Our Story......
Introduction
St. Peter's Church
celebrated her Golden Jubilee in October 1997. The church started with 15 members
in 1947 to 250 in 1987 and 760 in 2000.She has a present membership
of 900.
Spirit-filled
The introduction
of Church renewal was at a camp in 1975 when Rev. Peter Young was invited by
Rev. Lim Cheng Ean (now Bishop) to speak on the Holy Spirit. In 1985, Rev. Andrew
Phang (now Archdeacon) and some of the leaders were touched by the Holy Spirit.
He was succeeded by Rev. Ng Moon Hing who continued to move with the Holy Spirit.
Anointed preachers were invited for revival meetings and family camps. Within
a few years the majority of the leaders were spirit-filled.
Church membership
and Sunday attendance began to take off in 1993-94. The revival has led to greater
efforts into evangelism and pre-evangelism activities. Every programme of the
church was directed to our friends and relatives. Parents Day lunch was held
in the restaurant. During the Christmas season, all the neighbours were invited
to attend the Open House at the church with a tea-party followed by a lively
concert. Carolling teams only visited homes if they were prepared to invite
friends as well. The Christmas Eve Dinner became too big to be held at the church
as at least half of the 50 tables consist of guests. Evangelistic dinner meetings
were held in both English and Chinese. Well-known evangelists such as Rev. Oh
Beng Khee were invited. The church and her members were prepared to invest time
and money to sow the seeds of the gospel.
The children and
youth ministries were also given equal prominence. The teachers were sent for
training and returned with innovative ideas to present the gospel in a more
interesting manner. Several special programmes were organised such as parties,
concerts, art contests and games to attract children and young people.
Social Concern
Health
talks and screening for cancer and heart disease were arranged by the sisters
in addition to cooking competitions and flower-arrangement classes. Tuition
classes were started. Other social action activities included distribution of
food to the squatters nearby and visits to orang asli kampungs and new villages.
An education fund was started. The church took active part in the World Vision
30-Hour Famine and raised nearly RM100,000 in the 4 years it took part. We provided
the spiritual food to the handicapped who were looked after by Daybreak for
their socioeconomic needs. A Food Fair in 1994 was organised which raised RM34,000
and was donated to Daybreak in the form of a van. Our church was also one of
the active supporters of the New Horizons Society for the slow-learning children.
On
the 1st January 2001, a Food Fair was held to raise fund for the Ray of Hope
centre - a centre for children with learning disabilities from age 6 - 14. This
centre is situated in Buntong next to St. Augustine's Church. The ROH centre
is a joint project of St. Peter's and St. Augustine. RM200,000 was raised at
the two Food Fairs in 2001 and 2003 respectively. A second centre of the ROH
was launched in 2004 for those of age 14 - 19.
Mission &
Evangelism
The church participated in many of the combined activities with other churches
including mass evangelistic crusades at public halls and even at the stadium.
Our active participation and cordial relationships with other churches of various
denominations not only led to sharing of resources but also a greater appreciation
of a church from a traditional denomination.
For the first time, overseas mission trips to South China and Sumatra were made
by the church in 1992. We also send the first short term missionary of the OM
Doulos ship. A mission fund was started with an initial target of RM25,000 per
year and later increased to RM125,000 in 2005. Mission fests and mission months
were organised to highlight the importance of mission. Constant mission trips
both locally and abroad are being made annually. The recent mission trips to
Thailand, Cambodia, Medan and our Asli kampungs have made meaningful impacts
and impressions to our people and those whom we ministered to.
Missionaries & Workers
The
church has placed an emphasis on training her members as missionaries and workers
for the harvest field. We had sent out
- Rev. Vincent Lau ( former Vicar of St.Gabriel's, Kuala Lumpur but now in Raphah
Ministries),
- Rev. Ng Peng Yoon (former Priest of Good Shephard Church, Johor Bahru but
now studying in Dallas USA),
- Rev. Jeremiah Lee (Priest of Church of Epiphany, Kuantan),
- Elisabeth Ng Foong Chan (Mission Worker in Senegal through SIM),
- Soong Hoe Pin (Priest in All Saints' Church Taiping),
- Albert Tang (Priest in Church of Our Redeemer Butterworth)
- Julih Aew (Deaconess in St Mark's Church Butterworth).
There are also 7Chinese workers in the Chinese villages and 4 Asli workers in
Asli kampungs.
New Congregations
By 1992 the average Sunday attendance was about 133, an increase of 20% over
5 years. In 1993, a decision was made to separate the English and Chinese language
congregations, although the Chinese-speaking members, being mainly the older
and less educated people, were rather apprehensive. The English congregation
began to grow first as we were then able to attract jmore people, especially
non-Chinese, who were not keen to attend bilingual services. Over the new few
years, the children and youth ministries were also separated into the language
streams. MacGavran's observation that people worship best in their heart language
proved to be true as the total attendance was much higher than before. Just
two years after the change, the average Sunday attendance rose to 213 (140 in
the English and 73 in the Chinese services) an increase of 60%.
In 1994, a daughter church, Christ Church was started in Gunung Rapat, a southern
suburb of Ipoh and in 1997 another preaching point, Gereja Hallelujah began
in the northern area of the city. The church supported Rev. Ng in his efforts
to run the AVM (Anglican Village Ministries) from 1993. Over the next 5 years,
the number of evangelists has risen to 7, covering 8 new villages where many
poor Chinese still live. Soon after, a regular Sunday service was started in
Mambang Di-Awan, near Kampar followed by Cold Stream and Air Kuning.A BM congregation
was started in St Peter's in 1995, a Mandarin service in 1999, and an extra
English service in 2001.
Bahasa Malaysia
Ministries
In the middle of 1994, a Bahasa Malaysia (BM) fellowship was started with the
help of a Chinese teacher who had served for 13 years in BM work in Sabah. By
January 1995, a full BM service was started with a few USM students from Sarawak
and several families from the Police Field Force. Several members from the English
congregation offered to help in preaching and stayed with the BM service regularly
for two years. During this period, a number of attending rose from 25 to 62.
In 1996, a group of Orang Asli Christians, holding a cheque for RM20,000 donated
by the Penang Medical Fellowship, approached us to start another church in Gopeng
to cover 6 villages. This ministry has gradually extended to 13 villages, to
as far as Teluk Intan and Slim River. The BM ministry is a good example of how
God begins to open doors as we boldly step out in faith into a new ministry
even when we did not feel equipped for the task. God has also provided workers
at the opportune time. In the last two years, 85 people were baptised and 98
were confirmed.
Now the BM services covers all the Asli kampungs.
Building Extension
While our emphasis was on building up people, the church building began to feel
the pressure of space from the increasing numbers and ministries. In 1993 a
new extension was added to the ground floor and in 1997, the hall upstairs was
extended to increase the seating capacity from 200 to 400. The church leaders
were of one mind that they would look for the financing from their own members.
Again God is always faithful. In 1995, while most of the leaders were at the
prayer mountain in Korea, an unexpected visit by a wealthy Christian businessman
(non-Anglican) in the middle of the heat wave prompted him to cover all the
expenses of air-conditioning the church hall, a sum of RM33,000! In 1997, two
unsolicited donations of RM100,000 were given to the building fund!
By 1998, the total Sunday attendance in the 3 congregations in the main church
and the 4 daughter churches have risen to nearly 580. Now in 2005, the total
Sunday attendence is about 700. This number does not include those at the weekly
meetings at the 20 preaching points in the village and kampungs, and Christ
Church which is a Missionary District in 2004 and Gereja Charis Cold Stream
which is given to St Andrew's Bidor.
Spiritual Growth
Initially, with only one full-time seminary trained pastor, much of the pastoral
and teaching ministries have to be shouldered by lay people, which is certainly
the biblical pattern. To equip them, a number of Christian education classes
were started. Basic Christianity lessons were provided for those who intend
to be baptised. Classes of doctrines and bible knowledge, as well as practical
topics like prayer, worship and counselling were taught at three different levels
to cater to Christians of varying maturity. The most senior class follow the
ICI University syllabus leading to college degree and is attended by members
from other churches as well. Special seminars on Life in the Spirit, spiritual
gifts, evangelism and how to pray for healing were organised. Even classes on
understanding other religions especially on Islam were arranged. Different classes
were held for the youths and children. Now with a few theologically trained
workers we have launched the Theological Education by Extension courses in Ipoh.
A few have graduated with certificates.
Prayer are emphasised, not only at the weekly prayer meetings, but also in the
home-cells and during or after services. Special healing meetings were introduced
too..
Home-cells
As the church gets bigger, pastoral and discipling needs are difficult to be
met. Although the church had home meetings before they tend to be Bible study
groups. In 1994, we decided to adopt the home cell system. Several leaders attended
seminars in K.L. and Singapore and began to revamp the home cells. Starting
from 2 cells, one in English and one in Chinese, the number of home cells has
grown to 34, distributed by geographical areas. The youth cells have not caught
on and we have yet to start with the children. In 1997, the teams from Our Saviour's
Church from Singapore were invited to condcut a Home Cell Conference in both
English and Chinese which was open to other churches in Ipoh. Much of the leadership
training was done in-house, using resource materials from FSBC and OSC.
Topics covered at home cells focus on practical life-related issues such as
family relationships, handling of money, work, character and emotions. General
issues such as AIDS and environment were also dealt with. The home cell system
is not only true to the New Testament but also provides a comprehensive Christan
lifestyle that falls into several arenas such as the celebration for rejoicing,
congregation for fellowship, and the cell for personal contacts, and reaching
out to the community. The four aims of Edification, Evangelism, Equipping and
Expansion of leadership provide ample opportunities for all members to be involved.
The cell agenda follow the 4 W's, that is Welcome, Worship, Word and Works.
As we are still transitioning into the cell church system, the concept is yet
to be fully developed. At present about 70% of the adult members are active
in the home cells. The Alpha Course has taken off ground in 2002. It has successfully
reached out to many people. We are now doing it in English and Chinese with
the Adults and the youth.
Resources
The annual giving has risen from RM11,000 in 1977 to RM77,000 in 1987, to RM230,000
in 1997, and to RM500,000 in 2004 which is the highest in the Lower North Archdeaconary.
During the last 10 years we have sent six members to the seminary and twenty
others for short term Bible training.