Our Mission
Becoming deeply devoted intentional Disciples of Jesus, finishing the Great Commission in our lifetime.
(Matthew 28:18-20)
Our Vision
Each One Reach One – Becoming an authentic disciple-making church (John 15:1-8)
What We Believe
Being one church, one body of Christ, together we share a set of core values:
Grow together as a heterogeneous church community ministering to a community with multi-generation families and diversity of languages, dialects and ethnicities
Order our spiritual lives to be faithful to the Bible as our authority, the Methodist tradition as our practice and the Great Commission as our calling
Develop as a single, united local conference with a common vision, consensus leadership and sharing of resources
About the Church
Bukit Panjang Methodist Church (BPMC) was first established in 1937 as a predominantly Hokkien congregation reaching out to the community in the Bukit Panjang area / under the Chinese Annual Conference (CAC) within The Methodist Church in Singapore (MCS).
Through the years, God has enlarged His tent as shown by the growing Hokkien, Mandarin, English and Youth congregations. We are now a multi-ethnic and multi-generation church worshipping at the adjacent locations of 488 and 496 Upper Bukit Timah Road.
Our History
Our Milestones
In 1936, Bukit Panjang Methodist Church began as a small congregation that gathered at a charcoal shop in Bukit Panjang. This congregation was started by Mr Lim Kim Seng, a Buddhist youth who accepted Christ after attending a revival rally by Dr John Sung, a renowned Chinese Christian evangelist. As we looked back at these past 80 years, we thank God for His abundant grace and provision for BPMC.
| Year | Milestones |
| 1937 | The first pastor was Rev Lim Hong Ban who preached in Hokkien. He was assisted by Preacher Lim Kim Seng. The following year, the church was named “Bukit Panjang Methodist Gospel Hall”. |
| 1941 – 1946 | The church continued to meet at an attap house during the Japanese Occupation. Despite the war, people persisted in their faith. From 1941 to 1946, 21 adults and 25 children were baptised and 11 names entered the Preparatory Roll. |
| 1950 | The church continued to grow. By 1950, there were around 100 people worshipping at the attap house. |
| 1951 | A plan was mooted to purchase a piece of land for a new church building. Due to a lack of funds and roadblocks, the plan did not materialise until years later. |
| 1958 | The church succeeded in purchasing two shophouses, located along Bukit Timah main road. |
| 1959 | The church moved to the two shophouses on 3 December 1959. The upper floor was used for worship service, and the lower floor for kindergarten classrooms. |
| 1961-1963 | The church saw a sharp increase in members: from 94 in 1961 to 155 in 1962, and 195 in 1963. |
| 1964 | The Mandarin Youth Fellowship was formed. |
| 1965 | The English Youth Fellowship was formed. |
| 1967 | There were 174 church members and 200 Sunday School children, and the church was running of space. |
| 1968 | Fundraising campaign for a new church building was held. |
| 1969 | The church paid up fully for the purchase of the two shophouses. |
| 1970 | A site for a new church building, located at 488 Bukit Timah Road, was purchased for about $110,000. |
| 1975 | Rev Wesley Yong, then-pastor of the church, launched the church building project. |
| 1977 | A groundbreaking ceremony for the new church building, located at 488 Upper Bukit Timah Road, was conducted in March 1977. The church sold the two shophouses and moved to a zinc roofed house at 280 Lorong 4, Bukit Gombak in the interim. |
| 1978 | Building works at 488 Upper Bukit Timah Road were completed. The dedication of the building to the Lord was conducted on 24 November 1978. |
| 1980 | English worship service started in February 1980. The church began to have separate English and Chinese Sunday Schools, English and Mandarin Choir and English and Mandarin Methodist Youth Fellowship etc. |
| 1985 | The Church Nursery Programme was established (now known as the Bukit Panjang Methodist Church Kindergarten) on 1 July 1985. |
| 1986 | The Mandarin and Hokkien Worship Service officially became two separate worship services in July 1986. The Hokkien Choir was formed in the same year. |
| 1987 | The church began to explore the possibility of constructing an extension building, The Christian Education Centre (CEC). |
| 1989 | A groundbreaking ceremony for the CEC was conducted on 12 November 1989. |
| 1992 | The CEC was completed on 30 August 1992. |
| 1993 | English Cell Group Ministry was formed. |
| 1996 | Renovation and upgrading works such as the installation of air-conditioners were done. |
| 1998 | Chinese Small Group Ministry was formed. |
| 2000 | English Youth Ministry (also known as WOW) was formed. |
| 2001 | Ladies’ Ministry was formed. |
| 2001 | English Worship Service and WOW held their first services at The Sanctuary and Enrichment Centre respectively, on 4 November 2001. The first Dedication and Offering Service was held at The Sanctuary on 31 December 2001. |
| 2003 | 2nd Mandarin Worship Service (Lishi) started on 5 January 2003. |
| 2004 | Seniors’ Ministry was formed. |
| 2006 | BPMC embarked on the 40 Days of Purpose Campaign. |
| 2007 | BPMC celebrated her 70th Anniversary. |
| 2012 | First combined church camp was held. |
| 2014 | The first Saturday Service was held on 2 August 2014. |
| 2015 | Hillview Station on the Downtown Line opened. |
| 2016 | Fang Zhou Service started. |
| 2017 | BPMC celebrated her 80th anniversary. |
In the 1930s, after attending a revival rally conducted by Dr John Sung, a nineteen-year-old Buddhist youth named Lim Kim Seng renounced his Buddhist beliefs and began to proclaim Christ by faith. He started a congregation at a charcoal shop in Bukit Panjang. In the following year, in June 1937, the church was named as “Bukit Panjang Gospel Hall”.
During the period of the Japanese Occupation (1942-45), the church met in an attap house. Singapore fell shortly after, and half of the church building was destroyed by the bombing. Hence the Sunday worship service came to a temporary halt. When Mr Lim Kim Seng was appointed to be the supply preacher, funds were raised to rebuild the church building.
There were approximately 100 people worshipping in the attap house in the 1950. The ground in front of the attap-house church was raised to build shophouses. As a result the existing church building stood on a lower ground. During heavy downpour, the water would just gush into the building and even the pastor’s bed would be afloat.
In 1958, the church finally succeeded in acquiring two shophouses along Bukit Timah Road at a cost of $30,000. The church grew and was running out of space. In 1977, the shophouses were sold and a new site was purchased along the 9 milestone of the Bukit Timah main road, where the main building resides now.
The English Worship Service started in February 1980 and we began to have separate English and Chinese Sunday Schools, Choirs and youth groups. Bukit Panjang Methodist Church Kindergarten was also established on 1 July 1985 with the vision of serving the nearby community, reaching out to children and to sow the seeds of the Gospel in the hearts of these children.
In 1998, the Mandarin and English Worship Services saw an increase in their worship service attendance and the Local Conference Executive Committee (LCEC) concluded that the space at main building has been maximized and would not be able to cater for the development and expansion of ministries over the next 3-5 years. Hence, when the Methodist Church of Singapore offered BPMC the Sanctuary and Level 2 at 496 Upper Bukit Timah Road, the leadership made a decision to accept the offer.
Thus, the English Worship Service and WOW (English Youth) Service had their worship service on 4 November 2001. BPMC had entered into another chapter in its mission in the neighboring community.
From 1930s until now, many ordinary men and woman in BPMC have been used by God to accomplish His many works in Bukit Panjang area. With God’s grace and protection, we started off with a handful of worshippers in a charcoal shop. Today with His continued grace and protection, we are able to have both buildings that hold 5 worship services in three languages and are continuing our ministry expansion.
In 2017, we celebrate 80 anniversary, we launch a new BPMC logo
Explanation For The Design:
Flame & Cross
As with many Methodist symbols, the flame represents the Holy Spirit. The cross symbolises Jesus Christ. Our passion for Christ is expressed in the different shades of orange.
Calligraphy-styled Circle
Our logo is enclosed within a circle drawn in the style of Chinese Calligraphy (毛笔). The circle is an homage to the Church’s Chinese roots; it is a representation of unity (圆), reminiscent of our kampong spirit. Part of our heritage as a charcoal shop (火炭店) is also brought to mind by the ashy grey brush stroke.
