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CHC not scared ....

cheekenpie

Alfrescian
Loyal
Spirits remain high at City Harvest Church
by Alicia Wong

SINGAPORE - Spirits remained high at City Harvest Church (CHC) yesterday, in spite of recent news that authorities are seeking clarifications on its business venture.

The mega church announced two weeks ago that it had become co-owner of Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

The venture, which is expected to cost about $310 million, raised eyebrows as the church did not create a separate business entity to undertake this acquisition.

As a registered charity, CHC's income - expected to include profits and dividends from space rental and tenant leases in Suntec Singapore in the future - is non-taxable.

MediaCorp understands that the church was supposed to meet with the Commissioner of Charities yesterday.

In response to queries on Saturday night, a church spokesperson said: "The CHC Management Board is currently in discussion with the relevant parties and a statement will be issued shortly."

Church members gave the thumbs-up when asked for their thoughts on CHC's co-ownership of Suntec Singapore. Most of those that MediaCorp spoke to said they were happy with the centralised location of the new premises, and trusted the church to put the profits earned to good use.

Businessman Mr Koh believed the church would sort out the issues with the relevant authorities.

"It's only been two weeks since the announcement ... we should give them time," said the 64-year-old businessman who declined to give his full name.

Mr Reuben Lim said the church would "plough back the money into charitable causes". The 45-year-old manager noted that CHC has helped countries that have experienced natural disasters.

But while operations executive Pamela Lim, 42, felt that CHC should not be taxed, fellow church-goer Purandi Kertonugroho, 39, said it should pay taxes on profits derived from the venture.

During its service yesterday, the church told its members it would update them next week on the progress of its fund-raising for the new premises. Alicia Wong
 

neilgoose

Alfrescian
Loyal
Interesting news.

Just a qn... are TITHES free from tax? ie those 10% these church goers "donate"... its not tax free right?
 

bella

Alfrescian
Loyal
I am wondering why is there a necessity to have everyone attend the worship in one church ?
If all christian sect and other religions do the same, then every religion will need a mega building then.
Can you imagine if the muslims said that they need a mega mosque to have 30,000 muslims pray at the same time and then the buddhist do the same.
others have distributed religious houses and dont need to house that many in one sitting .. why cant they do the same ?
 

shOUTloud

Alfrescian
Loyal
Spirits remain high at City Harvest Church
by Alicia Wong

SINGAPORE -

But while operations executive Pamela Lim, 42, felt that CHC should not be taxed, fellow church-goer Purandi Kertonugroho, 39, said it should pay taxes on profits derived from the venture.

During its service yesterday, the church told its members it would update them next week on the progress of its fund-raising for the new premises. Alicia Wong

Interesting.

Pamela and Purandi, please explain to the class why a commercial venture should not be taxed.

Please do not use the same reason you gave to the last question - "it's God's will." or "God knows best." I will give you another F for that.
 

cheekenpie

Alfrescian
Loyal
CHC staff are working 24/7 burning and shredding all their creative audit books.

MASSIVE COVERUP COMING OUR WAY SOON!
 

SneeringTree

Alfrescian
Loyal
CHC staff are working 24/7 burning and shredding all their creative audit books.

MASSIVE COVERUP COMING OUR WAY SOON!

No need to cover up lah, so many people in high places are members of the church!

Nothing will happen to them- it's too late for us to do anything to churches like CHC.
 

cheekenpie

Alfrescian
Loyal
They must be stopped!!!!

Have you seen the latest mega church lately?

Bldg_Junction_Day.jpg
 

HellAngel

Alfrescian
Loyal
Why is it considered a Charity when that is not it main business/purpose?

Being listed as charity means the donation from its members can be used for tax relief, whereas the church does not need to pay tax? A great method to avoid tax.

So if I register for my own charity and get my friends to donate the money to me. They get tax relief and I get tax-free money. I can later return to them 80% of what they donated. They can be free from tax for life too?



Spirits remain high at City Harvest Church
by Alicia Wong

SINGAPORE - Spirits remained high at City Harvest Church (CHC) yesterday, in spite of recent news that authorities are seeking clarifications on its business venture.

The mega church announced two weeks ago that it had become co-owner of Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

The venture, which is expected to cost about $310 million, raised eyebrows as the church did not create a separate business entity to undertake this acquisition.

As a registered charity, CHC's income - expected to include profits and dividends from space rental and tenant leases in Suntec Singapore in the future - is non-taxable.

MediaCorp understands that the church was supposed to meet with the Commissioner of Charities yesterday.

In response to queries on Saturday night, a church spokesperson said: "The CHC Management Board is currently in discussion with the relevant parties and a statement will be issued shortly."

Church members gave the thumbs-up when asked for their thoughts on CHC's co-ownership of Suntec Singapore. Most of those that MediaCorp spoke to said they were happy with the centralised location of the new premises, and trusted the church to put the profits earned to good use.

Businessman Mr Koh believed the church would sort out the issues with the relevant authorities.

"It's only been two weeks since the announcement ... we should give them time," said the 64-year-old businessman who declined to give his full name.

Mr Reuben Lim said the church would "plough back the money into charitable causes". The 45-year-old manager noted that CHC has helped countries that have experienced natural disasters.

But while operations executive Pamela Lim, 42, felt that CHC should not be taxed, fellow church-goer Purandi Kertonugroho, 39, said it should pay taxes on profits derived from the venture.

During its service yesterday, the church told its members it would update them next week on the progress of its fund-raising for the new premises. Alicia Wong
 
M

Mdm Tang

Guest
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=City_Harvest_Church&printable=yes

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

City Harvest Church


City Harvest Church (simplified Chinese: 城市丰收教会) or CHC is the largest megachurch in Singapore.[1] It bases its values on Charismatic and Pentecostal teachings, with doctrinal emphasis on the Great Commandment, the Great Commission and the Cultural Mandate. It has been described by the Charisma magazine as "one of the largest congregations in Asia."[2] It is the largest independent church in Singapore, with a membership of 32,731 and a monthly average of 28,134 attendees in its weekend services.[3] The church's highest record attendance was 57,691 during City Harvest's Christmas services in 2008. 47.3% of its members are below the age of 25 years.[4]Its income for the year ending on 31 Mar 2009 was $34.7m which mainly came from tithes and offerings. [5]

The church is a full member of the National Council of Churches, Evangelical Fellowship of Singapore and Festival of Praise Fellowship. It has multiple, multi-lingual weekend services at two locations, its church building in Jurong West and the Singapore Expo. In Singapore, it operates various internal ministries and two affiliate organisations and companies. Overseas, CHC serves as the spiritual resource centre for related churches based in Asia, and has active relationships with churches and bible schools across Asia, conducting joint conferences and seminars with them annually.



Mission Statement
The church has a mission "to build a church with a strong spiritual atmosphere of faith and purity, where every member is released into ministry, discipled in the Great Commandment to obey the Great Commission and the Cultural Mandate."[6]

This belief spawns from the two beams of the cross: the "vertical" beam of loving God wholeheartedly, and the "horizontal" beam of loving people fervently, both representing the Great Commandment and the Great Commission.

The third aspect of City Harvest's ministry is the Cultural Mandate, also known as Christ in Culture, where its members are encouraged to engage culture in innovative manners.

Together with its Mission Statement, City Harvest Church has 17 statements of faith,[6] which form the basis of its teachings to the congregation and the foundation of its various ministries.

History
City Harvest Church was founded by Kong Hee with 20 people on May 7, 1989. During its early years, CHC met at various venues such as the Katong Park Hotel, NTUC Auditorium, Ministry of Environment Building, National Productivity Board Auditorium, Hotel Grand Central, Orchard Hotel, World Trade Centre and the Westin Hotel.

On June 4, 1995, CHC leased the former Hollywood Theatre at Tanjong Katong Road and held services there for six years.

On April 29, 2004, City Harvest was awarded the ISO 9001:2000 certification for quality management and process management.[7][8]

December 15, 2001 marked the day when the church moved to its 2,300-seater venue at Jurong West Street 91. Starting from December 11, 2005, the church rented another worship site at Singapore Expo Hall 8 for its weekend English services to accommodate its rapidly growing congregation. In addition to its services at the Singapore Expo, CHC introduced two additional weekend English services at its Jurong West premises on 2 December 2007, increasing the number of English services to four.

Staff and Committees
The senior pastor of the church, Kong Hee, and Pastor Choong Tsih Ming hold honorary positions and are not on the church’s payroll. The church has 10 licensed pastors on its payroll, with eight of them ordained as Reverends. The church employs 154 full-time staff at two locations - its Jurong West premises and its corporate office at Suntec City.[9]

City Harvest Church has 15 committees:

(Weekly Services

Ministries

Usher

Strikeforce

The Millennial Orchestra

Talking Hands (For The Hearing Impaired)

This ministry seeks to help to meet the needs of the hearing impaired with support groups, recreational and tuition programs.

The volunteers befriend the hearing impaired and help them in developing their social skills. These volunteers are expertly trained in Sign Language courses conducted by City Harvest Community Services Association. [18]

Terminally-Ill

In order to be properly equipped for this ministry, the volunteers will attend training courses at the Communicable Disease Centre before they start to serve.[19][20]

Affiliate Organizations
School of Theology

City Harvest Community Services Association
Main article: City Harvest Community Services Association
[23]

City Harvest Community Services Association (CHCSA) currently employs 8 full-time staff and was registered with the Registry of Societies (ROS 162/97 WEL) on August 16, 1997. It received full membership with the National Council of Social Service on January 7, 2000. The current President of CHCSA is Toh Poh Chin Eileen. On April 29, 2004, CHCSA attained the ISO 9001:2000 certification. In 2009, CHCSA’s staff and volunteers provided 19,196 services to 14,227 different individuals in Singapore. These include services to prison inmates, drug addicts and ex-offenders. In 2009, CHCSA made 5,107 home visitations per week to help the community of Singapore. CHCSA received the Outstanding Community Partner Award 2009 for its partnership with Singapore’s Southwest CDC. [24]

Culture
Cell Groups

According to CHC's senior pastor, as the Church grows larger in numbers, "Cell groups provide the optimum context for effective discipleship"[25], where members can still forge close relationships with fellow Christians in a much smaller setting. Positive peer pressure can also be exuded in smaller cell groups, fostering strong bonds of friendship among church members.

Missions & Church Planting

Broadcasting
Publications

On 1 April 2009, Harvest Times launched its monthly online edition and is available at www.harvesttimes.com.sg.

In addition, City News, a Christian news broadcasting sector of the church that publishes its newspaper weekly was started in 2009 and celebrated its first-year anniversary in Feburary 2010.

Awards
List of awards received.[34]

Emerge Conference
territories.[37]

Asia Conference
The first inaugural Asia Conference was held from 19 to 23 November 2008 and drew over 20,000 foreign delegates from 63 countries. Speakers included Kong Hee, Phil Pringle, Chris Pringle, Ulf Ekman, A. R. Bernard and Benny Hinn. Don Moen, C3 Band, Carola Häggkvist and True Worshippers also performed during the conference.

The event used up 3 Expo halls and 26 rooms for the 10 conference sessions and 53 elective workshops.

The next Asia Conference will be held from 26 to 30 May 2010. Confirmed speakers include Kong Hee, Phil Pringle, A. R. Bernard, Steve Munsey, David Yonggi Cho and Reinhard Bonnke.

Church Building

The present, main church building located at Jurong West Street 91 was completed in 2002. Construction of building cost approximately S$48 million (US$26.6 million) and it seats up to 2,300 attendees. [38]
It is the first titanium-clad building in Asia and is modelled after the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. Special limestone for part of the building was imported from Europe. The frontage of the building has a fountain wall which is lit up at night. There are more than 200 parking lots within the building. The lounge area on the first floor has plasma television monitors built into the walls featuring local news program or video recordings of past church services. The building also encompasses a café, a rooftop garden, a children’s playground and wading pool, a baptism pool as well as a small putting green for golf enthusiasts.

The auditorium (which is underground) covers 1,700 square meters and is totally column-free. There are two artist make-up rooms directly behind the stage. The stage was created by Dan Hess, a designer who formerly worked with Christie’s Auction House in New York.

On December 15, 2005, CHC began renting Hall 8 of Singapore Expo as an additional worship venue with a seating configuration that accommodates a maximum of 8,100 attendees. Currently the church is on a building fund drive for another bigger building to house its increased attendance.

The Straits Times reported that the church will be committing $310 million to become co-owner of Suntec Singapore, an iconic downtown real estate. It will house a 12,000-seater auditorium on the sixth and seventh floors solely for the church's use. The 33,000-strong congregation is expected to move in by the second quarter of 2011. [39]Dr Kong, the church's senior pastor has commented that "we will have a church in the marketplace, for the marketplace, to penetrate the marketplace." [40]

References
 

wrcboi

Alfrescian
Loyal
100% must stop...whats next?? run for elections? take over an island and proclaim sovereignty ?? reintroduce cannon laws??? damn....if they so rich do more for the poor willingly not religiously
 

monoceros

Alfrescian
Loyal
No need to cover up lah, so many people in high places are members of the church!

Nothing will happen to them- it's too late for us to do anything to churches like CHC.

Can you list anyone in government? The Lees, whatever else they are, are not religious, so I doubt there'll be anything major in that department any time soon, but I'll not stay around in a country governed by creationist hicks once they're gone.

Also, any of the opposition parties? I won't vote for any evangelicals.
 

SneeringTree

Alfrescian
Loyal
Can you list anyone in government? The Lees, whatever else they are, are not religious, so I doubt there'll be anything major in that department any time soon, but I'll not stay around in a country governed by creationist hicks once they're gone.

Also, any of the opposition parties? I won't vote for any evangelicals.

It's more of the high ranking civil servants than politicians that are members.
 

Einfield

Alfrescian
Loyal
Another question:

Did god really say you must give 10% ransom money (Rename as Tithes to sound religious)

Or did some accountant slip this extra "law" into the rule book?

Interesting news.

Just a qn... are TITHES free from tax? ie those 10% these church goers "donate"... its not tax free right?
 
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