Grace Assembly of God
Encyclopedia
Grace Assembly is one of the megachurch
es in Singapore
, led by Senior Pastor Rev. Dr. David Lim. It belongs to the Assemblies of God
of Singapore, a Protestant denomination of Christianity
. It is currently the largest Assembly of God church in Singapore.
, and Grace II at Bukit Batok. Grace I has a traditional appearance with steeple-like designs and wooden pews, built in the late 1970s. It was previously the only meeting venue for Grace members, till a sister church, Grace II came into existence.
Grace II is situated in Bukit Batok. The 14.9 million dollar project was carried out by Laud Architects. The four storey building comprises a 1200-seat auditorium, 400-seat chapel, a rooftop, a basement car park and other function rooms. Grace II was dedicated on 20 August 2006, along with more than 1400 members, pastors and distinguished guests, including DrAmy Khor Lean Suan
, the Mayor of South West Community Development Council (CDC) and a Member of Parliament
in Singapore. Rev. Howard Cummings and Grace Assembly's founder, Sis Lula Baird also attended.
in San Francisco He has been in full time ministry for more than 41 years. Prior to coming to Singapore, he served at Asia Pacific Theological Seminary (Philippines), in various functions including that of President during his six years there. He has served as a pastor at the Chinese Christian Center in San Francisco from 1965 to 1973 and at the Christian Life Assembly, Canada, from 1981 to 1983. He has taught in Bible Schools, such as Western Pentecostal Bible College (Canada), and Asia Pacific Theological Seminary for fourteen years.
Dr. Lim is also an acclaimed author and expositor of the Bible. He has authored a book titled Spiritual Gifts - A Fresh Look published by the Gospel Publishing House, USA. In addition, he has contributed a chapter on "Spiritual Gifts" to Systematic Theology - A Pentecostal Perspective and on "Spirit-Anointed Worship" to The Pentecostal Pastor; both books published by Gospel Publishing House.
estate in Singapore. The various ministries at Grace cater to people of every age group.
One of the notable events would be the annual Grace Retreat in June, which is usually a five-day overseas trip to Malaysia, where members can interact with one another without the constraints on a normal service.
The youth ministry, R-AGE (Redeeming A Generation for Eternity) in Grace caters to youth and young adults from ages 13 to 25. Weekly services include the youth and young adult services. An annual youth conference, the Rhema Conference, has replaced the youth camp as the annual event for R-AGE youths since 2006. The three-day conference is held in Grace II in Bukit Batok in December.
An outreach ministry, Crossroad47, was set up by Pastor Ronald Yow, aiming at the community youth in Bukit Batok.
The 1,200-strong Chinese congregation in Grace is one of the stronger Chinese congregations among the churches in Singapore. It comprises people from adults to elderly, and has three sub-congregations attending the Mandarin, Hokkien and Cantonese services. Evangelistic services are particularly frequent in the Chinese ministry, with many Chinese Christian celebrities and pastors sharing their faith with newcomers, such as Huang Xiu Ling, a veteran news broadcaster in “Channel 8 News” of Mediacorp
.
The fifty-two million dollar project is estimated to complete by the year 2013.
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...
, led by Senior Pastor Rev. Dr. David Lim. It belongs to the Assemblies of God
Assemblies of God
The Assemblies of God , officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 140 autonomous but loosely-associated national groupings of churches which together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination...
of Singapore, a Protestant denomination of Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
. It is currently the largest Assembly of God church in Singapore.
Locations
Grace has currently two worship locations, Grace I at TanglinTanglin
Tanglin is the name of an urban planning area within the Central Region in Singapore.The Tanglin Planning Area is defined by the region bounded by Bukit Timah Road to the north, Farrer Road and Queensway to the west, Kay Siang Road, Tanglin Road and a section of the Alexandra Canal to the south,...
, and Grace II at Bukit Batok. Grace I has a traditional appearance with steeple-like designs and wooden pews, built in the late 1970s. It was previously the only meeting venue for Grace members, till a sister church, Grace II came into existence.
Grace II is situated in Bukit Batok. The 14.9 million dollar project was carried out by Laud Architects. The four storey building comprises a 1200-seat auditorium, 400-seat chapel, a rooftop, a basement car park and other function rooms. Grace II was dedicated on 20 August 2006, along with more than 1400 members, pastors and distinguished guests, including DrAmy Khor Lean Suan
Amy Khor Lean Suan
Amy Khor Lean Suan is the Mayor of South West Community Development Council and a Member of Parliament in Singapore....
, the Mayor of South West Community Development Council (CDC) and a Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
in Singapore. Rev. Howard Cummings and Grace Assembly's founder, Sis Lula Baird also attended.
Leadership Hierarchy
Grace Assembly currently has a staff strength of 47, 28 of which take on pastoral roles and 19 perform administrative roles. Some pastors serve as “community pastors”, who oversee a G.R.A.C.E community.Rev. Dr. David Lim
Rev. Dr. David Lim leads a multi-lingual church with a total of ten weekend worship services in English, Cantonese, Hokkien, Mandarin, and Filipino. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Bethany College in California and received his Master of Divinity, and Doctor of Ministry from the Golden Gate Baptist Theological SeminaryGolden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary
Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary is one of six official Southern Baptist seminaries. The main campus is located in Mill Valley, California.- History :...
in San Francisco He has been in full time ministry for more than 41 years. Prior to coming to Singapore, he served at Asia Pacific Theological Seminary (Philippines), in various functions including that of President during his six years there. He has served as a pastor at the Chinese Christian Center in San Francisco from 1965 to 1973 and at the Christian Life Assembly, Canada, from 1981 to 1983. He has taught in Bible Schools, such as Western Pentecostal Bible College (Canada), and Asia Pacific Theological Seminary for fourteen years.
Dr. Lim is also an acclaimed author and expositor of the Bible. He has authored a book titled Spiritual Gifts - A Fresh Look published by the Gospel Publishing House, USA. In addition, he has contributed a chapter on "Spiritual Gifts" to Systematic Theology - A Pentecostal Perspective and on "Spirit-Anointed Worship" to The Pentecostal Pastor; both books published by Gospel Publishing House.
Grace Missions
Grace Assembly places high emphasis on world missions. As of October 2007, Grace has planted more than 560 churches around the world.G.R.A.C.E. Communities
Grace Communities form the heart of the congregation whose members span the island. Cells, small groups of members, meet on a regular basis, usually during the weekday at a member’s house for worship, learning the Word and fellowship. This approach employed is effective in reaching the large body of members.Grace Culture
Grace has a family focus which can be evidently seen from the sermons preached from the pulpit to the various ministries found in Grace, such as the Grace Family Club, as well as the REACH Family Service Centre founded by Pastor Calvin Lee, situated in the heartlands of BishanBishan
Bishan is a neighbourhood of the city-state of Singapore situated in the Central Region, measuring approximately three by three kilometres. Primarily a housing estate, Flats here are generally more expensive compared to other estates due to its location in the central region, which commands a...
estate in Singapore. The various ministries at Grace cater to people of every age group.
One of the notable events would be the annual Grace Retreat in June, which is usually a five-day overseas trip to Malaysia, where members can interact with one another without the constraints on a normal service.
The youth ministry, R-AGE (Redeeming A Generation for Eternity) in Grace caters to youth and young adults from ages 13 to 25. Weekly services include the youth and young adult services. An annual youth conference, the Rhema Conference, has replaced the youth camp as the annual event for R-AGE youths since 2006. The three-day conference is held in Grace II in Bukit Batok in December.
An outreach ministry, Crossroad47, was set up by Pastor Ronald Yow, aiming at the community youth in Bukit Batok.
The 1,200-strong Chinese congregation in Grace is one of the stronger Chinese congregations among the churches in Singapore. It comprises people from adults to elderly, and has three sub-congregations attending the Mandarin, Hokkien and Cantonese services. Evangelistic services are particularly frequent in the Chinese ministry, with many Chinese Christian celebrities and pastors sharing their faith with newcomers, such as Huang Xiu Ling, a veteran news broadcaster in “Channel 8 News” of Mediacorp
MediaCorp
Media Corporation of Singapore, better known as MediaCorp, is a group of commercial media companies in Singapore, with business interests in television and radio broadcasting, interactive media, and, to a lesser extent, print publishing and film-making....
.
Grace 1 Redevelopment (335 Tanglin Road)
The primary campus in Tanglin Road would be redeveloped to meet the future needs of the church and the community it serves. The new building has a potential capacity triple that of the current 335 Tanglin campus, with capacity to house between 8,000 to 10,000 across three service slots. It features a 2,000 seater auditorium, a unique Petra rock inspired atrium and some 350 carpark lots to meet the needs of the congregation.The fifty-two million dollar project is estimated to complete by the year 2013.