The History of Jurong Christian ChurchThe History of Jurong Christian Church
Jurong Christian Church (JCC) is one of the oldest Lutheran congregations in Singapore, after the Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer (started in 1960) and Queenstown Lutheran Church (dedicated in 1965). It was originally set up as one of the congregations under the Lutheran Church in Malaysia and Singapore (LCMS). The older name of LCMS was “Lutheran Church in Malaya” (LCM). According to the book “A Heavenly Vision” by Warren Lau (1993), the LCM had its new name “Lutheran Church in Malaysia and Singapore” (LCMS) officially gazetted by the Registrar of Societies, Malaysia, on 28 September 1967. An online search of the Registry of Societies, Singapore, shows 1st December 1966 as the date of registration in Singapore. Under the LCMS, the Lutheran work on this island was administratively organized as the Singapore District of the LCMS.
With the political separation of Malaysia and Singapore, it became necessary to consider reorganizing the structure of this Lutheran body. In August 1996, the Lutheran Church in Singapore (LCS) was constituted as an independent national church. Therefore, JCC became officially a congregation under the LCS.
Singapore gained independence from Malaysia in 1965. Here in Jurong, the roads were simply named sequentially as Taman Jurong 1, Taman Jurong 2 …
Tah Ching Road, where JCC is located, was known as Taman Jurong 12. This road got its present name only in 1970. A picture of Taman Jurong Community Centre in 1965 is shown here.
At a meeting on 2nd December 1965, the decision was made by the Council of Churches to bid for a religious site in Jurong. The successful bidding for land at Tah Ching Road was announced by the government on 14th February 1966.
In June 1966, LCM rented a shophouse a stone’s throw away from Tah Ching Road. In other words, it can be said that Jurong Christian Church began at the shophouse while the building at Tah Ching Road was being constructed. Rev. John Nelson served as its first pastor (part-time) while he was also pastoring Queenstown Lutheran Church. He was assisted by an evangelistic worker, Mr Paul Chong Hee Sing (for the Chinese-speaking membership), from 5th September 1966. Regular church services started on Sunday, 9th July 1967.
The building was dedicated to God on Sunday, 28th July 1968. Representatives from various church denominations were present to take part in the dedication ceremony, presided by Rev. Dr. Ray Nyce, President of the LCMS.
There was good reason why in the early years we were called “JURONG CHRISTIAN CHURCH AND CIVIC CENTRE”. The name clearly suggests that the church was not just a church but also a civic centre catering to the recreational needs of the population. As a civic centre, it provided literacy classes, sewing lessons, cooking instructions, instrumental groups, moderate library facilities, counseling, Boys’ Brigade activities, First Aid training, martial arts training, etc. It was intended to serve the industrial community at all levels of social involvement.
The old newspaper reports reproduced here give a snapshot of the activities we provided in serving the workers and residents in Jurong in collaboration with other churches, para-church organizations and community bodies. A Kindergarten was also set up in the early 1970s, and it has been providing high-quality pre-school education to children in the Jurong neighbourhood up to this day.
The “Civic Centre” part of the name “Jurong Christian Church and Civic Centre” was dropped in 1971 by the instruction of the Registrar of Societies because by then, ground conditions had changed and the prevailing circumstances made it no longer tenable for the church premises to operate jointly as a civic centre concomitant with its operation as a religious centre.
On 28th December 2014, JCC held its last worship service in the old building at No. 2 Tah Ching Road. The next day, 29th December 2014, the church shifted to temporary premises at 101 Yuan Ching Road (a former school building).
Bishop Terry Kee presided over the ground-breaking ceremony for the new building at No. 2 Tah Ching Road on 24th January 2015. Deputy Prime Minister & Minister for Finance, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, was present to grace the event.
Surely, as we march into the future filled with new challenges, we continue to be available and ready to fulfill our mission to serve God and man in meeting various needs.
1st August 2015
