Churches for expats

[Raistlin]

I don't mind and respect Singlish at work... but is there a church that is attended by other expats from e.g. N.America? My wife and I find the singaporean accent distracting us from the message and we had a hard time interpreting it. A nondenominational christian church is fine, preferably with MRT access...

Thanks!

[sundaymorningstaple]

I'm sorry but your post is the most obscene & pathetic thing I've seen here in a long time.

So much for the bible teaching tolerance. Is this the new christians? No wonder I'm agnostic!

[jpatokal]

I'm sorry but your post is the most obscene & pathetic thing I've seen here in a long time.

Aiyoh, why you so liddat? Some pastor Singlish damn powderful one, ang moh catch no ball.

[ksl]

distracting us from the message

Crikey all of a sudden I have some faith! what's the word, that's going around? I mean the message?

[durain]

surely the "message" should be the same across the board?

[taxico]

i'm unsure which church you've been going to, but the churches i've been to in the past, the priests and pastors don't have much singlish during service.

it's not easy to squeeze singlish in, i would think. you ought to record their sermons and post it here just for kicks.

maybe you need to "church shop" or something.

lor.

[at914]

I don't mind and respect Singlish at work... but is there a church that is attended by other expats from e.g. N.America? My wife and I find the singaporean accent distracting us from the message and we had a hard time interpreting it. A nondenominational christian church is fine, preferably with MRT access...

Thanks!

Let me know if you find one cuz I'm sort of looking for an american church/fellowship here.

if you cant pm, [email protected]

[CAT777]

I don't mind and respect Singlish at work... but is there a church that is attended by other expats from e.g. N.America? My wife and I find the singaporean accent distracting us from the message and we had a hard time interpreting it. A nondenominational christian church is fine, preferably with MRT access...

Thanks!

I've heard there is a church somewhere near to Holland Village area which had a priest, who is originally from Holland (but again... he is not a native english speaker, but still may be better for you than singlish-speaker), i'm not very sure about details, but i try to find out

[Raistlin]

My goodness! you're a mod??

This is a forum for expats, you happen to encounter a fresh one right here. Here I am an expat finding it hard to adjust to a completely new culture, and you find my request for a little bit of homeliness and familiarity in my church to be offensive and OBSCENE? what is your duty as a mod here, to throw stones?

Tolerance? How is asking for a different church at a forum considered intolerance? For not understanding a dialect I find hard to interpret is that it? Is it a crime for me to look for another church after I experienced a cultural gap then? A crime for me to seek guidance in a forum from other expats who might find the language barrier as tough?

Next time you're in the outskirts of London, or say deep south US, and have trouble understanding their accent, please do continue to idly sit around and"tolerate" until you miraculously comprehend, please do not look for any alternatives. Please do notice and CURB your anti-religion bias when you type demeaning words to visitors on a forum you're supposedly helping to represent.

You, mod, is most unhelpful.

I re-iterate, I respect the language Singaporeans speak, I embrace the chance to speak as the locals do, I am in Singapore afterall! I am just looking for a familiar church where I can escape work and find a more homely environment to raise a family.

Any help will be appreciated. Sheesh..

I'm sorry but your post is the most obscene & pathetic thing I've seen here in a long time.

So much for the bible teaching tolerance. Is this the new christians? No wonder I'm agnostic!

[sundaymorningstaple]

I'm sorry if I have ruffled your feathers, but generally from my experience, when you become an "Expat" you are supposed to be able to adjust and if you need some hand holding you join the local "Country oriented Club" which in your case would be the American Club. If you wanted home, then maybe you were not cut out to be "expatriated" quite yet. We all had trouble when we first went overseas, most of us mingled until we were able to assimilate sufficiently to feel reasonably comfortably. As another poster mentioned, I've never heard Singlish used in Sermon's either. Except as a light-hearted note. As far as living in the Southern US is concerned, I was a Nor'East Coaster and lived for a number of years in Cajun Country. I sure didn't fly back to Mayland to go to church. I learned and adapted. Being an Expat means being adaptable to foreign surroundings.

Again, sorry but your post came across as insulting to me, so that's why I replied as I did. I apologize.

Oh, I don't think "God" will condemn you if you didn't quite understand something. You can always use the program and look it up in the bible text. I assure you the Bible is written the same here as it is in the US. We even have two versions here just like the US. One for the Catholics and one for most of the rest of Christianity. (Neither is written in Singlish).

NB: if I am replying in a personal capacity, I normally will sign off with sms or nothing at all. If I am replying in a official capacity I will always reply by signing off as moderator. Most of us do that as we are people with viewpoints as well.

Meanwhile, welcome to Singapore.... (but I hope you didn't come here and expect it to be like home )

[road.not.taken]

Raistlin,

Lots of expats like the fellowship at IBC (International Baptist Church) off Farrer (near King's Rd). For a Catholic Mass there is St. Ignatious or the military Chapel in Sembawang. You might also look into St. George's at Dempsey Road. All favored by expats. I would go and check out each one to see if its a good fit. No MRT access yet, but Farrer Rd is coming!

Please try not to let the somewhat self-righteous posters here get you down, you asked a perfectly reasonable question. Being an expat means different things to different people.

[QRM]

What if Jesus decided to pay us a visit and walked in and spoke in a funny Hebrew accent?

The Singlish preacher could have been the "main man" in disguise doing a spot check on humanity?

[skye]

I would second the suggestions for St Georges at Minden Road or International Baptist Church near Farrer Road. You need to shop around for a few weeks and try a few churches until you find one where you feel "at home". I attend St Georges although I am not an Anglican - it has a good local-expat mix and I found it welcoming. I have american friends who are not baptists but like the sermons and worship at IBC. Other theologian missionary friends attended St John St Margaret (anglican) at Dover. Most churches have small groups too. I guess it's horses for courses, so try a few out until you find the right place for you with sermons which really make you think.

[Raistlin]

Thank you for all the help ppl!! I'll definitely be trying all three out.

I was just a bit taken aback from the first reply I got thats all.... no hard feelings. I just hope our mod knows that I'm not supposed to adjust right away. I'm from Canada by the way, so assimilating into different cultures is nothing new to me.

Merci!

[cals corner]

We made the same journey as you, last year and we know EXACTLY how you feel!

While we were "adjusting" our hearing, we were left with gaps that often resulted in missing the crux of the message! And before I get my wrists slapped about my need to "adjust" to our new environment or join a "handholding" club, let me say that over the past 2 decades, we have criss crossed the globe, had the opportunity to make our home with different cultures (including the deep south!) & can confidently say we integrated well enough to come away with many lasting friendships! So moderator, this has nothing to do with our lack of integration skills! Obviously, as a nor'eastner, you have never ventured north of the border to experience our country that represents almost every tribe and tongue!

To Raistlin: We church hopped and shopped! Enjoyed 2 mega churches at the Sing Expo: Faith Baptist Community church which was very charismatic (www.fcbc.org.sg) & City Harvest church (www.chc.org.sg) both worth visiting. But wanted a smaller church family, which we found through one of our former pastors (in the deep south!). He "pointed" us to GRACE ASSEMBLY OF GOD. The senior pastor at Grace AOG had taught his graduate courses in the U.S. and is renowned for his expository skills. We visited Grace and its been our home church since!

FYI, Ps. Lim is born & raised in San Fran, has taught in Bible school in BC & pastored in Vancouver as well. Grace is a very vibrant AOG church with a largely Singaporean congregation and a few other nationalities.

Grace is located at: Tanglin & Alexandra right beside a gas station (a 5 min walk from Redhill MRT). Buses 111 & 132 stop right outside the church.

Check out the website: www.graceaog.org
His and visiting speaker's sermons can be heard online. BTW, the speaker on Sunday was the academic dean at the AOG H.Q in Missouri.

I hope this helps!