pathological, e.g. pathological gambling....
that can be treated - Homosexuals should not enjoy the rights of protection as akin to ethnic or religious minorities
- Intolerance towards homosexuality is not bigotryBigotryA bigot is a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices, especially one exhibiting intolerance, and animosity toward those of differing beliefs...
- Homosexuality is a threat to the unit of the family, religion, and social well-being
The document mentions clearly its position is established firmly based on the Christian belief that God abhors homosexuality. It also states that Choices has effectively converted homosexuals, though it offers no numbers or statistics or case studies. No statistics or case studies are similarly showcased in the website of the Choices ministry.
Treatment at Choices ministry
While both Church of Our Saviour and Choices ministry offer no reliable statistics or qualitative case studies, incidences of treatment failure have surfaced across the Internet. The Singaporean-managed homosexual support website, www.yawningbread.org, features a testimony of an ex-member of Church of Our Saviour, who suffered a nervous breakdownNervous breakdown
Mental breakdown is a non-medical term used to describe an acute, time-limited phase of a specific disorder that presents primarily with features of depression or anxiety.-Definition:...
due to the treatment.
Opposition to repealing of homosexual conduct penal code 377a
In 2007, a review of the Singaporean Penal Code suggested that code 377a, which criminalises homosexual conduct between males, be removed. Church of Our Saviour responded strongly to this, foremost by adding to its website a "position statement" stating its firm stand against homosexuality, and that homosexuality is a sin against god.In addition, Senior Pastor Derek Hong gave various sermons on the issue. In a sermon in August 2007, titled "God's Church and Homosexuality," Hong insisted on the existence of an agenda by gay activists. This agenda allegedly seeks to ultimately silence all Ex-Gay
Ex-gay
The ex-gay movement consists of people and organizations that seek to get people to refrain from entering or pursuing same-sex relationships, to eliminate homosexual desires, to develop heterosexual desires, or to enter into a heterosexual relationship...
groups, eradicate anti-homosexuality groups such as churches, strive for legalising of same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
s, and strive to promote homosexuality as a viable lifestyle. Hong, however, did not offer any concrete evidence or proof of his accusations.
An email has also surfaced, allegedly claiming that Hong has circulated an email in April 2007, encouraging acquaintances to mobilise, influence public opinion, and lobby the government. The email recommends a suggested format of writing a protest and also the destination to submit the protest to, namely the Singaporean government feedback website at reach.gov.sg. While there is no evidence that Hong was indeed the author of the email, and Hong himself has issued no statement regarding it, an examination of the forum topics at reach.gov.sg reveals a large number of postings adopting exactly the recommended format.
Takeover of AWARE
Association of Women for Action and ResearchAssociation of Women for Action and Research
Association of Women for Action and Research is a non-governmental organization in Singapore concerned with promoting gender equality. The group was officially formed on November 25, 1985...
is an independent advocacy organization in Singapore, noted for its work towards gender equality
Gender equality
Gender equality is the goal of the equality of the genders, stemming from a belief in the injustice of myriad forms of gender inequality.- Concept :...
in the country for 25 years. Its past campaigns led to revisions to the Penal Code
Penal Code (Singapore)
The Penal Code of Singapore sets out general principles of the criminal law of Singapore, as well as the elements and penalties of common criminal offences such as homicide, theft and cheating...
, e.g. giving Singaporean women the same citizenship rights as men in 2004. In March 2009, a majority of the management committee were replaced by members of the Church of Our Saviour, after an AGM
AGM
-Military and navy:* Air-to-ground missile, a missile designed to be launched from military aircraft* Artillery Gun Module, an air-portable self-propelled howitzer...
which was well-attended by members who had only recently joined AWARE. The takeover was organised by Dr Thio Su Mien, former dean of Law at the National University of Singapore
National University of Singapore
The National University of Singapore is Singapore's oldest university. It is the largest university in the country in terms of student enrollment and curriculum offered....
, who said she was concerned over AWARE's attempts to redefine marriage and family. Dr Thio Su Mien who described herself as the "feminist mentor" is also the Senior Executive Director of TSMP Law Corporation and mother of Nominated MP, Dr Thio Li Ann. Many letters to the national press questioned the nature of the reforms to be expected from the new committee members. An EGM
Extraordinary General Meeting
An extraordinary general meeting, commonly abbreviated as EGM, is a meeting of members of an organisation, shareholders of a company, or employees of an official body, which occurs at an irregular time. The term is usually used where the group would ordinarily hold an annual general meeting , but...
was called by the members to carry out a vote of no-confidence on the new committee. Senior Pastor Derek Hong urged members of the church to join AWARE to support the new committee but was criticised by the Singapore's National Council of Churches for misusing his pulpit, for which Pastor Hong subsequently apologized. The new committee was ousted on May 2009 during the EGM. Deputy Prime minister Wong Kan Seng voiced his disapproval of incident that "a group of conservative Christians, all attending the same church, which held strong views on homosexuality, had moved in and taken over AWARE because they disapproved of what AWARE had been doing", and called for tolerance, cautioning that religion and politics must be kept separate.