Recap of Members' Meeting (9 November 2025)
We held our Members’ Meeting on 9 November 2025. At this meeting, we also held the English Congregational Meeting, where we voted on new elders. This was the last meeting of 2025 and as a church, we welcomed new members, heard of updates about some of our members and learnt about other updates in our church life in 2026.
Introduction & Opening Prayer
We held our Members’ Meeting on 9 November. It was held on level 2 to accommodate more members, and we are thankful for the ways the members adjusted to the new venue and also participated in the meeting. Elder Toshi opened the meeting with prayer.
English Congregational Meeting
The meeting opened with the English Congregational Meeting, where we voted on two new elder candidates – Andrew Sung and Huang Weiquan. Any questions relating to these resolutions were addressed at the Q&A Meeting held on 26 Oct 2025.
Membership Matters
Members coming in
Pastor Jeremy then came up to introduce those who are seeking to join GBC as members. The elders who did their elder chat introduced them to the members by sharing their conversion and subsequent growth in the faith, and why they are recommending them to the members for the church’s affirmation. Members could also ask any questions before they affirmed each candidate by a show of hands. At this Meeting, we welcomed by transfer Deshawn Seah, Ryan and Emily Curia, Lucy Tan, Kimberly Bautista and Dranel Leonardo. We also welcomed Yeong Kae, pending his baptism.
The church affirmed these new members, and all present also recited the Members’ Covenant as a reminder of our commitment to one another as members of this local church. We thank God for these new members and let us continue to get to know and pray for one another. All members can request for a copy of the Membership Directory (as well as all subsequent updates) from here, or access this link via the “For Members” page on our website. If you have not obtained a name tag, you can also sign up here. We hope that this will help us get to know one another better!
Praying for non-attending members
Pastor Jeremy also shared about non-attending members. These members have not been at our services and the elders have also tried to reach out and not received any reply. The elders are sharing these names so that we can reach out to them if we know them, and all of us can keep them in prayer. Please write to the office or speak with the elders if you would like to find out more, or if you would like to share any updates.
Church Discipline
It was with a heavy heart that the elders brought to the church’s attention a case of church discipline of one of our members. The elders shared briefly the nature of the issue and also what the elders have been doing to reach out to and care for the members and their families. There was also a time for members to ask questions before a vote was taken.
The elders encouraged the church to continue to pray and love and encourage the members if they knew them. It was also timely that Pastor Thian Chye led the church to pray at this point in the meeting.
Due to the sensitive nature of this matter, we will not be publishing the name here. Members, if you have any questions, we encourage you to speak with any of the elders.
Ministry Plans 2026
Pastor Eugene came up to share about ministry plans for 2026. As a church, we desire to grow the gospel by growing biblical churches through planting and strengthening local churches. We pray that we will continue to be a disciple-making church that transforms lives with the gospel and love of Jesus Christ.
Developing Leaders
The elders continue to trust and depend on God to build up His church. We hope to focus on two areas: raising up elders and to train, affirm and send members out.
To raise up more elders, we have a Shepherds Training Group, where a small group of men gather to learn more about what it means to be an elder. This takes the form of reading books and discussing together. We also have an Elder Associates programme, where some men are invited to observe the elders’ meetings. This allows them to understand what the elders do, and at the end of this 9-month programme, these men, together with the elders, can access and discuss their suitability at being put up as an elder candidate before the church.
We also desire to train, affirm and send members out. This is why we have our ministry and missions traineeships that will take place yearly. We have also been hiring ministry workers as part of this effort, and where suitable, we also encourage staff and members to pursue theological education. This year, we also had a number of short-term mission trips and we hope to continue and send more teams out next year with our network of global and regional partners.
Strengthening other churches
In 2026, we hope to continue and strengthen our partnerships. Our staff elders are involved in a monthly Baptist pastors’ fellowship. We also work closely with some of the other churches locally and in the region – Acts Baptist Church, Covenant Baptist Church, Fisherman of Christ Fellowship, Bangkok City Baptist Church, Johor Bahru Baptist Church, Grace International Church (JB) and in East Asia.
Next year, we hope to host another Weekender from 10 to 13 September. The Weekender is one way that we hope to build new partnerships, strengthen existing ones, and find ways to encourage and be encouraged by other churches.
One other way that we hope that we can strengthen other churches is by hosting conferences. In May 2026, we plan to co-host a conference with the Singapore Baptist Convention on Charles Spurgeon. In July 2026, we plan to have a Women’s Conference with an invited speaker. Look out for more details that will come your way.
Church Plant plans
Pastor Eugene invited Ryan, whom we had also welcomed as our member earlier in the meeting. Many have been excited about and asking about plans for our church plant. Ryan took the chance to invite us to pray with him for the plans for a church plant. He shared that he sees his role as that of a midwife, not an architect. In the meantime, he is looking forward to getting to know more of the church.
Sermon series for 2026
Pastor Eugene shared the books of the Bible that we will be going through from the pulpit next year. They are:
Haggai
Ephesians
Revelation 1-3
Numbers
There will also be a short topical sermon series on church planting. Members, consider reading ahead in preparation!
Christian Education: Church Matters and EQUIP
Pastor Jeremy also came up to share some changes to our EQUIP schedule. In 2026, we plan to hold 4 EQUIP training days on Saturdays from 9am to 12.30pm. These will be on 31 January, 9 May, 12 September and 14 November.
Currently, the plan is to begin each session with a short teaching on a contemporary issue or an “ask anything” session to take questions on the sermon series, a topic etc. Following that, there will be EQUIP breakout sessions with different topics available, e.g. Bible, Growing deeper, Discipleship, Missions.
We hope to offer a Children’s programme concurrently, so that families can also attend together.
Church Matters will also take place on these Saturdays at the same time. More details to follow, but church, save the dates first!
Children and Youth Ministry curriculum
Our children’s and youth ministry will also be adopting a new curriculum next year. The goal is to help our children and youth understand the Bible’s storyline, as well as key doctrines:
0-8 year-olds: God’s Big Picture from Genesis to Numbers
9-10 year-olds: Following Jesus & How to Pray
11-12 year-olds: God’s Purposes
13-18 year-olds: Rejoicing in God’s design for boys & girls
Parents, if you would like to find out more, or members who are keen to volunteer with the ministry, feel free to speak with Pastor Jeremy (jeremy@gracebaptistchurch.sg), or our Children’s Ministry Worker, Siew Ting (siewting@gracebaptistchurch.sg)
Youth Ministry Timings
Come next year, our youth will gather on the first and third Sundays of the month from 11.30am to 1pm. There will also be occasional Saturday socials. If you have questions, or are interested to serve with them, feel free to contact our Youth Ministry Worker, Nicholas (nicholas@gracebaptistchurch.sg).
Q&A for EGM Resolutions
At this segment of the meeting, the elders and directors took some time to explain our budget for 2026, and to also take questions that members may have for the 5 Resolutions which will be voted on in the Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM), which was to be held on 16 November 2025.
Operating Budget
Elder Beh, who is also one of our Directors, and Elder Toshi came up to share about the proposed budget for 2026. Our proposed 2026 EC operating budget (which includes Ministry, HR and Common Expenses) is about 14% increase on our expected spending in 2025. In line with Ps Eugene’s sharing on our ministry focus, the increase were in Hosting of Events (weekender and conferences) and in theological and staff training.
More details about the variance could be found in the Supplementary Papers.
Missions Budget
Elder Jonathan came up to share about the Missions Budget. Our expected mission’s expenses for 2025 is about 80K less than the budget, but our missions offering is also correspondingly lower. We expect a slight deficit for the missions fund for this year.
Elder Jonathan also explained some of the items in the Missions Budget.
Capital Budget and other Resolutions
Next, Elder Beh explained some of the items in the capital budget, and also gave an update about our various funds – General Fund, Missions Fund, Building Fund, Sinking Fund and Church Plant Fund.
He also explained briefly the two other resolutions in the EGM Agenda.
Members were able to ask questions throughout this segment of the meeting, and the elders also encouraged us to speak with them, or write to info@gracebaptistchurch.sg if anyone have any questions ahead of the Extraordinary General Meeting on 16 November.
Christmas Evangelistic Bake Blessings
Prisca, one of our deacons, came up to share about the Christmas Evangelistic Bake Blessings. We hope to provide some Christmas bakes after our Christmas service, and are inviting members to contribute. We hope that this will provide an opportunity for us to meaningfully engage with newcomers and non-believers, and show hospitality and love to guests and one another.
Members are invited to contribute cakes, cookies, pastries – food that is easy to share with others! Drinks will be provided by the church. If you are keen to participate, sign up here. Feel free to contact Prisca if you have any questions!
Results of ECM and Closing
Elder Toshi announced the results of the English Congregational Meeting vote before drawing the Members’ Meeting to a close. The elder candidates – Andrew and Weiquan – were elected as elders by the members with a majority of the votes. We thank God for the willingness of these men, and for the unity of mind of the church in affirming their call to be elders. Let us continue to pray for them as they serve with the rest of the team.
Elder Toshi closed the meeting with prayer, and committed our church and the proposed plans to God!