In 1839, a Presbyterian minister of the London Missionary Society, Rev. Benjamin P. Keasberry, started an elite boarding school for Malay boys in Rochor, with an attached printing press. Some of his pupils were thought to have been of royal descent. In 1843, Rev. Keasberry was able to raise sufficient funds to build a small chapel on Prinsep Street for outreach to the Malay people. The church was first named the Malay Mission Chapel in recognition of the reverend's contribution to the Malay community. It was also known as Greja Keasberry or Keasberry's Church. The missionary Samuel Dyer preached the first sermon in 1843. features of the church are its distinctive red brickfaçade and the raised brickwork on the tower and belfry. In 1847, shortly after the inauguration of the church, the London Missionary Society left Singapore for China, leaving Rev. Keasberry to continue on his own. This he did stoically, until his death on 6 September 1875. To honour him, an engraved stone plaque was placed on his grave in Bukit Timah by his former student Maharajah Abu Bakar of Johore. In 1885, the Presbyterian community, funded by Singaporean merchants living in London, bought the building from the London Missionary Society and renamed it Prinsep Street Church. As the purchase was initiated by Rev. J.A.B. Cook, the missionary in charge of the English Presbyterian Church, Prinsep Street Church now came under its administration. The StraitsChinese held services at the church, as did the Teochew Tek Kha Group or Kandang Kerbau Market Group, and the pupils of Sophia Cooke's Chinese Girls' School. The Tek Kha Group established their headquarters at Prinsep Street Church and stayed on until 1929 when their church building, now known as Singapore Life Church, was ready. As early as 1901, plans were made for a new church. On 5 March 1930, Song Ong Siang, who later became the first Malayan Chinese to be knighted, laid the foundation stone. The church was officially opened and dedicated on 4 February 1931. In November 1931, upon joining the Synod of the English Presbytery, Prinsep Street Church was eligible to include "Presbyterian" in its name. Thus, the Straits Chinese Presbyterian Church was used. By the early 20th century, the area around the church became densely populated. This led Scotsman James Milner Fraser to start the 1st Company of the Singapore Boys’ Brigade in the church. Its formation in 1930 led to a large number of young people joining the church. In 1950, the 7th Girls' Brigade Company was formed in the church, drawing the students from the Singapore Chinese Girls' School and the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus in Victoria Street. During the Japanese Occupation of the Malay Peninsula, the church was damaged by shrapnel and mortar shells. Rev. Gibson, who had been incarcerated by the Japanese during World War II, repaired the church upon his release in 1947. In 1953, the first full-time local pastor, Rev. John J.K. Lu, was appointed to head the church. The post-war years saw a fall in the Straits Chinese congregation and the church was renamed Prinsep Street Presbyterian Church in 1956. Its non-Straits Chinese congregation grew rapidly and, in the mid-1980s, a four-storey building was erected to accommodate their needs. In the 1960s, the Church operated a kindergarten in the mornings. An outreach ministry was started in Woodlands in 1983. Then in 1984, a tuition outreach ministry began at 25 Adam Road. In 1992, the Woodlands and Adam Road ministries merged to form the Woodlands-Adam Road Ministry. This was eventually reconstituted as Adam Road Presbyterian Church in 1997. Prinsep Street Presbyterian Church was gazetted a national monument by the National Heritage Board of Singapore on 12 January 2000.
Architecture
The Prinsep Street Presbyterian Church was designed by architect C.J. Stephens of Swan and Maclaren. Its notable features are the deep red bricks and raised brickwork on the tower and belfry. At the front of the church, lightly modelled brickwork rises high in gable formation expressing the shape of the roof and culminating in a bell tower, now housing a loudspeaker. The buildings within the enclosure are all rendered and painted.
Sunday Services
The Prinsep Street Presbyterian Church conducts several multi-lingual services on Sunday. All services involve lay participation. Apart from English and Mandarin services, the church also holds services for Filipino and Myanmar worshippers, and is one of the few churches in Singapore to hold services in the Mizo language. Presently, about 40 Mizo people, mostly foreign domestic workers, worship in a room on the upper level of the church.
