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Presbyterian Care SINGAPORE
By Tristan Gwee
Jun 2014

Roundtable discussion, Presbyterian Care Singapore

On 29 April 2014, the Presbyterian Church in Singapore (PCS - Synod) and the Presbyterian Community Services, (PCS - Community) coorganised an informal roundtable discussion on the proposed formation of the network, Presbyterian Care Singapore (PCS-Network).

Under this Network we hope to have this opportunity to establish a common platform to showcase all our respective Presbyterian initiatives which already cover a wide ranging spectrum of needs in our society. This network branding will be of advantage in raising our visibility and current respective service profile.

Primarily, this network is relational in nature and driven by mutual cooperation, with the support and encouragement of PCS-Synod to impact the community collectively. In view of the growing social sector landscape, the establishment of the PCS-Network is timely and of significance.

A total 32 participants represented by 13 Presbyterian churches and 14 affiliated community service organizations attended the discussion. At the roundtable, member were invited to contribute ideas on how PCS-Network is to take shape and the role it should play.

The Presbyterian Church has had a long history of serving the community, from the needs of the poor and needy to the education of the young generation. In the early 1900s, Jubilee Presbyterian Church was already doing some outreach work to the opium addicts. They even started the first kindergarten in Singapore in 1921.

In the 1960s, three Presbyterian sisters started the Singapore Christian Home, serving the sick, frail and elderly. Then in 1974, Presbyterian Community Services (then known as Presbyterian Urban Industrial Mission) was started as the official community services arm of the Presbyterian Church in Singapore. In 1986, All Saints Home was started by All Saints Memorial Chapel as a nursing home for the aged sick.

Today, there are about 18 such community services under the Presbyterian umbrella, providing a wide range of services to meet the diverse and changing needs of the society. The setting up of Presbyterian Singapore marks an important milestone in meeting the needs and challenges of the community by the Presbyterian denomination. Members in this network will be encouraged to share their expertise and resources to help one other grow and serve their community more effectively. More established members can look into helping new entrants in starting up their own services. As a collective voice, the network may also advocate collectively the needs of the un-served and/or under-served segment of society.

Moving forward, we will continue to engage our partners through this network and build up the image of Presbyterian Care Singapore. We will be launching the Presbyterian Care Singapore at a Conference cum Exhibition in July, where the various services will be featured.

We look forward to seeing you there!