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{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
|name=Kong Hee
|name=Kong Hee Fatt Choy
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Revision as of 11:50, 16 August 2010

Kong Hee Fatt Choy
Born (1964-08-23) August 23, 1964 (age 59)
Singapore

Kong Hee (Chinese: 康希)(born August 23, 1964) is the founder, honorary and volunteer senior pastor of City Harvest Church in Singapore. Kong is a Christian leader based in the Charismatic Movement, with a philosophy of ministry that emphasizes the Great Commandment, Great Commission, and Cultural Mandate.[1] Under his leadership, City Harvest Church has grown to a membership of 32,731 and has 47 affiliate "Harvest" churches. There are 29 affiliate churches and 6 Bible schools in Asia, namely Singapore, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Taiwan. Another 18 affiliate churches in the East and West Malaysia are under the Malaysian Harvest Fellowship which Kong Hee has co-founded.[2][3].[4][5] Kong has also co-founded an education center, a performing arts school, a publishing house, a missions agency, a ministerial fellowship and a magazine.[6] Kong is a motivational speaker and is the director of a fashion apparel business, Skin Couture, which he runs with his wife.[7][8][9] He calls himself a "businessman" on the church website.[10]

Kong Hee’s wife, Sun Ho, is a pop music singer, who currently resides in the United States. They have a son, Dayan Kong.

Life

Kong is the fifth child of Kong Leng, a professional engineer, and Toh Poh-Eng, a diamond trader. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from the National University of Singapore in 1988, a Master of Divinity in 1991, and a Doctor of Theology in 1995. In May 2008, Kong was conferred an Honorary Doctor of Business Administration from Hansei University in Seoul, Korea.

From 1975 to 1988, Kong was a member of Marine Parade Christian Center, an Anglican church located in eastern Singapore. During his university years, he worked part-time for the Chapel of the Resurrection under the oversight of Anglican vicar, Reverend Dr. Canon James Wong. During that tenure, he helped Canon Wong set up a new congregation, Orchard Christian Centre. Upon graduation from the university, Kong worked a short stint in a local publishing house as a programmer.

In 1989, Kong was a staff evangelist with “Christ For Asia,” a missions organization in the Philippines led by Assemblies of God minister, Reverend Randy Sing. At that same time, there was an opportunity for Kong to pioneer a new church in Singapore. With the support and encouragement of some senior pastors in the city, Kong decided to relocate back to Singapore and helped set up a new congregation with 20 youths. On May 7, 1989, City Harvest Church was founded as a department (known as "Ekklesia Ministry") of Bethany Christian Centre (Assemblies of God).[11]

Kong often travels to assist churches in Asia, Europe and Australia. He specializes in leadership and staff development, church growth and organization, and contemporary worship and creativity.

Since 1997, Kong is the executive director of the Festival of Praise, an annual event that brings together more than 100 churches for united prayer and worship.

Kong is a board member of Dr. David Yonggi Cho’s Church Growth International (South Korea) and Dr. Luis Bush’s Transform World (Indonesia).

Kong Hee and his wife Ho Yeow Sun own two companies, International Harvest, which is a provider of corporate training services and motivational courses, and a fashion company called Skin Couture. [12]

Media

Kong's weekly 30-minute television program “Harvest Time” is broadcasted on 13 Cable Television Networks and satellites, with a potential viewership of about 986 million.[13] He is also actively engaging new media technologies, by writing regularly on an online blog and updates his activities on Twitter and Facebook.

Fund Probe

On 31 May 2010, the Office of the Commissioner of Charities and the Commercial Affairs Department of the Singapore Police began investigating more than 18 individuals linked to the City Harvest Church, including church founder Pastor Kong Hee and his wife, Sun Ho, after receiving complaints alleging the misuse of church funds.[14][15][16] The police was looking into financial transactions involving the possible falsification of accounts and criminal breach of trust amounting to millions of dollars which dated back a number of years. The authorities said that regular church activities and services for the congregation need not be disrupted during ongoing investigations, which is expected to take several months.[17][18][19]

Plagiarism

In March 2010, a blogger identified plagiarism on Kong Hee's blogposts as they were similar to writings to another publication, "The Leadership Bible" which was published 10 years ago. The copied text was also published as physical copies into two books, "Renewing Your Spiritual Energy in 90 Days" without accreditation to the original authors. Apart from "The Leadership Bible", the blogger also highlighted other works that have been plagiarized, include content by well-known Christian authors Derek Prince, Neil Anderson, Professor Sid Buzzell and Dr Kenneth Boa. Prof Buzzell, a dean of the school of theology at Colorado Christian University, had warned that continued plagiarism may force them to seek legal advice.

Kong Hee posted a note on his website and explained that the devotion was "originally meant only for internal circulation among the members of my church. As such, there was an oversight in not quoting the sources of some portions that borrow from the writings of other Christian authors." There was also an apology for the oversight.[20][21][22]

The publisher of "Renewal" has since made amendments to the soft copies to include accreditation. The publisher who is also a member of City Harvest Church, acknowledged that at the time of publication, both himself and Mr Kong were aware that certain portions of the content were not original.[23][21][24]

Educational Qualifications

  • Raffles Institution (1977–1980)
  • Raffles Junior College (1981–1982)
  • National University of Singapore, Bachelor of Science (Computer & Information Sciences) (1985–1988)
  • Hansei University, Honorary Doctorate in Business Administration (2008)

Theological Qualifications

  • New Covenant International Theological Seminary (USA): Master of Divinity (1989–1991) [Distance learning]
  • New Covenant International Theological Seminary (USA): Doctor of Theology (1993–1995) [Distance learning]

Title Ordination

  • Bethany Christian Centre (Singapore): January 6, 1991

Founded

  • City Harvest Church (1989)
  • School Of Theology (formerly known as City Harvest Bible Training Center) (1994)
  • Harvest Times (quarterly magazine) (1999)

Co-Founded

  • Harvest School of Ministry (2001)
  • Malaysian Harvest Christian Fellowship (2003)

Positions held

  • President, City Harvest Church (Singapore): 1992–Present
  • Executive Director, Festival of Praise (Singapore): 1997-2001, 2005–Present
  • President, Word of Life (Singapore): 1997–Present
  • Board of References, Transform World (Indonesia): 2005–Present
  • Committee Member, National Council of Churches (Singapore): 1999-2004
  • Board of Advisors, Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International (Singapore): 1996-2000

See also

References

"Kong Hee's Biography". City Harvest Church. Retrieved 2007-05-29.

  1. ^ "Kong Hee's Profile". City Harvest Church. Retrieved 2007-06-05.
  2. ^ "Why Isn't the American church growing?". Charisma Magazine. Retrieved 2009-01-23.
  3. ^ "Speakers". City City Church. Retrieved 2007-06-29.
  4. ^ "Kong Hee's Profile". City Harvest Church. Retrieved 2007-06-05.
  5. ^ "History Of The Church". City Harvest Church. Retrieved 2007-06-05.
  6. ^ "Kong Hee's Biography". City Harvest Church. Retrieved 2009-01-23.
  7. ^ http://www.straitstimes.com/PrimeNews/Story/STIStory_533683.html
  8. ^ http://www.skincouture.com.sg/home.htm
  9. ^ "Kong Hee's Profile". City Harvest Church. Retrieved 2009-01-23.
  10. ^ http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_534101.html
  11. ^ "Every Member is a Minister' at Singapore Megachurch". Church & Ministry. 2004-02-10.
  12. ^ http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_534101.html
  13. ^ "Harvest Times Broadcast". City Harvest Church. Retrieved Feb 02 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  14. ^ http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_541030.html
  15. ^ http://news.xin.msn.com/en/singapore/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4121597
  16. ^ http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1063720/1/.html
  17. ^ http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC100601-0000111/City-Harvest-probe
  18. ^ http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1060093/1/.html
  19. ^ http://news.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20100531-219380.html
  20. ^ "Kong Hee Devotion". Retrieved 2010-06-15.
  21. ^ a b Kong Hee 'plagiarised' book , The Straits Times, 12 June 2010
  22. ^ http://www.straitstimes.com/PrimeNews/Story/STIStory_539170.html
  23. ^ City Harvest founder now accused of plagiarism, The Straits Times, 12 June 2010, pg A3
  24. ^ http://www.straitstimes.com/PrimeNews/Story/STIStory_539170.html
Others
  • Ministries Today Magazine (December 2003).

External links

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