Pastor Pauline Ong delivers the benediction at the end of a regular Sunday service. “Help us Lord, to find rest in you, as we reflect on what it means to be a follower of Christ,” she says. Photo: Ko Lyn Cheang
Pastor Miak Siew preaches with a mask due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo: Ko Lyn Cheang
It has not always been this way for her.Growing up in a strict Taoist and Buddhist household, where reading the Bible was banned, she had to hide both her Christian beliefs and her sexuality. A shy and lonely child, she converted to Christianity at age 10, after her Christian cousins invited her to an evangelical stadium event. On weekends, she continued to visit the family temple, offering joss sticks to the deities. But at night, in the room she shared with her grandmother, she would crack open the headboard of her bed, where her Bible was tucked, and read it under her covers with a flashlight.“I can’t be living two lives. I want to be the same person in my spiritual journey as I am in my earthly journey.”
Pastor Miak Siew (second right) and Pastor Pauline Ong (second to left) during the first Advent Sunday service of 2020. Photo: Ko Lyn Cheang
The day after the video was posted, Yang, founder of the charismatic Cornerstone Community Church, called it “disturbing” and “a misleading lie” in a blog post. “Let me put it in simple and unambiguous terms: A homosexual Christian is an oxymoron,” Yang wrote. In an email to VICE, he said that he is “concerned for the faith” of those who follow pastors Siew and Ong’s teachings.“I realized that not only was God OK with me, but I am who I am for a reason.”
Irene Lee in prayer. She first attended FCC in August 2011, heartbroken by the end of a 13-month relationship with her girlfriend and feeling God’s love compelling her to stay. Photo: Ko Lyn Cheang
