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TMC Penang 125th Quasquicentennial Anniversary Celebration Commemorative Book

MESSAGE FROM REV. DR. ONG HWAI TEIK

BISHOP OF THE METHODIST CHURCH IN MALAYSIA

Our Methodist Family in Malaysia congratulates and rejoices with our brothers and sisters of the Tamil
Methodist Church, Penang, on this milestone occasion of your 125th Anniversary. This church ranks among
the oldest of our Methodist churches in Malaysia.

A source recorded that Penang was a base for all early Indian Christians who came into Malaya. This
migration began with the establishment of the British Settlements in Penang in 1786. In 1800 the Roman
Catholics started to minister among the Indians and the Anglican Church in 1871; the Methodists and Luther-
ans began their work with the Indians after 1890.

The inception of the Methodist Mission in Penang occurred when Bishop J.M. Thoburn sent to this
state two Canadians, Rev. D.D. Moore and Rev. B.H. Balderstone in April 1891. Then in 1894 Simon Peter and
P.F. Gnanamuthu founded the Tamil Church in Northam Road. In 1895 Rev. D D. Moore was appointed the
Pastor in charge.

We are glad that during the tenure of Rev. Victor Vethamani, the church had its Centennial Celebration
in 1994, the first Tamil Methodist Church in Malaysia to do so. We are grateful to our sovereign and almighty
God for His provisions, even as we acknowledge the treasured contributions of the pioneering work of mission-
aries, many committed pastors and ministers, and faithful lay members - of the many generations who had
loyally served in this church.

May our Sovereign God continue to let His Shekinah glory indwell this church as He leads His people
in this faith community “from glory to glory, and from strength to strength” – as this congregation pursues
giving glory to Him in every generation.

May the Tamil Methodist Church, Penang, continue to be renewed in possessing the spiritual qualities
mandated by Jesus Christ, the Lord of the Church, in Revelation chapters 2 and 3. These desired traits of
maturity for an authentic church as described in the seven churches mentioned are: keeping a sincere commit-
ted first love for Christ, readiness to suffer for our faith in the Lord, to uphold and live by Biblical truth, to be
intolerant of things unholy in God’s sight, living a sincere living relationship with Christ without hypocrisy, to
missionally seize open doors for the Gospel and outreach ministries, and to be wholehearted and not luke-
warm in our faith.

In a world and society that is resistant to the Gospel, let us remember the enduring words of the faithful
Christian pastor and theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who lived through World War II, standing against the
strong tide of Nazism: “Jesus Christ lived in the midst of His enemies…He had come to bring peace to the ene-
mies of God. So the Christian, too, belongs not in the seclusion of a cloistered life, but in the thick of his ene-
mies. And he who will not suffer this does not want to be in the Kingdom of Christ…”

May the Holy Spirit graciously bring to this church personal renewal and congregational revival so that
you will continue to remember the words of Christ, the Lord of the Church - “I chose you and appointed you
to go and bear fruit-- fruit that will last” [John 15:16].

May the Tamil Methodist Church, Penang, continue to be a blessing within the historic and strategic state of
Penang and to the regions beyond!
To God be unending glory.
Rev. Dr. Ong Hwai Teik
The Bishop
The Methodist Church in Malaysia

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