Trinity Theological College

Tag: Trinity Theological College

The Importance of Rhythms in Prayer

16 August 2024 blogpastor 2 Comments

For about seven years, Jimmy Tan, Koh Seng Chor and I (above picture, from R to L) have been meeting in a 3-2-1 spiritual friendship. We have met in our homes, the Railway Mall, the office or the great outdoors. Three persons, for about two hours of sharing life and prayers, once a month. This circle of authenticity and accountability has been a blessing in my life.

The Rev Dr Jimmy Tan is a chaplain, and lecturer of pastoral and practical theology at Trinity Theological College. The courses that he teaches include pastoral care, pastoral spirituality, pastoral theology, marriage and family, and Christian spirituality. He regularly leads retreats and offers spiritual direction at the college and beyond. Seng Chor and I have been blessed by his insights, authentic sharing and prayers of faith and I am sure we have been a blessing to him.

On the 14th of August, the college recently had their annual Day of Prayer when faculty, staff and students (about 180) came together for prayer. I read the talk that Jimmy gave to them at the beginning of the day. I was so blessed and inspired I asked for his permission to share the script in this blog post. Here goes:

If we pause to notice, we will observe that ‘life is full of rhythms’

The daily rising and setting of the sun, and how it influences our circadian rhythms. The rhythm of our heartbeats or the lack of it, how it communicates good health or concern. The rhythm of our breathing correlates with the pace of our walking, running, or resting. In rhythm, one seems to do better; in rhythm, a gymnast delivers a more beautiful floor exercise; in rhythm; a sprinter clocks a faster timing; in rhythm, a marathoner pushes on to the finishing line. Out of rhythm, a higher-ranked badminton player loses to an opponent many rungs lower. Out of rhythm, a student struggles to write a single line of an essay.

Rhythm affects our lives more than we realize

Even with our leisure and moods; rhythm has its influence. Music and dance with a good sense of rhythm make for better music, dance, and relaxation. Poetry, with its rhythm, brings forth its point with delight. A good rhythm in communication engenders deeper trust and makes for a better community.

Rhythm impacts our lives beyond the surface

And we find the sense of rhythm in Scripture. The author of Genesis utilizes the rhythm of day and night to describe God’s creative activity. The psalmist uses regularity and consistency for the practice of prayer and praise. Indeed, the chiastic structure of the psalm communicates the author’s point with greater impact. Jesus, himself, regularly goes out to quiet places to pray and be in communion with his Father.

God’s wisdom, grace, and mercy is communicated in rhythmic provision. Six days of work and one day of rest; six years of production and one year of rejuvenation; forty-nine years of activity and one great year of Jubilee!

Scripture is imbued with rhythm

If a sense of rhythm pretty much permeates our living consciousness and impacts the quality of our lives, we ask why a sense of rhythm is strategic to prayer. We have noted that the Psalmist embraces a sense of rhythm in his expression. Seven times a day, he prays. Through the travails of the night, he prays.

Then the early church tells us about their times of prayer. These were regular hours through a day: intentionally spaced out: at 6am, 9am, midday, 3pm, at the setting of the sun, and before one retires for the day. They were strategically placed to pepper the day with prayer consciousness. These hours became known as the divine hours, and the practice of prayer, the Daily Office. Together, they distinguished the church through the ages.

The regularity of prayer did not just carry them over a day, but also a week, and then through a year with its liturgical seasons. There were prayers for Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany; there were prayers for Lent, Easter, and the Ascension. And there were prayers for Trinity Sunday, and Sunday after Sunday, till Advent came around again. The rhythm of the lectionary tells the story of Christ and his church, over and over again. And so, the practice of prayer coinhered with the regularity of rhythm – daily, weekly, and annually. And this is what our chapel roster is patterned after.

But the practice of prayer is not just rhythmic. It is, in fact, rhythm in relation

If we regard prayer as a conversation with God. Does this conversation benefit from an expression in rhythmic form? During National Service, we learnt to use the walkie-talkie; and to use it well, we learnt and practised the discipline of communicating with it.

“Alpha to Command Center, over.”

“Command Center to Alpha, send over.”

“Alpha asking for permission to proceed to checkpoint two, over.”

“Alpha, permission granted, over.”

“Alpha, Roger and out.”

We learn to hear, and then we learn to respond; this hearing and responding is itself a rhythmic expression of communion with God. Perhaps that is why, in the observance of prayer throughout the day, we pause from our labours for a moment to hear better; and pray better. Especially with a hectic schedule, which often calls us to many tasks and engagements, the pause at midday or evening brings refreshment to our weary bodies and minds and helps to re-centre our distracted souls in God. Has it not been our experience where the pause to pray became a blessing rather than a bane in a crazy workday? Just this past Sunday, I was reminded of the blessing of a pause in silence.

In her acceptance speech, the British actress, film-maker, and poet, Michaela Coel, the first black woman to win an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing, said,

“In a world that entices us to browse through the lives of others… [and] to be constantly visible (for visibility these days seems to somehow equate to success), do not be afraid to disappear, from it, from us, for a while, and see what comes to you in the silence.” (Acceptance speech 2021 Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for HBO’s I May Destroy You).

Today, we learn to disappear for a while, into the silence, to receive some reprieve through the rhythms of prayer. For……

These rhythms of prayer heal us of our restlessness and addictions.

These rhythms of prayer guide us to commune with God.

These rhythms of prayer offer us the beautiful gift of a yielded life.

These rhythms of prayer sustain us over the long haul of discipleship.

These rhythms of prayer bring us life.

A New Beginning in Spiritual Direction

16 September 2023 blogpastor 4 Comments

Even though I have completed the one year nine months formation program for spiritual directors led by the Life Direction Singapore team of spiritual directors, I wondered about how my burden of journeying with younger pastors would be fulfilled.

Most evangelical pastors and ministry staff have little idea of the need for spiritual direction. They also tend towards productivity in their work and would be too busy with schedules that look like expanded suitcases. They would rather prefer a mentor who would help them be more productive and fruitful and effective in leadership and ministry. The doors seem shut. I have to look to God to open doors.

In the last decade, I have detected a glimmer of hope. A new generation of evangelical pastors and ministers have been trained in our institutions that have a knowledge of spiritual formation and the spiritual disciplines. The major evangelical seminaries and colleges have already established courses on the above subjects that would help students deepen their friendship with God, and their awareness of self. They even arrange for students to experience a silent retreat and/or spiritual direction as part of their training.

Such was the case for Trinity Theological College, whose lecturer Dr Jimmy Tan, from the time I knew him as a seminary student, had a passion for such knowledge. His years of study, practice, research, and reflection has resulted in a book he wrote titled, “How Then Shall We Guide?”, which is a comparative study of Ignatius of Loyola and John Calvin as spiritual guides. He has even run courses that included an experiential component so that students get to experience personal encounters with God in the context of a prayer retreat and reflection on the word.

A week ago Dr Jimmy Tan (third from left) led a retreat for Trinity Theological College students attending his course on Pastoral Theology and Praxis. He invited Koh Seng Chor(second from left) and myself to help out in providing spiritual direction to the students during the retreat. A few other regulars were also invited to help out: Sue Kim Lee(fifth from left), an Elder of a Presbyterian church and from the Life Direction Singapore; and Tina Khoo (fourth from left) and Kayyona Lim (extreme right), both ministry staff from Wesley Methodist Church. Together each of us met with three students each for spiritual direction sessions. It was a joy to serve in this inter-denominational context.

I felt privileged and blessed to experience this “open door” and to provide a safe space for the students to share about their walk with God, and their reflections on what God is doing or how he is leading them in their current life context. It is merely two sessions for a brief retreat. However, it was a good beginning.

All the time that I have gone on retreats, I have been sitting in the seat of the directee. It was a humbling and meaningful experience to sit on the other chair. Not that it is superior, for both persons are in seats of poverty. It is more a seat of co-discernment and sacred entrustment. I believe that this ministry is very much needed for people in pastoral ministry and I believe the Lord will manage my availability to those who need it.

PREACHING SYMPOSIUM @ TTC

13 March 2018 blogpastor 2 Comments

The preaching symposium was held on 8,9 March 2018 in celebration of Trinity Theological College’s 70th anniversary. It was one of many other events to be held.

Panel to answer questions n the second day

I saw the publicity information, the titles and speakers at the symposium, and it perked my interest. Topics included: What is Preaching? The Bible and Preaching, Theology of Preaching, Preaching and Liturgy, Preaching as Pastoral Care, Preaching in a Pluralistic Society, and Preaching and Church Growth. The workshops included: Preaching on NT Genre, Preaching on OT Genre, Preaching a word from the Lord, Preaching by Listening to the World, Preaching as Evangelism, and Interest Groups: 1) Preaching to Children 2) Preaching to Youth.

As it turned out more than 400 signed up including the Mandarin version. The English-speaking version was held in the chapel while the Mandarin-speaking version in the multi-purpose hall. I hope the organisers see the work of the Holy Spirit in drawing his servants to this conference. There is a real hunger among pastors to be more effective and faithful in their preaching ministry.

I have always been interested in the craft of preaching and for many decades have read one book a year on average, and even more in some years. So I would consider this symposium as an equivalent to my annual reading.

Anglican Bishop Rennis Ponniah giving his talk

What I liked about it:

The topics were relevant and interesting. They were comprehensive but I came away wishing they had added something about “Preaching and Prayer” and look at the role of silence, solitude and prayer in the formation of the preacher, in sermon preparation, and in gaining insights on Spirit-guided applications. Perhaps another one on, “Preaching to Today’s Audience”.

The panel discussion that answered the questions from the floor were helpful and enlightening. One person asked about the way the preachers in the panel have seen themselves changed in the way they preached today compared to when they first started out. Another great question was about what sea change in the audience that the preachers have observed over their decades of preaching? One answer stood out: today’s church member is consumer-oriented unlike the members from the older generation, who were loyal to their traditions and churches.

The sessions were back to back from morning to late evening, with “no rest for the wicked”. I had to skip a few sessions as I felt over-saturated with information. I also found the session after lunch particularly difficult to pay attention to.

I met my friend Rev Vincent Hoon, an Anglican priest from The Church of True Light

On the whole I was glad with what I gleaned. I would have preferred a wider and comprehensive treatment of the topics. A few of the lecturers picked a key passage as a basis for the support of their talk. This narrowed the number and breadth of the truths they can draw from the limited text. If they had a topical approach, more insights and balance could have been shared about the subject as “all scripture” can be utilised to shed light upon the subject instead of one key passage. For instance the talk on “Preaching as Pastoral Care” used the text in Isaiah 40 where comfort was emphasised and what was communicated was a truncated form of pastoral care: comfort, consolation, support and tenderness. However, real pastoral care included reproof and rebuke, and even church discipline. What is the role of preaching in communicating and implementing discipline? That would have been a helpful facet to learn about! This was missed out because an expository approach was employed and it was based largely on one passage. Good thing this could be clarified and explained during the panel question and answer. It was the same for the lecture on “Preaching in a Pluralistic Society’ which was based mainly on an exposition of Acts 17:16-24. Perhaps the organisers wanted such an approach as a form of demonstration of how good exposition should support whatever case you make about those subjects, so I do not wish to dwell too much on this issue.

I was impressed that they invited Rev Dr Naomi Dowdy, a well known Pentecostal preacher, former senior pastor of megachurch Trinity Christian Centre, and Chancellor of a theological college, to sit in the panel and share her wisdom. Another woman who made an impression on me was Rev Dr Maggie Low. Her lecture on “The Bible and Preaching” was basic understanding for preachers but her delivery led me to conclude she is one of the best women preachers in the city! She was articulate, passionate and connected well with the audience.

On the whole, I enjoyed it and wished they would organise more of these, more frequently. I applaud the organising committee and say a big thank you to Trinity Theological College for organising this.