By Soo Ewe Jin

Rev. Dr Ong Hwai Teik has been elected the new Bishop of the Methodist Church in Malaysia and will begin his term of office from Jan 1 next year.

The election and appointment of Rev. Ong was made official at a consecration ceremony held at the Chinese Methodist Church in Kuala Lumpur recently.

The consecration was held at the Chinese Methodist Church in Kuala Lumpur in the presence of the presidents of the six annual conferences of the Methodist Church in Malaysia, pastors, senior leaders of the various Methodist churches and leaders from other churches around the country.

The consecration was led by the outgoing Bishop Rev Dr Hwa Yung and assisted by Bishop Robert Solomon, the Bishop of the Methodist Church in Singapore. Bishop Solomon also delivered the sermon for the solemn but meaningful occasion.

Rev Ong said he is both “humbled and honoured” to be entrusted with the responsibility to lead the Methodist Church in Malaysia.

“My prayer is that by God’s sovereign grace and empowerment through the Holy Spirit, the Methodist community will sincerely seek to live as authentic disciples of Christ that love God wholeheartedly and love our neighbours as ourselves.

“May the Methodist flock connect effectively and relevantly with others in the Malaysian Church, and also with other genuine parties, in continuing to make a difference in our beloved nation and the world –especially at this time in history,” he said.

At the same event, it was announced that Rev Hwa Yung, who served for the past eight years, has been conferred the title Bishop Emeritus. Under the Methodist Church regulations, the Bishop is elected by the General Conference held every four years. Rev Ong has served in various capacities over the years. His last position before being elected Bishop was as the President of the Trinity Annual Conference (TRAC), which comprises mainly English-speaking congregations in all states in the peninsula except Terengganu and Kelantan.

Rev Ong joined TRAC in November 1983 after serving with the Chinese Church in London, and was ordained as a travelling elder of the Methodist Church in Malaysia in 1988.

He obtained the B.A. in Theology (1981) from the London School of Theology, UK and the M.A. in Missiology (1999) from Fuller Theological Seminary, US.

He received the D. Min. from Asbury Theological Seminary, USA in May 2009 (under the Beeson International Leaders Scholarship). He has also received training in Spiritual Direction (Life Direction Team in Singapore (1999-2000). Rev Ong served as pastor of a number of TRAC churches (in Grace Sentul, Teluk Intan, Ipoh and Kuala Lumpur) from 1983-2003. He was District Superintendent of Perak District from 1996-2001 and also served as the Chairman of the Board of Evangelism from 1992-2000. Since 2000 he has been the TRAC Prayer Director.

Rev Ong was involved with the National Evangelical Christian Fellowship as Hon. Secretary of Discipling A Whole Nation (DAWN) National Committee (1992-1995).

He serves as the Chaplain to the Girls’ Brigade Malaysia and also Regional Chaplain of the Girls’ Brigade Asia Fellowship. He is a member of the Malaysian Lausanne Fellowship Committee.

He is married to Mun Kean, and they have a daughter, Hannah Ong.

[This article first came out in The Star, Metro (1st November 2012). It is reprinted with permission from The Star, Malaysia. Mr. Soo Ewe Jin is also a member of The Emmanuel Methodist Church in Petaling Jaya.]