Christianity in Singapore

Singaporean Christians

A biblical verse inscribed on a stained glass window above the main entrance of Elim Church Singapore.
Total population
654,355[1][2] 19% of the resident population (2020 census)

Christians in Singapore constitute 19% of the country's resident population, as of the most recent census conducted in 2020.

Christianity was first introduced to Singapore by Anglicans, who were among the first British settlers to arrive shortly after the founding of a British colony by Stamford Raffles. The proportion of Christians among Singaporeans has increased in the last few decades: 9.9% in 1980; 12.7% in 1990; 14.6% in 2000 and 18.9% in 2020.^[5][6] Christianity has flourished in present-day Singapore, and a growing number of Singaporeans are converting to the faith or were born into Christian families.^[7][8][9]

The majority of Christian churches are under the umbrella of the National Council of Churches of Singapore (NCCS).^[10] Most belong to Protestant traditions which consist of an array of denominations. Another major umbrella group is the Alliance of Pentecostal & Charismatic Churches Singapore (APCCS), a network of local churches, Christian organisations and pastors from largely independent charismatic churches and the Assemblies of God denomination.^[11]

Overview

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Catholicism

Latin Catholicism

The Latin Catholic population in Singapore generally consists of

Peranakan Latin Catholics are generally concentrated in the Church of the Holy Family in Katong; whilst St. Joseph's Church along Victoria street is a cultural base for Portuguese Eurasians. Latin Catholic parishes in the 18th to early 19th centuries were initially set up along racial and cultural lines by various Latin Catholic missionary groups from Europe.

Various Latin Catholic parishes in Singapore are actively involved in social services such as welfare homes, the opening of soup kitchens as well as missionary trips to places like Indonesia and the Philippines. There is also the Catholic Medical Guild, and other Latin Catholic lobby groups that are based in the Church of St Peter & Paul parish grounds. They are also currently supporting the creation of Neighbourhood Christian Communities (NCC) in order to organise and gather the Latin Catholic communities within their neighbourhoods.^[14]

Eastern Catholicism

A fledgling

A Syro-Malabar Catholic community in Singapore has been set up to cater to the growing Malayali diaspora. The Qurbana is celebrated at the Church of the Transfiguration in Punggol.

Protestantism

Local Protestant denominations consist of:

Anglicanism is represented in Singapore by the Diocese of Singapore, which has 26 parishes in Singapore, and is a part of the Church of the Province of South East Asia.

The Methodist Church in Singapore is the largest mainline Protestant denomination in the country, with some 42,000 members in 46 churches.

The City Harvest Church Criminal Breach of Trust Case had involved the misappropriation of approximately S$50.6 million in church funds by church founder Kong Hee and five other key leaders in the church. It is the largest case of its kind in the history of Singapore, with Kong Hee and the other leaders ultimately found guilty and served prison sentences.

Oriental Orthodoxy

There is also a large Malankara Orthodox presence in Singapore administering to the Keralite Diaspora, with services as St. Thomas Orthodox Syrian Cathedral.

Eastern Orthodoxy

In

On 28 December 2018, in response to the Ecumenical Patriarchate's actions in Ukraine,^[19] the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church decided to create "a Patriarchal Exarchate in Western Europe with the center in Paris", as well as "a Patriarchal Exarchate in South-East Asia [PESEA] with the center in Singapore." The "sphere of pastoral responsibility" of the PESEA is Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, North Korea, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Thailand.^{[20][21][22][23]}

Nontrinitarianism

There are also various

Education and schools

A

Inter-faith

• Religion in Singapore

Notes and references

External links

Library resources about
Christianity in Singapore

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• Resources in your library
• Resources in other libraries

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Christianity in Singapore.

• Antioch.com.sg: Partial directory of non-Roman Catholic churches in Singapore
• Singapore Christian Web
• Veritas (official website of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore): Singapore Catholic church directory
• Archdiocese of Singapore