Am I a member of TCF? What does membership mean?

You may have been receiving news about TCF for some years now but you may still feel unsure about what this organisation is about.

Chances are that you attended a TCF Dedication Service or you were a member of the NIE Christian Fellowship in your trainee days. Alternatively, your name may have come to us from other Christian friends in the teaching profession or because we know that you are working in a Mission School.

Over the past few weeks, Ms Wong Ee Yuing, our Staff Worker, may have contacted you about updating your particulars with us. Thanks so much for doing so! So who are we? What is TCF?

About TCF

The Teachers’ Christian Fellowship started as a fellowship of Christian trainee teachers back in the days of the Teachers’ Training College. Over the decades, a small but active group of Christian teachers have gathered in TCF events and published articles in order to encourage one another to be salt and light in their schools.

As with many organisations, we have a faithful ‘old guard’ many of whom have now retired from the profession and lead busy lives serving in their churches and caring for their families. We also have enthusiastic ‘juniors’ in the NIECF who make the most of their trainee life to study God’s Word together, prayerfully prepare to teach and reach out to their classmates and roommates (Yes! At the new NIE campus, many trainees stay at the hostels!).

Again, as with other Christian organisations, we seek to complement the church in fulfilling a role that brings Christians from different churches together to see their common mission in the field. In our case, the field is the school!

Our members juggle their responsibilities to family, church, school and TCF. So you won’t be surprised to hear that we are few and we are stretched!

Nevertheless, TCF has been able to continuously hold a Dedication Service for new teachers and in-service teachers each year for the past 20 years. In addition, every year, we’ve been able to hold at least a couple of activities as well as publish one or two copies of the newsletter. Activities have included workshops, discussions and prayer meetings.

Lately, we’ve been greatly encouraged by the partnership offered to us by TCF Malaysia, Girls’ Brigade Singapore and the Anglican Church in Singapore.

About GCF

It’s not possible to understand TCF fully without seeing it in the context of the wider ministry of the Graduates’ Christian Fellowship, GCF.

The name ‘GCF’ might seem a bit old-fashioned now, given that many Singaporeans are graduates from the Polytechnics and Universities. However, this was not always the case. Back in the 1950s when the fellowship was started, it was a profound privilege and responsibility to have tertiary education.

Feeling that sense of calling to serve, Christian graduates came together to find ways to give themselves to Church, Students and Society. They did so in many ways, some of which included faithfully and quietly representing a Christian perspective to the government on issues ranging from abortion in the early 1970s to religious harmony in the 1980s. In addition, GCF helped to set up the St Luke’s Hospital for the elderly. But, most importantly, members have tried to be Christians in their workplaces – this is the quiet, day-to-day faithfulness that all of us are called to.

Although there are now many Christian graduates – it is estimated that up to half of teachers are Christians – we are still those ‘to whom much is given’ and hence from whom much is required (see Luke 12:48). Many of us carry out this responsibility in our churches but yearn to see a closer link between our church-based spiritual life and our ministry in school.

About being a member

Becoming a member of TCF involves becoming a member of GCF of which TCF is a sectional group. Membership entails a $50 ($30 for new graduates) annual subscription which goes towards GCF and TCF’s administration and staff costs. Membership also includes the responsibility to elect the leadership of GCF. Most importantly, members need to affirm GCF’s Doctrinal Basis and commit to actively participate whether through intercession on behalf of GCF or other forms of ministry.