New Methodist Church reflects the word, has ‘spiritual’ acoustics

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DISTINCTIVE FEATURE: The bell tower in the shape of a candle surrounded by four crosses signifies how the gospel spread from one small town to different parts of Sarawak.

SIBU: The new RM9.6 million Sing Ang Tong Methodist Church in Deshon Road is set to be the latest landmark in Sibu.

Its belfry is in the shape of a candle, surrounded by four crosses, that lights up at night.

Sing Ang Tong church building is the first Methodist Church set up in the state in 1901.

Reverend Timothy Ling said the candle symbolises the spreading of the gospel from the small town of Sibu to different parts of East Malaysia.

“This design (four crosses surrounding a candle) signifies the light of the word shining through every corner of the world,” he added.

“We set the timer for the candle to be lit every night,” he said.

He said the design for the main church building was biblical.

According to him, when the church committee decided to build the new church in 2007, they left the design to the architect.

“The architect created it for us, and we like it because it matches the concept of the missionary church,” he enthused.

He said during the first Sunday service at the new church on Oct 6, the reading was taken from 1 Kings 8: 55-61, and there were three important messages to the worshippers.

The first, he said, was about peace.

“The faithful come to the house of God and find peace there. As you walk in, there is peace, there is quietness. The atmosphere actually matches the gospel.”

The second thing was following God, he said.

“After every service, worshippers are called to follow God, and to obey His words,” he said.

The third was about a just God.

“There is another feature, which is the cross at the front of the church. This cross is small but people don’t realise there is a bigger cross on the ceiling.

“It tells the message that God is always watching us, watching our actions.

“When we say that God is justice, when we face injustice, God will turn the injustice into something blessed for us if we trust and believe in Him,” he said.

He said the design was to urge the congregation to never cease praying to God no matter what difficulties faced in life.

Another feature of the church is its fantastic acoustics.

“The ocean waves at the wall – we call it the Holy Spirit waves – are amazing to behold,” he said.

Outside the church, there are 3D Chinese characters which mean ‘Jesus Loves You’.

“It is another interesting feature because from far, you could see it clearly, but when you come nearer to the church, you can’t see it anymore.

“What we make out of this is that when you look in between, God is here and you just need to come in,” he said.

Other facilities include a library, classrooms, chapel/foyer, exhibition room and basement car park.

He said Sing Ang Tong was full of history and there were many antiques, thus the exhibition room to tell the people the history of the church.

Now that there is a new church, the old one will be converted into a youth centre.