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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"></TD><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgF noWrap align=right width="1%">From: </TD><TD class=msgFname noWrap width="68%">kojakbt22 <NOBR>
</NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate noWrap align=right width="30%">Mar-31 11:59 pm </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT noWrap align=right width="1%" height=20>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname noWrap width="68%">ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft width="1%" rowSpan=4></TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>10609.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt>‘From Stutter To Charisma’ in The Sunday Times - By Tan Dawn Wei
Sunday, October 5, 2008
By his own admission, Pastor Joseph Prince is a shy man and a former stutter.
That is why he has never granted a media interview, preferring to let his lieutenants do the talking.
But walk into New Creation Church’s bookstore – Rock Gifts and Book Centre – at Suntec City or visit the church’s slick website, and you’ll find Mr Prince’s face everywhere.
It’s there on DVDs and book covers and in his sermons played over TV screens. They are even broadcast in countries like the United States and Australia.
No one would believe he is shy if they have seen him preach. The magnetic speaker does so with no help from teleprompters cue cards or notes.
A teacher who remembers his stammering days in secondary school heard his sermon once and left him a note, calling his transformation “a miracle”.
Lay people may be taken with his polished public speaking skills, but his flock will say it is his teachings that they come for.
It helps that he breaks his sermons down, coats them with humor and peppers them with colloquialism.
And they have come in droves. Since he took over the non-denominational, independent church as senior pastor in 1900, the congregation has grown from 150 to 17,000 today. It’s a number that startles even its founder.
“I’m still frightened,” said Mr Prince, 45, in the church’s stylishly minimalistic office on the sixth floor of Suntec City. “To me, I’m very humbled. Every week when I stand there for four services, once in a while, I still wonder to myself, people are queuing up, for what? This is not Hello Kitty ,you know.”
Tall and togged in a dark suit, Mr Prince comes across as easy-going and confident and peppers his speech with “lors” and “lahs”.
But it wasn’t easy to get this interview.
His staff initially turned down The Sunday Times’ request. When he relented two weeks later, they wanted questions before the interview and were anxious to know how the report would come out.
The interview was also recorded on video, complete with spotlight and microphones, for “accountability”, which probably means it will count for evidence should a dispute arise.
Some may say that it is hard to fault the church for being on edge. Since the Commissioner of Charities (COC) released results of its review last month, the church has raised eyebrows for its wealth - $55.4 million for the year ended March 31 – and an announcement that its business arm is raising investments in a cultural and entertainment complex in one-north from $280 million to $499.5 million.
It is partnering property giant CapitaLand to build the project which will have restaurants, shops and a 5,000-seat theatre.
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Sunday, October 5, 2008
By his own admission, Pastor Joseph Prince is a shy man and a former stutter.
That is why he has never granted a media interview, preferring to let his lieutenants do the talking.
But walk into New Creation Church’s bookstore – Rock Gifts and Book Centre – at Suntec City or visit the church’s slick website, and you’ll find Mr Prince’s face everywhere.
It’s there on DVDs and book covers and in his sermons played over TV screens. They are even broadcast in countries like the United States and Australia.
No one would believe he is shy if they have seen him preach. The magnetic speaker does so with no help from teleprompters cue cards or notes.
A teacher who remembers his stammering days in secondary school heard his sermon once and left him a note, calling his transformation “a miracle”.
Lay people may be taken with his polished public speaking skills, but his flock will say it is his teachings that they come for.
It helps that he breaks his sermons down, coats them with humor and peppers them with colloquialism.
And they have come in droves. Since he took over the non-denominational, independent church as senior pastor in 1900, the congregation has grown from 150 to 17,000 today. It’s a number that startles even its founder.
“I’m still frightened,” said Mr Prince, 45, in the church’s stylishly minimalistic office on the sixth floor of Suntec City. “To me, I’m very humbled. Every week when I stand there for four services, once in a while, I still wonder to myself, people are queuing up, for what? This is not Hello Kitty ,you know.”
Tall and togged in a dark suit, Mr Prince comes across as easy-going and confident and peppers his speech with “lors” and “lahs”.
But it wasn’t easy to get this interview.
His staff initially turned down The Sunday Times’ request. When he relented two weeks later, they wanted questions before the interview and were anxious to know how the report would come out.
The interview was also recorded on video, complete with spotlight and microphones, for “accountability”, which probably means it will count for evidence should a dispute arise.
Some may say that it is hard to fault the church for being on edge. Since the Commissioner of Charities (COC) released results of its review last month, the church has raised eyebrows for its wealth - $55.4 million for the year ended March 31 – and an announcement that its business arm is raising investments in a cultural and entertainment complex in one-north from $280 million to $499.5 million.
It is partnering property giant CapitaLand to build the project which will have restaurants, shops and a 5,000-seat theatre.
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