Pastor Mike Today
Rev Michael Tan, fondly referred to as Pastor Mike, is retiring, after 29 years as a Methodist pastor. He is known in Wesley as the pastor overseeing the Mandarin Ministry (MM) — something he has done for the past 10 years at Wesley, aided by his adeptness at being effectively bilingual, and speaking also Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese and Hainanese. He is not only a man of many linguistic gifts, his pastoral heart for the flock is large and generous. He is a frequent visitor at homebounds and hospitals, listening to the woes of the sick and alone, and regularly presides at funerals, comforting the bereaved.
Pastor Mike Before Being Pastor/Early Life and Career
Although Pastor Mike attended a Christian kindergarten, primary and secondary school, his non-Christian parents knowing the value of a moral education, he was not touched by the Catholic education he underwent. He first started working at Metro as Department Manager. After this, he went to work with his brother-in-law who ran a company producing first, blue jeans and other denim wear, and later a line of fine shirts and pants for formal wear. Pastor Mike then went on to help his father continue his ship chandling business, supplying fresh and frozen food to the British, Australian, New Zealand and US navies. By then a Christian, he helped his father turn his business around and he wanted to honour God by running the business with Christian principles. He was then actively involved in the Methodist Adult Fellowship (MAF), calling it a “motley group, yet a unique one comprising members in their 20s up to those in their 60s, but they somehow inspired one another, and did many different ministries together, including organising Life in the Spirit seminars.”
Early Life as a Christian
One momentous life turning point Pastor Mike remembers was his then girlfriend (present wife), Dorothy’s baptism, which he arrived at late, being met at the door by Rev Isaac Lim (the then Associate Pastor of Wesley who later became the Senior Pastor and TRAC President). He recalls feeling like the returning prodigal son being wholeheartedly welcomed by the ‘Father’! Subsequently, he became very regular at the MAF activities. MAF, its leaders then including Rev Stanley Chua, our ex-PIC and current TRAC President, was a ministry focused on nurturing its members. Pastor Mike pointed out that over the years, more than any other ministries in Wesley, MAF has produced many full time church workers who went on to serve in the Methodist churches, non-Methodist churches, and parachurch organisations.
Another church ministry that shaped Pastor Mike in the early years of his Christian faith and prepared him for the pastoral ministry was the 5pm Choir where he was one of its basses. He fondly remembers the late Mrs Jenny Chi who was not only a stalwart of encouragement to the morning choirs with her regular show of support and concern of their welfare, but also paid great attention to the 5pm Choir of the evening service with the smallest congregation. This choir was also blessed with very talented choir directors, like Ms Vivien Goh, Dr Ling Ai Ee, Ms Tan Kee Boey and others. Pastor Mike made special mention of Ms Vivien Goh, other volunteers like Ms Ada Ponnappa and the twin sisters of Ms Adeline and Ms Evelyn Ow, whose many decades of faithful and sacrificial services inspired him to persevere in his pastoral ministry.
Embarking on a Vocation as Pastor
Pastor Mike’s father passed away unexpectedly and he was left to take over the business, which went from its origin as a supplier of foodstuffs to foreign navies, to a minimarket (TRAC video: When God Calls), thanks to a financier’s help. Plans to expand the minimarket business with his church friend Rodney Goh, a fellow minimarket owner, came to a halt when Rodney dreamt that they were both carrying stacks of eggs which all came crashing down! Prior to this, Pastor Mike had been thinking about serving God full time. Initially wanting to serve God as lay ministry staff, he shared this wish with Rev Isaac Lim, who asked him simply if he wanted to become a pastor. Soon after, another dream came to him — a large group of worshippers were in an open space with a voice being heard by the group, asking if they were willing to go forth and serve the Lord. Not many hands were raised and one of these was Pastor Mike’s. He and Dorothy shared this dream with close Christian friends to solicit their prayer for clarification and confirmation. He met up again with Rev Isaac Lim, and with the endorsement of the church, he then promptly enrolled in Trinity Theological College (TTC) to be trained as a minister.
He found the training there interesting, saying that it was told to him by some non-Methodists that TTC was regarded as a dangerous place — where students undergoing training can be influenced by liberal theology, and even be stumbled in their faith. For him, it was enriching to his faith and knowledge, finding the teaching well-balanced — nothing extreme — and even enabled him to discern and understand different theologies and their place in Christianity. He stayed in campus the whole four years, his learning desire escalating all the time while there, which gave him an opportunity to mingle with local and foreign students from many different countries, and earned him a Bachelor in Theology at the end of the course.
Headlong into Ministry, and Challenges for Family Life
After TTC, Pastor Mike was first posted to Faith Methodist Church in 1993, where he stayed for three years, ordained as a deacon there, pioneering the work of service among the Mandarin and dialect community in Jurong, the seed of the future of Agape MC. He would drive the church van and bring worshippers to an underground bomb shelter in a HDB block there. Next, he was posted to Kampung Kapor Methodist Church (KKMC) in 1996, also overseeing the Mandarin Ministry there, remaining another three years. This was followed by his being posted to the Methodist Church of the Incarnation (MCI) in 1999, where he stayed for two-and-a-half years. His two older boys remained at KKMC while the two younger ones went with him to MCI — such is the life and family of an itinerant minister! Here, Pastor Mike ran an OMO — one-minister-operation. He joined Wesley Methodist Church — his longest serving stint, in 2001, staying till 2006 when he left for a two-year study stint, during which he studied counselling at Singapore Bible College.
Reflecting on how his family adjusted to his various postings, Pastor Mike reminisced how there were difficulties but his faithful wife, Dorothy who had more time to deal with the four boys, took it all in, shielding Pastor Mike from it all — in fact, he only got to know of some difficulties after it was all over, all this despite the fact that he tried to catch up with the boys, doing things together when time allowed, realising it was grossly insufficient.
Reflections of MM/ Years at MM
Pastor Mike nostalgically recalled the early days of the MM. In 2012, he was saddened by the departure of a portion of the Mandarin section of the church which left Wesley to start out on its own, having been running its own activities and being detached from the church for many years, leaving only 50 members. Pastor Mike’s job then consisted chiefly of regrouping those who remained, reorienting the doctrinal imbalance as well as realigning the ministry to be in sync with the plans and direction of the church.
Having a pre-pandemic membership of 120, it is today a thriving part of Wesley. It faces the challenge of attracting younger members who will renew the ministry. Of late, however, many younger members, mostly bilingual, are volunteering here, forming the worship team, and in Pastor Mike’s words, “having a better sense of belonging and ownership of the ministry”. Pastor Mike observed that the pandemic has blessed MM with many conversions or baptisms, the elderly no more as hesitant as before, coming forward to testify of their faith, and even serving in many capacities.
On being an all-too-familiar face at MM and a friend to many elderly members, Pastor Mike says that he feels “naturally inclined to be close to them”, something he already felt in his days at KKMC, where he, when asked about why he is particularly attached to this ministry, says, “It’s God’s grace to have them open up to me.” To him, it’s all God’s work. It helps that those of us who know Pastor Mike, can feel his casual demeanour and calming presence, something all who approach him, can agree with. Those who have spent time with him are especially appreciative of his wanting to spend time with them.
Valuable Lessons
Pastor Mike leaves us with these lessons which he counts as prominent in his close to a three-decade career as pastor.
• Do all you can with your ability to be a peacemaker
On church interpersonal conflicts, Pastor Mike recalls his painful experience in one of the churches he previously served in. Unwittingly, he was caught in the middle of two long-opposing factions of church leaders. Despite sustained efforts on his part to be fair and amicable to both sides, he was eventually misunderstood by one side to be biased. When no amount of explanation and clarification was able to quell the unreasonable antagonism against him, Pastor Mike was then forced to leave the church. He lamented that there were those who were able and had the responsibility to assume a moderating role in the crisis but did not, thus causing costly repercussions for the church. In this instance, several competent leaders left the church because of disillusionment.
• Be united with co-ministry volunteers/Be part of a united group
On church unity, Pastor Mike feels this cannot be overemphasised, citing how when we work together in ministry, we don’t always get to know each other, and pushed by demands, deadlines, and competing needs, conflicts arise that are unresolved, communication breaks down, etc. His solution is to take time to talk and listen to each other should these arise. And not once or occasionally but frequently. In fact, as this matter is dear to Pastor Mike’s heart, he recommends using the method he identifies by its acronym — CRAWL — its non-sequential steps spelt by the letters of the said acronym:
C: Compromise — letting go of some much cherished but non-cardinal values to accommodate the other person; R: Resolve – the desired result to every conflict; A: Avoid — to shun direct confrontation especially when emotions run high which may exacerbate the conflict; W: Win — unwavering and firm in holding your stance; L: Lose — giving up your original stance to accept the other person’s position.
Pastor Mike clarifies that in most cases of conflict, to attain R (Resolution) involves the exercise of all the other four steps of C, A, W and L. Yet not in static order but in a timely and flexible way that is dependent on the dynamics of the conflict situation.
Parting Shot/Words
A believer of cascading leadership, Pastor Mike leaves with just one regret — of not having done enough to build and nurture leaders who can build trust, foster mutual support and openness in the group they are members of, so that in the long run, these ‘groomed’ leaders might share the pastors’ and full time church staff responsibilities of shepherding the flock. This way, the church full time leaders, namely the pastors and staff can continue to shoulder the increasing weight of ministry needs that comes with a growing church.
A Well-deserved Rest
Pastor Mike plans to visit Taiwan, Australia and Stuttgart, with Dorothy, his faithful wife who has been by his side through his long ministry, to connect with relatives and family there.
As for post-retirement plans, he needs the Lord to help him to:
– ‘Correct’ the things he did not do well;
– ‘Complete’ the things that he did not finish doing; and
– ‘Catch Up’ on the things he neglected; especially in bonding with his wife Dorothy, their four sons, family members and friends.
Here’s to a good rest and holiday and God’s continuing hand in writing the next chapter of Pastor Mike ‘s life. God’s grace and peace be upon him and his family.
7 little-known facts about Pastor Mike
Hobby
Music. I can appreciate almost all types of music genre and in any languages (even without understanding the language). So, ‘M’ is for ‘Music’, ‘Michael’ and ‘Musically Mixed-up’.
Special talent
(Didn’t you know I’m a pretty good singer? :)) Bet you didn’t know I’m quite good in proofreading typo mistakes. Somehow, typo mistakes tend to leap out from the pages for my attention.
Favourite hymn
Very hard to name just one as there are so many. Can I choose one each from the list of A-Z? Just joking!
UMH 139 (Praise to the Lord, the Almighty) was the hymn Dorothy and I chose for our wedding.
Favourite Scripture verse
Ephesians 3:20-21 : “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
Favourite sport/pastime/recreation
Badminton, fishing, and doing ‘Market Survey’ (a.k.a. window shopping — a lot of ‘output’ in walking but nothing from the wallet)
Sons’ names and ages
#1 Amos (married to Claire), 38
#2 Bartholomew, 36
#3 Caleb, 32
#4 Davniel (a hybrid name of David & Daniel), 28
Favourite holiday type/place/country
Unhurried, free and easy type — Copenhagen, Denmark (I’ve been there more than six times. My late sister migrated there with her husband, children and grandchildren — all Chinese)
Related posts:
Thanksgiving for Pastor Michael by Justin Ong
A Tribute to Pastor Michael Tan by Judy Leow
Wesley TIDINGS wishes Pastor Mike a blessed retirement with gratitude for His faithful service and the difference he has made in the lives of so many.
Read also: Farewell to Pastor Edmund
