Ross B. Wissmann Phd Thesis
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THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY: CASE STUDIES OF PREACHERS OF THE CHURCHES OF CHRIST IN BICOL, PHILIPPINES Ross B. Wissmann A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of St Andrews 2014 Full metadata for this item is available in Research@StAndrews:FullText at: http://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/5919 This item is protected by original copyright The Christian Ministry: Case Studies of Preachers of the Churches of Christ in Bicol, Philippines Ross B. Wissmann This thesis is submitted in fulfilment for the degree of PhD at the University of St Andrews St. Mary’s College St. Andrews, Scotland 1st July 2014 For Cheryl, my wife Aaron, Rebekah, Jessica, and Andrew, my children Braiden and Jad, my grandsons Kevin and Heather, my parents and Dot, my mother-in-law Joseph, Mel, Gani, Jun, and the other ministers of the Churches of Christ in Bicol The faculty and staff of ICCM Dr. Mario I. Aguilar iii Contents List of Maps, Tables, and Appendices vi Glossary vii Maps xv Abstract xvii Introduction 1 Intention, context, and resources 1 Ministry resources 4 Churches of Christ sources 9 Filipino resources 11 Parameters 13 Church, chapel, congregation, and community 13 Minister and ministry 14 Ministry in Churches of Christ 17 Churches of Christ 20 The Philippines and Bicol 24 Ministers of Churches of Christ in Bicol 25 Methodology 29 Assumptions, outline, and expected results 49 1 The Crisis of Ministerial Role and Identity 53 The dichotomy 53 The man and his ministries 54 Financial remuneration 58 Forced exits 60 Stress 61 The ministerial role and identity 62 The ministry described 62 The ministry passion and achievements 63 The ministry crisis explained 67 Towards a healthy ministry role and identity 70 Baptism 73 A baptism service 74 The concept of baptism 77 Thanksgiving 78 Church of Christ philosophy and practice explained 79 Complications in administrating baptism for Churches of Christ 81 Preaching 84 Delivering the sermon 84 The methods and objectives of the preacher 86 Exposition, persuasion, and presentation 88 iv 2 The Conundrum of the Founding Minister in a New Church 92 Church Planting 92 An ubiquitous topic 92 The history 94 The man, his church, and the town 99 Rationalization 110 Methodology 110 Motivations for church planting 112 Theological explanations 114 Obstacles 117 Progress 119 Chaplaincy 122 Reflection 123 The founding minister 123 More practical and theological aspects 125 A perspective for the future 132 3 The Challenges of Ministering at Home, in Education, and with Success 135 Problem 1: Ministering with the home congregation 137 Problem 2: Accreditation in ministerial training 145 Problem 3: Growth and success in the ministry 152 Worship 155 Small groups 167 Prayer 170 Reflection 171 4 The Complexities of Poverty in Ministry 176 Introduction 176 The persistent problem of poverty 176 The concept of poverty 177 Filipino poverty 183 The Background 188 An aborted interview 188 The preacher’s work, home, and life 191 Explanation. 195 The type of poverty 195 Anger 197 Personal poverty 197 The preacher’s concept of poverty 201 Impressions and reflection 202 The perception of poverty 202 The sins of poverty 206 Towards the remediation of poverty 210 Education in the Bible college in the light of scarce resources 215 Ministry and poverty 216 Conclusions 220 For further reflection 220 The crises, the conundrums, the challenges, and the complexities 223 Recurring themes 224 Appendices 228 Bibliography 246 v List of Maps, Tables, and Appendices Maps 1. Map of the Philippines and the Bicol provinces xv 2: Map of the Bicol provinces of Camarines Sur and Albay xvi Tables 1: Header for each interview schedule 42 2: Footer for each interview schedule 42 3: Weights and measures conversion table 49 4: Perceived problems 51 5: Joseph’s ministry activities in order of importance 63 6: Joseph’s sermon outline on Romans 1:1–16 85 7: Joseph’s sermon outline on Romans 8:26 85 8: Joseph’s sermon series in 2010 87 9: Attendance statistics for Church of Christ Libmanan 101 10: CCL annual offering totals 103 11: CCL mission statement 103 12: CCL “Church Membership Covenant” 104 13: Mel’s typical day 104 14: Steps to plant CCL 105 15: Offering disbursement, CCL, 30th May 2010 109 16: CCL confession of faith 110 17: Why CCL is different or special 113 18: Church of Christ general understanding of Acts 2 115 19: Gibbs’ ministry skill levels 133 20a: Service programme board at GRS Church of Christ (Tagalog) 160 20b: Service programme board at GRS Church of Christ (English Translation) 161 21: Charlie’s church’s income 189 22: Jun’s nutritional intake–May 2010 195 23: Jun’s nutritional intake–February 2011 195 24: Jun’s household expenditure 195 25: Perceived experiences of Jun 199 26: Potential problems for Jun 200 Appendices 1 Initial survey 228 2 First questionnaire for Chapter 1 229 3 First questionnaire for Chapter 2 230 4 First questionnaire for Chapter 3 231 5 First questionnaire for Chapter 4 232 6 Second questionnaire for Chapter 4 234 7 Third questionnaire for Chapter 4 236 8 Second questionnaire for Chapter 3 238 9 Second questionnaire for Chapter 1 239 10 Second questionnaire for Chapter 2 241 11 Third questionnaire for Chapter 1 242 12 Fourth questionnaire for Chapter 1 244 13 Ethics approval letter 245 vi Glossary of Ministerial, Filipino, Tagalog, and Bicolano Terms Including abbreviations, explanations, and peculiar Filipino usage of English abaca: Manila hemp. This is a species of banana, native to the Philippines, grown as a commercial crop, and harvested for its fibre. anahaw: The palm or the leaves of a palm found in much of south-east Asia. The leaves are particularly used for thatching both traditional and high-end tourist buildings. anay: White ants or termites. Ang Pasko ay Sumapit: Roughly translated, Christmas has arrived or Christmas is here. araw araw: Literally, “day, day” meaning daily, day by day, every day, or all the time. Filipinos often repeat the same word to emphasize intensity or continuity. aswang: A white witch who sucks the spirit out of a person. ate: Oldest sister. awit: Song, hymn. bagyo: A typhoon or a tropical cyclone. Typhoon Durian/Reming (November/December 2006) resulted in 1,399 deaths. The Philippines gives local names for typhoons different from the international ones. bahala na: Main meanings are “what will be will be,” or “leave it to God or fate,” or “come/happen what may.” Subsidiary ideas include “do what you want, it’s up to you, but be ready for the consequences,” or “never mind or it does not matter,” or to tolerate a person to allow him/her to do what he/she wants by just leaving him/her alone. It is a philosophy of life and a significant core of Filipino attitudes. The term is deterministic, passive, and fatalist. bahay: House or home. Sa bahay–bahay is house to house. bakla: Homosexual, transvestite, gay, a male-bodied person who is attracted to men, but only the one who plays the female part. In the Philippines, baklas are often considered a third gender, and many dress or identify as women. The stereotype of a bakla is a cross-dresser who works in a beauty salon. See also silahis. balikbayan: Literally, returning to one’s place, home, or country. These are Filipinos who go overseas seeking employment. Some may be absent for the length of a tourist visa, others are on contract for one to five years and others migrate permanently. Also known as OFW’s (Overseas Filipino Workers) or OCW’s (Overseas Contract Workers), about 11% of the total population of the Philippines is a balikbayan. USA has nearly 3 million, Saudi Arabia more than a million, and Malaysia just on 1 million. Canada, UAE, Japan, Australia, Qatar, Spain, and the United Kingdom also have significant Filipino populations. Balikbayans work as domestic helpers and maids in Hong Kong, caregivers, nurses, physical therapists, and radiologists in Western countries, truck drivers, construction workers, and mechanics in the Middle East, factory workers in Taiwan, “entertainers” in Japan, seamen on cargo ships, and waiters and musicians on Caribbean tourist cruises. It is not uncommon for a Filipino doctor to undergo retraining to become a nurse in a foreign country. Typically, a balikbayan will send $US100.00 or $US200.00 home to his/her extended family each month. Extra money is remitted at Christmas and pasalubong is always brought when the individual returns to the Philippines. OFW remittances represent 13.5% of the Philippines’ GDP. In 2009, this amounted to about US$17.348 billion. barangay: The smallest local government unit in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district, or ward. Also known as a barrio, it is a community-level government complete with its own elected officials. One of its major roles is brokering peace in personal or neighbourhood disputes. There are about 42,000 barangays in the Philippines. In the absence of police, one of the important functions of the barangay is to maintain law and order, particularly at night. barkada: Tagalog slang for a friendship group, usually very tight-knit and usually formed when young. barong, polo barong and barong tagalog: An embroidered shirt of the Philippines worn untucked over an undershirt, mostly by men. Traditionally, they were made from pineapple, banana, or abaca fibers and usually were translucent. Today, they are also vii made of cotton, polyester, and/or linen blends. A polo barong, often just referred to as a barong, is short-sleeved and semi-formal, and used for office wear.