 | |
 A biblical verse inscribed on astained glass window above the main entrance ofElim Church Singapore. | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 654,355 (2020 census) (19% of the resident[a] population)[1][2] | |
| Religions | |
| Scriptures | |
| Bible | |
| Languages | |
| Burmese · English · Filipino · Indonesian · Japanese · Korean · Mandarin · Tamil · Thai |
Christians in Singapore constitute 19% of the country's resident population, as of the most recent census conducted in 2020.[3]Christianity is the second largest religion in the country, afterBuddhism and beforeIslam. In 2020, about 37.1% of the country'sChristians identified asCatholic with 62.9% labeled as 'Other Christians', most of which identify asProtestant, with some identifying asOrthodox or other minority Christian denominations.[4]
Christianity was first introduced toSingapore byAnglicans, who were among the first British settlers to arrive shortly after thefounding of a British colony byStamford Raffles. The proportion of Christians amongSingaporeans 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] A growing number ofSingaporeans are converting to the faith or were born into Christian families.[7][8][9]
The majority of Christian churches are under the umbrella of theNational 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 theAssemblies of God denomination.[11]
The Roman Catholic population in Singapore generally consists ofChinese (includingPeranakans) and Indians, along with a few smaller minority groups such as Eurasians (includingKristang),white Europeans andFilipinos. The Chinese, the majority ethnicity in Singapore, also account for the majority of Catholics. There are 29 Roman Catholic parishes and 3 devotional churches in Singapore, each administering to a particular district in Singapore.[13] Plans for a 33rd church at Tengah Gardens are in the works, after a successful bidding for land from the Housing Development Board.[14]
Singapore has a Roman CatholicArchdiocese headed by ArchbishopWilliam Cardinal Goh who presides at theCathedral of the Good Shepherd. The Holy Mass inSingapore is celebrated in numerousvernacular tongues, including English, Chinese language (Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien, Teochew, etc.), Malayalam, Korean, German, Indonesian, Tamil and Tagalog (at the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd). The Traditional Latin Mass is also celebrated every Sunday at 2pm at St. Joseph's Church (Victoria Street).
Peranakan Roman Catholics are generally concentrated in theChurch of the Holy Family inKatong; whilst St. Joseph's Church along Victoria street is a cultural base forPortuguese Eurasians. Roman Catholic parishes in the 18th to early 19th centuries were initially set up along racial and cultural lines by various Roman Catholic missionary groups from Europe.
Various Roman Catholic parishes inSingapore are actively involved in social services such as welfare homes, the opening of soup kitchens as well as missionary trips to places likeIndonesia and thePhilippines. There is also the Catholic Medical Guild, and other Catholic lobby groups that are based in the Church of St Peter & Paul parish grounds.
Neighbourhood Christian Communities (NCC) take an active role in organising and gathering Catholics in the community, especially within their neighbourhoods, so that they may support one another spiritually and grow in Christ.[15]
A fledglingGreek-Catholic community, dependent on theUkrainian Greek-Catholic bishop ofMelbourne, is also present.
ASyro-Malabar Catholic community in Singapore has been set up to cater to the growingMalayali diaspora. TheQurbana is celebrated at various Roman Catholic churches around the country: the Church of St. Antony inWoodlands, the Church of the Transfiguration inPunggol, the Church of St. Stephen inMacPherson, theChurch of St. Mary of the Angels inBukit Batok and St. Patrick's House Chapel inBedok. All of these are only monthly, except that at St. Patrick's House Chapel. Only the Qurbana at the Church of St. Stephen is on Sunday, the rest are celebrated on Saturday.[16]
Local Protestant denominations consist of:Anglicans,Methodists,Pentecostals,Baptists,Reformed (mostlyPresbyterians andDutch Reformed),Lutherans, andEvangelical Free Church. There are alsonondenominational churches from theChurches of Christ,Plymouth Brethren, andCharismatic Christian traditions.
Anglicanism is represented inSingapore by theDiocese of Singapore, which has 26 parishes in Singapore, and is a part of theChurch of the Province of South East Asia.
TheMethodist Church in Singapore is the largest mainline Protestant denomination in the country, with some 45,000 members in 46 churches.[17]
Pentecostalism has exerted a larger influence with the start of thecharismatic movement in the 1970s. There are other organisations such as, Fei Yue Family Centres,Teen Challenge various community hospitals, and Beulah.[18]
Prominentmegachurches includeNew Creation Church,City Harvest Church andFaith Community Baptist Church, which count among Singapore's 10 largest charities, according to a report byThe Straits Times in 2019.[19]
TheCity Harvest Church Criminal Breach of Trust Case had involved the misappropriation of approximately S$50.6 million in church funds by church founderKong Hee and five other key leaders in the church. It is the largest case of its kind in the history ofSingapore, withKong Hee and the other leaders ultimately found guilty and served prison sentences.
Oriental Orthodox churches in Singapore include the oldArmenian Church which has a church building and newly appointed resident clergy. By the Pontifical Order of Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, Zaven Yazichyan, a member of the Brotherhood of Holy Etchmiadzin; has been appointed to serve as the spiritual pastor of Singapore, theCoptic Orthodox Church which meets in the Armenian Church, and theSyriac Orthodox Church; the latter two churches generally minister to theCoptic and Indian communities respectively.
There is also a largeMalankara Orthodox presence inSingapore administering to the Keralite Diaspora, with services as St. Thomas Orthodox Syrian Cathedral.
InSingapore there is also a small but growingEastern Orthodox congregation made up of ethnicGreeks,Georgians,Russians,Ukrainians and Indians, constituting a small minority in the local Christian population. In 2008, the Holy Synod of theEcumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople decided to split theEastern Orthodox Metropolitanate of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia (OMHKSEA) formed in 1996 into two, creating theEastern Orthodox Metropolitanate of Singapore and South Asia, with jurisdiction overSingapore,Indonesia,Malaysia,Brunei,Timor,Maldives,Sri Lanka,Bangladesh,India,Nepal,Bhutan,Pakistan andAfghanistan.[20] First Diocesan Bishop was appointed in 2011, when Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate elected Archimandrite Konstantinos (Tsilis) as the first Metropolitan of Singapore and South Asia. He was ordained by Ecumenical PatriarchBartholomew I of Constantinople and resides inSingapore.[21] The central parish inSingapore is served by Archimandrite Daniel Toyne.
On 28 December 2018, in response to theEcumenical Patriarchate's actions in Ukraine,[22] theHoly Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church decided to create "aPatriarchal Exarchate in Western Europe with the center inParis", as well as "aPatriarchal Exarchate in South-East Asia [PESEA] with the center inSingapore." The "sphere of pastoral responsibility" of the PESEA isSingapore,Vietnam,Indonesia,Cambodia,North Korea,South Korea,Laos,Malaysia,Myanmar, thePhilippines, andThailand.[23][24][25][26] It is centered around the Diocese of Singapore, which also includes parishes in Malaysia,Timor-Leste andPapua New Guinea.
There are also variousnontrinitarian congregations inSingapore, such asthe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS, "Mormons") and theTrue Jesus Church. While these groups are recognised by the state, other groups have been subject to varying degrees of restriction, most notably theJehovah's Witnesses (JW) and theUnification Church (UC, "Moonies"), who are deemed ascults.
APew Center study aboutreligion and education around the world in 2016, found that between the variousChristian communities,Singapore outranks other nations in terms of Christians who obtain a university degree in institutions of higher education (67%).[27]
Singapore is a society of diverse religious traditions. TheDeclaration of Religious Harmony, which was published in 2003, is a seminal document, which the National Council of Churches of Singapore supported and helped create. On 3 September 2008, the sociologist andPentecostal pastor, Mathew Mathews, who was named a visiting fellow of the Sociology department at theNational University of Singapore, interviewed 183Singaporean clergy. From these interviews he formed the opinion that the Christian clergy in many parts ofSingapore were wary of inter-faith dialogue. He claimed that nearly 50% of clergy believe that inter-faith dialogue compromises their own religious convictions. He presented his paper to the Institute of Public Studies (Singapore) in a forum they organised on 2 September 2008.[28]
Christianity has flourished in post-colonial Singapore, especially attracting conversions from among young, urbanized and English- educated.
This socio-demographic characterizes Christian converts as mostly .. (2) well-educated, (3) belonging in higher-income brackets, (4) switching their religion between ten and twenty-nine years of age
Converts to Christianity tend to come from the young, educated, English-speaking Chinese generation
