Cliff and Eloise Hunnicutt, the founders of Harvester Baptist Church, arrived in Singapore from India in 1968. The duo originally operated out of their apartment which was located opposite the then New Country Hotel building.
Expanding the Religious Reach
As their congregation grew, they needed a larger space. The couple admired the two-storey site of New Country Hotel and aimed to shift to their premises to this site so that they would have more space for the congregation. However, the hotel occupied the site from 1950s to 1970s. It was only in 1977 that the Hunnicutts bought over the building.
The hotel’s dance floor was transformed into a place of prayer and worship. With the expansion, Cliff and Eloise were able to serve men and women from Myanmar, Thailand, the Philippines and China as part of their outreach ministries.
Neo-Classical Architecture
Occupying a nook amongst the low-residential neighbourhood in Eden Grove, the church compound is fenced up with fair-faced brick walls and metal grills. Lush green vegetation add colour to the Neo-classical building. The main building is a two-storey reinforced concrete modern building and is decorated with eclectic features. Tuscan columns, stylised circular windows and archways line the front façade. The front porch is sheltered by a Jerkinhead roof with extended roof eaves and a cantilevered flat roof covers the annexes. All the exterior facades are painted in pale yellow ochre and black.
Remembering the Founder
When Cliff Hunnicutt passed away in 2018, his funeral service was held at the Harvester Baptist Church. His services to the church and his role was central in the training of local pastors and evangelists. Today, Harvester Baptist Church continues Cliff’s legacy of expanding their outreach services to more believers worldwide.
Buildings and sites featured on Roots.SG are part of our efforts to raise awareness of our heritage; a listing on Roots.SG does not imply any form of preservation or conservation status, unless it is mentioned in the article. The information in this article is valid as of July 2020 and is not intended to be an exhaustive history of the site/building.
