by Alan Tye
I started attending COR youth service about 20 years ago. I clearly remember that every Saturday afternoon after cell group meeting, most of the youths would gather at the basketball court (back at old site of SAJC, Malan Road). The guys would pit their dribbling skills against each other in a game of street soccer and the ladies, captain’s ball. The game went on until it was pitch-dark before we all adjourned to Alexandra Village Food Centre or ABC Brickworks Market and Food Centre for dinner. The sense of everyone coming together, worshipping, studying God’s word and having fun at the same time caused me to make COR my home. COR has become an important part of my life over the years. It is also this community of God/Body of Christ that has journeyed with me in all my ups and downs in life. It is also here in COR that God blessed me with a family.
It was a heart of gratitude that made me join PCC (Parochial Church Council) in 2013. I was convicted that I should play a more active part in building the body of Christ. My prayer is that God will use me to build COR according to His plan and be a bridge to connect different parts of the church together.
‘Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.’
The role of PCC is to regulate the affairs of the church based upon biblical and spiritual principles, provide governance in handling COR’s resources and making sure we are good stewards of God’s blessings. While serving in PCC, what is wonderful is that I get a chance to witness the outworking of ‘Unity in a body of diversity’ as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:12-14.
For example, we have a Welfare Committee that looks after those who are in need, an Evangelism Committee who rally the body of Christ to reach out and share the Gospel with others in our community and the Missions Committee seeks to bring the Gospel beyond the shore of Singapore. Not forgetting, the Finance and Personnel committees that anchor all these works God has entrusted to COR.
I am in a privileged position to have witnessed many of our church ‘pioneers’ who gave of themselves sacrificially to serve our Lord selflessly in COR. Their faithfulness to the Lord inspires me to serve God in the same way. I pray for God to raise faithful servants from generation to generation who are wholly committed to God’s call for COR to build a community of ‘God-fearing, Christ-centred, and Spirit- lled Fellowship of Disciples.’
Writer’s Profile:
Alan Tye serves as a Synod Representative and lay reader in COR. He is husband to Zane and father to Servio. In his free time, Alan likes to play golf and watch soccer matches. He is a long-time supporter of the Tottenham Hotspurs Football Club.
This article first appeared in Issue 11, August 2014 CHORUS Magazine.