Centerfold Articles 主日刊文章

Rethink Our Church Album

From the desk of Rev Tay 3 May 2026  

          The Straits Times published the 2025 World Press Photo Awards last week. Each photo captured a precious moment, thrilling and breathtaking. How did the judges select these photos? They said: The photos must reflect the events of the year and capture unexpected or extraordinary moments. This reminds me of the story of Emperor Huizong of Song, who used the poem “踏花归去马蹄香”  as a test for painters; the winning piece depicted the “fragrance” with a horse’s hoof surrounded by butterflies. Photography is an art that depicts history and a hobby that touches the soul.

          Unfortunately, the convenience of digital cameras today has led the art of photography to degenerate into mere “snapping “. The convenience of having a camera in hand and the thumbs-up on social media have made people no longer care about photography’s purpose, which is why our phones are filled with photos that have no lasting value.

          We started a “Photography Fellowship” in the early days, hoping to help the saints cultivate healthy hobbies while providing cover images for our written ministry. More importantly, to compile a church growth album. What kind of photos should we collect for the album?

          Before the age of digital cameras, family visits always included looking through family photo albums. The host will enthusiastically explain the significance of each photo, allowing you to see the family’s growth through the album. Similarly, what is collected in the church album should be what Christ, the Head, considers meaningful, thereby capturing the church’s growth. We can ask: What has the church done for the Lord? Basically, there are two aspects. One is what the church has done in God’s house; the other is what the church has done in the world.

          Every activity in the church has eternal worth, which is what we want to capture. Take the children’s catechism camp, for example, the teaching and learning moments or a child helping another in a game…etc.

          The church’s work in the world is constituted mostly by what members do in their respective positions in society. We have a project that has been on hold for a long time. It aims to capture moments of our brothers and sisters working to honour the Lord, such as teachers in classrooms, nurses by the patients’ beds, young parents bathing their babies, elderly parents being fed by adult children, etc. Together, these scenes represent what the church has been doing for the Lord in the world. These will be the church’s legacy and encouragement for the next generation. Moreover, in your old and frail days, these photos will show your children that you are not a “useless old person” but someone who has completed his share of building society and glorifying God.

          I love to think that perhaps these photos will be displayed in the “museum” of the New World, or hung on the walls of each of our homes there. “For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do.” (Heb 6:10)