Even as thousands continued to show up at City Harvest
Church at their second English service this weekend, caution has
started to seep into parts of its congregation about church
donations.
Several adults were seen accompanying their teenaged
children during the service but remaining seated and silent
throughout the service.
When Yahoo! spoke to some outside the conference hall,
they said they were not churchgoers but parents of youths who
attended service regularly.
“I’m still okay with my son going for service at CHC –
he’s grown up and it’s his choice, but I was worried when I found
out you could make donations through credit card – he uses our
supplementary card and I’m not comfortable with him donating to a
church that I personally wish was more accountable.” said a bank
executive, 56, who wanted to be known as Mr Lim.
Another parent, Mdm Sally Low, 48, said she had attended
to “hear Pastor Kong’s side of the story”.
“The newspapers are saying one thing, but my daughter says
it’s not true. So I’m here to make sure my daughter doesn’t anyhow
(sic) believe everything she hears.” said the mother of a
16-year-old churchgoer.
The service at Singapore Expo was predictably packed, with
every seat in the 8000 capacity hall filled and “overflowing rooms”
nearby occupied by hundreds of other supporters and curious
onlookers.
In a repeat of yesterday’s two-hour service, the same two
testimonies were delivered by a member with the Crossover Project
and a back up dancer who attributed her conversion to Christianity
to Sun and the opportunity to perform on her controversial music
video, China Wine.
Kong and Sun were seen to tear several times while
speaking to the crowd and singing worship songs, but looked
considerably more comfortable than their first, tense appearance
yesterday evening when Kong spoke up publicly for the first time to
declare that he maintained his integrity.
Most CHC members declined to comment when approached after
the service, only saying that they were “standing by Pastor Kong”
and “didn’t want to feed the media frenzy”.
During Saturday’s service, Kong had told the congregation
that he would be putting off hospital visits and meeting sessions
for “a few weeks”, explaining that he wanted to avoid a situation
where reporters might tail him in hospitals and inconvenience those
he was there to help.
“We know that whatever we say, people will judge us. So we
just pray that his innocence will come to light – as long as we
believe, it doesn’t matter what people outside the church think.”
said 16-year-old Annie Tsang, who was seen crying emotionally when
Kong took to the stage to thank his flock for their prayers and
support on Sunday morning.
CHC has thrown its weight behind its founder Kong Hee and
the four other key members who were charged Wednesday over alleged
misuse of the charity’s funds.
In a statement released by executive pastor Aries Zulkarnain on
Thursday evening, the church stated that it is standing by the five
individuals.
"The people currently in the news
are our pastors and trusted staff and leaders who have always put
God and CHC first," he said. "As a church we stand with them and I
believe fully in their integrity."
The statement also said that Kong, 47, and his deputy pastor Tan Ye
Peng, 39, who both face charges of criminal breach of trust, will
continue preaching at the megachurch.
Addressing the current charges that stand against the five accused
leaders, Zulkarnain maintained that the church did not lose any
money in the transactions detailed in the charges, which list two
separate amounts of S$24 million and a further S$26.6
million.
"The S$24 million, which went into investment bonds, was returned
to the church in full, with interest... The church did not lose any
funds in the relevant transactions, and no personal profit was
gained by the individuals concerned," he said.
In response to the church’s statement, the Attorney-General’s
Chambers (AGC) said, “We wish to reiterate that as criminal charges
are now before the court and will be subject to adjudication by the
court; and that as such, neither the prosecution nor any other
party should comment on issues which will be subject to
adjudication and on which evidence will be led in
court.”
Suddenly all parents start getting worried about what their kids
are doing on the weekends. 