Dr Alvin Tey: Missiological Implications From The Singapore General Household Survey 2025

 

The reflection below is written by Dr Alvin Tey. He is a Resident Faculty in EAST, where he teaches Intercultural Studies. He concurrently serves in Operation Mobilisation (OM), where he leads the People and Organizational Development team in OM East Asia.

 

Missiological Implications From The Singapore General Household Survey 2025

The latest General Household Survey in Singapore (GHS 2025) [1] was released on 30 June 2026. It revealed that the overall percentage of Christians in Singapore declined from 18.9% in 2020 to 17.1% in 2025. This was the first quantitative decline of Christianity in Singapore since the Department of Statistics of Singapore started collating religious statistics in 1980. Of note, the percentage of Protestant Christians in Singapore declined from 11.9% in 2020 to 9.5% in 2025, while the percentage of Roman Catholic Christians in Singapore actually increased from 7.0% in 2020 to 7.6% in 2025.

There have already been good articles [2] written to examine the decline of Protestant Christianity in Singapore, and I shall not repeat the analysis of these articles. Instead, I shall suggest three learning points and implications from the missiological perspective for the wider Church in Asia.

The first lesson is that changes in culture and context impact matters of religion and faith. In the example of Singapore, the culture and worldview of its people have been evolving due to social, economic, technological and other changes in the country. This has impacted the way which people in Singapore view religion. Notably, the rise in the percentage of people in Singapore who define themselves as having “no religion” arguably shows the advance of secularism and postmodernism in the country. The Protestant Church in Singapore may have failed in adequately responding to this trend. Will modernization and globalization lead to a similar trend in other Asian countries in the years ahead? The implication here is that it is important for churches in Asia to be aware of and respond to changes in their culture and context, so as to effectively equip Christians to stand firm in their faith, and to evangelize in relevant ways to those who do not know Christ.

The second lesson is that Christian discipleship is critical and needs to be continually contextualized. Discipleship is the life-long journey where a Jesus follower is moulded to become more like Christ, through the work of the Holy Spirit, in community with other Jesus followers. The decline of the Protestant Church in Singapore calls into question how discipleship has been practiced and nurtured there. Simply put, there has been a sharp drop in the number of Christian disciples among the Protestant Church in Singapore. There are many reasons why this has occurred. However, it is likely that Christian discipleship has gone awry as suggested by the other articles cited. The Protestant Church in Singapore needs to reflect on why discipleship in its churches may have fallen short, and how its churches can once again make new disciples. The implication here is that churches in Asia need to focus on Christian discipleship, and contextualize discipleship to effectively make disciples, so that Christianity may grow in their context.

The third lesson is that there are limits to the growth of Christianity in any context. From a missiological (and theological perspective), it is likely not possible for an entire people to become truly Christian. The Bible makes it clear that there will always be people who reject God and His Son Jesus Christ, even at the end of days (see Revelation 16:9-11 and 20:7-9). Hence, the question then for Christians and the Church in each context is: what is our expectation regarding the growth of Christianity in our context, and are we prepared for opposition that may come with proclaiming the Christian gospel? In the example of Singapore, Christians may have become used to the continuous growth of Christianity in Singapore over the decades. However, in a multi-cultural and multi-religious context like Singapore, the continuous growth of Christianity will likely lead to push-back from wider society. In this regard, we may learn from Christians in other Asian contexts where persecution against Christians exists, and where living out the Christian faith and fulfilling the Great Commission comes at a great cost. The implication here for the churches in Asia (including Singapore) is that the growth in Christianity will likely result in opposition and persecution.

Endnotes

1 Department of Statistics Singapore, “General Household Survey 2025 – Religion”, accessed July 14, 2026, https://www.singstat.gov.sg/publication-resources/general-household-survey-2025-religion.

2 Edric Sng, “The Wake-Up Call We Needed: General Household Survey 2025 Findings on Religion,” Salt&Light, June 30, 2026, accessed July 14, 2026, https://saltandlight.sg/news/wake-up-call-we-needed-general-household-survey-2025-findings-on-religion/; Guna Raman, “The Decline May Be Mercy: What The General Household Survey 2025 May Be Saying To The Singapore Church,” Salt&Light, July 8, 2026, accessed July 14, 2026, https://saltandlight.sg/news/the-decline-may-be-mercy-what-the-general-household-survey-2025-may-be-saying-to-the-singapore-church/.

 

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