ECLAS Eastern Asia

ECLAS Eastern Asia is based at Singapore Bible College and led by Dr Samuel Ka-Chieng Law, Dean of Advanced Studies and Associate Professor for Intercultural Studies.

The Eastern Asia hub supports projects in Eastern Asia including Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Mongolia, Vietnam, and Korea. Each country will have three project components:

1. There will be a national survey of Christian leaders and churches to understand the attitudes and perceptions of science for their region.
2. One or more churches will develop projects that will equip Christian leaders and their members to better understand the role and relationship science has with the Christian faith.
3. One or more seminaries will develop projects that will train students in understanding the partnership of science with churches in the revealing God’s glory.

Church projects can receive grants of about £5,000 (about S$8,400) and seminary projects can receive about £9,000 (about S$15,100). The long-term outcomes will be publicly available resources in their own languages.

Until now, there has been little research on the attitudes and perceptions of science held by Majority-World Christians. The ECLAS project will be instrumental in understanding how science is perceived by Asian Christians and in educating their leaders and churches on science’s role in faith.

If you are interested in submitting a proposal for a church project, seminary project, or both, please contact Sam at samlaw@sbc.edu.sg. See more about the ECLAS project at Singapore Bible College here: https://www.sbc.edu.sg/equipping-asian-christian-leaders-in-an-age-of-science/ 

As of May 2025, ECLAS Eastern Asia has given the following awards:

Scientists in Congregations

IFES-East Asia for a ‘Logos And Cosmos’ Initiative (learning from successful initiatives in Latin America and Francophone Africa). Individual IFES chapters may submit proposals to receive $1K USD awards for projects specific to their context.

International Kingdom Community Development Conference, 1-5 June in Antipolo, Philippines (see https://phcx1b-zc.myshopify.com/products/english-track)

Combined Science for Seminaries and Scientists in Congregations

Bandung Theological Seminary (Sekolah Tinggi Teologi Bandung, STTB) in Indonesia. These projects will include the development of a curriculum for the seminary and public conferences and workshops through various churches in Indonesia. STTB is also the primary partner for the national survey on science and faith perceptions in Singapore.

Science for Seminaries

Singapore Bible College’s School of Theology (English) on Christian worldviews. This will include a conference for faculty and students from secular universities and theological education institutions. The sessions will then be developed into a public domain course for both seminaries and churches on science and faith issues in the Asian context. SOTE is also the primary partner for the national survey on science and faith perceptions in Singapore.

Singapore Bible Colleges’ School of Theology (Chinese) to develop a public TEI (theological education institution) course on ethical AI from a Christian perspective. The team is made up of scholars from Singapore, Hong Kong, and Cambridge in both secular and theological institutions.

Team members from the ECLAS steering group and UK professional staff visited the Eastern Asia hub in March 2024 and March 2025, deepening their understanding of the cultural context and enabling ECLAS to build on relationships with local church leaders and SBC faculty.