Several Springs, One Stream: United Church of Christ in the Philippines
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Several Springs, One Stream: United Church of Christ in the Philippines Volume II: The Formative Decade (1948-1958) T. Valentino Sitoy, Jr. ISBN 971-8569-62-6 Copyright @ 1997 All rights reserved. No part of this volume may be reproduced in any form, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except in critical reviews, without the prior permission of the author and the publisher. T. Valentino Sitoy, Jr. and United Church of Christ in the Philippines 877 Epifanio de los Santos Avenue Quezon City 1 Several Springs, One Stream: The United Church of Christ in the Philippines Volume II: The Formative Decade (1948-1958) T. Valentino Sitoy, Jr. United Church of Christ in the Philippines 877 Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, Quezon City 1997 2 FOREWORD This second volume of the UCCP historical heritage continues the story of dedicated Filipinos who envisioned a united Protestant movement in the Philippines. The evangelistic zeal to proclaim Jesus Christ by the different Protestant traditions was unbounded. In their proclamation, five denominations heeded Jesus' prayer that "all may be one" (John 17:21), and the movement towards a united Protestant evangelical organization began to grow. This volume captures the growing pains of the UCCP in its first decade. The author continues to present a dynamic story of the UCCP, of persons both living in memory and in the flesh, and historical events that shaped the Church. This volume reveals an in-depth study and research, of countless interviews and bits of information garnered from ordinary conversations with the people of the church. His incisive analysis brings out a remarkable interpretation of the triumphs and bitter defeats, of reconciliation and partings, the ecstasy of accomplishment and the agony of failure in the continuing evangelistic work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Above all, it proclaimed that Jesus Christ is alone the Lord of His Church. Throughout the growth of the UCCP, in its efforts to be faithful to the exhortation of Jesus Christ, this volume continues to point out that in spite of the difficulties, the issues that caused heated conflicts and misunderstanding, the work of God's Spirit continues to guide the people in the painful steps towards a feasible organic union. It is my prayer and hope that our churches will be able to continue the zeal and the spirit of the parents and grandparents of our church and be inspired to carry on the work of our Lord Jesus Christ, and at the same time be faithful to His prayer exhorting us to be one with Him as He is with our God. And to the larger oikoumene, may the failures and successes of the UCCP in our pilgrimage of faith be both a challenge and an inspiration. Shalom! BISHOP IIILARIO M. GOMEZ, JR., PH.D. General Secretary July 3, 1997 3 PREFACE One of the most challenging tasks for the historian is the question of periodization. The matter assumes greater importance specially when the scope of the period under study is so close to the present, making true perspective as yet illusive and indefinite, as is the case in the later series of these volumes on the UCCP history. This second volume of Several Springs, One Stream concentrates on the first ten years from 1948 to 1958. Although it covers only a comparatively short span of time, yet this period stands as "the formative decade" of the UCCP, which determined the subsequent life and programs of the Church. Those who held the important posts of leadership during this period were the same men and women who had struggled through the previous decades in bringing the ideal of a wider church union into being in 1948. It would thus seem that the period 1948- 1958 was their decennium of fulfillment, during which they set in course their idea of church life, program and mission. This formative decade was the period which was directly under the guidance of the organizing leaders of 1948. The Bishops elected at the Uniting Assembly on May 25 of that year continued through the course of these first ten years, and only afterwards did a new set of individuals take over the mantle of leadership. The decennium from 1948 to 1958 indeed set the pattern for the subsequent life of the UCCP. Nearly every important development in succeeding years may be traced back to this formative decade. Even those developments, which at first glance seemed to plot a new course direction in the 1960's and 1970's, were in fact merely the materialization of ideas first contemplated during the first ten years of the UCCP's existence. 4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am most thankful to the many friends, both old and new, who, in reading the first volume of Several Springs, One Stream and finding therein mention of their parents, grandparents, and other kinfolk, have given me encouragement to continue this series on the history of the UCCP. Among them, the Rev. Lydia N. Niguidula and Atty. David D. Aguila had been most helpful in providing further information, which now find their way at various places in this second volume. My thanks also go to Bishop Erme R. Camba and Bishop Hilario M. Gomez, Jr., who as successive General Secretaries of the UCCP, have taken special steps, including the search for the necessary funding, in order to insure that the writing and publication of the complete UCCP history will be a reality. My thanks also go to other personnel in the central offices of the UCCP, as well as in the various jurisdictional, conference, and local church offices, who in various ways have given me encouragement to go on with this task. I am also greatly indebted to Miss Gloria R. Guzman, for painstakingly taking the time and effort to read through the entire manuscript of this second volume. The important marginal notations which she scribbled on the galley proofs at times pointed out to me hitherto unrecorded aspects of the life of the UCCP, and at other times corrected some initial inadequately informed notions, formed from scanty sources, regarding certain significant facets of UCCP history. I am likewise greatly indebted to Mr. Leomyr de Jesus, whose expertise in editorial work and desktop publishing is amply and beautifully shown in the format of this present volume. Lastly, I would like to thank my wife and daughters, other members of my immediate family, and personal friends who remain true through despite the chasm of time and distance, whose constancy of support and encouragement have kept me going through the solitude of midnight hours and the tedium of muggy days. TVS Dumaguete City December 16, 1996 5 In memory of the pioneering spirits whose vision and aspirations led "in the fullness of time" to the organization of the UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST IN THE PHILIPPINES 6 Table of Contents FOREWORD PREFACE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Chapter I THE REALITY OF CHURCH UNION Chapter II POST-UNION ADJUSTMENTS AND REALIGNMENTS Chapter III BREAKDOWN OF THE COMITY AGREEMENT OF 1901 Chapter IV LIGHTS AND SHADOWS IN LUZON Chapter V ADVANCE IN THE VISAYAS AND MINDANAO Chapter VI TOWARDS A MORE EFFECTIVE CHURCH ORGANIZATION Chapter VII THE NATIONAL PROGRAMS OF THE UCCP Chapter VIII THE UCCP PROGRAM OF EVANGELISM Chapter IX HOME AND FOREIGN MISSIONS Chapter X NEW DIMENSIONS OF SERVICE AND WITNESS Chapter XI POSTSCRIPT AND PROSPECTS Appendix A BASIS OF UNION UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST IN THE PHILIPPINES [1948] Appendix B STATEMENT OF FAITH OF THE UNITED EVANGELICAL CHURCH IN THE PHILIPPINES Appendix C ARTICLES OF FAITH - THE PHILIPPINE METHODIST CHURCH Appendix D STATEMENT OF FAITH - THE EVANGELICAL CHURCH IN THE PHILIPPINES SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY INDICES Index of Personal Names Index of Place Names Index of Subjects MAPS THE AUTHOR 7 Chapter I THE REALITY OF CHURCH UNION "We do preserve all of the heritage of faith brought into the Union by each of the constituent churches and hereby declare as our common faith and message: Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, our Lord and Saviour.” — UCCP Basis of Union, 1948 The immediate postwar period, when the United Church of Christ in the Philippines came into being, was a time of continuing turbulence and disarray. The world was searching for a new political order out of the chaos and debris of World War II, even as the long-standing problem of Western colonial rule continued to exist in many parts of Asia and Africa. The most salient political developments on the world scene at that time were the rise from the embers of the past global conflict of the "Cold War" between the new superpowers, which was to last for four decades, and the birth of a new world body, the United Nations. The World in 1948 In Europe in 1945 and 1946, the heightening superpower confrontation led to the raising of the so-called "Iron Curtain" between eastern and western Eu-rope. This immediately spawned, on the one hand, the Czechoslovakian socialist coup of February, 1948 and, on the other, the 17-month-long Soviet land blockade of Berlin beginning that April. To counter the Soviet threat, the United States that same month spearheaded the organization of the anti-communist Organization of American States. Together with Great Britain, the United States launched the 11-month-long "Berlin Airlift," to deliver more than 2 million tons of food, coal, petroleum, and other supplies to the people of West Berlin the largest relief operation by air in history. In the Middle East, on the other hand, the year 1948 marked the birth of the new state of Israel, leading to the 14-month-long First Israeli-Arab War, the initial stage in an enduring confrontation and series of conflicts, which nearly half a century afterwards had not yet fully been resolved.