The Trustees of Zion Bishan BP Church
By Ps Vernon Quek
Today at ACM, communicant members will be voting in new Trustees for Zion Bishan.
What exactly is the role of a Trustee? Under our Constitution, immovable property acquired by the Church (e.g. the Church’s land lease) is vested in Trustees subject to a Declaration of Trust. The Trustees hold such property for the benefit of the Church.
Trustees are elected to hold in trust this property and to act as signatories in matters relating to the buying and selling of said property. An important thing to note is that all decisions to transact church property are first voted on at Congregational Meetings, before the Trustees sign in accordance with what was decided by the wider Church Body. To be clear, Trustees do not have the authority to buy or sell church property on their own accord, even if all Trustees agree to do so.
The Church is required to have a minimum of two Trustees and may elect a maximum of four. Our three current trustees are Elder John Chai, Elder Hun Ah Kuan and Elder Sonny Tan. We are thankful for the many years of their faithful stewardship in this role.
With the fresh lease renewal, they have indicated that they will step down for younger Elders to assume the role. Hence, Session is proposing to elect three new trustees in their place.
Why are Elders the ones to fulfil this role? It is because they are elected overseers of the Church Family, and are required by Scripture to be men of godly character. Also, as Session members, they will be informed of the background of matters regarding Church property.
Taking a moment to reflect on Trusteeship is important to us as we consider again that the Lord has clearly entrusted this piece of land into our hands for the next 30 years or until Jesus returns, just as He has entrusted us all to be good stewards of our time, abilities and the Good News of His Son.
As we begin this new lease, may each and every one of us, not just the three new Trustees, be found faithful stewards of this land by what we do on it each week – lifting high the Name of Jesus!
