Our Story

Our History

our story

The Beginning

The story of Shekinah began in 1980 when God led a young man named Frankie Lee to repeat his G.C.E. ‘O’ Level examinations at Tiong Bahru Secondary School. Filled with a strong evangelistic fervor, Frankie soon found and trained five schoolmates, two of whom would later become our founding pastors, Andrew Tan and Apelles Poh. Together, they began a Bible study group and named it “Calvary Group of Christ”.

our story

Growth and Movements

With the school’s permission, this group of young pioneers met regularly on Saturday mornings in a classroom for worship, prayer, Bible study and fellowship. They actively witnessed to their classmates and the group soon grew to 50 by 1981. From 1981-1986, the Lord led them to various locations – Tiong Bahru Park and Bo Bo Tan Gardens at Tiong Bahru, the Young Women Christian Association (YWCA) at Outram Park, Bible House at Armenian Street, Apollo Hotel, Furama Hotel and the Boys Brigade Centre.

our story
our story

Turning Points

1987 was a turning point when the group changed its name to Shekinah Assembly of God after her affiliation with the Assemblies of God of Singapore. Pastor Andrew Tan was officially installed as the Senior Pastor and Pastor Apelles Poh as the Lay Pastor. It was in the same year that the Lord provided them a more permanent worship venue at the Singapore Construction House. In 1990, Shekinah was registered with the Registry of Societies. Then in 1997, the Lord led the church through an incredible faith journey where members gave sacrificially to purchase a $1.2 million freehold property at Queensway Shopping Centre.

our story

Leadership Transitions

In 2001, Pastor Andrew Tan moved on to serve in another church, after pastoring Shekinah for 15 years. He was succeeded by his counterpart Pastor Apelles Poh who then led the church as a bi-vocational pastor for 4 years before handing over to Pastor Hock Cheng, a “home-grown” youth, in 2005. Since taking over, Pastor Hock Cheng has led the church to serve collectively as a team through cells; disciple the believers through an “Equipping track”; and develop the leadership base through mentoring.

our story

Our Future

Today, Shekinah Assembly of God continues to grow and see new people saved and added to the Kingdom of God. We enjoy what we are called to do as a disciplemaking church – loving God passionately, loving people purposefully.