Singapore church goes online for booking of seats at services

Ever fancied a seat booking for a Sunday date with God?

Singapore's New Creation Church has launched an online booking system for its Sunday services at its new 5 000-seat, US $408 million venue.

The booking website was launched last month by the 25 000-strong church to alleviate snaking queues encountered at its previous 1 200-seat venue, said Matthew Kang, the church's spokesman. It has proved popular.

"We had some hiccups in the first few weeks when the online booking crashed due to very high traffic," he said, "but we have controlled the situation, and we have also minimized the worship congestion situation, too."

Each church member can book a maximum of five seats for the Sunday services, Kang said.

"It's a very refreshing idea to reserve seats in advance," church member Jackie Leong said. "We are definitely assured of a seat if we book online. It's more relaxing like that."

New Creation Church, founded in 1984, is a charismatic, non-denominational church not affiliated with any church overseas.