Christianity in Singapore


Christians in Singapore constitute approximately 20% of the country's population. In 2010, about 38.5% of the country's Christians identified as Catholic and 61.5% as 'Other Christians'.
Christianity was introduced to Singapore by Anglican British colonists. The percentage of Christians in Singapore increased from 12.7% in 1990 to 14.6% in 2000. Whilst the 2015 census showed the Christian population increased again, to 18.7%.
The majority of Christian churches are under the umbrella of the National Council of Churches of Singapore. Most belong to Protestant traditions which consist of an array of denominations.

Protestantism

Local Protestant denominations consist of: Anglicans, Methodists, Pentecostals, Baptists, Reformed, Mar Thoma Syrian Church and Lutherans. There are also nondenominational churches from the Churches of Christ, Plymouth Brethren, Charismatic Christian and Evangelical Free Church traditions.
Anglicanism is represented in Singapore by Church of the Province of South East Asia, of which Diocese of Singapore is responsible for 26 parishes in Singapore.
Pentecostalism became a larger influence through the Charismatic Movement of the 1970s, however, it has died down today. Ceylon Pentecostal Mission. There are other organisations such as, Fei Yue Family Centres, Teen Challenge various community hospitals, and Beulah.
There are a growing number Independent Churches, ranging from small independent churches, such as Independent Presbyterian or Baptist churches, to larger megachurches such as City Harvest Church, New Creation Church, Faith Community Baptist Church.

Roman Catholicism

The Roman Catholic population in Singapore generally consists of Chinese and Indians, along with a few smaller minority groups such as Eurasians and white Europeans. The Chinese, the majority ethnicity in Singapore, also account for the majority of Catholics. There are 32 Roman Catholic parishes in Singapore, each administering to a particular district in Singapore.
Singapore has a Roman Catholic Archdiocese headed by Archbishop William Goh who presides at the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd. The Holy Mass in Singapore is celebrated in numerous vernacular tongues, including English, Mandarin, Hokkien, Teochew, Malay, Tamil and Korean.
Peranakan Roman Catholics are generally concentrated in the Church of the Holy Family in Katong; whilst St. Joseph's Church along Victoria street is a cultural base for Portuguese 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 in Singapore are actively involved in social services such as welfare homes, the opening of soup kitchens as well as missionary trips to places like Indonesia and the Philippines. There is also the Catholic Medical Guild, and other Roman Catholic lobby groups that are based in the Church of St Peter & Paul parish grounds. They are also currently supporting the creation of Neighbourhood Christian Communities in order to organise and gather the Roman Catholic communities within their neighbourhoods.
A fledgling Greek-Catholic community, dependent on the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic bishop of Melbourne, is also present.

Oriental Orthodoxy

churches in Singapore include the old Armenian 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, the Coptic Orthodox Church which meets in the Armenian Church, and the Syriac Orthodox Church; the latter two churches generally minister to the Coptic and Indian communities respectively.

Eastern Orthodoxy

In Singapore there is also a small but growing Eastern Orthodox congregation made up of ethnic Greeks, Russians, Ukrainians and Indians, constituting a small minority in the local Christian population. In 2008, the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople decided to create Eastern Orthodox Metropolitanate of Singapore and South Asia, with jurisdiction over Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Timor, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan and Afghanistan. First Diocesan Bishop was appointed in 2011, when Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate elected Archimandrite Konstantinos as the first Metropolitan of Singapore and South Asia. He was ordained by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople and resides in Singapore. The central parish in Singapore is served by Archimandrite Daniel Toyne.
On 28 December 2018, in response to the Ecumenical Patriarchate's actions in Ukraine, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church decided to create "a Patriarchal Exarchate in Western Europe with the center in Paris", as well as "a Patriarchal Exarchate in South-East Asia with the center in Singapore." The "sphere of pastoral responsibility" of the PESEA is Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, North Korea, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, the Myanmar, the Philippines, and Thailand.

Nontrinitarianism

There are also various nontrinitarian congregations in Singapore, such as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the True Jesus Church, some of which have been subject to varying degrees of restriction, most notably Jehovah's Witnesses and the Unification Church.

Education and schools

A Pew Center study about religion and education around the world in 2016, found that between the various Christian communities, Singapore outranks other nations in terms of Christians who obtain a university degree in institutions of higher education.

Anglican schools

Singapore is a society of diverse religious traditions. The Declaration 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 and Pentecostal pastor, Mathew Mathews, who was named a visiting fellow of the Sociology department at the National University of Singapore, interviewed 183 Singaporean clergy. From these interviews he formed the opinion that the Christian clergy in many parts of Singapore 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 in a forum they organised on 2 September 2008.