26 & 27 Apr 2025 (Pastoral Page) CLEMENTI BIBLE CENTRE OVER THE YEARS AND PHASE 4A

By Elder Lynette Shek

Church members and congregants would have heard various leaders of the church talk about Phase 4A at our services and at the recent AGM. I thought it would be good to take a journey down memory lane and recap the various building phases that the Clementi Bible Centre (CBC) has gone through over the years. I hope this will remind us of God’s faithfulness and provision, and give us pointers on how to pray as we embark on the next building project.

The Clementi Bible Centre is the name of the building at 152 West Coast Road that we share as equal partners with Mt Carmel Bible-Presbyterian Church (MCBPC). Phase 1 consisted of the purchase of the land in January 1983 (with a 60-year lease) and building the initial structure which consisted of a sanctuary, rooms and the fellowship hall, which was completed in 1985. We initially only had 1 sanctuary and would share that with MCBPC, which meant that we each staggered the timing for our 1 English service.

Over the years, both churches grew, needing additional space for Sunday School and meetings. We then embarked on Phase 2 in 1990/91. This consisted of the addition of a 3rd floor to the original 2-storey building over where the “Fish Tank” now is. Again, God blessed both churches richly and the number of services (both English and Chinese) grew. We realised that we each needed our own sanctuary, as well as a smaller space (the Chapel) for smaller groups such as the Youth and Chinese service. We embarked on Phase 3 in 2002/2003, enabling both churches to have our own sanctuary so that we could have services there whenever we wanted. Older members would know that we would initially swap sanctuaries every 2 years. This arrangement is still in place, though for now, the leadership of both churches have decided that we will defer this swap for the foreseeable future.

In 2010, the government offered to sell the canal adjacent to CBC to both churches. After prayer and discussion, we decided to purchase it as this would give us additional gross floor area (GFA) to build if we need more space in the future. New members are often surprised to hear that we own the canal next to us!

In 2011, discussions for Phase 4 started in earnest. The plans then were to build 2 larger sanctuaries and provide for 2 chapels, one for each church. Back then, neither church had started their Saturday services, and as both churches were growing, additional space for our Sunday services was needed. This would have been a huge building project, with disruption to the kindergarten and our weekly meetings. However, we did not proceed as both churches could not come to a mutual agreement on the final design.

In 2018/19, discussion for Phase 4A started. It was called Phase 4A as we already had extensive plans and discussion about Phase 4 which were recorded in our council meeting and AGM minutes. The plan was to maximise the GFA available for building, and also to provide extra space for our weekend activities. It was agreed by both churches that we will go for a simple standalone building with 3 floors and a roof attic. For various reasons, including the COVID pandemic, this was delayed until 2024, when discussions with MCBPC started in earnest again.

We do definitely need more classrooms and a dedicated chapel each for the weekends. However, some members may ask about the need to build more space when our church is quite empty on weekdays. One reason we cannot use much of our space on weekdays is that the kindergarten runs on the ground floor and for security reasons, access to CBC is limited. With Phase 4A, the kindergarten can be moved to a higher floor, opening the space for the community and community partners. As of now, there are the possibilities of providing for pickleball courts, counselling rooms for external Christian groups, a youth drop-in centre, hospitality spaces and games rooms for people of all ages.

These are exciting possibilities for both churches to plan and look forward to. May I ask that you pray alongside the church leaders about this. May the Lord lead all of us, that whatever we do, include any building project, be all for His glory.