The story of Amplify
Where we have come from
The Amplify Network is a regional alliance of churches, institutions, leaders, and individuals committed to inclusive and progressive Christianity across Asia Pacific. It is not a denomination. It does not replace local church authority or identity. It exists to connect, support, and amplify local participation in God's mission.
Amplify began in 2009 in response to a simple but urgent question: Where do inclusive Christian churches in Asia go to worship, learn, and be strengthened together for the work they are called to do?
What started as a small gathering between churches in Singapore and Hong Kong grew into a regional movement. Over the next decade, eight Amplify Conferences were hosted across Asia Pacific—in cities including Singapore, Hong Kong, Jakarta, and Taipei—each convened by local churches and shaped by local contexts.
Over time, Amplify evolved:
- from a worship-focused gathering,
- into a space for theological reflection, leadership development, and pastoral renewal,
- and into a rare place where many participants experienced inclusive Christian community in person, sometimes for the first time in their lives.
Beyond the conference rooms, Amplify also became a platform for shared mission and public witness—through dialogue on faith and sexuality, participation in Pride events, joint press conferences, and partnerships that crossed borders and cultures.
For many leaders and communities, Amplify was not simply an event—it was a reminder that their local faithfulness was part of a wider movement of God at work.
A season of pause and discernment
After the last Amplify Conference in 2018, the global pandemic disrupted travel, gathering, and connection across the region. Like many churches, Amplify entered a season of pause. That pause created space for reflection and discernment.
It became clear that while conferences are powerful, they are not sufficient on their own for sustaining leaders and communities engaged in God’s mission. Relationships formed every two years needed continuity. Leaders needed access to resources beyond a single weekend. Communities needed ways to stay connected, learn from one another, and speak together into the realities they were facing.
The question became not whether Amplify should evolve, but how best to serve the mission that local churches were already carrying.
What Amplify is becoming
Amplify is evolving from being primarily a conference into a platform and network that supports inclusive Christian mission across Asia Pacific year-round. This evolution does not abandon the conference—it re-centres it as the flagship gathering of a wider movement.
This evolution is not organisational ambition for its own sake. It reflects the growing recognition that inclusive Christian communities across Asia Pacific are already participating in God’s mission—often quietly, often at cost—and that this mission is sustained best when it is shared, resourced, and made visible together.
Why “Amplify”
God’s inclusive love is radical. It needs to be “amplified” — not whispered in the margins but declared loudly and in solidarity. Gary Chan, Amplify Network Lead
Our vision
A world where everyone belongs, flourishes, and lives for the wholeness and restoration of all relationships and creation.
In Memoriam: Honouring Our Pioneers
We remember with gratitude those who went before us in this work.
- Rev Dr Yap Kim Hao (Singapore) — the first Asian bishop of the Methodist Church in Malaysia and Singapore, and pastoral adviser to Free Community Church.
- Rev Stephen Suleeman (Indonesia) — longtime faculty member of Jakarta Theological Seminary and director of its Center for Gender and Sexuality Studies.
- Rev Borah Lim (South Korea) — pastor of Sumdol Hyanglin Church in Seoul.