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| Nine founding members, with Pastor Poh from Sri Hartamas Church. |
A. The Macedonian Call to Plant a Church
A group of young believers, some of whom had been converted and were ‘exposed’ to the doctrines of grace while studying overseas – Australia and the United Kingdom – found it difficult to settle into the existing churches on the isle of Penang. They felt that the churches were mainly strongly Arminian in the doctrine of salvation, and some militantly premillennial and dispensational in eschatology.
Eventually, their common ‘admiration’ for the doctrines of grace drew them together. They began to meet for fellowship and mutual edification. Before too long they decided to meet regularly with the intention of forming themselves into a church. A few of the men were acquainted with Pastor Poh Boon Sing of Sri Hartamas Church, a Reformed Baptist church in Kuala Lumpur. The group decided to seek fellowship from Sri Hartamas Church to assist them to constitute into a regular church of the NT.
B. The Conditional Response to the Call
Around Feb-Mar 92, two men from the group – CS Woon and Steven Teh - went to see Pastor Poh about the matter. (Steven, who knew brother Sing from their university days, put a night in his home in Petaling Jaya. Brother Woon and Sing* met at the first Reformed Ministers’ Conference in Port Dickson in 1987). Pastor Poh indicated that he was ready to assist provided that the new work would be constituted into a church that is distinctly 1689 in doctrine and practice. The two men were requested to convey the plain stipulation to the group and that if they were agreeable to the condition, then they should write officially to Sri Hartamas Church, indicating that they were seeking help from Sri Hartamas Church to gather them into a distinctly Reformed Baptist Church with the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith as its doctrinal standard.
There are several reasons for this definite condition. First, it was felt that there were already many generally evangelical churches on the island. Another such church would make it one too many. Second, available resources are scarce and life is short and these require wise stewardship. Efforts must therefore be concentrated towards the task of planting distinct NT churches, which means, planting confessional 1689 churches. Third, it is the sincere conviction that the Christian faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints is most accurately expressed and summarized in the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith – the most common Doctrinal Statement of the Particular Baptist Churches.
The two men reported back to the group and they ‘agreed’ with the condition and the letter was written and sent to Sri Hartamas Church. Then beginning with May 1992, Pastor Poh began to travel to Penang once a month and spent the first long weekend of the month teaching the group – with study meetings on Friday and Saturday and Sunday evenings, and with Sunday mornings devoted to regular worship services. On some later trips brother Sing accompanied Pastor Poh. On other occasions, he made the trips on his own. Together they went through several series of studies with the group to prepare the individuals to be founding members of the new Church. The meetings were held in the homes of different brothers in the group.
[*Sing Foo LAU, then a member of Sri Hartamas Church, was waiting upon the Lord to open the door for the pastoral ministry as he worked as an architect in Petaling Jaya. After Pastor Poh had been to Penang for several times, having able to assess the situation there, he asked Sing and his wife Alice, to pray and to consider the possibility of moving to Penang to be part of the new work. On the weekends that he had been arranged to visit Penang, he would rush to the airport in Subang after work on Friday, catch a flight to Penang, and conduct the Friday evening meeting, etc, etc. then catch the first flight on Monday morning to Subang, and rush to the office to work – that’s life in the fast lane!]
C. The Series of Studies Covered
Each time when Pastor Poh or Brother Sing or both went up to Penang, four meetings were held. The Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings were devoted to the series of studies listed below. There were worship services on Sunday mornings. The following studies were covered over the 12 Friday-Sunday visits to Penang:
1. The Doctrine of the Local Church – 12 studies
2. The Doctrine of Grace – 5 studies*
3. The Charismatic Issue – 7 studies on 1Cor 12-14
4. The Church Discipline – 1 study
5. The Statement of Faith – 8 studies
6 The Church Constitution – an overview and discussion
7. The Covenant of Members – an overview
8. The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith – an overview
[* Pastor Stuart Olyott conducted the series on the Doctrine of Grace at the two-day conference organized by the group at the Christian Convention Centre in Batu Ferringhi on Sep 5-6, 1992. About twenty adults attended the two-day conference. Pastor Olyott was the speaker for the Reformed Ministers Conference that was held at Port Dickson on Sep 7-10.]
In a way, a loose group of believers could not have been better prepared, with these series of teaching, to be members of a covenanted community, an NT church. However, from hindsight, one wonders how much of the above teachings that were so plainly expounded were actually understood or embraced. Subsequent events indicated that many did not seem to grasp the practical implications of the truth that have been delivered to them. This was probably due to the fact that it is easier for the regenerate mind to give mental assent to the truths taught, but to submit to and live by the implications of the truths required more than mere mental assent. Conviction and humility of heart are needed. What the mind understood must need to affect the heart and move the will to act in obedience to the Lord. This was to a large extend lacking. This sad situation gave rise to much heartache and dissension later.
D. The Applications and Interviews
The application forms for membership with the new church – the Sungai Dua Church (Reformed Baptist) – were made available in Dec 1992. Those who believed and agreed with the teachings that have been expounded were encouraged to apply to be the founding members of the new church. Out of a group of about twenty adults, only seven applied for membership. In January 1993 Pastor Poh interviewed the seven applicants with brother Sing present. All the seven were considered eligible for membership. However two of them were not yet biblically baptized and the arrangement was made for their baptism in the Fettes Park Baptist Church on Feb 13, 1993. Sri Hartamas Church authorized Sing to administer the baptism on Leow Sian Beng and Wong Yu Ling.
The application for membership was kept open till the week before the proposed date for the Constitution of the new work. However, no further application was received. So the seven, together with brother Sing and his wife Alice formed the nine (9) founder members of the new church. The rest who did not join felt that the teachings were too narrow and the church to be constituted was going to be too distinctly 1689 church, and not just a generally reformed church. They probably did not appreciate the implications of the one condition laid down by Pastor Poh for agreeing to help the group to constitute into a distinctly 1689 church. Some of those who did not join the new church later became antagonistic and bitter against the new church.
Meanwhile, Sing finished his last day of work as an architect on Saturday, Feb 27, 1993. Over the next week, he moved to Penang to make arrangements for accommodation for his family as well as taking the meetings for the first weekend of March. At the beginning of April, he and his young family moved into their rented house in Taman Pekaka. The wife, Alice was in her seventh month of pregnancy and was expecting their third child - [Jo-Hanan, born June 15].
E. The Date and Place for the Covenanting Service
The date for the covenanting service was set on Saturday of May 1, 1993 – a public holiday. It was a full year since the preparation of the work began in May 92. The like-minded churches were informed about the special service. Friends in Penang were invited.
Thus far, the meetings have been held in the homes of various people scattered all over the tiny island. Time has come to consider a more permanent location for our public meetings. Pastor Poh and Sing went around scouting and surveying the southeastern part of the island and they eventually decided on Sungai Dua as the most suitable location for the new church. Therefore the new church came to be known as – Sungai Dua Church (Reformed Baptist)! [The name has been officially changed to ‘Sungai Dua Church (1689 Baptist)’ in 2007].
There were two main factors in this decision - there were few existing churches in the area, only one Chinese speaking congregation that we know of; and though ‘sleepy’ the place was poised for great development, being located between Minden Heights (where the University Science Malaysia is) and the Free Trade Zone of Bayan Lepas. Yes, the Lord has definitely directed us to a good location. The population in the suburb has more than doubled in the last ten years. Even the University has been expanding rapidly.
While scouting around in Sungai Dua, they met up with Mei Ling, a lady who was operating a kindergarten in the simple hall of the Old Boys Association of Keong Hoe Chinese Primary School along Sungai Dua Road. She was delighted with our proposal to share her rented premises with us for meetings on Sundays. The church would contribute a fair share (1/3) of the rental. It was an arrangement that was very beneficial to both parties – the church has a public place for our Sunday worship services at a minimal cost, and she is relieved of some financial burden!
However, the school’s authority did not like the hall being used for religious purposes. They complained to Mei-Ling and gave the notice to vacate the hall. Eventually, Mei-Ling moved her kindergarten to a ground floor shop lot in Lip Sin Garden Apartment, about 250 meters further down the Sungai Dua Road. The Church decided to move with her and began meeting in the new premises in September 93, after just three months in the former place. The rental contribution was more than doubled! Some were very unhappy with the place, complaining that the place is not safe at all! But the Lord kept watch over us, and no harm ever came upon us at all. You will read a description of that meeting place by a visitor later in the report. It was smallish but it met our needs. We remained there until we moved to our present place Desa University Commercial Complex on March 99.
Here is a short account of the historic event
The short article below appeared
in the Gospel Highway (1993 No. 2). The author reported on the constitution of
the Sungai Dua Church (Reformed Baptist) thus:
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| A
few friends gathered to witness the solemn occasion. (Tina Fam, standing 2nd left - the author for the report below) |
A New Church Constituted in Penang
May 1, 1993 is an historic
occasion. I was privileged to witness the constituting of a new Reformed
Baptist Church on the island of Penang. Everything went smoothly to plan, much
to the relief of all those involved. We were full of thanksgiving and praise to
our God.
At 8.00pm a group of about 16
people gathered at the premises of a kindergarten hall in Sungai Dua. The nine
people who were covenanting together sat in the front whilst the rest apart
behind.
Brother Lau Sing Foo led the
service with an opening hymn ‘Who is on the Lord’s side’ and prayers. This was
followed by exhortation by Pastor Poh from 1Tim 3: 14-16 entitled ‘The Pillar
and Ground of the Truth’ which reminded us of the church’s identity, uniqueness
and purpose.
There were three important points
in the message. The first is that the church is an identifiable body of
believers who are covenanted together and with God.
Secondly, it is a consecrated body
because it is set apart for God and is indwelt by the Holy Spirit.
Thirdly, it is a purposeful body
because it is set apart for a purpose – which is t proclaim the gospel to those
unsaved and to build up the faith of those who are believers. The church also
has an obligation to uphold its purity and faithfulness.
The exhortation ended with the
reminder that “the church of Jesus Christ is glorious, this church (i.e. the
newly constituted Sungai Dua Church) is glorious.”
It was with this stirring note
that the members were asked to stand with their right hand raised as they read
aloud the covenant together. After that Pastor Poh conducted the Lord’s Supper
which was restricted to those who were covenanted together. Continuing with the spirit of the
message we closed with the hymn, ‘Glorious things of thee are spoken.’
One couldn’t help noticing the atmosphere
of joyful solemnity and reverence to God that pervaded the service that night.
Surely God had been in our midst.
Starting in May 1992, Pastor Poh
[and Lau Sing Foo] had been visiting the group of believers in Penang on the
first weekend of every month. Series of studies on the local church, the
doctrines of grace, the charismatic issue, the Statement and the proposed
Church constitution were covered. It was agreed that the 1689 Confession of
Faith should form the doctrinal standard of the church. The group opted for the
name of “Sungai Dua Church (Reformed Baptist)”.
Throughout that period, the
churches in Kuala Lumpur region had been praying. Brother Lau Sing Foo and his
family were at the same time considering going to Penang to minister full-time
there.
Now that the church is
constituted, with brother Sing ministering to them, let us continue to pray
that it will continue to be faithful to the word of God and proclaim the gospel
of salvation that many may be drawn to saving faith in our blessed Lord Jesus
Christ.
[Tina Fam, at the time a member of
Sri Hartamas Church, KL]
