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 I: Heritage and Origins (1898-1948) T. Valentino Sitoy, Jr. ISBN 11-11-38-3 Copyright @ 1992 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, 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 publisher. United Church of Christ in the Philippines 877 Epifanio de los Santos Avenue Quezon City, Philippines Several Springs, One Stream United Church of Christ in the Philippines Volume I: Heritage and Origins (1898-1948) T. Valentino Sitoy, Jr. United Church of Christ in the Philippines FOREWORD To capture in print a history of a people in their faith journey is itself a miracle! Indeed, it is the work of the Holy Spirit manifesting itself in the ingenuity and intellect of church scholars, such as this particular author. To be able to delve into the peculiarities of each of the uniting churches - each with its own particular historical journey - and weave them into one fabric of a United Church of Christ in the Philippines is indeed a work of genius. Leaping out of the pages are familiar names of persons, places and events as the stories of each of the denominational springs flow into the one stream of a church body, losing themselves into the one body. And as the names are read again and again, by individuals and groups of this volume, they will come to life and bring back memories of the many pioneers of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, without whom we will not be what we are today, nor hope to be what we ought to be, in the future. We hope that our churches will be able to capture the zeal and the spirit of the founding fathers and mothers of our church and be inspired to carry on the work of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ! Bishop Ernie R. Camba General Secretary, United Church of Christ in the Philippines Manila May 1992 PREFACE The title of this little volume does not imply that the United Church of Christ in the Philippines comes from several unrelated religious traditions, and that it is a hodge-podge of disjointed ecclesiastical elements. What is meant rather is that from several springs of related tradition within the general heritage of the 16th-century Reformation, one united Church was organized in 1948 at the instance of church leaders and members, who were convinced of the sin of disunion and were desirous to manifest more clearly the God-given unity of the Church. This first volume of a projected 2-volume work traces the history of Protestant unity movements in the Philippines, from the arrival of the first American Protestant missionaries at the turn of the century to the formation of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines in 1948. If this present work helps members of the UCCP to know their identity as an integral member-body of the one universal Church, and thereby become more fully aware of their particular task within the total Christian mission in the world, the efforts in producing this volume shall have been more than amply rewarded. It is also hoped that this volume will stimulate more thinking on Christian unity – not just in terms of organic union, but also in other concrete forms. of manifesting such a unity, not only on the part of the UCCP but also of other Christian Churches in the Philippines. As Evangelical Christianity in the Philippines looks forward to its centennial anniversary in 1998, it is also hoped that this volume will inspire scholars and other writers to compose the histories of their own respective communions, so that the wide variety of faith-responses in the Philippines to the Gospel might reveal the richness of the Evangelical tradition within the one Church. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my thanks to Bishop Erme R. Camba, General Secretary of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, an old friend and classmate, for his challenge to fill the need for a history of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines. It gave me enough encouragement to spend time to amplify and complete an old manuscript I had originally intended for inclusion in a larger work on Christianity in the Philippines. If not for his challenge, this piece of work might have lain for a much longer period beneath piles of other manuscripts and notes, awaiting their scheduled completion for publication. I am also thankful to my classmates [Silliman B.Th. '63], who during a reunion at Cebu City in June 1989, gave me fresh impetus to concentrate on this aspect of my research, so that this volume might come out sooner than originally expected. My thanks also go to my colleagues, particularly Professor Lydia N. Niguidula, former DS acting Dean, for their kindness and moral support; and to my students for their enthusiastic response to the idea of having this volume written. Within the structure of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, however, the greatest interest, encouragement and assistance has been given me by the staff of the Education and Nurture Desk. I would specially like to mention and acknowledge the invaluable help given me by Edna J. Orteza, Maryssa R. Mapanao, Melina Padilla, Sancho Opina, Steve Berdin, Leomyr de Jesus, and once again to the Rev. Lydia N. Niguidula, in her later capacity as executive secretary of the Christian Education and Nurture Cluster. My thanks also go to Mike Udtohan and Carol Pamintuan, of the Development and Service Desk, for their kindness in offering me the use of their office computer and other facilities. I am also grateful to Lily Quiambao, administrative assistant to the General Secretary of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines for her help in allowing me use of the minute books of the UCCP General Assembly and Executive Committee. My thanks also go to other officers and office secretaries at the UCCP headquarters in Quezon City, who in one way or another, from the use of office computers to the furnishing of necessary documents and other printed materials, afforded me invaluable assistance in the completion of the final manuscript. Finally, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my wife and daughters, for affonding me the time and opportunity to complete this work, and for letting me know in various special ways their support of my endeavors. TVS Dumaguete City September 26, 1991 To Pinkie, Lani and Bing. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Foreword Preface Acknowledgments Chapter I FROM RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE TO LIBERTY Chapter II THE ADVENT OF PROTESTANT MISSIONS Chapter III PRESBYTERIAN EXPANSION IN LUZON AND THE VISAYAS Chapter IV EVANGELISTIC ADVANCE IN THE PRESBYTERIAN FIELD Chapter V THE AUTONOMOUS PRESBYTERIAN SYNOD Chapter VI THE UNITED BRETHREN AND DISCIPLES IN LUZON Chapter VII THE AMERICAN BOARD MISSION IN MINDANAO Chapter VIII THE LONG ROAD TO CHURCH UNION Chapter IX THE FORMATION OF THE UNITED EVANGELICAL CHURCH Chapter X THE WARTIME UNION OF 1943 Chapter XI POSTWAR REORGANIZATION AND REHABILITATION Chapter XII THE UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST IN THE PHILIPPINES Bibliography Index The Author Chapter I FROM RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE TO LIBERTY American Churches should "enter in the name of the Lord and give the people of the Philippines a pure gospel." -- Bishop James Mill Thoburn, Missionary Bishop for Malaysia, The Methodist Episcopal Church It is remarkable that the Philippines was the very last country in Asia to open, in 1898, to Protestant Bible colportage or mission work. French Indo-China, the only other Asian territory controlled by a Catholic power, had been opened in 1891, when the wandering French Protestant missionary, M. Hocquard, settled in Saigon and circulated copies of the Annamese Gospel of St. Luke, printed by the British and Foreign Bible Society.1 Thereafter, several colporteurs of this Bible society labored in French Indo-China selling 69,990 copies of the Scriptures for 1895 alone, 30,650 in 1898, and more than 42,500 in 1899. By the latter date, or even earlier, two French Protestant missionaries had been laboring in Tongking.2 By 1903, Christian and Missionary Alliance missionaries from the United States would set up work in Danang. French Indo-China had long remained closed to Protestant missions till that date, because, although there had always been a small minority of French Protestants beginning the 16th century, since the time of King Louis XIV in the 17th, France had seen itself as the new protector, and champion of Catholic mAsiohs, esiiecially in Asia. In the case of Spain, the chief motivating factor for its determined exclusion of Protestants both in the peninsula and in its colonies had been the distinctive policy of Spanish "religious unity,"3 in force since the time of King Philip 11 in the 16th century. The advent of constitutionalism beginning 1812 brought religious toleration to Spain, particularly during the liberal regimes of 1820-1823, 1835-1842, 1854-1856, and especially after the liberal revolution of 1868. In fact, by 1876 religious toleration had been permanently established in Spain. Though the Spanish constitution of 1876 still stoutly maintained that the sole religion of the state was the Catholic, apostolic, Roman religion, it also categorically affirmed that no one in Spanish dominions who professed another religion shall be molested for his religious opinions, nor for the exercise of his faith, as long as this is done in private and did not run counter to Christian morality.4 But while this policy was unreservedly made effective in Cuba and Puerto Rico in 1884, it was applied to the Philippines, by a specific royal decree of 1886, with such significant modifications that, in effect, it was still possible for religious intolerance to prevail.5 Thus, the "special laws" for the Philippines of 1886 specifically stated that "those who publicly exercise acts of propaganda, preaching or other ceremonies which are not those of the religion of the State shall incur the penalty of prision correccional in its Minimum grade"6 [6 months and 1 day to 2 years and 4 months].