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City Harvest Church (Chinese: 城市丰收教会) or "CHC" is a Singapore mega church that serves as the spiritual resource center for related churches based in Asia. It has been considered by some to be "one of the largest congregations in Asia."
The church is a full member of the National Council of Churches in Singapore, Evangelical Fellowship of Singapore, and Festival of Praise Fellowship. CHC is a multi-site church with multiple, multi-lingual weekend services at two campuses, Jurong West and Singapore Expo Hall 8. The values of CHC are based on the Charismatic and Pentecostal teachings, with doctrinal emphases on the Great Commandment, the Great Commission and the Cultural Mandate. There are 24 different nationalities represented among its congregation.
In Singapore, CHC has spawned religious agencies such as a Bible school, a community service association, an education center, a Christian television department, a performing arts school, and a marketplace ministry for businesspeople. Overseas, CHC has active relationships with churches and Bible schools in Asia, conducting joint conferences and seminars with them annually.
City Harvest Church also has cooperative relationships with many churches in Singapore.
Mission Statement
To build a church with a strong spiritual atmosphere of faith and purity, where every member is released into ministry, discipled in the great commandment to obey the great commission
The fundamental teachings of the congregation are reflected in the following Statements of Faith.
History
City Harvest Chuch was founded by Kong Hee with 20 people on May 7, 1989. During the early years, CHC met at various venues such as Katong Park Hotel, NTUC Auditorium, Ministry of Environment Building, National Productivity Board Auditorium, Hotel Grand Central, Orchard Hotel, World Trade Center, and the Westin Hotel.
On June 4, 1995, CHC leased the former Hollywood Theater at Tanjong Katong Road and met there for six years. On December 15, 2001, the church moved to its permanent 2,300-seater venue at Jurong West Street 91. On December 11, 2005, the church rented another worship site at Singapore Expo Hall 8 to accommodate its growing congregation.
On April 29, 2004, City Harvest was awarded the ISO 9001:2000 certification for quality management and process management.
City Harvest Church currently has 23,000 attendees in its weekend services. 55% of its members are below the age of 25 years. The church has 36 volunteer ministries for its members to participate in.
Organisation Structure
The church has 12 pastors, with five of them ordained as Reverends. The church employs 140 full-time staff that works at the church premises and its administrative office at Suntec City.
Management Board and Committee
- Board of Independent Advisors
- Board of Trustees
- Building Committee
- Committee of Ordained Pastors
- External Auditors
- Finance Committee
- Legal Advisors
- Marketplace Ministry Committee
- Missions Committee
- Remuneration Committee
Pastoral Departments
- Children’s Church
- Dialect Church
- English Church
- Indonesia Church
- JAMs Church
- Mandarin Church
Administration Departments
- Chinese Language Department
- Creative Arts Ministry
- Facilities Operations
- Finance
- Graphic & Design
- Human Resource Management
- Management Information Systems
- Nursery & Childcare
- Office Administration
- Pastoral Administration
- Public Relations
- Publications
- Senior Pastor’s Office
Weekly Services
The church holds different weekly services in English, Mandarin, Hokkien, Cantonese, and Bahasa Indonesia. It also has weekly services for children and those mentally challenged.
Affiliated Organisations
City Harvest Bible Training Center
City Harvest Bible Training Center (CHBTC) was started in 1994 with the purpose of training up pastors, missionaries and church workers for the establishing of local churches in Asia. It offers a five-month, full-time program in Advanced Certificate of Theology jointly with Oral Roberts University. In the past 12 years, more than 2,000 graduates from more than 30 countries have graduated from its courses.
CHBTC Mission Statement: City Harvest Bible Training Center is committed to offering theological and practical training courses of high quality, comparable to internationally-recognized standards, so as to equip students in doctrinal and practical aspects of church ministry. For every course program we offer, we seek to understand and meet the requirements of students' needs and to inspire, impact and maximise the potential of each and every student.
City Harvest Community Services Association
City Harvest Community Services Association (CHCSA) currently employs 12 full-time staff and was registered with the Registry of Societies (ROS 162/97 WEL) on August 16, 1997. It received full membership with the National Council of Social Service on January 7, 2000. The Executive Director of CHCSA is Tan Ye-Peng. On April 29, 2004, CHCSA attained the ISO 9001:2000 certification. For 2005, CHCSA helped 16,624 service users, out of which 5,860 of them were assisted on a regular basis.
City Harvest Education Centre
City Harvest Education Centre (CHEC) has been registered with the Ministry of Education since 2002. The purpose of CHEC is "to provide effective and affordable education to private candidates taking the GCE 'N' and 'O' level examinations." In 2006, CHEC's students make up about 7% of all private candidates in Singapore taking O Level Examinations. CHEC is also the first school in Singapore to be offering Dance as a GCE O Level subject.
O School
O School, a performing arts center, is a "social enterprise" supported by MCYS ComCare Enterprise Fund (). A social enterprise is a sustainable business with a social mission, where business is used to serve its social cause. O School was started with three social objectives in mind:
- To generate funds for City Harvest Education Centre as bursaries for lower-income students.
- To use dance as a befriending tool to reach out to youths-at-risk.
- To provide training and employment placement for youths.
Culture
Cell Groups
Cell group (CG) is a major part of the church's ministry to its members. The CG meeting is a time when members meet for worship, prayers and Bible studies. Currently there are 600 CG leaders with some running more than two CGs. The meeting locations can be found throughout Singapore. CG leaders are lay members of the church who have gone through two years of weekly training. As the church grows larger in numbers, CGs serves as a place where members can still forge close relationships with fellow Christians in a much smaller setting.
Missions
CHC has 50 affiliate churches and Bible schools in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Japan and Australia. In 2005, CHC sent out a total of 292 mission teams to help Christian agencies overseas.
Recordings and Stage Productions
Like most Charismatic churches, CHC uses contemporary music and settings for praise and worship, with a choir in an environment similar to a rock concert with the related musical instruments. It has also a strong drama team for its stage productions.
- 1994 : Against All Odds (CD Album)
- 1995 : Remember Us (CD Album)
- 1996 : Life (CD Album)
- 2000 : Future (CD Album)
- 2001 : Angel—"The Story Of Singapore" (Stage Production)
- 2002 : Megastar.com (Stage Production)
- 2005 : Mid-Autumn's Love (Stage Production)
- 2005 : Cross (CD Album, DVD)
- 2006 : Emerge (DVD)
- 2006 : Glory (DVD)
- 2007 : First Vol. I (Chinese DVD)
- 2007 : First Vol. II (Chinese DVD)
- 2007 : Destiny (CD Singles)
- 2007 : Breakaway (CD Singles)
Broadcasting
In 2004, the church’s webcast of its services reached approximately 578,560 viewers from 131 countries, or 11,126 viewers per weekend. The church also has a 30-minute television broadcast program called "Harvest Time," which is broadcast on 13 Cable Television Networks and satellites, with a potential viewership of about 637 million. Harvest Time is available in its original English language or Chinese translation, depending on the broadcast station.
Publications
The church publishes a magazine called Harvest Times (founded in 1999) every 3 months. It has a readership of 60,000
In 2006, a chinese version of Harvest Times - Chinese Harvest Times was started and has a readership of close to 45,000
Awards
- 2002 : 3rd Annual Intelligent20 Award
- 2004 : ISO 9001:2000 Certification
- 2005 : Hitwise Award - Ranked #1 in the category: Lifestyle - Religion for most visited website
- 2006 : Hitwise Award - Ranked #1 in the category: Lifestyle - Religion for most visited website
Emerge Conference
City Harvest Church is the organizer of Emerge, an annual four-day youth conference. In 2007, 8,830 youth leaders and delegates from a total of 16 nations attended the event. CHC also co-hosts Emerge conferences in Malaysia and Taiwan every year. There are 61 competitions including Spelling Bee, Math Olympaid, Word Power, Singing Contest, Preaching Challenge, Blog Design, Short Film, Make-up & Costume Design, Extreme Sports, etc. The May 31 opening night of the Singapore Emerge 2007 was broadcasted "live" on GOD TV to 122 million homes in more than 200 nations and territories.
Church Building
The church building located at Jurong West Street 91 was completed in 2002. Construction of the building cost S$48 million (US$26.6 million) and seats up to 2,300 attendees.
It is the first titanium-clad building in Asia and is modeled after the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. Special limestone for part of the building was imported from Europe. The Riviera fountain and walkway were designed by Jerome Broquard from Los Angeles, USA. There are more than 200 parking lots within the building.
The lounge area on the first floor has plasma television monitors built into the walls featuring the local television programming or video recordings of past church services. There is a café, a rooftop garden, a children’s playground and wading pool, a baptism pool, and even a small putting green for golf enthusiasts. Cool Mist fans blast out moist air over the entire rooftop area to ward off the daytime heat. The bathroom facilities were designed by French designer Philippe Starck.
The auditorium covers 1,700 square meters and is totally column-free. There are two artist make-up rooms directly behind the stage. The stage was created by Dan Hess, a designer who formerly worked with Christie’s Auction House in New York. It features a bright LED screen.
Since December 15, CHC has added another service site by renting the Singapore Expo Hall 8, which has a seating configuration to accommodate a maximum of 8,100 attendees.
References
- "Why Isn't the American church growing?". Charisma Magazine.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - "Statement of Faith". City Harvest Church.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - "City Harvest Church ISO Certification". City Harvest Church.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - "PSB Certification". PSB.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - "Our Church". City Harvest Church.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - "Average Weekly Salvation & Rededication Decisions". City Harvest Church.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - "City Harvest Church's Organisation Structure". City Harvest Church.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - "City Harvest Church Service Schedule". City Harvest Church.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - "City Harvest Bible Training Center". City Harvest Bible Training Center.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - "City Harvest Bible Training Center Cumulative Student Intake". City Harvest Church.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - "City Harvest Community Services Association". City Harvest Community Services Association.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - "About Us". City Harvest Community Services Association.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - "City Harvest Education Centre". City Harvest Education Centre.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - "O School". O School.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - Taken from http://www.cross.com.sg
- "Harvest Times Broadcast". City Harvest Church.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - "City Harvest Church's Fact Sheet". City Harvest Church.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - Taken from http://www.chc.org.sg/harvesttimes/default.asp
- "City Harvest Church's Fact Sheet". City Harvest Church.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - "Hitwise Singapore". Hitwise Singapore.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - "Distribution". God TV.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - "Other places of worship slash out too". Electric New Paper. 29 August 2005. By Skye Tan
