Telok Ayer Chinese Methodist Church, located at 235 Telok Ayer Street at the junction with Cecil Street, is considered the oldest Chinese-speaking Methodist church in Singapore. It was established in 1889 by Dr Benjamin Franklin West and was mainly for the Hokkien-speaking Chinese. Now the church serves Chinese from various dialect groups and a growing English-speaking community. The Church was first set as missionary practice at a shophouse in Upper Nanking Street to reach out to the immigrant Chinese. During the Second World War, the church became a refuge for at least 300 Chinese. Despite the ban during the Japanese Occupation, they continued giving Sunday services.
Architecturally, it is very different from the usual churches we see around Singapore. The Church faces constraints by the position of the plot of land. As such, the entrance of the church is built facing the west. The sanctuary is built on the second floor unlike the usual country churches where the sanctuary is usually found on the first floor. Also, in a traditional church, it usually display a cruciform plan but in Telok Ayer Chinese Methodist Church, it is rectangular.The body of the church is demarcated at its four corners by large full height tapered buttress-like forms. These are punctured by rectangular and circular window openings. The windows are large arched and the roof is crowned continuously. The windows are designed in Art Deco style which was popular in the 1920s. The roof of the top storey pavilion is distinctly of Chinese culture as it curves upwards at the corners.
Therefore, Telok Ayer Chinese Methodist Church has several features that are different from the traditional churches we see in Singapore.
