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| Thursday, January 22, 2004
Film > Journey of Change by Alaric Tay From the Fringe to the FoldWriter : Spencer Ng Journey of Change, produced and directed by Alaric Tay is a documentary on the Singapore branch of the Worldwide Church of God (WCG). Alliance Francaise de Singapour, 3 Jan 2004 Journey of Change comes in two parts : The first part you watch at Alliance Francaise de Singapour, the second part, you think about before you sleep. Church history is full of reformations and history is something one would associate with the distant past, but this one nearly crossed the millenium with us. Journey of Change shows how immediate a devotion to faith continues to impact us, like it did with WCG in Singapore, when the church moved from the fringe of unorthodoxy to being accepted in mainstream Christianity. Journey of Change focused on the branch in Singapore where its members had to face the changes marked by a decade long doctrinal upheaval starting from 1986. This is Alaric's fourth film, which he describes as an offering to God, "There is a story to tell, it has impacted a lot of lives both ways. It has caused some to leave Christianity altogether and on the other extreme, there have been (mainstream) Christians who have welcomed us...there have been Christian leaders talking about us and how we have been an encouragement to them." Under the founder of the church - Herbert Armstrong, the church developed certain doctrines that included dietary prohibitions, keeping the Sabbath holy and the belief that only WCG Christians formed the body of Christ. Armstrong also developed an anti-trinitarian view and believed that the Father and Son are two distinct beings. However, when Armstrong passed away, Joseph Tkach Sr, the newly appointed Pastor General of the church made several sweeping doctrinal changes that brought the church back into the folds of mainstream Christianity. Thousands left and church attendance fell from a high of over a hundred thousand to half that size. Back in Singapore, WCG had initially started off with 5 members in 1960 and by the 1970s, it had thirty baptized members. Today, it has about twenty five members. Several members of the church including the senior leadership of the church described themselves as being mesmerized by the teachings of Armstrong. But when the changes came, many of them were in a state of shock. Alaric's mother, herself a member of the church, described how she did not know what to do during the rest day which they normally kept for Sabbath. Others were disillusioned and left the church when they had to embrace the broader Christian community and doctrine. However, while the changes disrupted the lifestyle of just about every WCG Christian, many continued to keep the faith, like Alaric and his mother. He said, "When I was growing up, I saw how my mother stick to the faith and if you were to ask me, why I am still in WCG, I would say - it is because I grew up in the church." This is one film that kept me awake thinking about my own personal journey of change as it continues to unfold from the fringes of the last millenium. For more Information WCG meets regularly at the Regional Language Centre (RELC) in Singapore and its website can be accessed at http://www.wcg-sg.org For more information on the history of WCG, you can go to http://www.wcg.org/lit/aboutus/media/fringe.htm You can buy copies of Journey of Change by Alaric Tay at shoeboxarts.com.
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