“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” – Isaiah 43:19

The 18th of March 2018 is a significant milestone in the life of Trinity Methodist Church Petaling Jaya (TMC PJ), as this was when her new building extension named Trinity Living Stream was dedicated to the glory of God.

The service was held at 5.00pm in the new Sanctuary that can accommodate over 800 worshippers.

Led by Bishop of the Methodist Church in Malaysia, Bishop Dr Ong Hwai Teik and President of the Trinity Annual Conference, Rev Dr T. Jeyakumar, it was witnessed by the District Superintendent of Central District 2 Rev Ashok Amarasingam, past and present Methodist pastors and a Sanctuary packed with members of the laity.

Highlights of the Dedication service were the blowing of the Shofar led by TMC PJ’s associate pastor, Rev Joshua Hong, which flowed into the presentation of the building by three members of TMC PJ’s leadership: The Lay leader Mr Andrew Wong, the LCEC chairperson, Ms Lee Siew Hong and the Redevelopment Chairman Mr Paul Lai to Bishop Dr Ong for the dedication of the Church.

Following this, they collectively informed the Bishop that the building is named Trinity Living Stream.

Bishop Dr Ong then proceeded to consecrate the building for God’s service and its holy use. He dedicated the Sanctuary’s pulpit by saying, “When Your Word is read and preached from this pulpit, purify the lives and lips of those who speak here that Your Word alone may be heard and obeyed ...”.

The Bible was then placed on the pulpit – the Word that is “a lantern for our feet and a light upon our path”.

Turning to the first of the two Holy Sacraments, the Baptismal font, Bishop Dr Ong said, “... through the waters of baptism you have given us new life ... may we walk in new and abundant life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

The Baptismal font was then filled with holy water – to “wash away sin and clothe God’s people in righteousness ...”.

For the second Holy Sacrament, the Holy Communion, Bishop proceeded to the Altar Table and thanked our Lord that “when we gather at the Lord’s table the living Christ is known to us in the breaking of the bread and the sharing of the cup”.

He concluded by petitioning God to “strengthen us for Your service in the world and give us a foretaste of the feast to come ...”. 

The Holy Communion vessels were then placed on the Altar Table – to “feed the hunger of our hearts with the bread of heaven and quench our deepest thirst with the cup of salvation”.

After the consecration, came the Litany of Dedication, where members of TMC PJ were called to liken the Church to the construction of the building in that “the work we see in this building is physical; it finds its spiritual counterpart in our hearts” so that as one community of faith, we can ultimately “dedicate ourselves to know Christ and make Him known”.

The Acts of Praise followed, with the singing of a new song unto the Lord – an original score composed by a regular worshipper of TMC PJ, Mr Michael Veerapan, with words by TMC PJ members, Mr and Mrs Keith and Joyce Wee, entitled “A New Thing”.

Flowing from this, the worship was elevated to a restrained tone when the Scripture Lesson from Matthew 16:13-20 was read, after which Bishop Dr Ong delivered God’s message entitled “The Unchanging Foundation of the Discipling Church” – in reference to TMC PJ’s vision of being a “Disciple-Making Church”.

Bishop’s message was summarised and translated into Mandarin by brother Lewis Loke for the benefit of those in the congregation from TMC PJ’s Chinese Ministry.

The worship service ended with an awesome wave of thankfulness to God through an Anthem of Dedication delivered by TMC PJ’s 40-strong choir together with children from TMC PJ’s kindergarten; words of thanksgiving and appreciation by TMC PJ’s Rev Ting; the unveiling of the Dedication plaque by Bishop Dr Ong and Rev T. Jeyakumar; and the Benediction by the Bishop.

The service streamed into a time of fellowship in Trinity Living Stream’s new Podium Garden with a nine-course sit down dinner attended by almost 700 people.

To God be the glory.

By Andrew Wong
Andrew Wong is the Lay Leader of TMC PJ