Lawrence Khong

Lawrence Khong Kin Hoong (born 1952) is the Senior Pastor of Faith Community Baptist Church (FCBC) in Singapore. Founded by Khong in 1986, FCBC is one of the megachurches in Singapore with a congregation of about 9,000. Khong has been criticized for his public opposition to equal rights for gay people.

Early life
Khong is the son of a businessman and a housewife. His father, a general commodities wholesaler who came from Guangdong province in China, had another family in Hong Kong with four children, but remarried when he came to Singapore before World War II broke out.

As a young boy, Khong was rebellious and did poorly in primary school. However, his grades dramatically improved when he entered secondary school at St Joseph's Institution. Following this, he went on to National Junior College, where he met his future wife, Nina. In the army, his rebellious streak resurfaced; he took to chain smoking, sometimes up to three packs a day. He also stopped going to church. Upon entering his first year as a business administration undergraduate in the University of Singapore, he had a spiritual awakening during the summer vacation. Subsequently, he followed his future wife, Nina, to a church camp in Port Dickson, Malaysia, where a boy drowned on the second day. That startled him and he "felt a calling" to become a pastor.

Faith Community Baptist Church
While in university, Khong joined the Varsity Christian Fellowship (VCF) and eventually preached while still an undergraduate. After graduating with a B.A Business Administration from the National University of Singapore, he worked as an intern pastor.

Khong returned to serve in his church, then set up Faith Community Baptist Church. It has about 9,000 members and was at one point the biggest church in Singapore, although other mega churches such as City Harvest Church, New Creation Church and Lighthouse Evangelism (Singapore) have since overtaken it. FCBC was founded as a cell church.

Khong is one of the International Twelve of Cesar Castellanos (founders of the G12 movement), and is committed to bring the G12 Vision to churches in Asia. FCBC is a charismatic church that believes in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Following the pattern in G12 churches, FCBC is led by Lawrence Khong and his wife, Rev (Dr) Nina Khong.

TOUCH Community Services
Khong founded TOUCH Community Services (TCS), a community arm of FCBC. TCS is a non-profit, non-religious community organisation, which has served over 100,000 individuals since its establishment

In 1998, Khong was conferred the public service medal in recognition of his contributions to the community. In 2002, Khong conceptualised Project SMILE or Sharing Magic in Love Everywhere. For his achievements, he was selected as a finalist for the SIP-Schwab Social Entrepreneur of 2007.

In 2007, TCS won the Outstanding Non-profit Organisation Award in the National Volunteerism & Philanthropy Awards, which recognises best practices in the management of volunteers and donors, including fundraising practices, in non-profit organisations.

Media and entertainment
In recent years, Khong entered the media and entertainment world by producing movies and performing magic shows including "Magic of Love" and "Magic Box" as a platform for him to spread his Christian message.

Khong is the founder of Gateway Entertainment (formerly TOUCH Media), the entertainment ministry of FCBC, which provides Christian-friendly stage and movie productions and magic shows. These productions promote religion to a secular audience. Khong has performed magic shows, with his daughter Priscilla.

Khong shared his experiences of "Magic of Love" in his book ''Give me the Multitudes! Obeying God's Call into the Media World, TOUCH Ministries International: Singapore'' but has received some criticism from fellow Christians for his use of magic and involvement in "marketplace ministries."

Views on Homosexuality
Khong has been accused of homophobia for actively campaigning against equal rights for homosexuals in Singapore. In January 2013, Khong issued a statement to ex-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong against repealing Singapore's discriminatory anti-homosexual laws. He sees the repeal of controversial Section 377A of the Penal Code, which effectively criminalises homosexuality as "a looming threat to this basic (nation) building block by homosexual activists." and regards the “homosexual act” as “the greatest blasphemy against the name of God”.

Personal life
Khong and his wife, Rev (Dr) Nina Khong, have four children – Priscilla, Michelle, Anthony and Daniel, and a grandson, Isaac. In 2003, Khong's daughter, Priscilla had a child out of wedlock. He is also a national polo player who won a silver medal with the Singapore team at the 2007 South-east Asia Games.