Free Community Church

The Free Community Church is a congregation of diverse individuals and families gathering to worship and grow as a Christian community. Its stakeholders' mission is to develop a vibrant heart relationship with God and a thinking-mind relationship with the Bible. They do not believe in easy answers to life’s challenging questions but in the wisdom of a great and loving God, who surpasses human understanding. They aim to nurture Christ-centred communities so that members can develop a faith relevant to the times.

The Free Community Church affirms that all individuals, including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender ones, are of sacred worth created in God’s image. The church affirms that same-sex and transgender relationships, when lived out in accord with the love commandments of Jesus, are consistent with the Christian faith. Indeed, it finds discrimination based on negative judgment of others, fear of differences, and homophobia inconsistent with Christian teachings.

Therefore, it welcomes all people regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation or economic status to its worship services and activities.

The kind of church that its stakeholders believe the Free Community and all other churches are called upon to journey to become is one that is free, inclusive, community-oriented, relational, open, ecumenical, living, relevant and missional.

If interested parties have any questions about the church, its ministries or its activities, they are urged to send an email to info@freecomchurch.org.

=History=

Safehaven
Safehaven was a non-denominational Christian group which had been gathering since 1997 for prayer, Bible study and fellowship. It was gay-affirmative and made up of people from different age groups, backgrounds and religious traditions. Meetings were held at worshippers' homes.

Safehaven was formed because many founding members had been rejected by mainstream churches on account of their homosexuality. A salient example was the New Creation Church (NCC) which showed little grace in expelling a gay man who later sought solace in the fledgling group. Many key members of Safehaven and FCC also came from the Choices ministry of the Church of Our Savior (COOS) (the main ex-gay church in Singapore). One of FCC's worship leaders joined the it after he was rejected by City Harvest Church's (CHC) worship team for being gay. In a blog entry entitled, “Homosexuality: a geographical angle”, by a pastor from a mainstream church, FCC was denounced as a pro-gay space which had failed to uphold what it called “hetero-normativity” and instead only served to reinforce “deviant sexual identity”. Hence, Safehaven and FCC ironically owe much to NCC, CHC and COOS for their existence.

As attendance and confidence swelled, it decided to set up a full fledged church called the Free Community Church (FCC) which was officially registered as a private limited company in 1999. Safehaven subsequently became a ministry of FCC.

The Attic
The Free Community Church was first located at The Attic, level 4, just above Mox Bar and Cafe at 21 Tanjong Pagar Road.

In the early 2000s, Jean Chong, who was an active member, persuaded Rev. Dr. Yap Kim Hao, a former bishop of the Methodist Church in Singapore and Malaysia, to serve as the church's pastoral advisor. Rev. Yap readily accepted as he felt it was his calling to minister to a marginalised community which faced great discrimination. In 2004, the church drew a congregation of about 50 people, of whom about 80% were gay. That year, it also began organising its Christmas Celebration service which has become an annual tradition, welcoming also non-Christians to partake of the event.

Yangtze Building
FCC subsequently moved to unit #04-02/04, Yangtze Building, 100A Eu Tong Sen Street. The uninitiated sometimes had difficulty locating the venue because the adjoining Pearls Centre, which is housed in the same complex and is intimately linked with Yangtze Building, also contained a unit with exactly the same number but which sold Buddhist artifacts instead!

Some were additionally surprised that the church was located in the same building as Singapore's notorious, sole R-rated cinema.

Century Technology Building
In the late 2000s, FCC moved to a less central location where rent was cheaper, at 56 Geylang Lor. 23, Level 3, Century Technology Building, directly opposite Aljunied MRT Station.

Visitors were sometimes astonished that the church was located smack in the middle of Singapore's infamous red light district!

One Commonwealth
Since its inception, FCC had accumulated sufficient funds via donations from its congregation that by 2014, it could afford to buy a space to operate in. In June 2014, church moved to its current premises at #02-01, One Commonwealth.

=Mission=

The VISION of the FREE COMMUNITY CHURCH is to be an inclusive community that celebrates diversity in living out God’s love and promise of abundant life for all. Our MISSION is to create sacred space and give voice to the lives and experiences of minority communities, recognising their potential to transform lives and the wider church for the common good and glory of God.

The character of the church that we see the FREE COMMUNITY CHURCH and all churches journeying to become which guides our priorities and actions are -

A Church that is FREE FREE in Free Community Church is a proclamation of freedom that we have in Jesus Christ. It is also an acronym for “First Realize Everyone is Equal” – the good news that we are all equally created in the image of God, equally accepted, embraced and loved exactly as we are by God.

A Church that is INCLUSIVE We see the church as a place where everyone is welcome – regardless of theological background, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, economic status, education level, etc. We see the church as a home that especially welcomes those who identify themselves as LGBTQ - lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and queer.

A Church that is COMMUNITY We see the role of Community as who we are to become as a Church. Not just with those like us, but becoming a true community that recognizes that those least like us have been given to us by grace and have the most amount to teach us.

A Church that is RELATIONAL We see a church where people come together intentionally on a journey to “do life” together. We see a church where people can be authentic; where people are prioritized over programmes and performance; where people grow, learn, share, cry and laugh together. We see that as the church grows larger, it also grows smaller and intimate at the same time through smaller cell groups that meet regularly.

A Church that is OPEN We see a church that is open. A church that practices the inclusion of all people around an open table – that the grace and love of God has been poured out for all and that no one should be intentionally left out in participating in celebrating the Eucharist – the Holy Communion meal.

A Church that is ECUMENICAL We see a church that is an inter-denominational embrace of the Christian faith. We endeavour to embrace and create space for the expression of the richness and diversity of different Christian traditions represented in the members who have made this church their faith community in our Sunday worship services.

A Church that is LIVING We see a church that is living out the living Word of God. A church that sees every person called to ministry as ambassadors of Jesus Christ and witnesses of the gospel. A church that is living together, loving together, leading together.

A Church that is RELEVANT We see a church that is relevant with our times – that engages and expresses our faith into the culture of today. A church that speaks and acts justly, loves mercy, and walks humbly before God.

A Church that is MISSIONAL We see a church that is without walls. Where there are no demarcations between that which is sacred, and that which is secular. Where the focus and life of the church is poured out as a blessing to the world attending both personally and socially to the needs of the afflicted in compassion, justice and love.

To understand more about how we understand the church and the role that FCC plays in the body of Christ and in the mission of God, please choose from one of the three links below.

These three sessions are also mandatory to be reviewed by anyone who wishes to be a formal member of FCC or involved in the leadership of the church.

The Free Community Church holds weekly worship services on Sunday 10.30am at 56 Geylang Lor 23, Level 3, Century Technology Building, right opposite to the Aljunied MRT Station.

The service comprise of a time of worship, communion, prayer and the sermon. Our speakers include in-house speakers as well as other leaders from the wider Christian community. Weekly sermon notes/ transcripts, where available, will be posted on our website.

Everyone is welcome to our Sunday Services.

=Past sermons=

2014

 * 23/02/14 - Be Different, for I the Lord, am Different
 * 16/02/14 - Maturing in Love
 * 26/01/14 - From Darkness to Light
 * 19/01/14 - Preparing the Way of Love
 * 05/01/14 - Awakened in the Aftermath

2013

 * 29/12/13 - Keeping Jesus Alive
 * 22/12/13 - Certainty in a Crazy World
 * 01/12/13 - Expecting Christmas: First Sunday of Advent/World AIDS Day
 * 17/11/13 - The Commonwealth of God
 * 10/11/13 - Job and the Deuteronomists
 * 27/10/13 - End of the Road
 * 20/10/13 - Wrestling with God
 * 13/10/13 - Homecoming
 * 29/09/13 - Lazarus and the Dead Man
 * 22/09/13 - Good Grief
 * 15/09/13 - The Promised Land
 * 08/09/13 - The Potter
 * 01/09/13 - What is Your Dream?
 * 11/08/13 - A New Operating System
 * 21/07/13 - Mary and Martha
 * 14/07/13 - The Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Family
 * 07/07/13 - Youth Service: Come Clean With Me
 * 30/06/13 - Why We Worship
 * 09/06/13 - Raised from the Dead
 * 02/06/13 - The Mission Of God
 * 19/05/13 - What's Next FCC?
 * 12/05/13 - Turning Things Around With L.U.C.
 * 05/05/13 - The Power Of The Holy Spirit
 * 28/04/13 - Stone Soup
 * 21/04/13 - I Shall Not Want
 * 14/04/13 - Do You Love Me?
 * 07/04/13 - FCC On The Move To Commonwealth
 * 31/03/13 - Do Not Hold On To Me

Lent

 * 24/02/13 - Seeking the Face and Heart of God
 * 17/02/13 - Knowing the God Behind Scripture

After Pentecost

 * 18/11/12 - Membership & Leadership in FCC
 * 11/11/12 - FCC's Principles of Community Life
 * 04/11/12 - The Call of FCC
 * 21/10/12 - Blessed Be The Name Of The Lord
 * 14/10/12 - For The Love Of God!
 * 30/09/12 - Salt Of The Earth
 * 16/09/12 - Tongues
 * 09/09/12 - Focus On Our Family
 * 02/09/12 - We Got It All Wong
 * 03/06/12 - Sunday Sermon by Matthew Phan

Lent

 * 01/04/12 - Palm Sunday
 * 04/03/12 - 我们 (International Women's Day Service)
 * 26/02/12 - Rainbow

Epiphany

 * 19/02/12 - The Church We Are Called To Build
 * 12/02/12 - "I Do Choose. Be Made Clean!"
 * 29/01/12 - No Slave to Our Demons
 * 22/01/12 - Welcome Home
 * 15/01/12 - A Literacy of the Heart
 * 01/01/12 - A New Year

Advent

 * 18/12/11 - 2 Samuel 7: 1 - 11, 16 & Luke 1: 26 - 38, 47 - 55

After Pentecost

 * 13/11/11 - The Parable of the Talents
 * 23/10/11 - Let's Dance
 * 25/09/11 - Extraordinary Days
 * 11/09/11 - Freedom and Transformation of the Heart
 * 04/09/11 - Romans 13: 8 - 14
 * 21/08/11 - Exodus 1:8 – 2:10
 * 07/08/11 - Walking on Water
 * 10/07/11 - Listening
 * 03/07/11 - Born This Way: God Makes No Mistakes (Youth Service)

Easter

 * 12/06/11 - Embrace Difference Celebrate Diversity
 * 05/06/11 - Standing in the Gap
 * 01/05/11 - Doubting Thomas

Lent

 * 17/04/11 - Palm Sunday
 * 10/04/11 - Of Bones and Breath

Epiphany

 * 06/03/11 - Celebrate, Commit, Connect (International Women's Day Service)
 * 20/02/11 - Holiness
 * 13/02/11 - YOU are the Love of God (Sexual Ethics Sermon Series Part III)
 * 06/02/11 - Salt of the Earth, Light of the World
 * 30/01/11 - Understanding the Sexual Ethics Framework (Sexual Ethics Sermon Series Part II)
 * 23/01/11 - Sex-God-Me-Us (Sexual Ethics Sermon Series Part I)
 * 16/01/11 - The Call

=2010=

Advent

 * 19/12/10 - God-with-us
 * 05/12/10 - Highway to Heaven

After Pentecost
 * 21/11/10 - Righteousness (of God) and

Sexual Ethics
 * 07/11/10 - Asking Our Way into Relationship

with God
 * 31/10/10 - When the Saints Go Marching In
 * 24/10/10 - The Parable of the Pharisee and

the Tax Collector
 * 26/09/10 - Luke 16: 19 - 31
 * 19/09/10 - True Riches
 * 12/09/10 - The Fool
 * 29/08/10 - Sacrifice of Praise
 * 22/08/10 - Luke 13: 10 - 17
 * 15/08/10 - Signs of the Time
 * 01/08/10 - Who's Number One?
 * 25/07/10 - Living Water
 * 18/07/10 - Luke 10: 38 - 42
 * 04/07/10 - Free to be You(th)
 * 27/06/10 - Freedom in the Slavery of Love
 * 06/06/10 - Stewardship
 * 30/05/10 - The Spirit of Truth

Easter

 * 23/05/10 - Pentecost Sunday
 * 02/05/10 - Dining with Cornelius
 * 25/04/10 - Psalm 23
 * 18/04/10 - Resurrection
 * 11/04/10 - First Sunday after Easter

Lent

 * 28/03/10 - The Self-Emptying God
 * 07/03/10 - International Women's Day
 * 28/02/10 - See the Goodness of the Lord
 * 21/02/10 - The Temptation of Christ, and Ours

Epiphany

 * 03/01/10 - New Year, New Things

=2009=


 * 08/11/09 - Let's Talk about Me - Carolyn
 * 11/10/09 - Let's Talk about Me - Jaime
 * 20/09/09 - Home and Family
 * 13/09/09 - Christian Conviction and Responsibility
 * 30/08/09 - Let's talk about me: You're Beautiful
 * 23/08/09 - What do we see... in Spirituality?
 * 26/07/09 - Entering God's Rest
 * 12/07/09 - And the spirit lifted me up
 * 19/04/09 - Faces
 * 12/04/09 - Wake up call for the World
 * 05/04/09 - The First Time
 * 29/03/09 - For the very First Time
 * 22/03/09 - For the very First Time
 * 01/03/09 - For the First Time
 * 22/02/09 - Meeting Jesus again for the First Time
 * 11/01/09 - State of 09

=2008=


 * 29/11/08 - Sista Magdalene
 * 19/10/08 - Face to Face with God
 * 12/10/08 - Jesus - Reluctant God
 * 05/10/08 - God in You and Me
 * 14/09/08 - God is Uncontainable
 * 07/09/08 - God and Religion
 * 10/08/08 - Our God of Connections
 * 03/08/08 - Mother God
 * 29/06/08 - Psalm 137
 * 01/06/08 - Psalm 13
 * 20/04/08 - Psalm 84
 * 13/04/08 - Freedom from captivity
 * 16/03/08 - No Longer Strangers, No Longer Servants
 * 09/03/08 - International Women’s Day
 * 02/03/08 - From playing hero to finding rest in God
 * 24/02/08 - Slave vs Free
 * 06/01/08 - New Year Sermon

=2007=
 * 14/10/07 - Welcome Home!
 * 23/09/07 - Building Relationships with other Christians
 * 16/09/07 - Building Relationships with the other
 * 02/09/07 - Faith & Creation
 * 26/08/07 - Christian Faith and Doubt
 * 08/07/07 - Christian Faith and Other Religions
 * 24/06/07 - The Latter Rain is coming
 * 13/05/07 - Haggai: Building the House of God
 * 06/05/07 - Prophet of Justice & Righteousness
 * 29/04/07 - Following Jesus
 * 22/04/07 - The New Wine Skin Way !
 * 25/03/07 - A Fresh Look at Discipleship
 * 11/03/07 - Ending Impunity for Violence Against Women
 * 21/01/07 - David & Johnathan
 * 07/01/07 - Our Journey: From One Beginning to Another

=2006=
 * 31/12/06 - Cultivating Courage
 * 25/12/06 - The Reason Why
 * 10/12/06 - Our Relationships in FCC
 * 12/11/06 - WWJD at Work
 * 15/10/06 - Freedom with Responsibility
 * 01/10/06 - Free At Last
 * 10/09/06 - What Matters Most?
 * 27/08/06 - The Seeker of All Seekers
 * 13/08/06 - The Unknowing Seeker
 * 06/08/06 - The First Women Priests
 * 30/07/06 - Responding to the Call of God
 * 23/07/06 - The Ethiopian Eunuch
 * 16/07/06 - A Questioning Seeker - Pilate
 * 09/07/06 - Seeker by Night
 * 25/06/06 - A Prayerful Life
 * 18/06/06 - Prayer of the Radical
 * 11/06/06 - Petitionary and Intercessory Prayer
 * 04/06/06 - The Listening Prayer
 * 28/05/06 - The Significant Prayer
 * 21/05/06 - Connecting With God
 * 14/05/06 - What Is Prayer?
 * 07/05/06 - The Victory Of The Cross
 * 23/04/06 - The Way Of The Cross: Suffering
 * 16/04/06 - Power Of The Resurrection
 * 02/04/06 - Learning From Strangers
 * 26/03/06 - Beware Of The Seduction Of Religious Evil
 * 26/02/06 - Reflexivity Through Humility
 * 19/02/06 - Let's Focus on the Family
 * 01/01/06 - The God I Miss

=2005=
 * 25/12/05 - The Light of Christmas
 * 11/12/05 - The Bible - The Heart of the Tradition
 * 27/11/05 - The Holy Spirit - The Heart of Life
 * 13/11/05 - God, the Heart of Reality
 * 6/11/05 - Introducing the Foundations Series
 * 16/10/05 - Jonah: Understanding God's Calling
 * 9/10/05 - The Beatitude on Righteousness
 * 18/9/05 - Blessed are the Pure in Heart
 * 11/9/05 - Blessed are the Merciful
 * 28/8/05 - FCC & the Spiral Staircase
 * 14/8/05 - Blessed are the Poor in spirit
 * 24/7/05 - People with a Passion for Christ
 * 10/7/05 - Esther: For such a time as this
 * 19/6/05 - Passion for Christ: Peter the Apostle
 * 5/6/05 - Passion for Christ: Paul the Apostle
 * 17/4/05 - A Living Christianity
 * 3/4/05 - Encounter with God
 * 24/3/05 - Jesus, Please Wash my Feet
 * 13/3/05 - From the "Attic" to the "Yangtze"
 * 6/3/05 - Experiencing God: A Feminist Perspective
 * 27/2/05 - How to Judge
 * 30/1/05 - Suffered, Crucified, Dead and Buried
 * 23/1/05 - Why we Believe?
 * 16/1/05 - Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord

=2004=


 * 19/12/04 - Beware of Certainty: In Defense of Thomas
 * 12/12/04 - Who is this Jesus?
 * 21/11/04 - The Immoral Church - 3 steps to success
 * 24/10/04 - You Become God's Temple
 * 26/9/04 - The Church of the Good Samaritan
 * 19/9/04 - Diversity and Community
 * 17/9/04 - The Power of Words
 * 8/8/04 - Celebration and Commitment
 * 20/6/04 - Do not Love the World
 * 16/5/04 - Walking in Darkness and Light
 * 11/4/04 - Coming out - of your Tombs
 * 28/3/04 - The Message of Psalm 51
 * 15/2/04 - Patient Endurance with Persistent Resistance
 * 1/2/04 - Are you compromising your Faith?
 * 18/1/04 - The Letter to the Church in Smyrna
 * 11/1/04 - Have you Forsaken your First Love?

=2003=


 * 30/11/03 - Building A Relationship With God / Becoming A Reflexive People
 * 16/11/03 - Our Scandalous God

=Past seminars/articles=


 * 5/10/05 - Confessions
 * 23/7/05 - My Journey
 * 14/9/04 - Mad About Madonna
 * 11/9/04 - The Bible - Nature & Interpretation For Us Today
 * 22/7/04 - Biblical Preaching In A Post-Modern World

=See also=

=References and external links=


 * The Free Community Church's website: and Facebook page:.