SU Church Workers Convocation 2012 Proceedings

Table of Contents
Ftoceedings |nttoduction 2
Ihe Logo 0esign Aopoloon Romoto 3
Nessage ltom the nivetsity Ftesident 0t. 8on 5. Holoyong III 4
keynote kddtess The Church and Christian Education: Chal-
lenges and Perspectives
8isnop lotoo Honoozo 5omoot 5
8ib|e 5tudy 1: Christian EducationAn Arm of Mission?
2: Education Behind, At and Beyond the Wall
Fopo Antono 13-21
Fau| Lauby Lectute
The Role Of The Divinity School In Expanding Christian Education
0t. Joonotn FottisIollot
22-23
6entennia| Lectute The Role of the Divinity School in
Expanding Christian Education
0t. Loutoino A. Yuzon
31-38
|ntetest Stoups
Challenges to CE in Sunday School Programs of the Church Ht. Josso 8ocon 39
The Effective Pastors & Caring Pastors Rov. 0t. Aicnolos Fooo 40
How to Teach Islam in the Church Rov. Joos Ionosi 41
The Philippine Budget: Implications & Challenges to the
Churches
Ptol. Loonot 8tionos 42
Healing Presence: Spiritual Care of the Soul 0t. Lucio Hutio 43
The Role of Christian Education in Promoting Earth Rights
0t. 0ovio0toncnuk ono
Hs Hoty Anno 0o lo Royo
44
Christian Education as Soul Craft: Conflict Sensitivity and
Principles of Non-Violent Communication
0t. Hutiol CtovilloHontonogto ono
Hs Vioo Romouyon
45
0iakonia kwatdees
Rev. Joel R. Camba 46
Rev. Solomon B. Bilaoen, Jr. 47
48
6u|tuta| dight Lente 49
ke|igious 5tudies Ftogtam (k5F[

50
6|osing wotship "Challenges in Doing Christian Education 8isnop Holzot 0. Loountog 51-53
Litutgy~Feace 5unday Rov. Collum Tooooo 54-55
05 6oncetns 0t. Lopo Rooin 56-57
!ustice and Feace 6entet 0t. Hutiol CtovilloHontonogto 58
|ndigenous hea|th 6ate and datuta| kgticu|tute 0t. 5olomon Aploon 59
Fatada 5i||imaniana Fhotos

60
k|umni Fhotos

61
Mila Limpiado De Jesus
It has been the tradition of the Divinity School to produce the proceedings of the Church Work-
ers Convocation and make this material available to the participants at the end of the gathering. The
production of the proceedings started sometime in the early 1970s using the Rural Mimeo Press
method. Members of the Documentation Committee would stay up late to work on the stencils and
pounding the typewriters, collating and binding the manuscripts with large staplers. Someone adept in
drawing on stencil using the stylus would be commissioned to do the cover of the proceeding booklet
and the fillers. Towards mid-1990s, with the advent of higher technology, the production was done on
computers. Later, the DS student organization held logo drawing contests, with the faculty sitting en
banc and student representatives to judge the best work that captures the theme. There were times when
the whole DS community would sit together to discuss the logo. Still, members of the Documentation
Committee had to stay up late, or even hardly take a nap, walang tulugan, to encode manuscripts of
speakers who usually gave their materials after delivering their piece some handwritten with a lot of
marginal notes. Students would usually ask for vitamins to keep them going.
There are lessons learned from the experience. Students learn how to work with fellow commit-
tee members under pressure of deadlines. They also learn some skills in organizing and lay-outing the
materials, proofreading with a bit of editing, running after the speakers for manuscripts, photography,
working within the budget, and negotiating with the printing shops for cheaper rate or asking for dis-
counts. Moreover, students learn through the setting the so-called
One of the setbacks, however, is that students assigned to the Documentation Committee,
unlike the members of other working committees, do not get a chance to take a glimpse of the actual
sessions during the Convocation. They are holed up in the workstation, so pressured because they know
that participants have become so demanding to get their copies before they go back to their local
churches. The Docu Committee members understand this phenomenon, knowing that possession of the
Proceedings is best concrete evidence to show that one has attended the Convocation. Yet, the student-
members of the Committee graduate without having listened to any of the speakers, or without having
participated in a single workshop, more so the banquet, during each Convocation time.
In this light, the members of the current Documentation Committee implored from everyone
involved that manuscripts be sent at least a few days earlier, so that they can organize and layout the
materials without feeling harassed, and make the complete Proceedings available on the last day of the
affair. The Committee will put the soft copy of the Proceedings online. It is then up to the participants
and anyone interested to download the said materials for their perusal.
Thus, we in the Documentation Committee are pleased to present this 51st Church Workers
Convocation Proceedings. We hope this material will serve not only as a souvenir, but as a resource in
the educational ministry of the church.
Thank you.
The 51
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Church Workers Convocation Proceedings
51
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Church Workers Convocation The Church and Christian Education: Challenges and Perspectives 2

The great commissioning of Jesus to His disciples in Matthew 28:18-20 is one of the bases of
the Mission of the Christian.
The church is composed of both women and men with equal responsibilities in doing Gods
ministry, as shown in the life of Jesus Christ. These women and men are entrusted by God to be stew-
ards of all Gods creation. They are empowered by the Holy Spirit to care, sustain, nurture, and spread
the love of God through words and deeds within and outside the community of Christian believers.

The plant, as part of Gods creation, signifies the life and hope of the church.. The thorns sym-
bolize the problems and issues of Christianity that challenge the Christian faith and beliefs.
Noticeably the thorns are protruding from different directions, indicating that the problems and is-
sues of Christian community may emerge from anywhere in the life and ministry of the church.

The Bible, the earth, the plant, the cross, Holy Spirit, woman and man signify that each one is
integral to the task of doing Gods ministry and in communing with God.

Napoleon A. Romero Jr.
M.Div. -Senior
The Logo
51
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MESSAGE
51
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Dr. Malayang is serving his second term as President of Sil-
liman University. He finished his High School from Silliman,
and went to earn his BA in Philosophy at the University of
the Philippines in 1974. He proceeded to get a Masters de-
gree in International Affairs from Ohio University and his
doctor of philosophy in Wildland Resource Science from the
University of California at Berkeley. Dr. Malayang has been
involved in environmental management and international
development. He had served as Undersecretary of the De-
partment of Environment and Natural Resources from 1993
to 1995. At the University of the Philippines-Los Baos, he
was Full Professor and Dean of the School of Environmental
Science and Management. His field of research interest is on
Forest and Environmental Policy and Governance, Biodi-
versity, Environmental Security, Environmental Philosophy
and Ethics, and Institutional and Environmental Transfor-
mations in Southeast Asia.
Silliman University is a teaching, preaching, and healing institution. It teaches the
way, preaches the truth, and heals so that people will live the fullness of life. It if
does not teach, preach and heal, it is not Silliman. I greet and welcome you to Sil-
liman. You are special people, special in the sense that you minister to the church
of Christ.

I hope that this Pastors Convocation will be an opportunity for many of our pas-
tors who always are in the field to imbue with more theological equipping so that
you will become more effective divinity workers. I think that is what this annual
affair is all about. That is really my prayer.

God bless.
THE CHURCH AND CHRISTIAN EDUCATION: CHALLENGES AND PERSPECTIVES

INTRODUCTION:

Although I am a Kapampangan by ethnic
stock, let me greet you with the warmest greet-
ings coming from our aggregate membership of
60,986 souls from our nine conferences compris-
ing 432 local churches, worshipping congrega-
tions and outreaches in the stretch of North Lu-
zon Jurisdictional Area all the way from Sison,
Pangasinan to Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte, the entire
Cordilleras and the whole of Cagayan Valley.
This area commonly known as the
of the gentle people called Ilocanos is a haven of
great leaders both in politics and in the church.
In fact, our very own general secretary of the
UCCP, Bishop Reuel Norman O. Marigza origi-
nated from this area.

Though Im deeply honored today, I am
most apprehensive of facing you for the very
first time because I was told that I will deliver
the keynote address in this national gathering of
church workers of our dear UCCP. I must admit
that when Drs. Jeaneth Faller and Lope Robin
sent me the invitation, I experienced haunting
moments on how to prepare this piece consider-
ing that my line of interest in the church is in his-
tory and administration. I must however admit
that it gave me stimulus, since the invitation
challenged me to plunge deeper in the field of
ecclesiology and Christian education.

I am wary though that the confidence re-
posed in me might not be adequate to meet your
deepest expectations. However, I am self-assured
that by the leading of the Holy Spirit, I may be
able to share what is expected of me in this gath-
ering. I enjoin you therefore to please, pray with
me at this interval to realize this goal.

Let us pray..

THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH

We all know that the Christian church is
founded by Jesus Christ himself upon which not
even the gates of hell prevail over it. It is a
movement touching the lives of people as an or-
ganism pulsating for the mission of Christ mani-
fested in the lives of believers. The Christian
Church should be a vehicle on how people live a
responsive life of Gods deed in Christ and how
God continues to act in the world. (Galatians
5:22-24)

As a theologian puts it, Christianity is
not a package of ideas and beliefs that once as-
cended from the clouds. Nor is it a philosophy
51
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Bishop Elorde Mendoza Sambat is the
Bishop assigned to the North Luzon Jurisdic-
tion of the United Church of Christ in the
Philippines. He obtained his Bachelor of
Ministry from Union Theological Seminary
through its Extension Program, and his Mas-
ter of Ministry from the same seminary in
Dasmarias, Cavite. He holds a Masters de-
gree in Education, and is currently working
on his doctoral degree in Missiology. He has
served as administrative pastor of the local
churches in North Luzon, and as conference
minister of Manila North Conference. He has
also served as member and Chairperson of
several church-related schools and colleges
in Northern Luzon area.
that any intelligent individual might think for
himself/herself. Its basic aims are the healing,
preaching, teaching and reconciling mission to
which the community is called.

Christianity as a religion is committed to
education. In the task of remembering and cele-
brating the deeds of God in Christ, education has
played a major role from the inception of Chris-
tianity for the sake of handing over the tradition
of Christian faith. At the very start of her begin-
ning, she ensures that education is part and par-
cel of her ministries so that the basic tenets by
which she stands for will last forever from one
generation down to the succeeding ones. (Acts
20:28) This is one of the reasons why the Scrip-
tures became and still remains the basic guide
and philosophy of the Christian faith.

The UCCP as an integral part of the uni-
versal church, unequivocally affirms the reality
and significance of the church, and asserts it to
be a fundamental part of its article of faith in
terms of four basic principles, namely, the
Church as the Body of Christ, the Church as
community, the Church as the community of the
reconciled, and the Church as the Trustee of
Jesus own ministry. The churchs ultimate goal
is to increase among persons the love of God
and neighbor. In doing this, the church should
always direct her actions on the welfare of the
neighbor irrespective of his creed, race, status
and gender . The church must defy all adversar-
ies inimical to the total well-being of persons.
Any given force that hinders the total liberation
and transformation of people should be opposed
therefore the educational programs of the church
should always be directed to this goal.

Dorothy Mcrae-McMahon in an article
entitled The Formation of the Laos claims, In
every moment in our life there will be need for a
deep understanding and enabling of transforma-
tion. The church as the body of Christ partici-
pates with God in the transformation of the
world. This is primarily about change. There-
fore, all of us will need to have a deep under-
standing of change processes, both personal, cor-
porate and systemic, and will invite the laos into
that understanding and process.

THE REFORMATION TRADITION
(SUPREMACY OF THE SCRIPTURES)

The Scriptures contained the teachings of
the church and the message of God carried
through His chosen people and through the life
and teachings of Jesus Christ. Therefore it is im-
portant that these Scriptures be taught to believ-
ers so that their rudimentary teachings will form
part of the character of a Christian. (II Timothy
3:16). On this aspect, the role of Christian educa-
tion is very important in the life and ministry of
the church.

All proponents of the Reformation move-
ment beginning with the progenitors, Martin Lu-
ther and his contemporaries affirmed that the
scriptures are the only source of reference on the
word of God. (sola scriptura). Ulrich Zwinglis
elaboration on this proposition, are presaged in
his second and fifth statements in his sixty-seven
articles to wit:

2. The sum of the Gospel is, that our
Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has made
known to us the will of his heavenly Father, and
redeemed us by his innocence from eternal
death, and reconciled us to God.
5. Therefore all those who liken any
other doctrines to or judge them higher than the
Gospel, err, and know not what the Gospel is.

Our own UCCP Statement of Faith in-
cluded in her articles a place for the Bible. The
Statement of Faith affirms,

We believe that the Holy Bible is a faith-
ful and inspired witness to Gods revela-
tion in Jesus Christ and in history to illu-
mine, guide, correct and edify believers in
their faith and witness.

The centrality of the Scriptures in our
faith and witness as offspring of the Reformation
is dominant even in our worship service. The
preaching of the Gospel is the central motif of
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our worship. It serves as our spiritual food that
nourishes our spiritual bodies to witness to peo-
ple as ministers/priests in our own right.

Accordingly, the UCCP Statement on
Evangelism stated,

The Bible is recognized as the incompa-
rable treasure of Gods Word which is
power for the salvation of the world.
There is no part in the church which
does not acknowledge that it needs the
Scriptures for its very life, and there is
no part of the church which disowns the
obligation to pay its part in bringing to
all men the knowledge of Him of whom
the Scriptures speak.

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION IN GENERAL

Christian education is the systematic,
definite teaching ministry of the Christian com-
munity, which helps its members in their faith
formation so that they would become the agents
of transformation in and outside the community.
This is how influential and forceful Christian
education is in the life of the church and her
members.

Thomas Groome's definition suffice this
understanding:

Christian education is a political activity
with pilgrims in time that deliberately and inten-
tionally attends with them to the activity of God
in our present, to the story of the Christian faith
community, and to the vision of God's kingdom,
the seeds of which are already among us.
Christian education in most Christian tra-
ditions is the general umbrella term which refers
to every aspect of education which contributes to
the nurture or sustenance of individuals and
groups in their being or becoming Christian. As
C. S. Lewis remarked,
One of the reasons why it needs no spe-
cial education to be a Christian is
that Christianity is an education itself.
That is why an uneducated believer like
Bunyan was able to write a book that
has astonished the world.

In his book, Will Children Have Faith
(1976), John Westerhoff III presents the case for
a broader emphasis in faith building dynamics
within the local church. He articulates, No one
has faith who has not been in part educated to it
by othersThat was done in the context of par-
ticipation in a local church.

Christian Education ministry involves the
administration and coordination of programs or
strategies to facilitate the spiritual growth or dis-
cipleship of believers into Christ-likeness. Edu-
cation of members of a congregation is a vital
ministry of the church to empower them towards
this goal. Their empowerment however lies in
the hands of their leaders, /preachers, and /
teachers trained in order to be set apart in the
awesome ministry of shepherding the believers.
However, the equipping of these leaders is not
the only focus of theological education but also
the education of the general membership of the
church in order to become ministers and/priests
in their own right.

According to the Edinburgh 2010 Inter-
national Study on Theological Education,
Theological education in a broader understand-
ing however, is not the prerogative only of those
becoming ordained ministers and priest but a
fundamental right of every Christian adult. Theo-
logical education in this broad understanding
aims at developing reflective Christian identity
and practice, an informed and spiritually en-
riched access to Biblical tradition, and empower-
ing people for participating in the mission of God
in this world. It enables people to reflect criti-
cally on the relation between their own Christian
identity, their church tradition and other Chris-
tian traditions, their relation to the world, and the
tasks of Gods mission today.

The same paper proposed the following
aspects:
- The concern for the promotion of theological
51
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education has been and should remain a priority
area of joint witness and cooperation.

While several indigenous models of theo-
logical education were initiated in the 19
th
and
20
th
centuries, western patterns, methodologies,
and frameworks were exported throughout the
world. It is only in 1970s and 1980s that western
dominance has begun (gradually and partially) to
be challenged by contextualized patterns of theo-
logical education.
- The Protestant missionary movement indirectly
(but powerfully) promoted the English language
and English forms of teaching and learning as
the dominant educational model. In much of
world Christianity there is still an urgent need
for culturally and linguistically diverse education
programs and resources.

- There is widespread consensus that every
member of the people of God has the right to
understand Christian faith and tradition in their
fullness and should have access to basic educa-
tion, faith nurture, and empowerment for mis-
sion.

OUR UCCP CONTEXT IN REGARDS TO
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION PROGRAM
AND THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION:

The methods by which our Christian edu-
cation programs in the church beginning with
our missionaries are carried out in our country
for more than a century. This cycle proved to be
effective over the years and, in most cases until
today, is still utilized by the churches. However,
the rapid growth of electronic age worn out or
outmoded these methods. Sunday schools, bible
study groups, vacation bible schools, prayer
meetings, church fora, in-service trainings and
the like are seemingly no longer appealing to the
church people.

Take the example of our Sunday school
programs in the UCCP. We produced heavily,
well-meaning materials written in deep concep-
tualization. Yet as a bishop for more than
two years now, I have found out in my visita-
tions to local churches that hardly 10% of our
church members attend Sunday school classes.
Those who are attending are either late comers or
left earlier than expected. Only a handful of them
participate in the discussion and reflection. Very
rare among the participants is having a Bible as
textbook. In many instances I experienced, only
the lay leaders, the church workers and a handful
of ordinary members especially those catego-
r i z e d i n t h e c o mmu n i t y a s
the intelligentsia participate in the discussion.
No critical analysis of the church and society
that bore healthy discussion on the text and the
issues confronting it are visible in the activity.

Moreover, our materials though well-
prepared and elegantly written do not reach the
end consumers of our churches effectively. Prob-
lems in terms of distribution, dissemination and
information exist among our churches aside from
the fact that the continuity of their production is
not properly ensured.

The absence of a sound, relevant and
workable Christian education system in our local
churches resulted in the dwindling of our mem-
bership because many of our members tend to
remain passive in participating to church activi-
ties especially pertaining education. Over time,
members no longer nurtured their faith and
veered away from the church and its activities.

In a book entitled Transforming the
World, speaking explicitly about members who
are deviating away from the church, Vincent
Cosmao said, On the one hand even Christians
no longer look to the church to tell them how
they should manage their personal lives, inter-
personal relationships and family or professional
responsibilities. But on the other hand even those
who do not frequent the church are inclined to
think that it may be qualified and somehow obli-
gated to share the task of grasping or guiding the
required transformations of the global system
affecting all. The fact remains, however, that the
church is expected to take an active part in re-
ducing inequality, poverty and injustice and in
exploring steps toward a more satisfactory or-
ganization of societal life.
51
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The many profanities of our teachings
and follies of our beliefs sometimes hinder our
relevance to the transfusing realities in our
church and our society. Most of the time, we
mesmerize ourselves with things that are incon-
gruous to the existing situation of our people.
Emblazoned by the marvels of technological age
and developments, our programs are pre-
occupied with things that enhance these amazing
developments instead of pointing to the basic
issue we must address in our existence and being
as a church.

I remember a story I heard from an old
preacher regarding the fate of the lions capti-
vated in a place of high walls separating them
from the outside world. The story tells that old
lions are engaged in nitty-gritty talks of reviving
their old glories, young male lions are engaged
in competitions enhancing their prowess, lady-
lions on the other hand, are busy attending to
social clubs where they can display their acces-
sories and whims. Young lions are occupied with
adventurous activities exploring their fullest po-
tentials. One time, a young and inquisitive lion
asked an old lion who shy away from all the ac-
tivities mentioned. The young lion asked the old
one while he was on a pensive mood, Why are
you not joining any of them? The old lion said,
Do not associate with any of them in their re-
spective groups. They are all silly mending with
nonsense activities. They are engulfed with ir-
relevant activities concerning our real and main
goal of tearing down the walls in order for us to
be liberated from our captivity. None of them is
working on that.

Most of the time my friends, we are busy
attending with nonsense and irrelevant teachings
that do not stimulate our imaginations and draw
us to compelling action dealing with our main
goal of tearing down the walls of our captivity
that will finally lead us to liberation.

CHALLENGES AND PERSPECTIVES

Our challenge is to carry out Christian educa-
tion program that is transformative and liberat-
ing vis--vis the Philippine scenario. It should
empower our people towards transformation. It
shall be germane in such a way it responds to
the realities of our situation amidst the struggles
we are in. It must go beyond our traditional
bounds of church activities within the four walls
of the sanctuary and must seep into the lifestyle
of people in every facet of living.
One document postulated, If we want to
transform the dimension of mission towards the
relational model in contrary to "one against the
other", there should be a shift in the Christian
education. This shift may have to take seriously
the experiences of the people of other faiths, the
openness to learn from other scriptures, and to
learn to live with people of other faith in toler-
ance. Our early teaching had only stressed the
weak points in other faiths and put Christianity
on a pedestal. This cannot happen today.
Another basic reason why mainline
Protestant churches shrink in their membership
is lack of connectedness to educate their mem-
bers in terms of basic doctrinal teachings. In con-
trast to the materials produced by fundamentalist
groups which seems to be appealing to our
church members, our Christian education materi-
als are formulated with highly verbalized words
that are hardly understandable by our members.
Their contents are written in parlance that is
vague to the understanding of the common tao.
Our mere grasp of the materials written
in our own dialect is not sufficient to enlighten
our vision of realizing an empowered, self-
reliant and caring community of believers com-
mitted to the pursuit of a transformed church and
society towards an abundant and meaningful life
for all. Our understanding should be translated
into active role on how we can help transform
our people towards liberation.
We must ensure that the content of our
materials should direct the issues we confront as
a third world nation suffering the pangs of impe-
rialism, US expansionism, economic crisis due to
policies that favors foreign capitalist, political
instability, moral degradation, religious plural-
51
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ity and continuing struggle towards self-
realization and identity. The hottest item among
these issues today is the large scale mining that
bore heavy militarization in the mining areas,
human rights violation, extra judicial killings in
the tapestry of impunity and environmental ruin
caused by the tailings of mining activity. How
then do we educate our church members on
these issues confronting the church and society?

In the recently concluded UCCP Na-
tional Secretariat Assessment and Planning last
July 18-21, 2012 at the UCCP National Office,
the Workshop Cluster assigned to CEN and ECD
presented observations and recommendations on
the state of Christian education programs of the
UCCP in her various judicatories. The group
said in part, No substantial CEN materials of
wide circulation are accessed by the local
churches in order to carry out the programs of
the church. The need to substantiate this need
must be addressed by the church in her next pro-
gramming to reach out not only to her members
but for non-members. I was expecting in the
recommendations that an appropriate staff of the
CEN should be hired considering that the work
of Christian education among our members is a
vital need of our local churches.
Our UCCP Calendar Planner 2010-2012
stressed, The UCCP is perpetually engaged in
the task of educating its constituents about faith
in Jesus Christ. It is a continuing process of ena-
bling Christians, individually and in community,
to know Gods love, to worship God and to have
a basic understanding of commitment to the mis-
sion of Jesus in the world and through the Holy
Spirit. It is concerned with the wholistic growth
and development of each member-the church
worker, the lay, the children, youth, young adults
and the adults whose process is geared towards
inculcating a mature faith, equipped with critical
thought, positive attitudes, and promotes a strong
value formation that is expressive of our indige-
nous culture as Filipinos.

Our church has diverse composition of
varied interests and perspectives. Youth have
different needs depending on their age group and
on their different cultural, ethnic and religious
contexts. Young people can never be treated as a
homogenous group. Theological education of
youth cannot disregard these different needs, but
it should respond to and satisfy them, using in-
terdisciplinary and inter-religious approaches.
Women have issues and concerns that
they want to bring to the church programs. Men
have their own peculiarities too. While children
and young adults need to be attended in our pro-
gramming in order to reach out to them. Our
Christian education program needs to be lumped
into one catering to all sectors of our church. If
we say that the local church is the locus of our
mission, then by all means, we should start with
all sectors from the local church up to the higher
judicatories.
My observation is that we fail to reach
out to the sectoral needs of our members in the
UCCP. Church mandated organizations are left
alone to tend their own affair that is why most of
the time they swerved from the theme of the
church and concentrate their programs within the
bounds of their limitations. UCCP needs to
evaluate the emphases it gives to Christian edu-
cation program in order to reach out to a great
extent of her membership in all levels and sec-
tors. Also, there seems to be a one-sided empha-
sis on the great commission. That is of baptizing
alone. According to the words of Jesus, the com-
mission also includes the role of "teaching"
which the Church has taken for granted as
preaching. The etymology of the word "teach"
offers a significant clue to the nature of the activ-
ity itself. The English word comes from the
Latin ducare meaning "to lead" and the prefix
e, meaning "out". At its root meaning then, edu-
cation is an activity of "leading out".
According to Thomas Groome, three di-
mensions of emphasis can be discerned in
"leading out". These are: 1) a point from which,
2) a present process, and 3) a future toward
which the leading out is done. In this sense, edu-
cation has an "already", a "being" realized, and a
"not yet" dimension to it. These three emphases
51
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discernible in the word education have not been
taken seriously in the present teaching ministry
of the Church. Often in the present Christian
education, as well as mission model, there is no
place to hear the already experience of the
learner. Nor is there any possibility of helping
the learner to discover the truth. Since the educa-
tional agenda is designed by the teaching minis-
try of the Church as "the ultimate", the dimen-
sion of "not yetness" toward which the leading
out is done, is designed by the Church. In the
pedagogical terms of Paulo Freire, this attitude is
called "domestication". It is a fact that in most of
the Christian education content, songs and sto-
ries still continue to stress the religious superior-
ity complex and arrogance, perpetuate religious
fundamentalism and reduce the vision inherent
in the gospel to a narrow parochialism.

CONCLUDING PART:

The arena of our Christian education pro-
grams are the prevalent issues of society where
we should apply in practice the faith that we are
professing considering the context of our
time. Let us discern what God truly wants us to
do and obey in these critical times.

In furtherance of this dream, let us work
hand in hand with one another forsaking differ-
ences in interpretations of beliefs that always
divide us instead of uniting us. Following
Charles H. Krafts recommendation in his
book, Appropriate Christianity saying in part,
Our practice should be interpreted in their
proper cultural contexts, however, not as a denial
of scripturally revealed supra-cultural ethical
standards, but as the first step toward advocating
change in that direction. We must see the gospel
effectively and deeply communicated around the
world. As a church and as individual members,
we are always on vanguard for the work of
building a society that is just and humane to-
gether with the community and the people
thereat. As one preacher noted, and I concur:

A church needs to develop a sound
philosophy for Christian education
based on the Word of God. A sound
philosophical statement is not
enough, however, to experience the
transformation of lives. What is on
paper must be put into practice for it
to make a difference. Too often, an
incongruent situation exists between
what is on paper and the actual opera-
tive philosophy of the church's leader-
ship.

The observation goes on, In situa-
tions where accountability, transparency, and
patterns of governance in church leadership
are low, questions are raised about the way
theological education may have contributed
to these problems. While not all failures in
the performance of church leaders can be at-
tributed to the shortcomings in theological
education, a valid question is raised: what
emphasis should be given to character and
spiritual formation, good governance and
management principles, and appropriate
codes of conduct for Church leadership in
theological education curricula?

Our education should be an education for
all. As expressed by the global conference
on Theological Education enabled by WCC/ETE
in Oslo in 1996,

There is consensus among us on the holis-
tic character of theological education and
ministerial formation, which is grounded
in worship, and combines and inter-relates
spirituality, academic excellence, mission
and evangelism, justice and peace, pastoral
sensitivity and competence, and the forma-
tion of character.

For it brings together education of:
the ear to hear Gods word and the cry of
Gods people;
the heart to heed and respond to the suffer-
ing;
the tongue to speak to both the weary and
the arrogant;
the hands to work with the lowly;
the mind to reflect on the good news of the
gospel;
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the will to respond to Gods call;
the spirit to wait on God in prayer, to
struggle and wrestle with God, to be
silent
in penitence and humility and to intercede
for the church and the world;
the body to be the temple of the Holy
Spirit.

Candidly, a glance into our UCCP con-
text in terms of Christian education has been dis-
closed to you through this modest proposition.
May we be guided in our programming with the
realities of our context in order to propagate the
basic teachings of the church in their pristine or-
thodoxy? Empowering our people towards trans-
formation will liberate us from the bondages en-
slaving us for a long time. Only in serious educa-
tion can we empower our members in order to
live and act out their faith so that our beloved
UCCP will not lose her exuberance today and in
the years to come until His kin-dom reigns.
Amen.

(Keynote Address delivered by North-
ern Luzon Jurisdiction (NLJ) Bishop
Elorde Mendoza Sambat to the UCCP
Church Workers Convocation, Silliman
University-Divinity School, Dumaguete
City on August 28, 2012)
51
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Introduction

Mission and Education

The CWC Theme for three years (starting
in 2012) is Empowering the Church for Mis-
sion and this years focus is The Church and
Christian Education: Challenges and Perspec-
tives. What is the relationship between church
mission and Christian Education?

Education was a big part of Jesus mis-
sion he was addressed as Rabbi (Teacher),
Rabboni (My Teacher) and he taught in various
kinds of setting. Education was consequently a
big part of the disciples mission after disciples
have learned from their teacher, they are ex-
pected to teach others. In both cases, the educa-
tion that they did was not labeled Christian Edu-
cation. Perhaps it could be called Education on
The Way i.e. the way of Jesus or of the Jesus
movement.

Then many years later, as missionary ef-
forts spread to various parts of the world, educa-
tion was a big part of mission. Education was
definitely Christian Education it was not only
Catechism or Sunday School as we tend to un-
derstand CE; it referred to the education that was
offered at schools set up by Christian missionar-
ies including the various skills such as reading,
writing, arithmetic and Christian character for-
mation. As agents of European denominations,
the early missionaries constructed schools in
their countries colonies. Schools were deemed
necessary to help spread the gospel of Jesus
Christ and for the infant church to grow.

Another example of how education is
related to mission is through the story of the first
Protestant missionary to northern Thailand,
Daniel McGilvary. Set on pioneering mission in
Chiang Mai, he focused on medicine and educa-
tion, because the Prince of Chiang Mai did not
allow evangelism. In fact, education and medi-
cine did address the needs of the people. It is

said that the
Northern Thais
were tolerant
enough to listen
to some indirect
C h r i s t i a n
preaching as
they received
medication and
education. In
Africa, recent
studies showed
that schools were
inducements to
lure Africans
into the missionary orbit. These schools did not
enable them to challenge colonial rule. As Fr.
Joseph Shanahan, head of the Holy Ghost Fa-
thers in Eastern Nigeria said, Those who hold
the school hold the country, hold its religion,
hold its future.

So, is this the way to go with Christian
Education especially in our contemporary
situation?

Since CE is closely linked to mission, let
us revisit Matthew 28:19-20, which is the usual
basis or mandate of church mission. Let us do
multiple readings of the text (1) most common
or traditional reading; (2) post-colonial reading;
(3) feminist reading; (4) intertextual reading; and
(5) educational perspective. I will also add an
evangelical critique of the traditional reading.

Matthew 28:19-20
Therefore, go and make disciples of all na-
tions, baptizing them in the name of the Fa-
ther and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
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Bible Study 1: Christian Education - An Arm of Mission?
Doing Multiple Readings of the Great Commission

and teaching them to obey everything I have
commanded you. And surely I am with you
always.

Most Common (Traditional) Reading

The most common or traditional reading
of this passage is that this is the Great Commis-
sion, which provides the clear mandate for all
followers of Jesus, then and now. According to
this traditional reading, this commissioning
statement sets the method of mission: the send-
ing of the 11 disciples and all of us [who are to-
days disciples] to proclaim the good news
[evangelism], with the goal of converting or sav-
ing people everywhere and baptizing them.
Many Asian Christians today literally follow this
commission so they do mission training, in-
cluding language training, and send out people to
other countries. Even though the Philippines is
90% Christian, many Asian missionaries still
come to our country as they try to obey this com-
mission. For these ardent missionaries, baptism
and church growth, i.e. numerical growth are
signs of success in mission.

A Post-Colonial Reading

One of the more recent developments in
biblical scholarship is post-colonial reading.
This means critiquing colonialist ideology; re-
penting of ones complicity with colonialists and
their ideology; lifting up the voices, laments and
aspirations of the conquered or colonized people.
Post-colonial readers would readily recall that
early Christian mission generally came on the
wings of colonialism thus, it carried a colonial
ideology: Conquer the world for Christ! The
early missionaries also generally imposed and
universalized their own standards i.e. to
civilize the pagans / heathen / barbarians. It
also carried a sense of superiority: bringing
Christ to the nations as if Christ was never in
the colonized countries before their mission
work. Is our God too small that we can carry
God in our pockets or suitcases when we go on
mission?

Furthermore, the early missionaries gen-
erally did not see the other as an equal subject.
In the words of George Soares-Prabhu, an Indian
theologian, the early missionaries sought to anni-
hilate peoples belief in their names, in their
languages, in their environment, in their heritage
of struggle, in their unity, in their capacities, and
ultimately in themselves This imperialist /
colonialist ideology, which came with Christian-
ity, is still remembered and felt by many Asian
people. This is partly the reason why Christian-
ity is still viewed as a foreign religion: that even
if it was born in Asia, Christianity came back to
Asia through colonialism. Therefore, for post
colonial readers, the traditional reading of the so-
called Great Commission is imperialist / coloni-
alist!
A Feminist Reading

Feminist readers would also bring their
question to the text: What happened to the
women? They who were the first to be at the
tomb at dawn; they who witnessed the violent
51
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Dr. Hope S. Antone is a native of Dumaguete.
She earned her Bachelor of Mass Communication
and Master of Divinity from Silliman University.
She received a masters degree in New Testament
studies from Presbyterian Theological College
and Seminary in Korea and her Doctor of Educa-
tion major in Religious Education from Presbyte-
rian School of Christian Education and Union
Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia,
U.S.A. in 2001. She has served as Joint Executive
Secretary for Faith, Mission and Unity of the
Christian Conference of Asia, and continues to be
the publication secretary of Asian Womens Re-
source Center In Gods Image. She now works
with Payap University as Asian Accompanier,
teaching at McGilvary College of Divinity and
helping with the internalization of PYU. Hope is
a feminist and an advocate for interreligious un-
derstanding.

In spite of her being a prolific writer, an editor
and a renowned lecturer, Hope remains simple
and humble: an embodiment of the essence of
Christian Religious Education.
earthquake and the rolling back of the stone;
they who were commissioned by the angel to
go quickly and tell his disciples (that) he has
risen from the dead; they who were first to
meet Jesus, who then commissioned them to be
evangelists: Do not be afraid. Go and tell my
brothers to go to Galilee there they will see
me.

So, why are women not counted as disci-
ples in this passage? Is the so-called Great
Commission placed here to reinforce patriarchal
mission? So feminists have raised the need to
critically read this passage in view of the whole
chapter of Matthew 28. They try to remind read-
ers of scripture of the egalitarian community that
Jesus tried to create where women and men are
regarded and treated as equally created in the
image of God.

Intertextual Reading:
Mahavaga 1:10-11 with Matthew 28:16-20

George Soares-Prabhu who is very involved in
intertextual reading of scriptures, particularly
Christian and Buddhist scriptures, narrates a
commissioning passage from the Buddhist Ma-
havaga:

(1.10) At that time there were sixty-one
Arahats in the world. (1.11) The Lord
said to the Bhikkus, I am delivered, O
Bhikkus, from all fetters, human and
divine. (cf. Mt 28:18) You, O Bhikkus,
are also delivered from all fetters, hu-
man and divine. Go now, O Bhikkus,
and wander for the profit of many, for
the happiness of many, and out of com-
passion for the world, for the good,
profit, and happiness of gods and human
beings. (cf. Mt 28:19) Let not two of
you go the same way. Preach, O Bhik-
kus, the dhamma, which is good in the
beginning, good in the middle, and good
in the end, in the spirit and in the letter.
Proclaim a consummate, perfect and
pure life of holiness. (cf. Matt 28:20a)
And I will go also, O Bhikkus, to
Uruvela, Senanigama, in order to preach
the dhamma. (cf. Mt 28:20b)

Reading the passages from Buddhist and
Christian scriptures, he shares some insights. Ac-
cording to both readings from the Buddhist and
Matthean traditions, there is a common expected
disposition of missionaries that missionaries
are those with prior enlightenment after having
been discipled by their Teacher; with that prior
enlightenment, they do not simply follow a mili-
tary-like command they freely take on the
command as their response. In terms of the goal
of mission the two are concerned about the
welfare of the people being made disciples
while this is implied in the Christian passage, it
is clearly mentioned in the Buddhist passage. In
terms of the content of teaching: Jesus com-
manded, teach them to obey all that I have com-
manded, e.g. Be perfect as God is perfect;
while the Buddha stated, teach the dhamma or
perfect and pure life of happiness.

An intertextual reading of religious texts
in our local community would hopefully inspire
us to take a more dialogical rather than an ag-
gressive or adversarial attitude toward people of
other faiths.

An Educational Perspective

According to the rules of grammar
(sentence construction and parts of speech), the
main verb and imperative in this commissioning
passage is make disciples ( The
phrases baptizing them and teaching them
are participial phrases which are parts of depend-
ent clauses. They therefore serve as modifiers of
make disciples. So the key idea of the passage
is make disciples.

From an educational perspective educa-
tion involves teaching and learning. Now
teaching applies to the imparting of informa-
tion or skill so others may learn. Learning has
a three-fold object: to gain knowledge
(informational learning); to gain understanding
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(hermeneutical learning); and to gain skill
(pragmatic learning). But teaching and learning
do not simply take place as a one-way process
(like transferring knowledge from the teacher to
the learner). According to Paulo Freire, educa-
tion is transformation and it involves teacher and
learner who are equal subjects in a mutual rela-
tionship. Education is not just one-way but dia-
logical. So reading the commissioning passage
with an educational perspective would lead us to
question: Is discipling only one-way? Is there
room for Christians to be discipled by other faith
travelers or pilgrims?
Evangelical Critique of Mission as Conversion
I came across a critique of mission as
conversion from the statement of the 1
st
Interna-
tional Consultation on Discipleship (1999, Eng-
land). In that consultation, John R. W. Stott
commented about the strange and disturbing
paradox of contemporary Christianity is that
while there is enormous statistical growth, it is
without corresponding growth in discipleship.
"God is not pleased with superficial disciple-
ship, warned Stott.
The consultation materials also quoted
Tokunboh Adeyemo, an African theologian who
commented on the phenomenal numerical
growth of Christianity as matched only by the
mind-boggling butchery of Christians engaged in
the horrors of ethnic cleansing. "The church in
Africa is one mile long, but only one inch deep,"
said Adeyemo.
What about the church in the Philip-
pines? Do we also have the length of our faith
but not the depth of our faith?
In that consultation, about 450 partici-
pants representing 70 organizations from 50
countries of the world affirmed that the so-called
Great Commission is not about conversion but
about disciple-making or discipling. They wrote
in a common statement that disciple-making is
not about replicable, transferable methods
[marketeering of Christianity] but about the mys-
tery of two walking together. Methods treat dis-
cipleship as a problem to be solved. Mentoring
treats discipleship as a relationship to be lived.
They defined discipleship as a process that takes
place within accountable relationships over a
period of time for the purpose of bringing believ-
ers to spiritual maturity in Christ.

The consultation statement includes a de-
scription of the marks of spiritual maturity which
discipling should aspire to:

It was he who gave some to be apos-
tles, some to be prophets, some to be
evangelists, and some to be pastors and
teachers, to prepare Gods people for
works of service, so that the body of
Christ may be built up until we all reach
unity in the faith and in the knowledge
of the Son of God and become mature,
attaining to the whole measure of the
fullness of Christ.

Then we will no longer be infants,
tossed back and forth by the waves, and
blown here and there by every wind of
teaching and by the cunning and crafti-
ness of people in their deceitful schem-
ing. Instead, speaking the truth in love,
we will in all things grow up into him
who is the Head, that is, Christ. From
him the whole body, joined and held
together by every supporting ligament,
grows and builds itself up in love, as
each part does its work. [Ephesians
4:11-16]

If Ephesians 4:11-16 (marks of spiritual matur-
ity) should be read alongside Matthew 28:19-20
(call for discipling rather than conversion), then
we need to find the implications for our ministry
of Christian Education.

Let us think of these together by asking
ourselves the following questions:

How is our church, through Christian Edu-
cation, preparing Gods people (or equip-
ping the saints) for works of service i.e.
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where our congregation members grow by
serving according to the gifts God has given
them? Works of service here do not only
mean the traditional activities we do in the
church (which would only be self-serving)
but the services that members do in the wider
community. For example, keeping the Sab-
bath has implications not only on how we
spend Sunday (e.g. rest and worship). It also
means ensuring justice, peace and integrity
of all creation. It also means consciously
doing ethical practices in the work places and
in the community regardless of what our
fields or careers might be.

How is our church, through Christian Educa-
tion, building up the body of Christ to reach
unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the
Son of God?

We know that while we have this heritage of
being the United Church of Christ in the Phil-
ippines, we continue to be very divided due
to theological, ideological and other differ-
ences. How are we equipping ourselves to be
agents of reconciliation? How can we con-
cretely live out the biblical affirmation that
through Christ Jesus we have been reconciled
to God and are now given the ministry of rec-
onciliation? Similarly, having received Gods
lavish hospitality (of acceptance and forgive-
ness in spite of who we are), how are we at
giving hospitality to others in spite of who
they are?

How is our church, through Christian
Education, helping our members to be-
come mature, the measure being the full-
ness of Christ?

In this digital age, the means of communica-
tion has been so accessible and portable that
it has greatly changed our mode of communi-
cation. The social media connects us with
many people, even those we hardly know.
We are also exposed to an overload of infor-
mation all the time. Included in the informa-
tion overload are offers of cheap grace and
false promises of prosperity the cross-less
faith! How are we preparing our congrega-
tion, especially the younger people, so they
will not be tossed to and fro by such waves of
teaching? Are we utilizing these media by
disseminating sound or wholesome teach-
ings? Despite the ease in communication
through the social media, we still need to
equip our congregations with good personal
communication skills especially speaking
the truth in love. Many times we do not
know how to speak the truth in love so
wed rather hide our problems or issues under
the carpet or inside the closet. Many times
we do not even communicate anymore with
each other because we would rather com-
municate through the social media. Finally,
the measure of our growth into maturity is the
fullness of Christ how are we in our growth
into Christ-likeness?

Small Group Discussion

In small groups, reflect on these three
questions and share how your church or con-
gregation is doing in terms of Christian Educa-
tion and Mission that are focused on discipling
(disciple-making), using the marks of spiritual
maturity as your benchmarks of success.
51
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Bible Study 2: Education Behind, At and Beyond the Wall
Excerpts from 2 Kings 18-19
Hezekiah was 25 years old when he be-
came king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for 29
years He did what was right in the eyes of the
Lord, just as his father David had done. (18: 2-
3)
In the 14
th
year of King Hezekiahs reign,
Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the for-
tified cities of Judah and captured them. King
Hezekiah sent this message to the king of As-
syria: I have done wrong. Withdraw from me
and I will pay whatever you demand of me.
The king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah three
hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of
gold. (18: 13-14)
The king of Assyria sent his supreme
commander, chief officer and field commander
with a large army to King Hezekiah at Jerusa-
lem Tell Hezekiah: This is what the great
king, the king of Assyria, says: On what are you
basing this confidence of yours? ... On whom are
you depending, that you rebel against
me? (18:17, 19, 20)
Then Eliakim, Shebna and Joah, repre-
sentatives of King Hezekiah, said to the field
commander, Please speak to your servants in
Aramaic, since we understand it. Dont speak to
us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the
wall. But the commander replied, Was it only
to your master and you that my master sent me
to say these things, and not to the men sitting on
the wall who, like you, will have to eat their
own filth and drink their own urine? (18:26)
This is what the king of Assyria says:
Make peace with me and come out to me. Then
every one of you will eat from his own vine and
fig tree and drink water from his own cistern,
until I come and take you to a land like your
own, a land of grain and new wine, a land of
bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and
honey. Choose life and not death! (18: 31-32)
When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore
his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into
the temple of the Lord. He sent his officials to
the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz Hezekiah
prayed: O Lord, our God, deliver us from
(Sennacheribs) hand so that all kingdoms on
earth may know that you alone, O Lord, are
God. (19:1, 5-7, 19)

[Isaiahs prophecy was]: This is what
the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria: He
will not enter this city or shot an arrow here. He
will not come before it with shield or build a
siege ramp against it. By the way he came he
will return; he will not enter this city, declares
the Lord.

That night the angel of the Lord went
out and put to death 185,000 men in the Assyrian
camp. (19:35) One day, while he was wor-
shipping in the temple of his god, his sons cut
Sennacherib down with the sword (19:32-37)

What does this text have to do with Christian
Education?

2 Kings 18-19 describes a dramatic en-
counter in 701 BCE between an imperial power
(Assyria) and a tiny kingdom (Judah). The ac-
count is depicted in two parts. The first part is
the conversation at the wall of the city (ch. 18),
where imperial negotiators stand, shouting terms
of surrender, taunting and mocking not only
King Hezekiah of Judah, but also Yahweh. The
second part is the conversation behind the wall
or inside the city (ch. 19), where a different peo-
ple share a different language (Hebrew), a differ-
ent vision (Yahwehs will for them), and a dif-
ferent agenda (trust only in the power of the liv-
ing God). But as the story shows, the dominant
imperial power also uses the communal language
(Hebrew) instead of the international language
(Aramaic).

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Walter Brueggemann: Behind the Wall, At
the Wall

In his reading of 2 Kings 18-19, Walter
Brueggemann, a noted Old Testament scholar,
concluded that people of faith must be bilin-
gual. Brueggemanns use of the word
bilingual is more than just knowing two literal
languages (e.g. in this story, Hebrew and
Aramic). He was referring instead to the theo-
logical literacy of the people of faith. He says
that being bilingual means that people of faith
must have a public language for negotiation at
the wall and a communal language for use be-
hind the wall. The communal conversation be-
hind the wall is very decisive in their relating
with the dominant imperial (threatening) power.
Judah, a tiny kingdom without visible resources,
was surrounded by the Assyrian army. Yet, the
people of Judah, under the leadership of King
Hezekiah, remained firm, calm and fearless. Not
visible to the imperial power was the grief work
of King Hezekiah: he calls upon Yahweh, the
living God, and asks for the prophecy of Isaiah.
So while public language is for negotiating at the
wall, communal language is for processing what
to do, by talking to each other and to God behind
the wall, within the community.

For Brueggemann, the tradition of suspi-
cion in the communal conversation behind the
wall is the best critical vantage point from which
to assess the dominant discourse and its claims
of absolute ideology. Being against the domi-
nant imperial discourse, the tradition of suspi-
cion is the source of vitality and passion of a
faith community; even of compassion and hu-
manness, especially for those who are disem-
powered.

However, Brueggeman cautions against
the possibility of absolutizing the communal
conversation. He said the conversation behind
the wall should not ignore other conversations or
imagine itself to be the only conversation. When
it does, it also becomes ideological and idola-
trous. So there should also be a critique of the
conversation behind the wall i. e. through
awareness of other conversations which must be
taken seriously on their own terms. So both con-
versations at the wall and behind the wall are
important. So Christians must be taught to be
bilingual.

Some Personal Examples of Bilingual Profi-
ciency

My husband and I agreed that we would
teach our children our Asian languages in addi-
tion to English. He would teach the children
Chinese and Malay, while I would teach them
Cebuano. We tried to do this when we lived in
Hong Kong. When we moved to the US for my
doctoral studies, we tried to continue this prac-
tice. But one day, my son said, Mom, Dad, I
dont want to speak Chinese or Cebuano any-
more because no one else understands and the
children are already laughing at me because I
look different and my hair is different. I com-
forted him by saying that when the African
American children wanted to touch his hair, it
was because they found his thick straight hair
very different from their short curly hair. In this
matter of bilingual/trilingual proficiency in
Asian languages, I admit that my husband and I
failed as parents.

But my family has another experience of
bilingual proficiency, similar to what Bruegge-
mann was talking about. When we returned to
Hong Kong after my doctoral studies, we en-
rolled our children in a private Christian school.
This school was quite open about their mission
to convert the non-Christian students and their
families. Fortunately, our children always
shared something with us that they heard in
school. One day, my son, 9 years old then came
home and asked, Daddy, is it true that you are
missing one rib because God used it to make
mom and so I have to look for the girl who has
my missing rib? Another day, my daughter, 8
years old then came home saying, Our teacher
said that we should not marry a Buddhist per-
son. Another time, one of them said, Our
teacher said it is a sin to be gay. While my hus-
band and I felt angry at how our children were
being misled by such distorted teachings, we de-
cided to tell our children that our family had a se-
cret: that no matter what their teacher or principal
told them, they must remember that our family
might hold a different view. So we encouraged
them to tell us whatever they were told. We told
them that our family believes that everyone is a
child of God, whether one is gay or Buddhist or
what not. We also told them that our familys
way of reading the Bible is to find the hidden or
deeper meaning rather than what the words simply
say. So the deeper meaning of woman being
made from mans rib is that man and woman, boy
and girl, too are made equal by God. I think our
family discussions gave the children a good foun-
dation and prepared them for their later exposures
e.g. to a more liberal Christian school in Chiang
Mai and then to very liberal universities in New
Zealand and Australia. So equipping our children
for the conversation at the wall can be done
through our constant conversation behind the
wall.
But what if my family held the conserva-
tive point of view and the school the liberal view?
There is also the danger that either one of the con-
versations would get absolutized. To guard
against this, the two conversations must be cri-
tiqued so that neither becomes absolutized. To
imagine the uncritiqued faith conversation (behind
the wall) to be the only real or true one, and to
claim that all must join it, would be just as dan-
gerous as the dominant conversation (at the wall)
which claims to be the absolute one.
Tabita Kartika Christiani: Behind the Wall, At
the Wall, Beyond the Wall

Indonesian Christian educator Tabita Kar-
tika Christiani has expanded Brueggemanns idea
of bilingual conversations. In her doctoral disser-
tation on Christian Education for peacebuilding in
pluralistic Indonesia, she proposed that Christian
Education should aim for conversations behind, at
and beyond the wall:
CE behind the wall this is teaching Christians
the language used within the faith community,
including its symbols, images, teachings, values.
More than merely transmitting and repeating
the formulated church doctrines and dogmas,
this involves learning, living and growing
within the faith community where Christians
share their theological reflections on their life
experiences. This includes learning how to
read the Bible, study Christian tradition, and do
contextual theologizing.

CE at the wall this is enabling Christians to
actively learn about and appreciate other relig-
ions and to be ready for interreligious dia-
logue. This interreligious dialogue includes
consciously living together in the neighbor-
hood, intentionally caring for and helping each
other rather than simply tolerating each other
but without anything to do with each other.

CE beyond the wall this is equipping Chris-
tians to cross boundaries and borders, to go
beyond the walls of their churches, and to
work together with people of other faiths for
peace and justice. When they have done some
actions together, they can also enter into dia-
logue to reflect on the religious implications of
what they did together.

Christiani has focused on interreligious
issues because of her pluralistic context in In-
donesia. But her framework could also work
for other contexts. The framework could work
in the context of dictatorial or repressive states
where there is no freedom of religion; or in
very liberal states where the sacred and the
secular (religion and politics) have been clearly
separated; or in states where ethnic minorities
and the majority population are in conflict; or
in todays postmodern world of conflicting val-
ues, collapsing foundations, and de-absolutized
(or relativized) claims. The story of 2 Kings 18-
19 is about remembering who and whose we
are in the face of dominant and threatening
power. It challenges us to prepare and equip
our congregations to be well rooted /
grounded in our own faith community but also
to reach out to the wider community.

51
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Small Group Discussion (or turn to your
neighbors)

What are the faces/images of the dominant/
imperial/ threatening power that affect our com-
munities of faith in the Philippines today?

How are we preparing and equipping our congre-
gations through Christian Education to deal with
such threatening power? Which of the three
types of CE have we tried, would like to try, or
needs to be improved:

CE behind the wall which is more than merely
transmitting traditions and practices; it includes
learning to critically study the Bible and our tra-
ditions (e.g. by using multiple readings than just
the traditional reading), and doing contextual
theologizing.

CE at the wall which is more than learning to be
tolerant; it is equipping Christians for dialogue,
starting with appreciating the other. Who is the
other at the wall in the context of your congrega-
tion?

CE beyond the wall which is more than just hav-
ing an exposure to a different place or commu-
nity; it means intentionally crossing borders,
boundaries and barriers to reach out to and work
with those who may be other or different.
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II. The Partnership of the Church and
Christian Education:

As we entered the new millennium, we
are faced with its many unknowns. Christian
education is facing all the challenges of the un-
known. Christian education and the church must
be partners in facing this unknown. We need to
empower the church with resources that match
the needs of growing Christians as well as those
outside of the faith. Christian education is at the
very heart of the life of the church. Christian
Education is vital for the future of the church.
Hence, those who love the church ought to love
also Christian education.

Christian Education is a church ministry
and it supports and undergirds all other minis-
try. As a ministry it engages people in the under-
standing of Jesus commandments to love God
and to love neighbor. It is an activity that has the
goal of edifying the church but at the same time
helps persons to experience life in Christ so that
the persons will become witnesses of Gods love
for the world. Christian education encounters
people of all ages so that they are nurtured in
faith, grow in knowledge and experience, and
inspired and empowered to live as disciples of
Jesus Christ. Furthermore, Christian education
helps church members in the formation of their
faith so that these members will not only grow in
their faith but that they also become instruments
of Gods will; that they become instruments of
change inside and outside of the faith commu-
nity. Christian Education promotes the healing,
preaching, teaching and reconciling mission to
which the faith community is called. It is the
ministry of the church to introduce persons into
the life and mission of the community of Chris-
tian faith.

From the early period of the church edu-
cation, CE has already served the mission of the
church and in a way it resulted to healthy
growth. Of course there was a time when Chris-

I. Introduction
We have all kinds of issues in CE and we
are concerned because we know that Christian
Education (CE) is the lifeblood of our church.
So it is really a challenge to me to decide which
issues should be included today. We think of
what bible content to teach, what models and
methodologies to use, who are our learners and
who are qualified to teach, where is the best
place to teach, and so on and so forth. There are
many Christian Education issues worth discuss-
ing especially that since the start of the SUDS
church workers convocation we have never fo-
cused on Christian Education.
Paul Lauby Lecture
The Church and Christian Education: Challenges and Perspectives
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Jeaneth Harris Faller earned her Bachelor of
Divinity and Master of Divinity from Silli-
man University Divinity School. She also
earned a Bachelor of Arts from Divine Word
College in Legazpi City. Her Master of Theol-
ogy under the Southeast Asia Graduate School
of Theology (SEAGST) of the Association of
Theological Schools in Southeast Asia
(ATESEA). She began teaching at the Divin-
ity School in 1999 and left in 2007 for her
Doctor of Theology program at Lutheran
Theological Seminary in Hongkong in 2010.
meet these challenges. Publishing houses part-
nered with local churches, Bible colleges, liberal
colleges and evangelical seminaries in the pro-
duction of materials. As a result Christian Edu-
cation expanded its vision to the whole of human
growth and development. The church developed
Creative Christian Education for adolescents and
young adults. By the 1970s the church Sunday
school was revitalized, and strategies to nurture
the family to match the human stage of develop-
ment were developed. Thus, Christian Education
today remains one of the most important minis-
tries of the church. The church will be crippled
without it.

III. Understanding Christian Education

What is Christian Education? Well it is eve-
rything! A committee; an educational program; a
ministry; to some students a subject na madali
(an easy subject) some male pastors believe that
they are not cut for it, that is a work that is tai-
lored made for women. To some of our mem-
bers it is either Bible study or Sunday school.
Indeed, there are many different understandings,
definitions and even misconceptions on Christian
Education. This is maybe because its nature is
multidisciplinary. Its foundation is biblical stud-
ies and theology but Christian education seeks to
integrate them with knowledge that is gleaned
from the social sciences, education, sociology,
and psychology. So, Christian Education is what
happens in the classroom of the seminary, in
church on Sunday mornings, during worship
time, in the church mandated organizations, dur-
ing VCS time and many others. Let me share
some definitions and facts about Christian Edu-
cation.
1.The word education is initially derived
from the Latin word educare, meaning to
educate to train. This Latin word is derived
from two other Latin words, e and duco. Which
means: I lead out of.Education, therefore,
means leading out - leading something out of
a person. So church education for this reason
becomes the process of encouraging the devel-
opment of God-given inherent gifts and the
tian education was limited to theological dis-
course rather than a ministry of the church. The
Christian communities because of the persecu-
tion did not have time to participate in this theo-
logical discourse. So this discourse was left to
the great thinkers of the predominant Roman and
Greek culture at the time. This culture greatly
influenced also the educational system which
provided fertile intellectual ground for the early
leaders of Christian communities to draw from
and refine Christian teaching. Later, monasteries
were established .These monasteries were the
first centers of Christian learning. At first this
Christian learning were initially for adult con-
verts but later, they catered to children and fo-
cused on matters of orthodox faith. The curricu-
lums centered on teaching the philosophical
foundations of Greek and Roman society as a
way to understand the theology and history of
the Church. The by product of this teaching was
that during the dark ages much of the important
teachings of classical cultures was preserved.

Even in times of persecution the early
Church fathers had views on what constituted a
good Christian education. However, at the close
of the 18th century the church started to claim
the nature of Christian Education as a ministry.
There led to the emergence of Sunday School
movement. The first Sunday School was pur-
posely done to attend to the children of the In-
dustrial Revolution, but later it gave attention to
the growing needs of children inside the church.
In the 19th century when the culture was chang-
ing this was responded to by the American Sun-
day School Union. At this period Christian edu-
cators prove to be valuable resources both to the
church and public schools. In the latter part of
the 1800 when the period of liberal theology and
the questioning of biblical authority arose, the
need to strengthen not only the churches but also
the church leadership began to be felt. So, the
churches established Bible Institutes. Literature
that focused on sound spiritual formation and
discipleship for both church leadership and pro-
fessors for Bible colleges were published. In the
20th century many changes especially in societal
values began to emerge. The church developed
new resources for children and young people to
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instruments in proclaiming Gods love in the
world so that the abundant life promised by God
to all will be realized. Christian Education is a
process by which those who have experienced a
personal spiritual rebirth in their relationship
with God, grow in the image of Christ and be-
come instruments in bringing the love of God to
all people.

3. Christian Education includes helping peo-
ple to be biblically informed. Christian educa-
tors need to appropriate the Bible in such a way
that it comes alive in the contemporary settings
of our learners lives. Christian Education needs
to have a sound Biblical foundation. As Robert
W. Pazmino puts it The Scripture is the essen-
tial source for understanding distinctively Chris-
tian elements in education. Therefore, it is cru-
cial that the Christian educators thoughts and
practices be guided by Gods revealed truths as
he or she seeks to be obedient to Christ in the
task of education. We all accept that the Bible
should remain to be the primary textbook of
Christian Education. For the Bible both supplies
the content of Christian instruction and provides
the direction, the models of education, the meth-
odology, and the rationale for Christian Educa-
tion. The Bible is the primary lens through which
the Christian educator perceives and prescribes
the character of education in the church. So, it is
not only necessary to affirm the important place
of the Bible in Christian education but also to
discover the use of it in Christian Education. Our
strength as an evangelical is the high regard we
are giving to the Scripture. We have taught it as
truth, tried to understand it and faithfully convey
its meaning. We believe that the scripture is the
word of God and we have to use it to reprove
and correct the learners daily living, to train,
nurture, discipline in holiness, in order that the
learners may become at each stage of his/her de-
velopment, expressing the Christ-life in the
world. The Bible should be used to transform life
instead of just throwing Bible words at them and
asking them to toss them back to us. We should
not use the Bible just to have our learners repeat
the words. We should lead them to live out what
they profess. In Christian education the Bible
helps us to connect doctrine with practice. The
knowledge which the Lord has given to each
person, and especially to each learner. However,
the word education is also often used today
not only to lead out/draw out of someone but to
put into someone something. This process is
called inducation or induction, or indoctrina-
tion. So education becomes now both that which
leads out from someone which God had previ-
ously put into them -- as well as that which we
implant from Gods world into someone
(something which was not in them before). So
both the words education (the teaching process
which is the harnessing of the gifts given to
every learner) and inducation (the teaching
process of encouraging the development of
knowledge and virtues in a human being, by in-
corporating them into his personality from the
outside-inwards). Education then is the process
of drawing things out of the learners and im-
planting things into the learners as whole per-
sons. Christian Education can now be defined as
that humanitarian discipline which educts or
extracts and develops those individual gifts
given by God to each person; and which inducts
or inculcates and develops those special graces,
general virtues and general items of knowledge
in accordance with Jesus Christ as the incarnate
Word of God and in consonance with Scripture.

2. One of the understandings on Christian
Education that was imprinted in my mind is
that which Dr. Hope Antone shared in one of
her classes. She defines Christian education as
all efforts of the whole church to make known
the love of God in Christ Jesus so that people of
all ages will respond in faith, grow as children of
God sustain a meaningful relationship within the
community of believers,(UCCP and other believ-
ers) and live out Gods will (fullness of life) in
the world. Indeed Christian Education is the
responsibility of all Christians. We are all tasked
to be involved in this ministry of the church. It is
our responsibility to educate and nurture the peo-
ple from all ages, gender and status and that they
may use Gods given abilities and gifts to make
known the love of God. We have to help our
people grow in faith as an individual and as a
community. We have to lead them to become
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Ecology. And in order for Christian education
to be an education for the whole person, it must
be an education that is informed by different
foundations (Biblical, Theological, Philosophi-
cal, historical and sociological, psychological,
curricular), by different Educational Principles
and Educational Practices. Yes, the church
Christian Education is an encompassing activity,
which attempts to spiritually uplift the members
of the congregation but it also aims to make
them part of the ministry of the church to the
world. Christian Education involves events that
form and transform. In the church the primary
Christian education tool is the church school or
Sunday school. However, Christian education
expands to include all activities and events that
call together communities for the purpose of
strengthening the church through the strengthen-
ing of individuals and groups spiritually and in
their daily walk with Christ in the world.

As a whole the Christian Education that
glorifies God is God centered. It views every
learner as a whole person; it views the Scripture
as its main content and relating it with realities.
God is indeed the center and object of our ap-
proach to education. However, Christian Educa-
tion that glorifies God is one that transforms in-
dividuals into mature followers of Jesus Christ.
Let me make it clear Christian education is not
simply about content, teaching methods, audio-
visual technology, or facilities. It is about peo-
ple. Its prime objective is to see the members of
the body both on the individual and corporate
levels to become mature in their relationship
with God and with others.

IV. The Challenges to Christian Education

How best can we educate or nurture our
generation of today in the midst of so many chal-
lenges that Christian Education is encountering?
Different churches and Christian institutions
based on their educational settings, locations,
levels of economic and educational status have
their own respective challenges. I cannot men-
tion all these challenges but let me try to mention
some of them. I am hoping that later we can have
learners must be led to search the Scriptures to
see the difference it will make in their lives. The
learners must be guided in finding personal spiri-
tual nourishment that is more vitalizing than
physical food and drink. All truth is Gods truth
wherever it may be found. This is particularly
appropriate of the social sciences, which enrich
our understanding of Christian Education. In es-
sence, we examine the findings presented to us
from the social sciences through the primary lens
of Scripture.

4. Christian Education requires a lifelong
learning and is best accomplished in the context
of a caring community that meets periodically in
both small and large assembly. Hence, it is the
done in the church, the Christian home, Christian
school, and Christians in whatever societal set-
ting they find themselves. All these settings are
viewed as the agencies of Christian Education,
or as the companion agencies. And in these set-
tings Christian Education involves helping peo-
ple to participate in the life of the Christian com-
munity as informed worshipping and caring Dis-
ciples of Christ. It always involves equipping
people for living responsibly in the world. It in-
volves under girding other ministries of the
church by equipping people of the church for
effective leadership. It is enabling persons to
grow as maturing Christians in the journey of
faith. It is also a political activity with pilgrims
in time that deliberately and intentionally attends
with them to the activity of God in our present,
to the story of the Christian faith community,
and to the vision of God's kingdom. Hence,
Christian education needs more trained clergy
and lay leaders.

5. Christian Education must address the
whole human being. For Christian education to
be truly educative it should involve the forma-
tion of heart, soul and might. It should involve
the whole person. It should involve learners how
to relate to God, neighbor and all of Gods crea-
tion. It recognizes that spiritual development is
related to physical, intellectual, emotional, social
and moral developments. This is what Wilhoit
and Dettoni called The Theory of Spiritual
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the scripture the content of Christian education
must include various burning issues of the times
with which we are struggling from. It is a chal-
lenge not to ignore our contextual issues like the
study of the environment, religious plurality,
widespread poverty, the impact of the national
economic policy, globalization, media explosion,
cultures, festivals, deepening fundamentalism,
increasing tendency to violence and widening
social imbalances and so on so forth. The chal-
lenge is how to use the Bible as the beginning
point and a reliable way to interpret the meaning
of God's liberative activity in all these issues in
human experience. It is also a challenge on how
the Christian community will be helped to look
at the Bible critically and see what it has to
teach. So that it will enable them to encounter
the Christian faith, to find meaning for their own
lives, and to commit themselves to discipleship.

Challenge 2: The Teacher

Issues on teachers vary from the qualified
and unqualified. First, some churches think that
the most qualified to teach is the pastor because
for them he/she is the one who is theologically
trained. The challenge is that the church fails to
develop among themselves one who will do the
task because the church has become dependent
on the pastor. Another challenge is when the pas-
tor does not want to teach or has no time to teach
because he/she has many other things to attend
to. What happens is that the church or the pastor
assigns/forces anybody in the church to do the
work even those without training or theological
background (basta meron lang). There are also
many times when laypeople especially teachers
by profession are assigned to teach even without
orientation and training on how to be Sunday
School teachers or Bible Study facilitators. On
the other hand, there are also those who are
highly skilled but cannot commit to teach. An-
other challenge of course is finding person to
teach; one who has the necessary skills and abili-
ties and willingness to teach. So in the church
the greatest need we have is to find teachers
who are devoted, creative, knowledgeable, com-
petent, Spirit filled, sincere in the teaching min-
istry. However, until now our greatest challenge
more time sharing the challenges you yourselves
have encountered or are encountering in your
respective local churches, institutions and work-
ing areas. Let me start from the first challenge.

V. Challenge1. The Materials and the Con-
tents of Christian Education

The challenges on the materials of/
Christian Education are of different kinds. It
starts from the limitations of funds down to scar-
city of materials being produced. From time to
time materials are being produced in the national
or conference levels but oftentimes it does not
reach many local churches. Sustaining the pro-
duction of these materials is also a problem, not
only because of financial reason but also because
not many writers commit themselves to write.
The result is that materials are not produced on a
regular basis. So some churches use materials
produced by other denominations whose doc-
trines and theologies are undeniably different
from us. There are also times when materials
produced in the national level are not used by
conferences and local churches for many differ-
ent reasons. Some conferences and local
churches who can afford to finance their own
materials produced their own.
As to the content, I have started with
the affirmation that the bible remains to be
the content of our teaching ministry. I still af-
firm the use of Bible as the main source for our
teaching and it is very important to be Bible-
centered. But the greatest challenge is the use of
the Bible simply to impart its content. The
church school stops often at merely giving infor-
mation about the Bible. Quite often Christian
education is understood as imparting biblical
content, stories and creeds. It is used as a process
of conditioning the mind, body and spirit of
learners according to the popularly accepted
norms and beliefs of the Church and society. But
in Christian Education the emphasis is not know-
ing but becoming. The challenge is how Chris-
tian Education can become a process in which
learners are facilitated to look at themselves in
relation to scripture, the traditions of the Church
as well to their life situations. Hence, apart from
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thing to learn. Our learners challenged us to rec-
ognize them as persons with multiple intelligen-
ces and exposed to a multidisciplinary environ-
ment. Hence we can no longer dichotomize
them. Learners of today are well informed, ag-
gressive and more exposed to new knowledge
than those of the past generation. Knowledge
acquisition of learners today is relatively easy. In
the 19th century, learners are in one-room school
-houses given a tablet of paper and notebook,
pencils/pens. Lessons were limited from the lec-
tures of the teachers and in the books. Learners
of todays generation have a whole range of
technologies at their disposal. Our learners live
in an era where dissemination of knowledge and
information can be done with relative ease.

Challenge 4: Methodologies

At present there are already different
models, approaches and methodologies in Chris-
tian Education. On the other hand, since, we are
now living within a modern, secular and plural-
istic society we are now confronted with the
challenges in its method of teaching. The method
commonly used in many church related schools
and churches is the lecture, group discussion
the questions and answer methods yet these are
now being challenged. According to Paulo
Freire, lecture is the method of a banking system
wherein the teacher is expected to impart all the
information he/she knows or the teacher deposit
and later will withdraw the knowledge. In this
method, the teacher is expected to be more
knowledgeable than the learner and this knowl-
edge must be imparted to the ignorant student.
The banking concept of education does not give
any opportunity for the learner to engage in dia-
logue. This is very much against the gospel val-
ues of freedom and human dignity. So the chal-
lenge is to discover new methodologies to bring
about teaching that is holistic. Above all, we are
challenged to discover the variety of teaching
and learning methods that will be appropriate for
our particular learner or group of learners and to
our specific curriculum content.

is to have more trained Christian Education per-
son. And because there has been or no qualified
Christian educators in our church, even churches
who can afford to call for a trained Christian
educator are not able to have teachers. On top of
these challenges of course, is our understanding
of what a teacher is. Teachers are usually seen as
having sole authority in the teaching process.
The model of teaching which is used is the
teacher-centered model. So his/her main role is
to transfer the content of the Bible to the mem-
bers so that persons are brought into direct, per-
sonal contact with the Living God.

Challenge 3: The Learner
Learners of all ages have the capacity to learn
and this capacity is affected by various social,
economic and physical conditions and situations.
Learners have a variety of learning needs related
to their personal interests, their families, their
communities and their work. These needs in-
clude personal development, social and civic re-
sponsibility, cultural enjoyment, and continuing
learning related to work and careers. Learners
learn at different rates and in different styles, in
different situations and at different times. Now,
are our todays church learners different? What
should our learners know? How should we teach
them? Is technology development a help or a
curse?

Our learners pose the biggest challenge
to our Christian education. First, each learner
brings to the educational process a personality
with a set of needs, wants, and goals. Each
learner is looking for fulfillment and growth in
his/her own personal and spiritual life. Since
every learner starts with his own basic needs, the
educator must seek to motivate the learner to dis-
cover and apply God's provisions to his/her life.
Learners of today challenge us that in order for
true learning to come to them they must experi-
ence the wonder of God's truth applied to their
lives. They must be considered as an individual,
a person of worth, as God sees them. Their per-
sonal experiences and knowledge have value.
They are responsible members of a learning
group, having something to contribute and some-
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order to proactively make moral and ethical deci-
sions?

V. The Perspectives:

Where is Christian Education going? The
answer depends largely on our orientation
whether mainline Protestant, Evangelical, or Ro-
man Catholic. We can propose different perspec-
tives depending on who we are as educators, on
who our learners are, on the settings where we
are or the methodologies we love to use. But
whatever is this perspective, it should be some-
thing relevant and responsive to todays needs of
the learners, church, church members and soci-
ety. It can be Biblical, theological, developmen-
tal, pedagogical and many other perspectives.
Let me share one pedagogical perspective which
encompasses the different elements in Christian
education. This pedagogical perspective is the
model of the Heart, Soul and Might as a peda-
gogical model developed from Deuteronomy 6:4
-9. This pedagogical model is a holistic model.
A Christian education model for wholeness.
In Deuteronomy 6:4-9 we read about God com-
manding the Israelites to love God with all their
Heart, Soul and Might. It sounds a command
which is promoting loving God in a compart-
mentalized manner. However, a thorough exami-
nation of the text shows that the words Heart,
Soul and Might connote wholeness. Heart here
is referred to not as the seat of emotion but rather
the seat of intellect, will and intention. In the He-
brew perspective, the heart is where the human
being thinks. It is the main organ that shapes a
human beings character, choices and decisions.
The word soul speaks of the living being, life,
self, personal desire. From the Genesis perspec-
tive, it is that, which breathes, or the breathing
substance or being. However the soul could also
stand for the human being herself or himself.
The word might stands for the words very or
exceedingly or in an early Jewish version,
your substance or your possession hence, to
love your God with all your might means to love
your God with the whole of you. To love your
God is to commit oneself to God. It is the su-
perlative degree of total commitment to God
The whole statement then, to Love your God
Challenge 5: The CE Programs
Another greatest challenge that we have
to face is the kind of Christian Education pro-
grams we are doing. The question actually is:
What are we trying to do? What is the church
trying to accomplish? What are the goals of the
church? Is Christian education connecting with
the church mission? Is our Christian education
program relevant: Do our programs responsive
to the needs of people of all ages? So we hear
members asking, what does this program has to
do with me? When the expectation of entertain-
ment is not met, the comment would be
Nothing is interesting, I'm bored! Another
question of course is that, do our programs cater
only to personal, family and churchy issues?
How about programs dealing with different is-
sues like globalization, diversity, time, violence,
and change? On globalization, the challenge is to
invite our people to bring their entire world, with
all the inherent economic and political problems
into the religious education arena. On diversity,
the challenge is to provide teaching programs or
curricula to our churches so that our people will
learn to live with people of other faiths or that
they will learn to deal with our differences. On
time the challenge is to provide a space for our
members who are complaining about their
feeling stressed out due to time pressure. How
do we respond, do we schedule more committee
meetings, more classes and activities that com-
pete with their free time? So, they feel that there
seems to be competing commitments or that our
people participate in other activities on Sunday
morning instead of coming to Sunday school, or
the class members are not there every week
(Erratic attendance). On violence, the challenge
is to help our learners to deal with differences
which usually causes to violence. Do we teach
war no more or do we creatively teach alterna-
tives on violence. How about the barraged of
combative language we are exposed every day,
how do we handle it? On change, the challenge
is to teach our learners to choose on how to fol-
low, utilize and react to technological, medical,
scientific, economic and political change. It is
also a challenge to help our people to be securely
grounded in the knowledge and love of God in
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promotes holistic learning commits to integrate
both the sacred and profane concerns, to integrate
the decisions of the educator and the learners.
Also it is an education that commits to holistic
and dynamic methods in BS and SS.
A Christian Education that promotes an edu-
cation for Freedom. It is an education that is lib-
erating and transforming. It nurtures the learners
to develop a sense of freedom in order for them to
claim their place in the society. It leads to the hu-
manization of the learners rather than to dehu-
manizing them. An education for freedom nur-
tures the freedom of every learner to take part in
creating human history. It is an education that
learner is an actor who has responsibility to
change not only her/himself but also and above
all the environment to which she/he belongs.
Education for freedom liberates and trans-
forms the learners. It does not domesticate them.
Domesticating education makes the learners sim-
ply subservient, meek and passive. However, edu-
cation for freedom makes them critical, caring not
only for their individual concerns but also for
their society and environment. It nurtures the
learners to change or transform any system that
controls and thwarts their growth as whole human
beings. It nurtures in them a spirit of unity and
oneness with other individuals in the community.
Education for freedom challenges the learners not
only to care for the earth but to transform all un-
just systems.
IV. Conclusion
The church by nature is a teaching body
and institution. From the beginning it has realized
its responsibility to its member to instruct and
educate them in the Scripture in relation to their
lifes situation. Christians are not alone in realiz-
ing their teaching responsibilities. Hindus, Mus-
lims, Buddhists, and Jews also regard instructions
in their religious tenets to the adherents to their
faith as one of their teaching responsibilities.
However, as Christians we have especial mandate
from the great teacher himself. Jesus mandated us
to teach so that our learners will obey everything
with all your heart, soul and might, means,
Loving God with all your commitment (heart),
with your total self (soul), to total excess (might).
As a whole this means that to love God is to com-
mit ones whole being to God. This text then em-
phasizes wholeness or holism. It does not com-
partmentalize the person but emphasizes that when
you serve God you have to give the whole of you.
Hence, this pedagogical model of the Heart, Soul
and Might, is an education for holism or whole-
ness. It is a pedagogical model that negates the
worldview and educational system which empha-
size separation, mechanistic, materialism, reduc-
tionism, positivism. This is a worldview which has
undeniably influenced greatly the educational ap-
proach (including Christian Education) in the
church and in the society making education, con-
tent, teacher and cognitive centered. This peda-
gogical model of the heart, soul and might which I
am proposing is a Christian education model.
A Christian Education model for wholeness.
What do we mean by a Christian education peda-
gogical model for wholeness? It is a Christian
education that affirms that learners are a whole
person, that learners are interconnected be-
ings,that learners are connected to other learners/
communities and that learners are connected to
creationA Christian education model for holistic
learning. An education for holistic learning pro-
motes a holistic learning, holistic educator, dy-
namic teaching and an education for change.

A Christian Education that promotes a holistic
educator. A holistic educator is one who works as
partner in the learning process. As a partner his/
her orientation is toward interdependence. He/she
is a co- learner, he/she shares power and authority
with the learners. And he/she recognizes the diver-
sity of learners and the diversity of learning. He/
she believes in the importance of materials, meth-
ods and techniques. And above all a holistic edu-
cator promotes dynamic methods.

A Christian education model that promotes a
holistic program, is an education that commits to
understand the learners first (the learners needs
interests and talents, developmental stages and
their values). A Christian education model that
51
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Christ has commanded. This mandate remains a
call and a challenge for the church, especially for
the UCCP churches, for all of us church workers,
clergy and lay, ordained and non-ordained, offi-
cers and ordinary members. We are all chal-
lenged once more to take a serious and critical re
-evaluation of our Christian Education ministry.
We are challenged to take a Christian Education
in our respective churches, conferences and ju-
risdictions which is of holistic in its pedagogical
model. We have to breathe new life in what we
teach, how we teach, who are going to teach, and
who are we going to teach. In light of the grow-
ing need and the intensifying crisis in our time,
we have to provide variety, new opportunities,
dynamic and a more relevant Christian Educa-
tion program in the church. To teach the faith,
nurture and empower people for mission is at the
very heart of the life and future of our church.
May the Lord who gave us the Great Commis-
sion find us faithful in carrying out this very sa-
cred mandate.
51
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THE ROLE OF THE DIVINITY SCHOOL IN EXPANDING CHRISTIAN EDUCATION

Introduction

One reason a man or a woman wants to
remarry is that he/she wants to make up for the
failure of his or her previous marriage. I think
the reason of the Divinity School in requesting
me to speak before this august body for the sec-
ond year in a row is that it wants to give me a
chance to make up for the lousy speech that I
gave last year. I am certainly grateful for this
chance to redeem myself. But if I torture you
again with another lousy speech and you fall
asleep, you only have to blame Drs. Lope Robin
and Jeaneth Harris Faller for saving me by grace
at your expense.

What follows is not a sophisticated schol-
arly paper on Christian education. It is not a fruit
of library research. Rather, following Dr. Noriel
Capulongs advice, it is a simple, but hopefully
not simplistic, reflection on some grassroots is-
sues related to the topic assigned to me The
Role of the Divinity School in Expanding Chris-
tian Education. In the first part we will try to
describe the study programs of the Divinity
School aimed at equipping future church work-
ers for their role as Christian educators of local
churches. In the second part, we will take a look
at what has been done to respond to the need of
churches for adequate and relevant reading mate-
rials for their Christian Education activities. In
the third part, we will spell out a reason for com-
municating the full, not a partial, gospel.

Towards A Definition of Christian Education.

Who is a Christian? According to Rodney
McKean, in the Middle Eastern culture, a per-
sons name is related to his ancestry and charac-
ter. For instance, in Hebrew, the word "Ben"
means a "son of." Hence, "Ben-hadad" means
son of Hadad (Wikipedia). A patronymic family
name (a name derived from the name of a father
or an ancestor) is common in Sweden. For in-
stance, the family name Johansson means a son
of Johan (Wikipedia). Similarly, as McKenan
says, the name Christ-ian will mean son of
Christ and so will have the character of Christ.
1

What is education?
Education means a
learning process is taking place. Learning leads
to growth and liberation as learners take owner-
ship of what they are learning, develop co-
explorer relationships with each other, and de-
velop problem solving skills in their daily life.
2

Such a process could take place in a formal or
informal type of education.
3
The terms Christian
Dr. Lourdino A. Yuzon received his
B.Th. in 1956 and Master of Divinity in 1968 from Silli-
man University Divinity School. He served as pastor of a
small church in Bonifacio, Misamis Occidental. After
some years, in the parish, the call for further studies beck-
oned him. Heeding the call, he left for Boston, U.S.A. to
earn his Doctor of Philosophy in Social Ethics. He re-
turned to the Divinity School to teach and later serve as
Dean of the Divinity School. Later, the Christian Confer-
ence of Asia, then based in Singapore, called him to be-
come Secretary of Mission and Evangelism. After his
stint with CCA, he came back to Dumaguete to teach, and
later served as acting president of Silliman University
from 1989 to 1990.

Then, he went back to the U.S. to serve as pastor
of Cosmopolitan United Church of Christ, a Filipino-
American community in North Dallas, Texas. From there,
he moved to New Zealand to pastor a church, and later
became Joint Secretary for Council for Mission and Ecu-
menical Cooperation based in Christchurch, Aotearoa.
Presently, he shuttles with his wife Mercia between New
Zealand and Dumaguete to be with their children and
51
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and education so understood, we may, in a pro-
visional sense, define Christian education as a
life-long formal or informal teaching/learning
process that enables a person to grow in
Christ-likeness, reflecting in his knowledge,
disposition, attitude, values and deeds the
mind and spirit of Christ.
Part I
Equipping Christian Educators
To be able to do its work well, an educa-
tional institution must have three interrelated
components: well qualified teachers, students
who are eager to learn and adequate facilities
such as a well equipped library. In regard to the
first component, the Christian education program
of the Divinity School is in the very able hands
of Dr. Jeaneth Harris Faller. I should know be-
cause when I was an absent-minded professor, I
was her mentor, and she was my tormentor. A
holder of doctoral degree in Christian education
from the Southeast Asia Graduate School of
Theology, Jeaneth is a first-rate scholar and ef-
fective teacher. She has earned the right to be
included in the pantheon of outstanding profes-
sors of Christian education who graced the lec-
ture halls of the then College of Theology and
Divinity School: Dr. Divina del Carmen Tapaya,
Dr. Alexander Grant, Dr. Elena G. Maquiso and
Professor Lydia Niguidula, among others.

Under Dr. Harris-Fallers leadership,
Christian education is gradually earning its right-
ful place in the total curricular program of the
Divinity School as well as the respect it de-
serves. It may be noted that since those years
(1951-1956) when I was a student at the then
College of Theology, some seminary students
and probably some professors have looked at
Christian education as a discipline that does not
compare in importance with those in the fields of
systematic theology, biblical studies, clinical
pastoral education, guidance and counselling,
church history, etc. It has been stereotyped as
something that is mainly practical in nature, not
conceptual. Critics say that Christian educators
discuss boring, how to issues whereas theolo-
gians debate without end thought-provoking, life
-and-death questions such as the number of an-
gels who can dance on a head of a pin. But noth-
ing could be further from the truth. The reality,
however, is that a Christian educator should have
a fair command not only of teaching/learning
methods but also of knowledge and insights
gained in such content courses as systematic the-
ology, biblical studies, and the like.

We cannot overemphasize the importance
for students to have a healthy respect for Chris-
tian education subjects in the light of my per-
sonal struggles in this field. Like many of my
classmates,
4
I had only a token or casual interest
in Christian education. My mantra was:
Practical ra man na kaayo! I went through the
motions of attending classes, barely earning sat-
isfactory grades in my Christian education
courses. I did not see the need to carry out in-
depth research into subjects assigned to me.
Consequently, I had a very superficial under-
standing of the philosophy, theology and meth-
odology of Christian education. But things even-
tually caught with me not long after I started
serving as the minister a small local church
which could not afford the services of a special-
ist in Christian education. I had no choice but to
be the Christian educator, a role for which I did
not prepare myself properly while I was in semi-
nary.

The Divinity School continues to offer
Bachelor of Theology and non-thesis Master of
Divinity degree programs in which each student
is required to earn 12 units in Christian educa-
tion subjects. A B.Th. and an M. Div. graduate
is a generalist. He/she is in a position to provide
creative and effective leadership in the various
ministries of small UCCP congregations many of
which could barely afford the services of one
salaried staff. In a small church, he/she is the
preacher, counsellor, administrator, theologian,
secretary and Christian educator.

Recently, the Divinity School Academic
Council proposed to the Academic Council of
Silliman University, a thesis track Master of Di-
51
st
vinity degree program with major in Christian
education. This is a significant development. A
student enrolled in this study program will be
required to satisfactorily earn 33 units of Chris-
tian education courses prior to writing a thesis.
It is hoped that the Academic Council of Silli-
man University will approve that proposal this
year. Subsequently that could probably be imple-
mented at the beginning of school year 2013-
2014. A graduate of this degree program could
qualify as a specialist in Christian education who
could serve as full-time minister of Christian
education of big churches like the Silliman Uni-
versity Church or Bradford Church in Cebu City,
etc. He/she could also qualify to teach values
education and bible and/or religion classes in
high schools and colleges that are related to the
United Church of Christ in the Philippines.

Allow me to reiterate without belabouring
the obvious. If the Divinity School is to have un-
qualified success in expanding Christian educa-
tion it should, among others, continue to turn out
graduates who are competent and dedicated prac-
titioners in the ministry of nurturing people in
the Christian faith to the end that their parishion-
ers will grow into the likeness of the mind and
spirit of Christ which, as we said, is the ultimate
aim of Christian education. They are the best re-
sources for the Christian education ministry of
our churches.

Part II
Resources: Reading Materials
Lessons for Sunday School Classes and
Study Groups
5.
To be able to build a house, a
carpenter needs tools such as hammer and saw.
Similarly, to be able to effectively lead a teach-
ing/learning process in a formal setting such a
Sunday School class or a discussion of a bible
study group, a Christian educator needs some
tools of his/her trade. One of these is reading
materials for Sunday School classes. In response
to my queries, some local church leaders told me
that their faith communities continue to be in
urgent need of biblically based reading materials
with sound theological content. A retired minis-
ter friend and former classmate of mine at the
College of Theology e-mailed to say that in the
district conference to which he now belongs,
Christian education is in disarray. Local
churches have no Sunday School guides and
updated resource books in this very important
field.

The impression I gathered was that noth-
ing much has been done at the national, jurisdic-
tional and conference level of the UCCP to ad-
dress that need. However, from a reliable
source, I learned that indeed the UCCP Faith and
Order Commission has been producing Sunday
School materials for all age groups following its
own version of the lectionary based on the cur-
rent quadrennial theme of the General Assembly
Discerning and Obeying Gods Will in These
Critical Times.

This can augment and/or complement the
Revised Common Lectionary. The production of
lessons for the period from Advent 2012 to Pen-
tecost 2013 will soon be completed. These mate-
rials are written in English. Copies are sent to
Jurisdictional offices which are expected to
translate and distribute copies of translated ver-
sions to conferences which, in turn, are to make
copies of it available to local churches. If many
local UCCP congregations have not seen such
Sunday School materials, let alone use them, it
could be because of bottlenecks in the flow of
such materials at the Jurisdiction and conference
levels.

Some District Conferences of the United
Church of Christ in the Philippines have taken
concrete steps in addressing their need for Sun-
day School lesson guides. For example, through
its Curriculum and Literature Development
Committee, the Negros District Conference has
published Hugpong, a quarterly newsletter which
contains Sunday School materials for adults,
youth and children. The lessons are based on the
Revised Common Lectionary. These materials
are available at the NDC Office for a token fee
and for free downloading at http://
ndc.uccpchurch.org.

It is worth noting that Hugpong and, to a
51
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certain extent, Christian education materials pro-
duced by the UCCP Faith and Order Commis-
sion, are based on the lectionary which is pre-
selected collection of scriptural readings from
the Bible that can be used for study or other
theological uses.
6
Lessons focus on events of the
liturgical year advent, Christmas, epiphany,
lent, Easter, Pentecost and the long season after
Pentecost. Using lectionary-based materials for
Sunday School classes and Sunday worship ser-
vices has some advantages. Two of them are
worth noting.

Dr. Poculo Rodriguez used the image of
sunog bunot to illustrate the powerful impact of
a sharply focused sermon. A tender-dry husk of
a mature coconut fruit (bunot) is placed under-
neath a magnifying glass that catches the rays of
the sun and converts them into a hot, single
beam which eventually kindles the husk. We
called a powerful and effective sermon sunog
bunot. Congressman Farias delivered the most
powerful closing argument at the trial of former
Chief Justice Renato Corona. He used the word
palusot (excuse) as a recurring theme to describe
what Corona did with his unexplained riches. So
focused was his speech that Sen. Juan Ponce En-
rile complimented Farinas for it. A local church
can enhance its learning process if lessons dis-
cussed at Sunday school classes are reinforced at
the worship service where hymns, prayers, cho-
ral anthems and sermons will focus on the theme
suggested in the same set of scripture lessons
consisting of passages from the Old Testament,
Epistles and Gospels. For instance, for Sunday,
September 2, 2012, the selected lessons in the
common lectionary will be Psalm 45:1-9,22-23;
James 2:1-10 and Mark 7:24-37.

Another advantage of using the common
lectionary is that it will ensure a balanced read-
ing of, and reflection on, the books of the Bible.
It is a safeguard against the dubious practice of
favouring some passages of Scripture to the ne-
glect of others. Also, a lectionary-based preach-
ing ministry challenges a minister to preach on a
variety of biblical themes and thereby offer to
Gods people in the pew a balanced diet of the-
ologies, not just a variation of his/her pet theol-
ogy.

Basic Christian Beliefs. Philips Brooks once
said that ministers should preach as many doc-
trines as they can. Similarly, we could say that
Christian educators should teach as many doc-
trines as they can. The reason for this is that our
faith in God is a faith seeking understand-
ing (St. Anselm) which means an active love
of God seeking a deeper knowledge of God.
Lay people must be equipped with a working
knowledge of the theological/doctrinal aspects of
the Christian faith. Dr. Paul T. Lauby, in whose
honour the Convocation Lauby lectures is
named, kept telling his students in his Christian
Ethics classes that they should hammer out
their own theologies. Doctrines become roots
in our lives. They provide us with a strong an-
chor. No one wants to be a tree without roots, or
a house built on the sand. People, churches, and
organizations can drift from the truth.
7
Theolo-
gies/doctrines really matter. A logical starting
point in the process of enabling parishioners to
be conversant about our Evangelical/Reformed
faith is a thoughtful study of the Trinitarian
Statement of Faith of the United Christ in the
Philippines and the two excellent commentaries
on it Like a Mustard Seed, and Unless a Seed
Falls and Dies.

It is said that sects and cults have created
confusion in the minds of many members of lo-
cal UCCP congregations. Their teachings are
appealing to some of our people. This is because
they reduce the whole truth that is beyond hu-
man minds to understand to something that is
partially true which, in turn, is claimed to be the
whole truth. They claim to be authoritative be-
cause everything that they say is supported by
passages from the Bible. But what they do is use
and sometimes distort carefully chosen passages
of the bible to support their preconceived ideas.
Instead of letting the Bible speak to them, they
speak to the Bible. Or listen to verses in the Bi-
ble that they want to hear. We know that to be
the dubious practice of proof-texting.

51
st
To illustrate, let me cite my recent ex-
change of e-mails with a niece of mine who is
based in Talisay City, Cebu and who belonged to
the Bradford UCCP in Cebu City. She e-mailed
to say that she was joining a Pentecostal church
because the UCCP order of worship does not
include the practice of speaking in tongues. In
response I said that speaking in tongues that no-
body understands is a serious misunderstanding
of the story of the descent of the Holy Spirit on
Pentecost. As Acts 2:1-13 puts it, what actually
happened was that when the apostles spoke in
their language (probably Aramaic), everybody
who came from all the nations of the ancient
Mediterranean world understood them in their
own tongues. In effect, I said that the Holy
Spirit is a spirit of understanding, not of confu-
sion which is what happens in tongue-speaking. I
also said that in Pauls list of the gifts of the
Holy Spirit (I Cor. 12:1-11), speaking in tongues
ranks lower than teaching, healing, prophesying,
preaching, etc. Moreover, I said that for Paul, the
most excellent gift of the Spirit is love (I Cor.
13) such that if one loves God and his neighbour,
he is anointed by the Holy Spirit. My niece may
have, or may have not, left the UCCP to join a
Pentecostal group. In either case, she did not ask
further questions about speaking in tongues. My
nieces experience could be multiplied a number
of times.

If churches lack the confidence and abil-
ity to refute aggressive peddlers of false teach-
ings, they could lose some of their members.
To help them meet this need, may I propose a
wild approach. Professors of Christian Educa-
tion, Biblical Theology and Systematic Theology
at the Divinity School could require a select
group of students to write papers in simple Eng-
lish or Cebuano and in a question-and-answer
format analysing and refuting half-truths or per-
verted truths of sects and cults. Arguments
should be based on appropriate biblical passages
that are interpreted in a responsible manner.
Such apologetic papers could be prepared on a
one-off basis and may count as fulfilment of
term paper requirements. The hope is that
churches could use them in their defence of the
Trinitarian faith of the UCCP.

Part III
Communicating the Full Gospel.

Christian education is not just a matter of eager
and able students, trained teachers, adequate fa-
cilities and reading materials, effective methods
of instruction and efficient organizational set-up.
Of equal importance is the content of the mes-
sage that we communicate. Our faith nurturing
ministry will either flourish or perish at this
point.

In his slim book, Political Evangelism,
Richard M. J. Mouw says that the Gospel must
be seen to be comprehensive to encompass all
aspects of human life, personal and social. As he
puts it,

the gospel in its fullness must be di-
rected to all dimensions of human life.
Christs atoning work offers liberation for
people in their cultural endeavours, in
their family lives, in their educational pur-
suits, in their quest for sexual fulfilment,
in their desire for physical well-being. It
also offers liberation in the building of
political institutions and the making of
public policy
8

Pietistic faith is one dominant feature of
Protestant Christianity that was introduced to the
Philippines. It views sin as a power that enslaves
individuals but not their societies, their cultural
achievements and institutions. It sees sinful
situations solely through the eyes of individuals.
If there is injustice, exploitation, poverty, domi-
nation of the weak by the powerful, the reason
given is that individuals are morally and spiritu-
ally depraved. Dealing with the problem of un-
regenerate individual persons is the best way to
deal with social problems. Since unregenerate
individuals create depraved social conditions, the
remedy is to change individuals. Pietistic faith
maintains that changed individuals change soci-
ety. But that does not necessarily follow. For
51
st
instance, it is possible that a born-again Chris-
tian may also be an exploiter, profiteer and abu-
sive of delegated and entrusted authority and
power and not be conscience stricken.
Privatised faith divorces public morality
from personal spirituality. The sacred and the
secular (profane or worldly) are kept apart. Wor-
ship has no bearing upon day-to-day life. It be-
gins and ends in a sanctuary. In the world be-
yond places of worship one thinks and acts as if
God is absent from the rest of the world. This
palpable disconnect between our public show of
religiousness and our real personal integ-
rity (Eusebio Kho) is one cause of corruption
that gnaws at the vitals of Philippine society. The
findings of an opinion poll involving 1,400 for-
eign business executives were published by the
Political and Economic Risk Consultancy on You
Tube on the 12 January 2012. That survey classi-
fied the Philippines as the most corrupt country
in Asia. This is an irony of ironies. Is it not that
the Philippines is the only Christian nation in
Asia? A visitor to Manila seeing the pollution of
the Pasig River and being told how many have
drowned in the river quipped: If you fall into
the Pasig River, you do not drown. You decay.
9

Like the Pasig River, Philippine society has long
been in a state of moral decay.
We propose a corrective to privatized
faith that affirms that religious experience is per-
sonal but not individualistic. It is personal be-
cause individual persons interact with a personal
God and with other persons. That faith cannot
be privatized is rooted in the fact that a person is
a social being. He lives and moves in a world
of structured relationships.
10
Sin is at work not
only in individuals but also in social, institu-
tional and structural realms of life. The Gospel
that we communicate in our Christian education
program includes the announcement of Gods
Kingdom and love through Christ, the offer of
grace and forgiveness of sins and the summons
to fellowship in Gods saving words and deeds
as well as the summons to participate in the
struggle for (social) justice and human whole-
ness
11
Our teaching/learning activities should
enable believers to discern what God was doing
in the biblical record and what He is doing today
to generate the joy and hope of redemptive lib-
eration
12
not only of individuals but also of their
social institutions.

It is said that if the rubber of the wheel
meets the road, a vehicle can move forward or
backward. Similarly, the Good News in its full-
ness is the critical meeting point of our ministry
to nurture people in the faith. Effective teaching
methods will not be a waste of time and effort if
we communicate by word and deed the full, not
the partial, gospel. We should listen to, and
obey, this God-given mission mandate which is
also presupposed in the theme of the UCCP Gen-
eral Assembly for the current quadrennium:
Discerning and Obeying Gods Will in These
Critical Times.

Conclusion.

A speaker can bring his address to a close
in either of two ways. He can say In conclu-
sion and really concludes soon thereafter. Or
he could say, Lastly, and lasts and lasts and
lasts.

Lastly, or rather, in conclusion, allow me
to re-affirm and reinforce the view that an imagi-
native and creative Christian education program
is of singular importance to the life and mission
of a local church. A formal or an informal teach-
ing/learning process that is carried out in a dia-
logical manner could enable a local church to
effectively nurture its people in the faith such
that they will come to really know Jesus and
grow in Christ-like character.
13
We cannot thank
the Divinity School enough for taking the lead in
expanding Christian education. We hope and
pray that from the very modest beginnings that
we have laid out, the process of expanding
Christian education will grow by leaps and
bounds in the years to come at the Divinity
School and in our local churches.

End Notes
1
Cited in Alex Tang, Random Musings From a Doc-
tors Chair.
The adjective Christian is not self-explanatory. It means
different things to different people. Some see something
51
st
as Christian if it is associated with a church which is
claimed to be the true church. I was born and raised a
Catholic, someone testified, now I am a Christian. To
that person, a Catholic is not Christian whereas a Protes-
tant is. An aggressive evangelist once told me to the face
that unless I am a born again person (whatever that
means), I am not a Christian at all. Others see something
as Christian if it is focused on the Bible and has a right
system of belief. Still others see something as Christian if
it is associated with moralistic values and behaviour. In my
younger days, I was told that if I did not smoke, dance,
gamble, swear, watch movies in a theatre, I would be a
true Christian. But the problem is that anyone, including
an atheist, can abstain from such vices. That does make
him a Christian. In fact, much of what passes for Chris-
tian education is merely a condensation of classical west-
ern thought and institutions with Bible content or orthodox
theology which was developed and written with a Western
point of view (Rodney McKean).
2
Alex Tang, Random Musings From a Doctors Chair.
3
The term education also means different things to differ-
ent people. Robert Pazmino, Valeria Stone Professor of
Christian Education at Andover Newton Theological
School, identified two contrasting definitions of Christian
education. Formal education is characterised by class-
room sessions, learning agendas, teacher directed method-
ologies, and required courses of study to informal educa-
tion at the other end where learning focus is on acquiring
skills, knowledge, attitudes, and values growing out of
student interactions with experiences or environ-
ment.Informal education occurs in a spontaneous manner
in daily living. One learns as he/she gets involved in real-
life challenges and daily living. I believe that it was in this
sense that the American philosopher John Dewey said that
education is not just a preparation for life; it is life itself.
Or that education is a process of living, not a preparation
for future living. From this point of view, one goes through
educational process even if he/she does not undergo formal
schooling in an educational institutions
4
Of our 1956 B.Th.
class of 27, only one male student, Agapito Rosendo,
chose to concentrate in Christian education, not in pastoral
ministry. We had a field day making fun of Agapito, often
calling him Sister Rosendo who ended up not as minister
of a local church but as a teacher of bible classes at the
Dansalan Junior College in Marawi City.A minister friend
of mine e-mailed his misgivings about his unpreparedness
for his role as Christian educator of the church to which he
was assigned. He said, I agree with you that our B. Th
program did not prepare us enough to be intelligent Chris-
tian Educators in our local churches where we were as-
signed. I assumed that whoever was the Deaconess ( many
of them were trained at Ellinwood Bible School) would be
my Christian Educator. She was in charge of the Kinder-
garten Program, the Sunday School, Bible Study VBS and
other related activities, and my roles were simply to give
the opening remarks, say prayers, to be some sort of re-
source person in Bible Study sessions and distribute cer-
tificates to students after the VBS and other series of stud-
ies were completed.
5
In anticipation of the implementation
of K-12, a group of writers who also teach at Silliman Uni-
versity, is involved in the process of writing and publish-
ing teaching/learning materials on values education and
biblically based lessons which could be used by UCCP-
related colleges and academic high schools such as Libera-
tion Institute, Jimenez Bethel Institute and Farmers Insti-
tute in Calamba, Jimenez and Bonifacio, Misamis Occi-
dental respectively, and Pilgrim College in Cagayan de
Oro City, etc. It may be called to mind that such educa-
tional institutions are fertile breeding grounds for candi-
dates for full-time ministry. Dr. Noriel Capulong serves as
a resource person of that group.
A collection of sermons on topics that is as varied as the
seasons of the Christian year (Advent, Holy Week, Easter,
Pentecost, etc.) could be useful to lay preachers, evangel-
ists and many local church ministers including seminary
graduates. In the year 2004, I published a book of sermons
entitled Bread for the Journey. Copies of it were distrib-
uted for free to all who attended the 2004 convocation.
From anecdotal evidence in the form of unsolicited feed-
back, that book of sermons has met a felt need of some
preachers. Unfortunately, I could not follow up on that for
financial reasons. Perhaps the Divinity School could col-
lect from some UCCP ministers sermons in both English
and Cebuano and, with their permission, print copies of a
volume of such sermons to be made available at next
years convocation for a token price of P100.00 per copy.
For those who have computers and are able to use them,
those sermons could be burned or copied into compact
discs which could be made available to convocation par-
ticipants also for a token price of P100 per CD. If a local
church minister does not have access to a personal com-
puter, he/she could download and print copies of chosen
sermons at internet cafes. If a minister does not know how
to use his/her own computer, he/she could seek the help of
his/her grandchildren. An item may have to be included in
next years convocation budget to cover the cost of that
project.

6
What is the Lectionary? Disciples of Christ-Canada and
U.S.A.).
7
James J. Poitras, The Christian and Bible Doctrines.
I remember the late Rev. Marcelo Sumabong whom some
of you may have known personally. He was once the min-
ister of the then Evangelical Church in Bonifacio, Misamis
Occidental and was the prince of preachers in the Cebuano
language. It was partly due to his influence that I decided
to become a minister of the gospel. When he preached,
everybody prayed; nobody slept. He attracted my atten-
tion not only because of his rhetorical and oratorical skills
but also because he had something significant to say to his
listeners. Then Dr. Proculo Rodriguez decided to send
him to the College of Theology for upgrading purposes.
That backfired. He was then in his fifties. As was our ex-
perience, he had to undergo a two-step process in formu-
lating his theological/doctrinal stand. The first step was the
deconstruction of the pet theologies that he brought to
seminary. That was a traumatic experience for him. Imag-
ine being told in his class on historical/critical approach to
51
st
the bible that not every word, every sentence and every line in the Bible came from God! He was shocked to hear his pro-
fessor in Old Testament studies say that writers belonging to J,E,D,P schools rather Moses wrote the Pentateuch. Unfortu-
nately, he did not get to the second stage of constructing his own theology. He quit his formal theological studies after his
second year in the College of Theology. To our surprise and disappointment, he became more comfortable in saying what
the bible does not say rather than in what the bible says. When he preached not long after he returned to Bonifacio, he lec-
tured in a rather boring and tentative manner. With a heavy heart, the chief elder of his church commented, Kini si Eloy
bantogang bantogang mowali sa wala pa siya moadto sa Silliman University. Karon dili na siya makapaniguro kon unsay
iyang isulti. (Eloy was an outstanding preacher before he went to Silliman University. Now he is unsure about what he
really wants to say, and why.) Like Jeremiah who was called to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to
build and to plant (Jeremiah 1:10. NRSV) seminary students, ministers and Christian educators should complete the proc-
ess of deconstructing and constructing their theologies.
8
Richard M. J. Mouw, Political Evangelism, pp. 14-15.
9
Eliezer Mapanao, Change and Decay: The Either/Or of Christian Education, Christian Education and Nurture: A Man-
ual (Malate, Manila: Ellinwood Malate Church, 1997), p. 52.
10
Orlando Costas, The Church and its Mission, p. 307.
11
Bolivian Manifesto.
12
Eliezer Mapanao, op. cit. p. 49.
51
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Challenges in Christian Education in Sunday School and Bible Study Pro-
grams of the Church
Outline

I. A collective act of defining for the purpose of
understanding some terms: A leveling off process
aron magkatukma atong mga hunahuna ug tinan-
awan alang sa usa ka hapsay nga pagto-on.

As a new or veteran church worker, what is
Christian Education to you?

Unsay papel sa Christian Education sa kinabuhi
sa iglesiya?

Is Christian Education important?

Without doing any thought processing, unsa alang
kanimo ang Sunday School, ang Bible Study?

II. A joint walk through the challenges/
weaknesses and threats faced by local churches
in relation to Christian Education program/
ministry: An honest-to-goodness and no holds-
barred sharing of problems aron makita ang tinud
-anay nga mga suliran nga gisagubang partikular
sa inyong Sunday School ug Bible Study nga mga
kalihokan.

Unsa ang mga suliran nga inyong gisagubang o gi
-atubang?

Sa imong matinuoron nga pagtan-aw, nganong
nahimo man kini silang mga suliran?

III. A collective effort at knowing the strengths
and opportunities that could be availed of to over-
come the Christian Education concerns that have
been bugging your local church all these years:
Pagtan-aw sa mga sulbad sa atong mga suliran
nga usahay atong nakalimtan.
51
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Abstract

In this workshop, the facilitator will ad-
dress several of the key components that make for
effective pastoring of a church: Dynamic Spirit
Filled, Spirit Led Worship; scripturally and spiri-
tually based strong preaching; the creation and
implementation of meaningful Christian Educa-
tion programs for the church; visitation of the
sick; Youth Ministries; Mission; Evangelism;
Stewardship; Fellowship; Social Action; Attempt-
ing to minister to the various needs of each inter-
est group that comprises a congregation. This
workshop will focus on different models for pas-
toral ministry from the single pastor of a small
congregation to the pastor of a multi-staff congre-
gation.

The second phase of this workshop is on
the subject of Care for the Pastor. This segment
will cover the following topics: Pastoral Self Care
and techniques to keep the ministry fresh and ex-
citing; Congregational Care for the Pastor and
Care of the larger church for the pastor.
The Effective pastor and Care for the Pastor
Dr. Hood is a pastor and senior minister of
Plymouth United Church of Christ in De-
troit, Michigan.
51
st
This interest group will engage the par-
ticipants in exploring the teachings of the church
on Islam. In this way, pastors and church leaders
will have some handles on the subject matter in
helping the church members understand Islam.

The group will discuss the meaning of
Islam and basic beliefs and practices of Islam. It
is notable that the term Islam is derived from
Arabic language. The root letters of the word are
SLM, which are present in the words such iS-
LaM, muSLiM, SaLaaM. Salaam means peace.
The term islam has a general reference to peace
and submission. Specifically, Islam means sub-
mission to the will of God, and a Muslim is one
who makes that submission. An adherent of Is-
lam is known as a Muslim, meaning one who
submits to God. Submission to the good will of
God, together with obedience to His beneficial
Law, i. e, becoming a Muslim, is the best safe-
guard for man's peace and harmony.

Islam is a religion that traces its roots to
Abraham. Beginning as the faith of a small com-
munity of believers in Arabia in the seventh cen-
tury, Islam rapidly became one of the major
world religions.

The core of this faith is the belief that
Muhammad (c. 570-632), a nephew of a re-
spected businessman in Mecca, a commercial
and religious
Church Teaching on Islam
center in western Arabia, received revelations
from God that have been preserved in the
Qur'an. The heart of this revealed message is
the affirmation that "there is no god but Allah
(The God) and Muhammad is the messenger of
God."

Why teach Islam in Church? The world
we live in today is by nature religiously plural-
istic. Obtaining accurate knowledge about
other religious traditions will help us to reduce
prejudices and building bridges instead of walls.
As Hans Kung said, [There is] No peace
among the world without peace among the re-
ligions, No peace among the religions without
dialogue between the religion, and there is no
Dialogue between the religions without accurate
knowledge of one another. Christian communi-
cation with communities of other faith tradition
in the past tended to be seen as one way system,
a top-down model that was used primarily for
manipulation and persuasive purpose. A new
direction on patterns of the Christian communi-
cation with other faith tradition is therefore in a
great demand for todays Christian churches.
Let us start today and if we had already started
lets we continue.
Facilitator:

Rev. Joas Bainomugisha Kahesi is a visit-
ing lecturer from Kagera, Tanzania under
the auspices of the United Evangelical Mis-
sion (UEM). His earned a Master of Arts in
Christian-Muslim Relations and a post
graduate diploma in Islam Studies. He is
pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church
Tanzania.
51
st

The Philippine Budget: Implications and Challenges
to Churches
Leonor Magtolis Briones was a professor at the University of the Philippines and a former
Presidential Adviser for Social Development with Cabinet Rank at the Office of the Presi-
dent. She has served as National Treasurer of the Philippines from August 1998 to February 2001.
Briones earned her Bachelor in Business Administration, major in Accounting
from Silliman University and her Masters in Public Administration, major in Local Government
and Fiscal Administration from the University of the Philippines, Diliman. She got her Post
Graduate Diploma in Development Administration from the Harvard Institute for International
Development at Harvard University. She has served the public in many ways. She was Lead
Convenor of Social Watch Philippines, Inc., Vice-President for Finance at UP, Secretary to the
Commission of the Commission on Audit, and Chairperson of Sillimans Board of Trustees.
Briones is an Outstanding Sillimanian Awardee in the field of Fiscal and Public Administration.
51
st
Dr. Lucio B. Mutia, is a Spiri-
tual Care & Counseling Pro-
fessor at the Silliman Divinity
School . He spent 25 years as
Pastor in a small rural church,
in a medium-size congrega-
tion, and then, in a big urban
church.. He taught in the aca-
deme for 32 years. In the
U.S., he was a professor in
Spiritual/Pastoral Care at Vir-
ginia Commonwealth Univer-
sity.. He also served as chap-
lain at the Medical College of
Virginia Hospitals. He earned
his supervisory education un-
der the ACPE, Inc. and
granted Certified Supervisor
status of ACPE, Inc. in 1993.
He served as an Accreditation
Member of ACPE in Mid-
Atlantic Region. He founded
an Asian-American UCC in
Richmond, VA. As member
of UCC-USA, he served as
Executive Director of the East-
ern Region of the Pacific
Asian American Ministries for
one term. He earned his D.Th.
from South East Asia Graduate
School of Theology. Currently,
Dr. Mutia is the Director of the
CPE Program under the Philip-
pine Association for Clinical
Pastoral Education and Prac-
tice, Inc. (PACPEP) based in
Dumaguete City and Coordi-
nating the CPE Program of
Silliman Divinity School. He
is continuously on fire in the
area of CPE and Clinical Spiri-
tual Care journey .
Sar ah But t l er , Car i ng M i ni st r y, New
Yor k: Cont i nuum, 2003.
Ibid., pp. 73-74
51
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Spiritual Care & Counselling: A Journey Towards a Peaceful Soul
In a world of high-technology, cell phones, iPods, high stress jobs,
and high stress traffics, one of the best gifts we can offer each other is a lis-
tening presence. In this way, those who suffer will take courage not only to
endure the suffering, but to take it as a challenge. This experience occurs
when there is a listening presence, one that evokes the gut of a healing phe-
nomenon. Listening presence heals because it respects, it affirms, and it be-
lieves.

Steps for Being a Healing Presence

The following are Steps For Being A Healing Presence by James E. Miller
and Susan C. Cutshall:
1. Open yourself. Begin with yourself, and be present to yourself with hon-
esty, insight, and acceptance. Open to your uniqueness, humanness,
prejudice, brokenness, and wholeness. Own your life story.
2. Intend to be a healing presence. Be a presence with one another. Intend to
promote healing in many ways.
3. Prepare a space for healing presence to take place. Create a space where
you can interact with to others in an atmosphere of calm and privacy.
Put away your personal expectations from the other.
4. Honor the one in your care. Approach those you accompany with dignity
and worth. Honor their individuality, equality, humanness, separate-
ness, and sacredness.
5. Offer what you have to give. Freely and simply offer what you can give,
with the consciousness that the other has the freedom to accept or
reject your gift. Offer loving acceptance, empathy, dependability, an
unselfish focus on them , your firm belief in them, your willingness
to follow their lead and as much as anything, hope.
6. Receive the gifts that come. Accept with a grateful heart what is yours to
receive. This may include living your life fully as a result of this
practice. It may mean uncovering your genuine self, enjoying won-
derful relationships, finding personal satisfaction, realizing you have
made a difference, receiving your own healing, and exploring some
of lifes most valuable lessons.
7. Live a life of wholeness & balance. Live your days fully caring for your
own needs, setting appropriate boundaries, encouraging your own
growth, and nurturing a loving attitude toward life including the sa-
cred dimension. Affirm
and live out the truth of
the transforming potential
of healing presence. Be
grateful for the possibili-
ties.

Prayerfully, along the way, you
may find deep peace as you, in
humility, practice listening pres-
ence with one another. Ultimately,
what is meaningful is not in the
arrival; it is in the process of the
journey.

The environmental crisis now encom-
passes the entire world. Although the de-
struction of the sacred quality of nature has
been caused by human behaviour governed
by a secularist perspective, the vast majority
of the human species still lives within a
worldview dominated by religion. The role
of religion in the solution of this crisis is
therefore crucial.

Traditionally, religion has played a
role in linking people to the natural world
and infusing people with the knowledge and
values that make caring for it a priority. The
moral imperative and value system of relig-
ion are indispensible in mobilizing the sensi-
bilities of people towards preserving the en-
vironment for future generations.

Ministers of religion can shape how
the members of their congregations view the
environment. The promotion of good envi-
ronmental behaviour coming from people of
religious belief can go a long way towards
healing our ailing planet.

This workshop will focus on the rela-
tionship between religion and the environ-
ment. We will also examine the issue to
waste management in the Philippines and
propose ways that churches can offer leader-
ship by modelling sustainable behaviour.
The Role of Christian Education in Promoting Earth Rights
51
st
David Dranchuk is a retired church worker from
Vancouver, British Columbia and a descendant of
immigrants from Ukraine and Poland. He opted to
retire early and live permanently in Dumaguete
City. He earned a degree in Home Economics and
Social Work from the University of Manitoba. He
has worked with the Anglican Diocese of New
Westminster in various capacities: as Coordinator
of Societal Ministry, as youth worker especially
with street youth who survived through prostitution
and drug dealing and as provider of palliative care
for elderly people who do not want to die in a per-
sonal care facility. As an advocate for social justice
and environmental stewardship, he has also worked
on environmental issues for the Anglican Diocese
of New Westminster. He is part of the Kairos net-
work. David believes that a profound change in
spirit is necessary if we are to deal with the envi-
ronmental crisis that threatens our planet. At pre-
sent, he is offering his time as a volunteer at Justice
and Peace Center.
Christian Education as Soul Craft: Conflict Sensitivity and Principles of Non-Violent
Communication
No one can deny that the world has become
more violent. A psychologist says that this is an in-
dication that contemporary has lost touch with the
soul and consequently missed the path to
psychological and spiritual maturity. In this inter-
est group, the contention to be put forward is that
Christian education, like peace education, takes the
burden of soul craft.

Christian education is the nurturance of hu-
man beings to be in touch with their souls so that
they will be able to attain peace with the self and oth-
ers. The self is about ones character, individuality
and identity. The health of the soul defines the self.
As such, Christian education must face the challenge
of doing soul craft. To Bill Plotkin, a deep psychol-
ogy practitioner, soulcraft is an approach to the psy-
che and the world that embraces both wild nature and
the depths of our souls. It is also called eco-depth
psychology because Plotkin employs synergistic
set of nature-based practices designed to evoke the
life-shifting experience of soul encounter.

Soul craft, in Christian tradition, is the an-
cient practice of shaping an authentic self. Applying
the principle to Christian education and Peace educa-
tion, soul craft is the intentional shaping of ones val-
ues, perspectives and development of character and
identity. In the first draft of WCCs statement pre-
pared for the International Ecumenical Peace Convo-
cation, soul craft is about the molding of convictions,
morality and greatness of the heart befitting peace-
makers as the blessed children of God. It is one
prayer at a time, an offering of hospitality at a time,
of planting and watering at a time, of sitting beside a
child at a time.

One aspect of soulcraft is cultivating mindful-
ness and conflict sensitivity. One step towards this
goal is to practice nonviolent communication. The
NVC principles offered by Marshall B. Rosenberg
challenges us to recognize the roles of our observa-
tions, feelings, needs, and the ability to make or not-
to-make a request in enriching or impoverishing our
lives. The participants of the interest group will go
through some exercises on these principles.
Muriel Orevillo-Montenegro teaches theology
and religions. She first joined the DS faculty as
instructor in Christian Education and Liturgy.
Before coming to the academia, she was direc-
tor of an NGO in the depressed areas of Duma-
guete. She has served as youth worker and lay
pastor of the UCCP, and helped revive the As-
sociation of Women in Theology (AWIT) in
Dumaguete. She served as the first woman
Dean of the Divinity School, and is presently
the Director of Justice and Peace Center. She
got her degrees in Agriculture, Theological
Education (Christian Education), and M. Div.
(biblical studies) from Silliman University. Her
S.T.M., M.Phil., and Ph.D. were earned from
Union Theological Seminary in New York
City. She is currently working on a Masters
degree in the area of conflict and peace studies
at the University of St. La Salle. She published
articles here and abroad. Her book entitled The
Jesus of Asian Women was published by Orbis
Books in New York.
51
st
46
Rev. Joel Camba has been in active and continuous service to both the church and the larger so-
ciety for more than three decades since 1977 . He has assumed numerous positions of leadership
and responsibility in the church in its various programs and wider judicatories along with those in
the community. He has served as local church pastor since 1977. For more than twenty years, he
served as director of the UCCP-owned school in Albay, the United Institute. He is among the pio-
neers and founding members of the Church Related Educational Action Towards Empowerment
(CREATE), an organization of UCCP owned and related schools where he held various leadership
positions such as, secretary, treasurer, secretary, vice chairperson, and chairperson. In his own
conference, the South Bicol Conference, he had served as its vice chair and as conference modera-
tor. Moreover, he had chaired various important committees in that conference such as the Judicial
committee, the conference partnership committee with the Munster church district of the Evangeli-
cal Church of the Rhineland in Germany, and had been elected as conference representative to the
UCCP National Council. In the wider community, he has also taken on the role of a community or-
ganizer, vice chairman of the board of Bicol Ecumenical Council, chair of the board of Bicol
Ecumenical Fellowship for Development, and a national board member of the Ecumenical Center
for Development. He has been involved in other non-government organizations, as chairperson of
the ANDUROG-NCCP Relief and Rehabilitation Program for Bicol dedicated to respond to the
needs of victims of calamities in the Bicol region area among many others.
Indeed, through his untiring and selfless efforts to serve the church, our people and God,
Joel Camba has demonstrated well a kind of ministry that epitomizes the noblest and the highest
ideals of a Divinity School graduate worthy of the name.
For more than four decades since 1969, Rev. Bilaoen has served as a pioneer-
ing pastor in several places in Agusan del Sur, such as, in Del Monte, Talacogon,
Tagbongabong, RTR, Baylo, San Luis, and Trento. He served also as Moderator of
the Agusan District Conference in 1983-1986. It was during his leadership of the
conference that the partnership of the Agusan District Conference with the Koblenz
Synod of the Rhineland in Germany was established and formalized. He has repre-
sented the UCCP in a partnership program with the Uniting Churches of Australia.
He also served as chair of the Agusan District Conference in 1987-89 and also as
president of the Church Workers Association of the Agusan District Conference. He
was elected president of the Solemnizing Officers Association of Caraga Region and
Agusan del Sur and as chair of the Conference Conflict Resolution Committee. He
has been involved in various community programs and projects. He provided leader-
ship in cooperatives in Agusan del Sur and in Region X. He was convener of the
Agusan del Sur peace process of the NUC, and was a representative to the Provin-
cial Peace and Order Council. He chaired the Agusan del Sur forest protection pro-
gram for ten years , and was chair of the provincial Red Cross. He was also elected
president of the Agusan del Sur network of NGOs and peoples organizations, and
served as regional deputy chief of REACT of Caraga.

Truly, his untiring work and selfless dedication in the service of the Lord and
his people demonstrate a model of ministry worthy of emulation and a source of in-
spiration for the younger generation of those called to serve Gods people.
For half a century already, Mila De Jesus has been unwavering in her service to the
church and to society especially in the area of education, specifically, that of teaching the young
children of the church and of the community. She had served and still serves the church as
pastor, such as in Mahaplag UCCP, Leyte, and presently, in UCCP, Ayungon, Negros Oriental.
However, her greater gift that she has unselfishly shared is in the area of teaching and super-
vising the schools in the church and in the community. As such, she has served as kindergarten
teacher and bible teacher, initially at the Tacloban UCCP and then at the Cebu Christian School.
She then became deaconess of the Cebu Christian Center Church. Her gifts in this field of edu-
cation became widely recognized in due time. She thus became Vice President of the Negros
District Conference Christian Womens Association, and then as president of the North Negros
Conference Protestant Teachers League. She was also elected president of the Ayungon UCCP-
CWA, president of the UCCP Visayas Jurisdiction Early Childhood Educators Association, lay
woman representative of the North Negros Conference, and was appointed principal of the
Ayungon Early Childhood Learning Center. Her other leadership involvements in the commu-
nity includedserving as chairperson of the Barangay Agrarian Reform Council, member of the
Police Law Enforcement Board, chair of the board of the Ayungon Water District, secretary of
the board of trustees of the Korean Faithful Christian Pilgrim Incorporated, supervising princi-
pal of the Korean Faithful Christian Pilgrim College in Candabong, Manjuyod, Negros Oriental
and as member of the Camp Farthest Out White Sandbar Chapter.

Indeed, she has manifested a model of dedicated and selfless practice of ministry especially in a
distinct field that is worthy of emulation and providing an inspiration to all the younger gen-
eration of aspiring workers in the ministry of our Lord.
48
A Synopsis
The students are reclaiming the tradition of making a cultural presentation
at Luce Auditorium during the annual church workers convocation. This year, the
presentation is entitled Lente. Lente is a fictional three-act comedy play written by a
senior B.Th. student, Manuel Jarabe Jr. It portrays three different characters in various
church settings that depict issues and problems related to Christian Education and Nurture.
The first act is a story about Rev. Pilo Juaquin who is known in their conference as Super Pastor be-
cause of his big accomplishments in the churches where he was assigned. But he became so caught up with his
prestige and his projects that he no longer engages in the relational dimension of the church ministry.
The second act is about Jessica Vergara, a CYF president who is not satisfied with how the church
treats the young people. She thinks that they are misunderstood and are being treated indifferently. She longs
for a church that will understand their needs.
The 3
rd
act is about Martha Sta. Ana, a Board of Christian Education and Nurture chair who is caught
up with all the problems she encountered in carrying out her responsibility.
Saw a lot of problems and deficiencies in CRO programs, Sunday School materials and teachers, and
got discouraging response from a budget-oriented church council, among others. The play is a fun and satirical
portrayal of how local churches neglect the importance of CEN, and challenges the audience to reflect on these
realities. The play is interspersed with music and songs that are original compositions for the play by Manuel
Manman Jarabe Jr. and Jerilde Flor. A pastors kid, Hope Ernest Tinambacan serves as the stage manager.
The choreography is created by Nikki Cimafranca, who, like Hope, is a veteran of YATTA, an alternative theat-
rical group composed mostly of Silliman students.
Introducing Master in Peace Studies

The Master in Peace Studies (MPS) is one of the new course offerings of Silliman University
Divinity School approved by the Board of Trustees in March 2012. It is a welcome addition to the
various courses aimed at developing a wholesome person that will then be an agent of change and
shalom.

The Master in Peace Studies addresses the following:

The commitment of Silliman University to justice, peace, humane and sustainable develop-
ment Leverage Silliman Universitys profile among the ranks of growing number of academic insti-
tutions around the world that have responded to the call of peacebuilding in scaling up peace effort s
through education, peace skills enabling, research and extension. In addition, Silliman will advance
its profile as the Master in Peace program, through its activities, provides a platform in which local
and international peace workers, scholars, and activists can meet and share experiences.

CHEDs push for incorporation of peace education in educational institutions particularly
those offering teacher education as outlined in Executive Order 570 dated September 2006 by work-
ing with the College of Education and help train education students to teach peace.

MPS is intended to be open to anybody with an undergraduate degree from any field of
study. It is learner-centered, which means that the program is designed to respond to the professional
needs/interests/ advancement of the students. In this light, an array of course concentrations along the
lines of (a) Peace Education and Culture of Peace, (b) Conflict Transformation, and (c) Managing
Development and Peacebuilding Programs will be offered to students as choices or course concentra-
tions.

The course is designed so that students of each of these tracks will be equipped with relevant
core knowledge and skills that they can apply to their field of profession or work. The MPS also of-
fers a Certificate Program.

Summary of Course Units: Thesis Non-Thesis
Core subjects - 15 12
Major subjects - 15 15
Elective - 3 9
Thesis writing (thesis) or - 6
Internship (non-thesis) - ______ 6
Total = 39 units 42 units

Note: For students opting for the Certificate Program, they are required to take 18 units of subjects
in line with a particular professional track.

Contact Person:
Dr. Myraluz Vivares-Waddington
Coordinator, Master in Peace Studies
Emai l address:mps.su.12@gmai l.com
Cont act #: 63-35-422-6002 l ocal 353
50
Challenges in Doing Christian Education
Psalm 84; John 6: 56 69
My task as closing worship speaker is to
send off participants in this convocation with
hopes that when they are back in their local
church assignments they will be challenged as
Pastors in Local Churches to give importance to
the ministry of educating and nurturing people in
the faith. I hope I can give justice to the task.

When I sat down to write this meditation
reflecting on the theme The Church and Chris-
tian Education: Challenges and Perspective, I
immediately noticed that the statement of the
theme has a message to us. It is as if the Church
and Christian Education are not part of each
other. Reflecting on how the theme is stated I
asked myself these questions in my mind. Sup-
pose a church were to give up all its teaching
work Sunday church school, vacation church
school, Bible study, confirmation class, and eve-
rything else, what would happen to it in fifty
years? What would happen to the children and
young people? Would most of them become
faithful church members? Would their lives be as
fulfilling or as useful as they would have been if
the teaching ministry had been kept?

For the last two days we have heard our
resource persons give their perspectives and
challenges in doing Christian Education. I know
you have your say on the theme. You may also
have your own reflective questions on the state
of the Christian Education in your own local
Churches. And you will agree with me that it is
about time we need to give importance to this
ministry.
For our meditation I will be using the lec-
tionary texts last Sunday, August 26. Psalm 84
or I Kings 8 (selected verses) and John 6: 56
69. Part of my Christian education now is that I
found it very useful the use of lectionary texts
and that using the same would in a way unite me
with fellow Christians.
Psalm 84, which is one of our lectionary
readings last Sunday is a joyful song of praise
for the temple, although not the temple as a
structure but a temple where God dwells and
where people commune and seek Gods pres-
ence. The Psalmist introduces the idea of a sanc-
tuary, a safe haven for weary and burdened peo-
ple, for people who need answers in life, for peo-
ple who struggled to understand lifes challenges
and for people who are threatened and is in need
of security. Relating this to our theme brings to
us a challenge, and this is for us to make our
churches Gods dwelling place and peoples
sanctuary, a place where people can express their
deep yearnings and commune with the presence
of God. This temple provides the space and an
occasion for every person to join with other
members of the community to praise and thank
God. People come to this space to open their
lives and pour out their sinfulness to God and be
assured of Gods bountiful grace for their sinful
lives and above all to open their hearts to the
leading of the Holy Spirit in understanding
Gods message.
I believe one of the challenges for Chris-
tian education in our local churches is to provide
in our liturgies an opening for people to com-
mune with their God and express their inner
51
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yearnings to God. Let us therefore examine our
congregations worship life. Have we provided
for our members opportunities in any part of our
liturgies an opportunity for them to express their
deep yearning and an opportunity commune with
God? Or, are we just doing conventional worship
like copy-paste our liturgy and experiences in
worship? In the Old Testament times, temple
rituals and home rituals are venues for educating
the members of the community of faith. It is
therefore important for us today to organize our
order of worship so that every part of the wor-
ship can be a chance to be a highway to God.
Use symbols to enhance the delivery of the mes-
sage.

The Psalmist talks about the birds nesting
in the temple of God. In the Psalmist words:
Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O God of hosts,
my Ruler and my God. (Psalm 84: 3)
It is interesting to note that the nests are
found near the altars of sacrifice in the Old Tes-
tament temple. The altar is the place where one
offers their burnt offerings. The image of a nest
beside or atop an altar burning with sacrifice is
also an image for us for safety even in the midst
of fire. The image of nest suggests an image of
safe home and in the nest the mother bird can
nurture their chicks. Are our local churches a
place where the young can be safe as in the nest
and are nurtured in faith and in life?

I believe another challenge in doing
Christian education in our local churches is to
make our churches like that of a nest where
every child is safe and every parent can nourish
their children. A place where life is nurtured and
making each member of the community live life
amidst a violent and unjust world. Remember
those family devotions and prayers done together
as a family together as practiced by our forepar-
ents of the faith.

Our lectionary Gospel reading for four
weeks now tells of Jesus discourses on feeding
and bread. While reading these texts we will no-
tice that John was trying to introduce the Holy
Communion. In short, Jesus wants to feed his
listeners and all of us today. But unlike the syn-
optic Gospels, John did not have the institution
of the Holy communion in his Gospel. Instead he
introduced the story of the washing of the Apos-
tles feet. I believe therefore that John was trying
encouraged his readers to participate in the min-
istry, passion and death of Jesus, Those who eat
my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I
in them. (John 6:56) However the disciples re-
action was negative, "This teaching is difficult;
who can accept it?" Let us remember that it is
not the Jews that are complaining but the disci-
ples themselves. The complain of the disciples is
reminiscent of the Israelites complaining to
Moses in the wilderness journey. They were un-
happy because the journey was hard. Faithful
discipleship is seldom easy. The Gospel is hard
because our ways are not Gods ways. In the
end we compromise the Gospel and tailor it to
what message we want to hear or said.

I believe this is another challenge in do-
ing Christian education in our local churches to-
day. The content of the Gospel should not be
compromised. The challenge of discipleship is
costly. When Christ calls us to eat his flesh and
drink his blood, he invites us to participate in his
death. The Christians who first read of this Gos-
pel experienced persecution. They knew mem-
bers of their community of faith who were mar-
tyred because of their faith and they knew also of
Christians who compromised their faith just to
avoid persecution. Our Christian education
should help members of the community to be
steadfast in their faith and not compromise the
values of the Gospel to the values of the world.

According to John, Because of this
many of his disciples turned back and no longer
went about with him. So Jesus asked the twelve,
Do you wish also to go away? Simon Peter an-
swered him, Lord, to whom can we go? You
have the words of eternal life. (John 6:66 67)
51
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This portion reminds us of Jesus as a good shep-
herd. The good shepherd feeds the sheep with all
necessary food for growth for he has the words
of eternal life.

This is very important in our ministry in
our local churches. We often skirt around the
ministry of education and nurture because we
complain that we lacked materials and if there
are materials these are not suitable for our mem-
bers. We must remember that we are Pastors and
teachers altogether. The good shepherd makes us
lie down in green pastures and lead us beside
still waters. Let me therefore challenge all of us
to be like that of a good shepherd always pas-
sionate to lead our people so that they can lie
down in green pastures and still waters. I am
raising this to us because we have made our min-
istry a matter of convenience. We are only doing
the routinary activities in our local churches for-
getting that we are also tasked to be trailblazing
to bring the sheepfold to green pasturelands and
still waters. In trailblazing, therefore, we need to
be risk takers.

Today as we close this convocation may
we go back to our local churches more commit-
ted to the task of educating and nurturing our
sheepfold. The task before us is so great that in
time we may grow weary and inutile for the task
and content ourselves with the conventional min-
istries in our local churches. But let us be in-
spired by the story of the Cheap Crosses as told
by the Rev. Katherine Fagerburg in her entitled :
Difficult Decisions. The story goes this way:
A missionary in Brazil visited a market town on
a religious holiday, and saw a sale sign in a
stores window advertising Cheap crosses for
sell . We may look for cheap crosses no sac-
rifice, no commitment, no cost, no pain but
there is no such thing. Jesus disciples have to
follow the way of the cross.

Bishop Melzar D. Labuntog
North West Mindanao Jurisdiction
51
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Interest Groups Photos
51
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TALAMDAN SA PAGSIMBA
ALANG SA DOMINGO SA KALINAW

PAMALANDONG: Ang kalinaw ibilin ko kaninyo. Ang akong kalinaw nga dili sama sa ikahatag sa kalibotan ihatag ko
kaninyo. (Juan 14:27)

MGA AWIT SA PAGDAYEG, PAGHIMAMAT UG MGA PAGTAGAD SA IGLESIA

PAGSULOD SA MGA PANGULO

TAWAG SA PAGSIMBA
Pangulo: Ang kalibutan iya sa Dios: ang yuta ug ang tanan nga nagpuyo niini.
Katawhan: Pagkaayo ug pagkaanindot gayod kon ang tanan magpuyo sa panaghiusa.
Pangulo: Gugma ug pagtuo magkahugpong. Kon ang mga tinun-an sa Dios maghilom...
Katawhan: kining mga bato mosinggit.
Pangulo: O Dios ablihi and among mga ngabil ug ang among baba mopatagbaw sa pagdayeg kanimo.

**AWIT SA PAGDAYEG: Sa Manunubos Moduol Ta APP 382
(Pulong: Roy Mark B. Berame, Jr., 2002; adapt.; Huni: Geo F. Root)

Sa Manunubos moduol ta, kini mao ang pulong niya.
Malomong tingog nagatawag, Duol Kamo Karon.

Koro: Malipayon ang pagtigom ta, kon maputli gikan sa sala.
Ug didto magatigom kita sa Iyang puloy-an.

Ang Iyang pulong matngonan ta, sa malipayon sundon siya;
Siya gayud ang pinili ta, Duol kamo karon. (Koro)

Nia uban sya nato karon. Sugo ni Cristo tumanon ta,
Malomong tingog nagatawag, Duol kamo karon. (Koro)

**PAG-AMPO (Pangulo)

PAGSUGID SA SALA
Pangulo: Isugid ta sa Dios ang atong mga kalapasan.
Tanan: O Dios kaloy-i kami tungod sa gugma mong walay paglubad. Papasa ang among mga sala tungod sa
dako mong kaluoy! Hugasi kami tungod sa tanan namong pagkadautan ug hinloi kami sa among mga
sala. Giila namo ang among mga kalapasan. Nakasala kami kanimo lamang ug nabuhat ang giisip
mong dautan. Ayaw kami isalikway, ibalik kanamo ang kalipay tungod sa pagluwas Mo kanamo, ug
lig-ona kami gikan sa espiritung masinugtanon. Mao kini ang among pangaliya kanimo diha sa ngalan
ni Jesus. Amen.

TUBAG-AWIT: O Ginoo Susiha Ko Karon (unang estropa lamang) APP 216
(Pulong: J. Edwin Orr; alt.; Huni: Maori melody, arr.)

O Ginoo, susiha ko karon, hibaloi ang hunahuna ko,
Kon daotan ang pamaagi ko, hinloi sa tanang kasal-anan.

PASALIG SA PASAYLO
Pastor: Dawaton ta ang grasya nga gihatag kanato sa Dios, Kay pinaagi sa pagtuo naluwas kamo tungod sa grasya
sa Dios. Ato kining tuohan ug atong hinomdoman nga kita gipasaylo na. Salamat sa Dios!

TUBAG-AWIT: Thank You Lord for Saving My Soul
Thank you Lord, for saving my soul
Thank you Lord for making me whole
Thank you Lord for giving to me
Your great salvation so rich and free. Amen.

MGA KAHANGAWA SA IGLESIA

PAG-AMPO SA IGLESIA
TUBAG-AWIT: Matinumanon Ka (Koro lamang) APP 49
(Pulong: Thomas O. Chrisholm, 1923, alt.; Huni: William M. Runya, 1923)
Matinumanon ka! Mantinumanon ka! Bag-o kanunay ang kaluoy mo ;
Gihatag mong tanang gikinahanglan, Matinumanon ka, O among Dios.

51
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**PAGBASA SA BALAANG KASULATAN

MENSAHE SA AWIT PINAAGI SA KORO

PAMALANDONG

ANG PAGTUGYAN SA KINABUHI UG KINITAAN
Pangulo: Ang atong mga halad simbolo sa atong kinabuhi nga gihalad ngadto sa Dios. Sa atong paghatag niini
karon, atong hinomdoman nga ang usag-usa kanato, kabahin sa Iyang lawas nga nahiusa alang sa
buluhaton sa pagpahiuli sa nagkabulag nga katawhan ug tibuok kabuhatan.

PAGDALA SA HALAD

HALAD SA TALENTO

**TUBAG-AWIT: Panalangini Ang Among Halad APP 97
(Pulong ug Huni: Elena G. Maquiso, 1961)

Panalangini ang among halad, nga gidala na diha kanimo,
Ang grasya mo unta ang maangkon, O among Dios. Amen.

**PAG-AMPO SA PASALAMAT (Pangulo)

**AWIT SA PAGPANGALAGAD: Atong Nasud Nagkinahanglan APP 377
(Pulong ug Huni: Elena G. Maquiso, 1972)

Atong nasod nagkinahanglan sa katawhan nga moalagad,
Magatugyan sa kinabuhi, alang sa kalipay sa uban.

Koro: Atong buligan ang pagkab-ot sa gitinguha
Sa katilingban kay kabubut-on sa Dios Amahan.

Ang pangandoy sa katilingban, ang kalinaw ug ang kahusay,
Ang katul-id sa kinabuhi, ug pagkamatarong pagpuyo. (Koro)

Ang mga pangulo mobati unta sa pangandoy, paghandum,
Sa katawhan nga nag-paabot, nga unta ma-ilang kabuhong. (Koro)

O mga igsoon tabunon, hiusahon ang panglimbasog
Nga maangkon ang kaluwasan, gikan sa kapit-os, kakabos. (Koro)

Kinahanglan atong tabangan pagpauswag sa kahimtangan,
Ang dinaog-daog sa nasod matagamtan nilang kasayon. (Koro)

**PAG-AMPO/PANALANGIN

TUBAG-AWIT: Let There Be Peace On Earth

Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.
Let there be peace on earth the peace that was meant to be.
With God our Creator, neighbors all are we.
Let us walk with each other in perfect harmony.

Let peace begin with me let this be the moment now.
With every step I take, let this be my solemn vow.

To take each moment and live each moment in peace eternally.
Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.

HUNI SA PAGPANGALAGAD

SUDS Update!
Societal Involvement
The Silliman University Divinity School in different ways has been affected by the natural
disasters that hit certain parts of the country at the close of 2011 and in the first quarter of this year.
Some of our students and their families were directly affected by the ill effects of human irresponsi-
ble actions toward the natural world. Nevertheless, the seminary through its students and faculty has
also been a channel of hope and inspiration to the victims of natural disasters by facilitating relief
operations and other forms of assistance to the devastated areas in Central Mindanao and Negros Ori-
ental. Our Justice and Peace Center (JPC) looked for resources to assist partner communities in
Negros Oriental rehabilitate houses damaged by typhoon Sendong, and provide psychosocial sup-
port for those traumatized by the earthquake.
To keep abreast with the call of the time, JPC has also been involved in environmental cam-
paign and advocacy. In cooperation with different like-minded people, institutions and organizations
in Dumaguete City and Negros Oriental, it has sponsored two fora held in the campus on Faith/
Religion and Environment. It also organized at least two fora on the Peace Process between the GPH
and NDFP, both were attended by the official representatives of the government and the NDF panels.
International Connections
Divinity School continues to strengthen its link with the international bodies. Early this year,
the DS hosted three international gatherings. The first one was the two-week International Diaconic
Management study workshop in January 2012, a second-liner program for leadership in Church Re-
lated Institutions that was sponsored by the United Evangelical Mission. This was attended by church
professionals coming from the UEM member churches in Asia and Africa. . The second gathering
also in Januaryfollowed. It was a consultation on Deliverance Ministry also sponsored by UEM.
Theologians and church leaders of UEM member churches in Asia dealt with the issue of exorcism
and witch craft. The third was a convention of Asian Theological Librarians held in April of this
year.
The exchange program with Japan Biblical Theological Seminary (JBTS) resumed on August
1-10, 2012. This program was suspended for about three years after Japan was hit by a devastating
earthquake and tsunami that caused the explosion of a nuclear power plant. The Japanese delegation
was composed of one faculty, one staff and four students who visited our campus, Mabinay, Valencia
and Dauin. In May, a Divinity School group will be sent to JBTS for learning and integration with
the seminary students, church people and some Japanese communities.
A Harvest of Excellence
In March 2012, the Divinity School graduated twelve students:four Bachelor of Theology,
two Master of Divinity (non-thesis), two M. Div. (thesis track), one M. Th. under the Mission Stud-
ies Program, and an M. Th. in consortium with the Southeast Asia Graduate School of Theology. Un-
precedented in DS history, all the B. Th. graduates garnered honors: Zenaida Calo, Zandy Casia
and Nilda Saa, Cum Laude, and. Maria Sharona Romero, Magna Cum Laude.
51
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Scholarship Fund

The challenge of raising scholarship was
picked up by some classes and individuals. New
accounts were opened for additional Scholarship
Funds, namely:
Class 64 PhP 4,594.13
Class 68 PhP 12,948.55
Class 2006 PhP 8,677.79
Class 86 PhP 2,726.90
Class 91 PhP 8,180.69

Mr. & Mrs. Deborah M. Marco
(nee: Deborah S. Tamayo) Fund PhP
100,000.00

Per policy, the principal will be allowed to
reach PhP 100,000.00, and scholarships will only be
taken from the interest income. In order that the fund
to grow, the remaining 20% of the interest income
will be ploughed back to the principal. Scholarships
will be given to deserving and qualified students.

Continuing Theological Education

Our continuing theological education pro-
gram has been enhanced in the recent years with the
generous support of the Filipino-American congreta-
tion of the United Church of Christ in New York
through the initiative of our university president, Dr.
Ben S. Malayang III. In the last two to three year,
there were six conferences in the Visayas and Min-
danao that benefited this our program. This year, the
same local Church has given another financial sup-
port. With this fund, two or three conferences can
avail of this program. SUDS can send two of its fac-
ulty whose travel and honoraria will be covered by
this fund. On a case-to-case basis, a certain amount
maybe allotted for materials or meal subsidy of the
participants. However, we encourage that meals of
the participants will be borne by the local churches
so that more conferences can benefit of our continu-
ing theological education program. A Conference
interested to avail of this program is encouraged to
write the office of the dean.
51
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Dr. Lope B. Robin received both this B.Th.
and M.Div. from Silliman University Di-
vinity School. He served as OIC Dean be-
fore he went on leave to pursue his doctor
of theology with Southeast Asia Graduate
School of Theology (SEAGST) of the As-
sociation of Theological Education in
Southeast Asia (ATESEA). Right after fin-
ishing his D.Th., he was appointed Dean to
finish the second term of Dr. Muriel Ore-
villo-Montenegro until May 2013.
In 1997, the Board of Trustees of Silliman University decided to put up a Center for Con-
ciliation and Peace and Conflict Resolution lodged in the Divinity School. Peace Resource Center
(PRC) was born and offered introductory trainings in conflict transformation and mediation at cost. In
2006, then newly installed University president, Dr. Ben S. Malayang III, changed the name into Jus-
tice and Peace Center to streamline its programs, and to broaden its scope and direction. Since then,
JPC embarked in efforts organize communities of peace, held skills trainings on peace education,
conflict analysis and transformation, and advocacy on peace issues. Among its advocacies is building
awareness among the people and the ecumenical church on the peace process and peace talks espe-
cially between the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and National Democratic Front of the Phil-
ippines (NDFP).
The work of JPC is anchored on the biblico-theological concept of shalom, and holds that
apart from justice, there is no peace. It is guided by a vision towards a peaceful society where rela-
tionships among earthlings and the Earth communities are transformed towards the flourishing of
life. Moreover, it holds on to these principles: that peace is Gods gift, but earthlings have the re-
sponsibility of making it a reality; and that a transformed and peaceful society is one that is life-
giving, life-affirming and life-sustaining.
Consequently it launches into projects of peacebuilding with partner communities as it also
seeks collaboration with potential funding partners, LGUs and other institutions to concretize the vi-
sion. JPC is currently involved in Bangon Negros Oriental project that seeks to support the partner
communities affected by Typhoon Sendong and by the earthquake through rehabilitation program
and psycho-social support.
JPC saw the challenge of equipping church workers, basic education teachers and other ser-
vice-oriented professionals to deliver enhanced services in a context that is getting more and more
pluralistic. Consequently, it submitted a proposal to promote the values of peacebuilding through in-
terreligious understanding enjoys the support of the United Board for Christian Higher Education in
Asia (UBCHEA). In this project, the Coordinating Team will engage people to formulate and design
a modular and ladderized degree program on interreligious understanding. This degree program is
envisioned to be jointly offered by the College of Education and the Divinity School.
Traditionally, JPC spearheads the celebration of Peace Week in September and Human Rights
Week in December. Activities for Womens month in March are usually held in the partner commu-
nities. JPC continues to envision peace-based projects and seeks collaboration with friends and insti-
tutions that have similar visions. It also promotes recycling, produce and sell items from recycled
materials to support its work. At present, JPC is staffed by volunteers.
Justice and Peace Center (JPC)
51
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INDIGENOUS HEALTHCARE AND NATURAL AGRICULTURE (IHNA)
Holistic Health and Integrity of Creation are two of the major social concerns of the United Church
of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP). Conscious of these areas of ministry the Religious Studies Program (RSP)
of the Divinity School, conceptualized the Indigenous Healthcare and Natural Agriculture (IHNA) as its humble
offering to serve the needs and problems of the poor masses in our country, and as a Service-Learning initiative
to enrich the faith of students. This Community Extension Project got funding from the United Board for Chris-
tian Higher Education in Asia (UBCHEA) beginning July 2012 to June 2013.

On the one hand, healthcare in the Philippines is basically hospital based and is largely situated in the
cities and town centers. It is highly commercialized and, to a certain extent, discriminating and unaffordable to
the majority who are poor. It is drug-dependent and almost solely in the hands of the medical professionals,
rather than in the hands of the community people.

Those with financial resources have direct and easy access to health services and the requirements to attain
and sustain good health. The vast majority in the country sides and urban poor communities are, however, de-
prived of this basic social service. Such a situation is detrimental to human survival and calls for a more deter-
mined collective efforts to transform the situation.

On the other hand, agriculture in the Philippines, as the primary source of food to sustain good health is
basically petro-chemical based. This means that agricultural foodstuffs are heavily dosed with chemical fertiliz-
ers and pesticides that are damaging to health, soil, air, water, and to the whole environment.

In this context there is a need to promote a system of healthcare that is affordable, accessible, safe, gender
sensitive, sustainable, development-oriented, community-managed; and, focused in the production of agricul-
tural foodstuffs that are naturally grown, chemical-free, organic, and ecologically friendly. This development
endeavor is based at Marina Mission Clinic, a community health extension outfit of Silliman University estab-
lished in a 1.5 hectares of land located in Dauin, about 17 kilometers south of Dumaguete City.

Religious Studies Program of the Divinity School is the implementing unit of this project. It will maxi-
mize the participation of the organized health extension clinics and poor farmers in the eight (8) villages of
Dauin to attain the set goals. It will ensure that this initiative in indigenous healthcare and natural farming tech-
nology system will contribute to total human development for the well-being of society and the environ-
ment (Silliman Universitys Vision).

Within July 2012 to June 2013, the Indigenous Healthcare and Natural Agriculture (IHNA) shall have
attained the following goals or purposes of the program:
1. Promoted the use and development of the Indigenous Healthcare and Natural Agriculture at Marina Mis-
sion Clinic in Masaplod Norte, Dauin, Negros Oriental, Philippines.
2. Initiated the integration of Indigenous Healthcare with the Western Medical modalities of health ser vices
at Marina Mission Clinic in Masaplod Norte, Dauin, Negros Oriental, Philippines.
3. Supported Marina Mission Clinic in enhancing Community-Based and Community-Managed Healthcare
programs and Natural Agriculture, as means to ensure health in the hands of the people and community
development in the municipality and, to a certain extent, the province of Negros Oriental, Philippines.

The program components are the following:

1. Indigenous Health Education and Skills Training.
2. Community-Managed and Health Organizing for Development.
3. Herbal Medicine and Organic Food Supplement Production
4. Indigenous Healthcare Services.
5. Research, Documentation, and Advocacy.
51
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Rev. Solomon C. Apla-on, Ph. D. in OD & P
IHNA Project Coordinator
Theme: 111th Silliman University Founders Day

Empower MeSpirit of the Living God
2 Corinthians 12:9-10
60
9/7/2012
1
Sil li man and UCCP
For Discussion
Jul y 28 , 2 012
1
Tw o Purposes
To p r esen t a p er sp ect i ve o f t h e Si ll im an -UCCP
r elat i o nshi p f r o m t h e v ie ws o f :
Hi st o r y
Law
Eccl esi ast i cal Rel at i o ns
To p r esen t t h i s p ersp ect iv e f o r w id er d i scu ssi o n s
w it h i n and acr o ss t h e co nst it u en ci es o f Sil li man
an d t h e UCCP
2
Si lli man: A Tr il ogical I nst i t ut ion
Teaching
Preaching Healing
Silliman: It has classrooms, labs,
courts, a church for a place to
worship, & a hospital
(Much like Princeton, Yale,
Harvard, U Chicago)
3
Landscape of Rel at ions
HISTORI CAL
UNFOLDI NGS
INSTI TUTIO NAL
STANDING
LEGAL
PERSONA
ORGANI ZATI ONAL
OBLIGATIO NS
4
9/7/2012
2
19 00 - 19 13
PCUSA
Dum aguet e M i ssi o n St at i on
PCUSA BFM
Si ll i m a n s Tr i l o gy
M i ssi o n ( Tea chi n g,
Heal i n g, Pr ea chi ng )
Si l l i ma n
Ch u r ch - Pl a n t i n g
LOOKING BACK
M an i l a/ Ot h er Phi l Pr esb yt er i es
5
1913
The M anila and ot her PCUSA Presbyt er ies i n t he
Phil ippi nes were grant ed i ndependent st at us by
PCUSA; t hey became an independent Fi li pino
Presbyt er ian Chur ch ; it became known as t he
Evangelical Church of t he Phi li ppines (Independent
Presbyt er ian)
The independent Fi li pino Presbyt eri an Church
became separat e f rom and aut onomous of PCUSA
6
19 13 - 19 48
PCUSA
Dum aguet e
Pr esby t er y
PCUSA BFM
Si ll imans Tr i logy
M i ssi on ( Teachi ng,
Heal ing, Pr eachi ng)
Si l l i ma n
Co n t i n u i n g Co ve n a n t a l
Su p p o r t f o r l o ca l
Pr e sby t er i a n Ch u r ch es
Si l l i ma n St u d e nt Chu r ch
e st a b l i sh ed i n 1 9 1 6
( b u t see d s p l a n t e d i n 1 9 0 1 )
Bi b l e Sch o o l e st a b l i sh ed 1 9 2 1
Co n t i n u i n g m u t u a l su p p o r t & r e l a t i o n s
Co n t i n u i n g m u t u a l su p p o r t
& r e l a t i o n s
Evan ge li c al Ch u r ch o f t he Ph i l ( Ind epen den t
Pr esby t er ian ) ; i n 1 927 b ecam e p ar t o f ECP
LOOKING BACK
7
1948
UCCP Fo r med by Co ven ant Un i on
Th e Evan gel i cal Ch u r ches of t h e Ph i l i pp i nes (w hi ch i ncl u ded t he
Phi l i nd epen den t Pr esby t er i an s), j o i ned t h e Un i on
Nei t h er PCUSA no r BFM (w h i ch b y t h en co nt i nu ed t o o w n
Si ll i man ) j o in ed t he Uni o n; t hu s, Si l l i man w as no t an o r gan i c p ar t
o f t he Un i on
Somet i me 19 32 , Si l l i man b ecame a l egal l y con st i t u t ed Ph i l i pp i ne
Co rp o rat i on un der b ot h US (and l at er Commo nw eal t h) l aw s
Af t er i t s u ni o n, UCCP became a Ph i l i pp i ne Co r po rat i on i n i t sel f
8
9/7/2012
3
19 48 - 19 60
UCCP
Dum aguet e Di st r ic t
Con fer enc e
BFM
Si ll imans Tr i logy
M i ssi on ( Teachi ng,
Si l l i ma n
Su p p o r t f o r l o ca l UCCP
Ch u r ch e s
Si l l i ma n Un i ver si t y
Ch u r ch ( a f t er W WI I)
Co l l e g e o f Th e ol o gy ( f o r UCCP
m i n i st e r i a l f o r m a t i o n )
Co n t i n u i n g m u t u a l su p p o r t & r e l a t i o n s
LOOKING BACK
PCUSA
M ain l y in t he US
Bu t al so i n t he Phi l by w ay of BFM
( un d er Laur el- La ngl ey Agr eem ent )
9
1960
Th e PCUSA Bo ar d o f Fo rei gn M issi o n , w h ich u p t o
t h is t im e h ad h eld i n t r u st (f o r t h eir US d o n o rs)
all asset s o f Sil li man , t u r n ed o ver t h ese asset s i n
f u r t h er t r u st t o t h e Boar d o f Tr u st ees o f Sil li man
Un i ver sit y (i n an t i cip at io n o f t h e co mi n g en d o f t h e
Lau r el- Lan gl ey Agr eemen t )
NOTE: Tr u st eesh i p is n o t o wn er sh ip (as agai n st
b ei ng a Bo ar d o f Di rect o rs ; l at t er r ep resen t s an d
act f or o wn er s [ st o ck h o ld er s] o f a co r p o rat i o n )
10
Af t er 19 60
UCCP
Negr o s Dis t r i ct
Con fer enc e SILLIM AN U NIVERSITY
Tr i logy M i ssion ( Teachi ng,
Si l l i ma n
Su p p o r t f o r l o ca l UCCP
Ch u r ch e s t h r o u g h NDC
Si l l i ma n Un i ver si t y Ch u r ch
Co l l e g e o f Th e ol o gy ( f o r UCCP
m i n i st e r i a l f o r m a t i o n )
SU- UCCP Co ve n a n t a l Li n k s
SILLIM AN UNIVERSITY CORPORATION
UCCP CORPORATION
Co n t i n u i n g PCUSA
Su p p o r t f o r UCCP
LOOKING BACK PCUSA
No pr op er t i es i n Phi l
Through UBCHEA
11
HISTORI CAL
UNFOLDI NGS
INSTI TUTIO NAL
STANDING
LEGAL
PERSONA
ORGANI ZATI ONAL
OBLIGATIO NS
12
9/7/2012
4
PCUSA
(BFM Phil)
Manila/Cebu
Presbyteries
1898-1913
1913: Phil Presbyteries became
Independent of PCUSA
Local
Churches
PCUSA
(BFM Phil)
Silliman
1928: Phil Presbyteries joined
others to form United Evangelical
Churches of the Philippines
Phil Independent
Presbyterians
United Evangelical
Churches of the Phil
1948: UECP joins others to form
UCCP; UCCP incorporated as
UCCP Corp in 1949
1932: PCUSA BFM
incorporates Si lliman Corp
1922: Si ll iman establishes
a Bible School (wi th
Congregati onalists)
UCCP
1960: PCUSA BFM turns over in further trust to
the Silliman Corp its trust holdings in Silliman
Silliman
S
H C
Local
Churches
Local
Churches
Local
Churches
Silliman
S
H C
Silliman
S
H C
ONE IN THE SAME FAITH, FAITH TRADITION, AND PROCLAMATION
13
HISTORI CAL
UNFOLDI NGS
INSTI TUTIO NAL
STANDING
LEGAL
PERSONA
ORGANI ZATI ONAL
OBLIGATIO NS
14
Tw o Corporat i ons
Sil li ma n Cor po ra t i on: si nce 19 32 t o now
Gover ned by i t s own l egal pr ovi si ons (Art i cl es of Incorporat i on) & i t s own
Boar d const i t ut ed by 3 i nst i t ut i onal const i t uenci es (Al um ni , Donor s,
Chur ch)
Al um ni (SAAI ); Donor s (SUFI); Chur ch (PCUSA-BFM b ef ore, but now UCCP)
Boar d i s a Boar d of Tr ust ees i t i s t o keep i nt act (be a st eward over ) t he
asset s & l egaci es of Si l l i m an; i t does not own t he asset s
M ai nt ai ns f rat er nal & eccl esi ast i cal rel at i ons w i t h and r egul ar l y provi des
i n i t s pr ogram s & budget support t o t he UCCP
UCCP Cor pora t i on: since 19 49 t o now
Gover ned by i t s own Art i cl es of Incorporat i on, Const i t ut i on, & Boar d
Boar d represent s owners of al l propert i es of t he UCCP Corporat i on
One const i t uency: al l UCCP churches & UCCP i nst i t ut i ons i n t he Phi l i ppi nes
No budget ary support com m i t m ent s for Si l l i m an
15
UCCP
CORPORATION
SILLIMAN
CORPORATION
School (Teaching)
Hospital (Healing)
University Church
(Preaching & Chaplaincy
for ALL in Silliman))
General Assembly
Jurisdictions
NDC & Other Conf erences
Local Churches
Church-Related Institutions
Wider Church Relationships
. . WEDDED INTO A UNITY OF FAITH & PROCLAMATION UNDER ONE CROSS
LEGALLY & INSTITUTIONALLY SEPARATE & DISTINCT BUT . . .
ONE FAITH; ONE PROCLAMATION
Purpose: To proclaim the CHRIST
and so transform the SELF
Purpose: To transform the SELF
and so proclaim the CHRIST
A HYPOSTATIC UNITY IN ONE FAITH & ONE PROCLAMATION
OF TWO SEPARATE INSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL PERSONAS
[From Doctrine of Hypostatic Uni on; see Athanasi us; Council of Chal cedon 451AD; Chal cedonian Creed)
16
9/7/2012
5
HISTORI CAL
UNFOLDINGS
IN STI TUTI ONAL
STANDING
LEGAL
PERSONA
ORGANI ZATI ONAL
OBLIGATIO NS
17
UCCP
CORPORATION
SILLIMAN
CORPORATION
Institutional Support & Support for Wider Works & Mission
Institutional Support & Support for Sillimans Vision & Mission of a Trilogical Ministry
School (Teaching)
Hospital (Healing)
University Church
(Preaching & Chaplaincy
for ALL in Silliman))
General Assembly
Jurisdictions
NDC & Other Conf erences
Local Churches
Church-Related Institutions
Wider Church Relationships
HYPOSTATIC UNITY IN FAITH & PROCLAMATI ON OF TWO MUTUALLY-SUPPORTI NGINSTITUTI ONS
SU-BOT 1957; 2010
ONE CROSS ONE FAITH; ONE
PROCLAMATION
Purpose: To proclaim the CHRIST
and so transform the SELF, among
UCCP in & beyond SU
Purpose: To transform the SELF
and so proclaim the CHRIST,
among UCCP & non-UCCP in SU
18
A M et a phor
M o on -i n-t he-Wat er W hat Beau t y !
Bu t t he mo on had n ot beco me w at er ; no r o w ned t h e w at er
Nor t he w at er b ecome moo n; or ow n ed t h e moo n
M o on an d w at er ar e apar t f ro m each ot her ; ev en a v er y far
d i st an ce f ro m each ot her
BU T TOGETH ER THEY PROD UCE A U N ITY OF BEAU TY!
This is t he st or y of SU and U CCP a D IFFEREN TIATED
M I N ISTRY but cr ea t ing a beaut if ul unit y of a COM M ON
EVAN GELICAL FAI TH & PROCLAM ATION !
19
SILLI M AN S COM M ITM ENTS TO UCCP
HI STORICAL: Su st ain & w i den t he p ro cl amat i o n & pr act i ce o f
t he evan gel i cal f ai t h i n t he Phi l i p pi n es (as i t had do ne so si n ce
19 01 ), & so be w i t h t he UCCP o n t h e same (as t h e UCCP h ad
b een do i ng so si nce 19 48 )
COV EN AN TAL: Be w it h t h e UCCP on t h e same Fai t h St at emen t
& t r ad i t i on s, an d w i der ch ur ch w or k s
IN STI TU TION AL: Pr ov i de p ro gram & o t h er asset s t o sup po r t t h e
p ro cl amat i o ns & t h eol o gi cal ed ucat i on t hr u st s o f UCCP; Si l l i man
w i l l con t i nu e t o i nvest on i t s Di vi n i t y Scho ol pr ogr ams as i t i s
abl e, an d d o so i n su pp or t o f t h e UCCPs t heo l ogi cal & di v i ni t y
ed ucat i on & fo r mat i o n p ro grams
20
1
Silliman University Divinity School
Dumaguete City
51st Church Workers
Convocation
August 27-30, 2012
The Church and Christian Education:
Challenges and Perspectives
LIST OF REGISTERED PARTICIPANTS
2
Last dame Fitst dame 6onletence 6hutch | 5pecia| kssignment kddtess
Abella Sarah M. CCI Retired 373 Bulacan City, Talisay Cebu
Abella Imie R. CCI UCCP, Daanglungsod Mahawak, Medellin, Cebu
Abrea Neson E. ADC B. Th. Student-Middler Amigo's Subdivision, Dumaguete City
Abueva Ma. Jocelyn R. UMC 44 Guyabano St., KADAMASVIL, Brgy. Katuparan, Taguig City
Abueva Misael B. UMC AFP Chaplain 44 Guyabano St., KADAMASVIL, Brgy. Katuparan, Taguig City
Abuso Ticboy R. CNAC Tara UCCP Tara, Mabinay, Neg. Or.
Academia Erelyn R. Silliman University Divinity School Divinity School Village, SU, Dumaguete City
Adalid Inocito Q. NDC UCCP, Bais City UCCP, Roxas St., Bais City
Adlaon Cora U. DCNM UCCP Carmen Carmen, Jimenez, Misamis Occ.
Adobas Nonito T. CCI UCCP, Juan Quiniones Mem. Church Badian, Cebu
Aguilan Victor R. STC Silliman University Divinity School Bantyan Park, Dumaguete City
Alay-ay Jonnalyn L. NWLC M. Div. Student - Divinity School Village, SU, Dumaguete City
Aleria Mark Anthony N. NDDC UCCP, Nabunturan P2, Brgy. Poblacion, Nabunturan, Comval Province
Aliganza Analisa A. NORWESCON UCCP, Allen San Juan, San Isidro, Northern Samar
Allego Ritcha S. NORWESCON UCCP, Lunang II, Almagro, Samar Bgy. Pena Tinambacan Dist., Calbayog City
Alpuerto January B. NDC Master of Divinity - Middler
Alvarico Ricardo C. CCI UCCP, Mandaue Bradford Omapad St., Mandaue City
Anabeza Lovanesa C. DCNM UCCP Bonifacio D. Fernan, Bonifacio, Misamis Occ.
Anas Nathaniel B. SWLC UCCP, Maasin City Maasin City, Southern Leyte
Ancog Denie Joy F. ADC UCCP, Dulag Dulag, Butuan City
Anfone Ricky C. CNAC Conference Minister Mabinay, Negros Oriental
Anota Norelyn Teresita B. CMAC Pilgrim Christian College Tiano- Del Pilar, Cagayan de Oro City
Antone Hope S. NDC Payap University, Chiang Mai, Thailand Payap University, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Aplaon Solomon Silliman University DS-RSP Silliman Heights Subdivision, Junob, Dumaguete City
Apolinaria Cherry M. ADC UCCP, Las Nieves Las Nieves. Agusan del Norte
Apura Lily Silliman University DS-RSP Vernon Hall, Silliman University Campus
Aragones Choanalfe C. NDC Camp Look Out Camp Look Out, Valencia, Negros Or.
Aranas Jose A. DCSZ UCCP, Ipil Purok Pines 3, Sanito, Ipil, Zamboanga-Sibugay
Arao Ariel M. WMC (on leave) Mabini St., Molave, Zamboanga del Sur
Arrosas Reynaldo J. Jr. NDDC UCCP, Panabo Prk. 5, Luna, Kapalong, Davao del Norte
Arzaga Petty F. WVC UCCP Pandaraonan (Asst. Pastor) Pandaraonan, Nva. Valencia, Guimaras
Asi Arthur R. STC No.9 Kanluran Road, College, Los Banos, Laguna
Asi Amihan L. STC M. Div Student - Senior Divinity School Village, SU, Dumaguete City
Asis Judy B. LDC Chaplain UCCP-LDC, Sanoy Iligan City
Astudillo Juvy B. BCI Bohol Conference Program Coordinator 53 C. Gallares St., Tagbilaran City
Atluna Bert P. NHAC UCCP Bularao UCCP Bularao, Tabuk City, Kalinga
Atuel Efren C. ADC UCCP, Tungao Purok 12, Brgy. Tungao, Butuan City
Augusto Mark B. CCI Silliman University DS-RSP Divinity School Village, SU, Dumaguete City
Autor Wilbert T. LDC UCCP, Bacolod UCCP, Bacolod, Prk 2 Poblacion, Lanao del Norte
Ayta Brendan C. DCNM M. Div. Student - Junior Woodward Hall, SU, Dumaguete City
Bacarro Samuel A. NDC UCCP, Siit La Sola Dr., EJ Blanco St., Piapi, Dumaguete City
Baconga Libnie Q. BCI UCCP, Villa Alvares & Bongbon Villa Alvares, Poblacion, Bohol
Baconga Antonino N. CMAC Camiguin Mission Church 470 Baconga St., Lapasan, Cagayan de Oro City
Baconga Camilo N. CMAC UCCP - Alubijid Monay, Alubihid, Mis.Or.
Bacquiao Maureen S. CCI ChFC- Calawisan LLC Gun-of, LLC
Bakian Roceni S. NHAC NHAC (Conference Minister) Magsaysay, Tabuk City, Kalinga
Balajo Elvie Marie D. NHAC UCCP - Kiangan Kiangan, Ifugao
Balderas Errol A. CNAC
Balderas Sandra B. NNC UCCP, San Carlos City Broce St, Barangay 2, San Carlos City
Bangcog Erwin Andres F. CCI UCCP, Oslob Sitio Panas, Daanglungsod, Sta. Lucia,Asturias, Cebu
Baris Jerome C. SIDC UCCP Balangkayan UCCP, Balangkayan, E. Samar
Basalo Norma C. LDC UCCP Balili & Donggoan Balili UCCP, Kapatagan, Lanao del Norte
Baslot Rodolfo A. ADC UCCP Noli Bayugan City, Agusan del Sur
Bayon Fernando F. DCNZ Conference Minister UCCP- DCNZ Office, Jagonio Subd., Datu Tangkilan, Sindangan
Bayon Joji L. DCNZ Silliman University High School Lower Lukewright, Tinago, Dumaguete City
Belza Jemuel A. LDC UCCP, Kapatagan Kapatagan, Lanao del Norte
Berame Ludy C. NDC Silliman University High School c/o UCCP, Sibulan, Negros Oriental
Bergado Feliciano D. LDC Retired Zone 7, Del Carmen, Iligan City
51st Church Workers Convocation
August 27-30, 2012
REGISTERED PARTICIPANTS
3
Bernales Scherlen E. BCI UCCP, Baybayon, Mabini, bohol Basiao, Pres. Carlos P. Garcia, Bohol
Bertoldo Jezer E. CCI UCCP, Rev. Jorge Patalinghug Mem Ch 43 Don Pedro Cris St., San Antonio, Cebu City
Bico Reece Ven V. STC M. Div. Student - Junior Woodward Hall, SU, Dumaguete City
Bilaoen Solomon B. Jr. ADC Retired San Isidro, San Francisco, Agusan del Sur
Bingtan Isaias L. CCI UCCP, Mulao Mulao, Liloan, Cebu
Bingtan Luz B. CCI UCCP, Paril Mulao, Liloan, Cebu
Bomes Alejandro C. DCNM Conference Minister 37 - A Enerio St., Oroquieta City
Bomes Adonis M. WMC B. Th. Student - Senior Pinili Appartment, Taclobo, Dumaguete City
Bonggoyan Zosimo O. ADC UCCP, Buenavista Buenavista, Agusan Del Norte
Bonite Edilbert M. CCI TCSRMC - Compostela 85 Osmena blvd. Cebu City, Cebu
Briones Leonor M.
Bugtong Florence M. Highland UCCP Sabkil (Executive Minister) 14 Victoria Village, Baguio City
Burgos Christopher NDC Silliman University DS-RSP Silliman Heights Subdivision, Junob, Dumaguete City
Cabada Rufiniano C. CMAC CMAC (Conference Minister) CMAC F. Abellanuer St., CDO City
Cabada Evelyn T. CMAC UCCP Balulang UCCP Balulang, CDO City
Cabailon Danielito P. CCI Visayas Community Medical Center Cebu City
Cabanas Vicky C. ADC UCCP, Magallanes La Fortuna, Veruela, Agusan del Sur
Cabasan Dolores P. NELBICON uccp, Iyusan Iyusan, Almeria, Leyte
Cabigon Sarah Fe S. LDC UCCP Salvador Salvador, Lanao del Norte
Cabigon Ruben S. LDC UCCP Maigo Salvador, Lanao del Norte
Cabio-Yanez Liza UCCP, Cagayan de Oro City Pioneer St., San Pedro, Dumingag, Zamboanga del Sur
Cacaldo Santiago Y. CNAC UCCP Central Church 113 cors. Naranghita & Chico Sts, Mabinay, Negros Oriental
Cacaldo Rachel R. CNAC Mabinay Central Church 113 cors. Naranghita & Chico Sts, Mabinay, Negros Oriental
Cadusale Pantaleon B. LDC UCCP Suarez, Iligan City
Cadusale Jecholia L. LDC UCCP, Seaman Dale P-1 Caniogan, Tubod, Lanao del Norte
Cajandab Patricia A. NORWESCON UCCP Allen Allen, Northern Samar
Cal Jonathan M. LDC UCCP, Iligan City Roxaz Avenue, Iligan City
Calibod Edgar N. DCNZ UCCP, Pinam/ Manukan Dipolog City
Calihog Remedios S. SDC SDC ( Retired Minister ) Purok Perlas, Nevera extension, Surigao City
Calo Zenaida R. CCI UCCP, Macedonian Church Tapal, Guadalupe, Carcar, Cebu
Calvario Ariane Q. BCI B. Th. Student - Channon Hall, SU, Dumaguete City
Camba Erme R. NDC Silliman University Divinity School
Camba Joel R. SBC UCCP, Sto. Domingo Evangelical Church Sto. Domingo, Albay
Camino Ebenezer C. CNAC UCCP, Mabinay Central Church Mabinay, Negros Oriental
Caete Joan Mae E. LDC Conference Program Coordinator UCCP, Roxas Avenue, Iligan City
Caete James S. LDC UCCP, Iligan City Tambo, Iligan City
Canonigo Juanito L. CCI Mandaue, Bradford Mandaue City, Cebu
Cantere Gaspar Salaan CMAC Pilgrim Christian College Lapasan, Cagayan de Oro City
Cantila Benjamin R. CNAC UCCP, Canggohob, Cantombol Canggohob, Mabinay, Negros Oriental
Caperiela Melody Fe B. BAC UCCP, Kisolan Sumilao 10-A North Abellanosa St., Cagayan de oro City
Capongcol Ruth Q. NELBICON Deputy Conference Minister Bethany Hospital Compound, Tacloban City
Capulong Rebecca B. ADC Silliman University DS-RSP Springville Homes, Banilad, Dumaguete City
Capulong Noriel C. NSTC Silliman University Divinity School Springville Homes, Banilad, Dumaguete City
Casia Zandy L. DCNM UCCP, Jimenez Sta. Cruz, Jimenes, Misamis Occidental
Casiano Paquito G. Jr. DCNM CEN Minister Lam - an, Ozamiz City
Casiano Araceli M. NDDC UCCP, Mawab Prk. 3 Nuevo Iloc, Mawab, Comval Province
Casiano Andrea G. NORWESCON UCCP, Catarman, Bantian, Hipa Catarman, Northern Samar
Casido Priscilla B. NDC UCCP, Polo Polo, Tanjay City
Castillano Jeremias E. CAC 9409 Piki, Cotabato
Castillo Leland M. UCCp U.E.P. Local Church University of Eastern Philippines Catarman, Northern Samar
Casusi Gedion A. CNAC UCCP, Lamdas, Cantombol II Bagtic, Mabinay, Negros Oriental
Catalla Alfredo H. Masbate UCCP Magsaysay Magsaysay, Uson, Masbate
Cayetano Russell V. NDC UCCP, Sta. Catalina Sta. Catalina, Negros Oriental
Cayetano Lolie A. NNC UCCP Bala-as Manjuyod Martinez St., Poblacion Ayungon, Negros Or.
Cayetano Bonifacio G. NNC UCCP Ayungon Martinez St., Poblacion Ayungon, Negros Or.
Cerino Filomeno L. NELBICON UCCP, Carigara 116 Lopez Jaena, Tacloban, Leyte
Cinco John Gido L. CMAC B. Th. Student - Freshman Woodward Hall, SU, Dumaguete City
Cofreros Angelico F. NDDC UCCP, Sto Tomas Fd. Rd. # 3 Sto Tomas, Davao Del Norte
Corsino Arlene N. NDDC UCCP, Montevista Poblacion, Mawab, Comval Province
Cuanan-Nalam Jean NDC Silliman University Divinity School Silliman Heights Subdivision, Junob, Dumaguete City
Cuerbo Sofonias A. Masbate UCCP, Sitio Banal Placer, Masbate
Curan Bernadette S. CMAC Pilgrim Christian College Del Pilar Magsaysay St., Cagayan de Oro City
Daguplo Helen L. BCI UCCP Badbad Oriental, Loon, Bohol UCCP Badbad Oriental, Loon, Bohol
Damiao Creensanita D. SDC UCCP, Mahayahay-Lingig Dep. Ed. Division Office, Tandag, Surigao del Sur
Daquio Norma L. CMAC Macabalan, Cagayan City Cagayan de Oro City
4
Dayola Charlyn C. CMAC
de Asis Manuel S. Sr. LDC UCCP Libertad UCCP Libertad, Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte
de Asis Freddie F. NDC UCCP, Dumaguete City Silliman Avenue Extension, Dumaguete City
De Jesus Mila L. NNC Retiree Calagcalag, Ayungon, Negros Oriental
De La Raya Mary Anne G NDC UCCP, Chapel of the Evangel Banilad, Dumaguete City
de los Reyes Erlinda M. SIDC SIDC (Conference Minister) SIDC Samar Island District Conference
Degorio Rudie DJ. CNAC UCCP Tara Himocdongon & Tara, Mabinay
Del Carmen Cirilo V. PC-USA 21-C cor P. Gil & Adriatico Sts., Ermita, Manila
Del Castillo Dizza D. NDDC UCCP, Bethel Mabini St., Tagum City
Del Rosario Gary Micahel D. SMLC
Dela Cruz Elsie Joy L. CAC
dela Rama Danny F. NDC NDC (Conference Minister) Ajong, Sibulan, Negros Or.
Delvo Eutropio E. SWLC UCCP Hinunangan UCCP Hinunangan, Southern Leyte
Dizon Angel G. Jr. SMDC UCCP Darong Sta. cruz Landing Darong, Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur
Dizon Jackelyn P. SMDC M. Div. Student - Senior Divinity School Village, SU, Dumaguete City
Dolayba Eduardo T. ADC UCCP, Bayugan II Bayugan II, San Francisco, Agusan del Sur
Domingo Iluminada A. MNC Gugma sa Kabataan Unit 7, Hughes Apt., Magsaysay- Del Pilar, Cagayan de Oro City
Donasco Ruth C. SIDC M. Div. Student - Middler Channon Hall, SU, Dumaguete City
Dranchuk David UCCP, Chapel of the Evangel 3 Galilee Homes, Bantayan, Dumaguete City
Ecat Nelsa B. BCI UCCP, Cabacnitan, Bilar, Bohol San Miguel, Dagohoy, Bohol
Edem Roger Y. WMC UCCP, Manga Manga, Pagadian City
Elvira Joven R. Master Of Divinity - Junior
Endico JE C. SDC B. Th. Student - Freshman Channon Hall, SU, Dumaguete City
Ermac Ronilo A. CCI UCCP, Good Samaritan Church Consolacion, Cebu
Erosido Edena L. DCNZ UCCP Sindangan UCCP Sindangan, Z.N.
Espinosa Julito B. ADC UCCP, Libertad Km. 4 Libertad, Butuan City
Esquierdo Sergio C. NDC Dauin UCCP, Neg.Or Motong, Dumaguete City
Esquierdo Neminda E. NDC UCCP Bais, Neg. Or. UCCP Church Bais City, Neg. Or.
Esquierdo Angeling B. NDC UCCP Siaton Dumaguete City
Estola Domingo M. Jr. NELBICON UCCP Mahaplag Brgy. Bagacay, Tacloban City
Estrella Roberto D. NELBICON B. Th. Student - Sophomore Divinity School Village, SU, Dumaguete City
Evasce Rosilver V, DCNM Pines UCCP Oroquieta Purok 5 Bonadero, Ozamiz
Faller Arnel Zaide STC Silliman University DS-RSP Divinity School Village, SU, Dumaguete City
Fedelino-Siago Norma NORWESCON UCCP, Allen Allen, Northern Samar
Flor Jerilde M. WMC B. Th. Student - Senior Channon Hall, SU, Dumaguete City
Flora Edward B. CCI
Flores Artemia M. WMC UCCP Kagawasan UCCP Kagawasan, Dimataling, Zamboanga del Sur
Flores Lina G. WMC UCCP Kawit UCCP Kawit, Pagadian City
Florinda Ceasar S. CNAC Baican UCCP Church Tara, Mabinay, Neg. Or.
Formanes Charmaign A. SBC B. Th. Student - Sophomore Channon Hall, SU, Dumaguete City
Fortugaleza Cliff L. BAC UCCP Valencia City 616 Mabini St., Boyco, Bayawan City, Negros Or.
Francisco Marcelina C. NNC UCCP, La Libertad UCCP, South Poblacion, La Libertad, Negros Oriental
Fuentes Caleb Ernane P. CCI Fuentes del Rosario Memorial Church
Fuentes Deborah O. CCI Jose Diao Memorial Church Salvador, Tangke, Talisay City
Gadingan Julita G. Master of Divinity - Junior
Galosmo Wish A. NORWESCON UCCP, Malajog Cag-Olango, Calbayog City
Galve Nigel P. Master of Divinity - Spiritual Care
Gange June Frances H. WVC UCCP, Mapatag Mapatag, Hamtic, Antique
Geromo Badon J. WMC UCCP, Sicpao Sicpao, Mahayag, Zamboanga del Sur
Gillo Mag A. SIDC B. Th.Student - Freshman Woodward Hall, SU, Dumaguete City
Golosino Edwin A. BCI SU Medical Center Silliman University, Dumaguete city
Golosino Arman T. BCI UCCP, Tagaluahan, Basiao, CPG, Bohol Fatima, Ubay, Bohol
Golosino Andy Q. BCI UCCP, San Miguel, Dagohoy, Bohol Canlaas, Antequera, Bohol
Gomez Hilario M. Jr. LDC UCCP, Lala Lala, Lanao del Norte
Gonzales Rosemarie I. NDC UCCP, Sibulan Tabuctubig, Angatan, Dumaguete City
Guazon Emerenciano E. Jr. NDC RSP - Divinity School # 2 Silliman Village, Piapi, Dumaguete City
Gubot Michael E. WMC UCCP, Sunville
Guc - ong Juseph P. LDC UCCP Kolamugan, LDN Cabasagan, Lola, Lanao del Norte
Guernaldo Sonny M. Masbate Rev. S. Canillas - Rev. R.D. Ybanez Memorial Church, Inc. Matagangtang, Placer, Masbate
Gutierrez Edna Vita P STC Silliman University High School Woodward Hall, SU Campus
Haro Eve GD. WVC UCCP Nagub-an Sta. Teresa UCCP Jordan, Guimaras
Haro Levi M. WVC Sta. Teresa UCCP Sta. Teresa UCCP Jordan, Guimaras
Harris-Faller Jeaneth SBC Silliman University Divinity School Divinity School Village, SU, Dumaguete City
Hohmann Christian Germany Special Student
Hood Denise P. Plymouth UCC, Detroit, MI, USA Detroit, MI, USA
5
Hood Nicholas Plymouth UCC, Detroit, MI, USA Detroit, MI, USA
Hoye Wella L. BCI UCCP Dr. Graham Memorial Church Gallares St., Tagbilaran City
Ibalarrosa Lemuel Q. NELBICON UCCP Tacloban 181 P. Zamora St. Tacloban City
Ibaoc Meriam B. DCNZ UCCP Oyon, Dapitan City Purok Orchid, Hamoc Compound, Sicayob, Dipolog City
Ibaoc Placido R. DCNZ UCCP Oyon, Dapitan City Purok Orchid, Hamoc Compound, Sicayob, Dipolog City
Ibarra-Bertoldo Abigail CCI UCCP - Cendet 85 Osmena Blvd., Cebu City
Idul Socrates G. NDDC NDDC (Confrence Minister) NDDC-Km 55, Docto;ero St., tagum City, Davao del Norte
Igdanes Joy T. SBC Barcelona UCCP Aguinaldo St., Poblacion Norte, Barcelona UCCP, Sorsogon
Igdanes Lemuel S. SBC M. Div. Student - Junior Divinity School Village, SU, Dumaguete City
Ilano Michelle T. SMDC M. Div. Student - Middler Channon Hall, SU, Dumaguete City
Inute Presentacion L. NDC Tanchoal, San Jose, Tanjay City, Neg. Or.
Iyoy Rizalina B. CCI 395 - E Osmea Boulevard, Cebu City
Jaraba Humphrey B. LDC UCCP Luinab, Iligan/Libertad Purok 11, Tambacan, Iligan City
Jarabe Manuel I. Jr. NELBICON B. Th. Student - Senior Divinity School Village, SU, Dumaguete City
Juan Rodulfo D. NDC No Assignment yet under process No. 11 Ipil St. Daro, Dumaguete City
Juanerio Miriam G. LCSMC M. Div. Student - Middler Divinity School Village, SU, Dumaguete City
Jumawan Mediador V. 5247 Iron Ridge Pass, Schertz, Tx 78154
Kadile Myrna Mary Ana G. CMAC UCCP, Bonbon Zone 10, Bulua, Cagayan de Oro City
Kadusale Leonardo Y. LDC UCCP Darumawang & Taguitic Darumawang, Lala, Lanao del Norte
Kahesi Joash ELC Silliman University Divinity School UEM Village, Silliman University Campus, Dumaguete City
Kapirig Leonida A. WMC UCCP Aurora UCCP Aurora, Cabilao St., San Jose, Aurora, 205
Kho Perla Luz G. Master of Divinity - Spiritual Care
Labrador Stenio D. SDC Purok 4, San Juan, Surigao City 556 Mupas St., Mainit, Surigao del Norte
Labuntog Melzar D. CMAC NWMJ Bishop Cagayan de oro City
Lagahit Jerem M. NDC Silliman University Church Silliman University, Dumaguete city
Langgam Adonia S. CMAC UCCP, Villanueva, Misamis Oriental Poblacion, Claveria, Misamis Oriental
Lasta Ricardo Rex S. LDC UCCP Tubaran Panoloon, Sapu, Lanao del Norte
Lazaro Rey Alejandro L. CMAC CMAC Coordinator # 40 Ruby St., Gusa, Cagayan de Oro City
Lianos Rosana R. NDC UCCP, Milagrosa and Bunsod Milagrosa, Sta. Catalina, Negros Oriental
Liwag Elizabeth B. UMC 172-A Ermin Garcia St., Cubao, Quezon City
Llego Matt Anthony D. KTKK B. Th. Student - Sophomore Woodward Hall, SU, Dumaguete City
Lomocso Jaime I. DCNM UCCP, Oroquieta P. 5 - Canubay, Oroquieta City
Lopez Elizabeth S. CCI Molterm, Memorial Church Hagnaya, San Remigio, Cebu
Lozano Joanas A. SBC UCCP Gigmoto Gigmoto, Virac Catanduanes
Lugo Klariza Grace Q. CMAC UCCP, Claveria
Lumayag Ramonette E. NDC UCCP, Tanjay City Tanjay City, Negros Oriental
Lungay George A. BCI UCCP, Tagbilaran City Tagbilaran City, Bohol
Ma Eunice Silliman University Elementary School
Mabanan Pedro P. SIDC B. Th, Student - Sophomore Woodward Hall, SU, Dumaguete City
Maglasang Wendell T. ADC UCCP, Carmen Carmen, Poblacion, Agusan del Norte
Magno Dan D. SIDC Mastero of Divinity- Junior
Majestrado Amelito C. WMC M. Div. Student - Senior Divinity School Village, SU, Dumaguete City
Malahay Farrah C. NNC UCCP, Malaga Malaga, Bindoy, Negros Oriental
Malto Josue SBC Virac UCCP Constantino St., Virac, Catanduanes
Mange Angelito B. ADC UCCP, El Rio El Rio, Sibagat, Agusan del Sur
Manlangit Angelo U. NNC UCP Jimalalud South Poblacion National Highway, Jimalalud, Negros Oriental
Manzano Riodel Edward T. LDC LDC Conference Minister UCCP - Lanipao, Lala, Lanao del Norte
Marigza Reuel Norman O. Highland National Office - UCCP(Gen. Sec.) 877 EDSA, Quezon City
Matta Abner C. NNC UCCP, Daras-an Guihob, La Libertad, Negros Oriental
Mendoza Rolan C. ADC UCCP, Butuan R. Calo St., butuan City
Mendoza Sianne G. ADC UCCP, Butuan R. Calo St., butuan City
Mendoza Magnolia Nova V. STC Silliman University Divinity School Divinity School Village, SU, Dumaguete City
Mendoza Ronan C. ADC UCCP, Nasipit Jose P. Rizal St., Nasipit, Agusan del Norte
Millama Ricardo O. SDC UCCP Alegria, Surigao City Nueva Ext., Surigao City
Miot Rio A. CNAC UCCP, Luyang Poblacion, Mabinay, Negros Oriental
Miot Sadrac B. CNAC Bethel UCCP Pomelo St., pob. Mabinay, Neg. Or
Montenegro Jane Ella P. SDC UCCP, Forest Drive Forest Drive Village, Gate 2, San Roque, Bislig City
Morales Isaias B. DCNZ UCCP Dipolog City Malimono, Surigao del Norte
Morales Jhosana S. DCNZ UCCP Dipolog City Malimono, Surigao del Norte
Mumar Eliseo B. NORWESCON UCCP Calbuyog City Church UCCP Calbuyog City Church. Calbuyog City, Western Samar
Munasque Rachel A. DCNM UCCP Lopez jaena UCCP Lopez Jaena, Misamis occ.
Murillo Edmund E. NDC UCCP, Cambucad UCCP, Cambucad, Valencia, Negros Oriental
Mutia Lucio B. DCNM
Nalam Jerome B. NDC UCCP San Jose UCCP San Jose, Neg.Or.
Namocatcat Pell Miland D. NDC M. Div. Student - Senior Woodward Hall, Silliman University
6
Narciso Ricky B. CNAC UCCP Paniabonan Paniabonan, Negros Oriental
Narciso Flordeliza A. LDC UCCP, Magsaysay, Lanao del Norte Magsaysay, Lanao del Norte
Narciso Emelia C. WMC Blk. 13 28 Lita Tierra, Tigumao, Pagadian City
Narciso Fortunato B. WMC Tabak Evangelical B13L8, Alta Home, Tiguma, Pagadian City
Nazareno Erlinda L. LDC UCCP, Iligan City Gen. Aguinaldo St., Palao, Iligan City
Nejudne Shealtiel Kim P.
Ngoho Romeo C. NELBICON PNP Chaplain Evangelical Worship Center, Gate 4, Camp Crame, Quezon City
Nicalas Roger V. NHAC Youth Ptr. UCCP Dagupan UCCP Dagupan, Tabuk City, Kalinga
Nicanor Ronnie Flor T. DCSZ M. Div. Student - Middler Woodward Hall, SU, Dumaguete City
Niwag Ladora C. BCI UCCP, Poblacion,Sagbayan, Bohol UCCP, Poblacion, Sagbayan, Bohol
Nolval Ritche S. CCI UCCP Church of the Redeemer Tulay, Minglanilla, Cebu
Noynay Alfonso G. ADC M. Div. Student - Senior Divinity School Village, SU, Dumaguete City
Nudalo Valentino C. Jr. SWLC UCCP Saint Bernard Saint Bernard, Southern Leyte
Nuena Reinhard L. DCNM UCCP Clarin Pob. 2 Clarin, Misamis Occ.
Nuena Rimnan T. DCNM UCCP Tudela Pob. 2 Clarin, Misamis Occ.
Opiala Imelda C. BCI Causwagan Norte, Catigbian Lourdes, Panglao, Bohol
Opiala Angelito C. BCI UCCP, Trinidad, Bohol San Miguel, Bohol
Orbiso Dina P. Masbate UCCP, Guinhan-ayan Villa Inocencio, Placer, Masbate
Orevillo Ruel P. BCI Deputy Conference Minister Sa Isidro, Talibon, Bohol
Orevillo-Montenegro Muriel NDC Silliman University Divinity School Silliman University Main Campus, Dumaguete City
Ozarraga Heracleo M. Jr. DCNM Brokenshire Hospital Brokenshire Hospital, Davao Cty
Pacatang Rosario B. DCNZ UCCP Sindangan, Z.N. UCCP Sindangan, Z.N.
Pace Bless Johannes F. CCI Church of the Redeemer 2-105 Pagsabungan, Mandaue City
Padilla-Panares Vera CMAC Pilgrim Christian College Villa Candida Subd.,
Pagalan Jesse A. ADC Conference Minister Algon Road, Awilla Village, Butuan City
Pahayag Arlene P. CMAC (on leave) Salay, Misamis Or.
Pajarillo Noel B. WVC UCCP Ilo-ilo City UCCP Dungon B. Jaro, Ilo-Ilo City
Pangilinan Erlina D. CCI Bradford UCCP, Cebu 16 Villa Quijano Vill., Forest Hills, Banawa, Cebu City
Paniamogan Juanita D. SDC SDC ( Conference Minister ) UCCP SDC Home, Kalipayan St. Km.1, Surigao City
Paquibot James E. CCI UCCP, Bradford 85 Osmea Blv., Cebu City
Patadlas Salome P. WMC UCCP Dinas Dinas, Zamboanga del Sur
Patadlas Alan S. WMC UCCP Tawagan UCCP Tawagan Norte, Zamboanga del Sur
Patadlas Levi S. WMC (no assignment) UCCPDumingag, Zamboanga del Sur
Patalinghug Danilo Y. CCI UCCP, Ronda, Cebu UCCP, Ronda, Cebu
Perez Ephrym R. NORWESCON B. Th.Student - Senior Divinity School Village, SU, Dumaguete City
Pia Jonathan R. NDC Silliman University Church Silliman University, Dumaguete City
Primacio Jess B. CCI Cebu Conference Incorporated 2603- Upper Inayayan, City of Naga, Cebu
Providencia Elmer Y. CNAC UCCP, Lumbangan Lumbangan, Mabinay, Negros oriental
Puguon Ruben B. Highland M. Div. Student - Senior Divinity School Village, SU, Dumaguete City
Puracan Joromi D. BCI UCCP, Tagbilaran City 53- C Gallares St., Tagbilaran City
Puracan Rodrigo Silliman Univeristy DS-RSP Dahlia Cottage, Silliman University Campus
Purba Deddy Indonesia Doctor of Theology Student
Quezon Michael D. DCNM B. Th. Student - Freshman Woodward Hall, SU, Dumaguete City
Quiliope Pablito J. NDC UCCP Amlan Amlan, Negros Or.
Ragas Reynold M. CCI Bradford Enayawan Outreach, Pardo Bradford Inayawan Outreach, Pardo
Rambuyon Vida C. Justice and Peace Center
Raydan Geraldine B. CNAC UCCP Dawis Dawis, Bayawan City
Reambonanza Trecita S. SDC Silliman University High School Silliman Heights Subd., Junob, Dumaguete City
Regino Nancy G. WVC UCCP Centro Poblacion Centro Poblacion, Culasi, Antique
Rendal Perla E. NDC retired
Rendon Benjamin Benrye P. NDC UCCP, Siquijor Poblacion, Siquijor
Reyes Alicia N. NORWESCON UCCP, San Antonio Alegria, San Isidro, Northern Samar
Richardt Sarah J. SDC SDC ( Retired Minister ) Springville Homes, Sto. Nino Rd., Banilad, Dumaguete City
Risma Ireneo Victor F. NDC
Roa Joven M. LDC UCCP, Iligan City Gen. Aguinaldo Ext., Palao, Iligan City
Robido Vilma B. NORWESCON UCCP, Cag-Olango Cagnipa, Tinambacan District, Calbayog City
Robin Lope B. BCI Silliman University Divinity School Silliman University Main Campus, Dumaguete City
Robles Gilbert Gerry B. NSTC Pacita Evengelacal Church Los Banos, Laguna
Romano Rosito A. CNAC Locay, Bagtic UCCP Caluy-ahan, Cabagahan, Bais City
Romero Napoleon A. Jr. SWLC M. Div. Student - Senior Divinity School Village, SU, Dumaguete City
Ronolo Godofredo A. CCI UCCP, Oslob Poblacion, Santander, Cebu
Ronquillo-Burgos Ethel NELBICON Silliman University Elementary School Silliman Heights Subd., Junob, Dumaguete City
Rosal-Tabada Dominga NDC Silliman University Elementary School Divinity School Village, Silliman University, Dgte City
Rosialda Manolito C. NORWESCON M. Div. Student - Junior Woodward Hall, SU, Dumaguete City
Rubio Michael M. WMC UCCP Maragang Maragang, Tigbao
7
Rubio Jobert M. WMC UCCP, Guinicolalay Guinicolalay Pinas, Zamboanga del Sur
Ruiz Alma Silliman Univeristy DS-RSP Villarosa Subd., Sibulan, Negros Oriental
Saa Nilda Y. CMAC UCCP, Magsaysay Magsaysay, Misamis Occidental
Saa Elmer L. NDC Silliman University Church Silliman University, Dumaguete city
Sabrin Wilson A. NNC UCCP, Pawan Pawan, la Libertad, Negros Oriental
Saguban Joe Ric I. NDC UCCP Pamplona Lower Jugno, Amlan, Negros Oriental
Salig Joven D. DCNM UCCP Pulot Outreach Pulot, Ozamis City
Salig Renerio D. DCNM UCCP Unidos, Plaridel, Mis.,Occ. Sepac, Sapang Dalaga, Mis.,Occ.
Saligaw Elizabeth D. CMAC UCCP Lunao Lunao, Gingoog City
Salor Jerby A. NORWESCON NORWESCON (Conference Minister) NORWESCON
Salva Joshua Job S. CMAC
Salvan Mary Joy R. CMAC
Sambat Elorde M. NLJ UCCP Bishop 42 Bokawkan Rd., P. Burgos Brgy., Baguio City 2600
San Francisco Jerry J. CMAC UCCP Xavier Heights Block 8 WT 2 Xavier Heights
San Francisco Ligaya F. CMAC UCCP Gingoog UCCP, Brgy.24, Magallanes St., Gongoog City
Sanque Eduardo I. Mindoro A-299 Cardinal Compound, Sampaloc 2, Dasmarinas, Cavite
Saplagio Lalen P. NDDC UCCP, Magugpo
Saycon Abner V. DCNM UCCP Ozamiz City UCCP, La-am, Ozamiz City
Sending Mark C. DCNM UCCP, Jimenez Bonifacio St., Naga, Jiminez, Misamis Occidental
Serino Faith P. CCI RFBMC - UCCP 85 Osmena blvd. Cebu City, Cebu
Siago Bonifacio S. NORWESCON UCCP, Catarman Allen, Northern Samar
Siao Filemon P. Jr. CMAC Salay UCCP Cagayan de Oro City
Simangunsong Maruhum HKBP M. Theol Student-2nd year Kantor Pusat HKBP,Pearaja Tarutung, North Sumatra, Indonesia
Simangunsong Amran HKI M. Theol Student-2nd year HKI Jl. Melanchton Siregar 111
Singuaran Ester D. CCI UCCP Bradford 85 Osmena blvd. Cebu City, Cebu
Sojorga Conchita P. LDC Retired Church Worker Liangan East, Purok II, Bacolod, Lanao del Norte
Solis-Aguiar Juliet UMC National Program Coordinator UCCP National Office, 877 EDSA, Quezon City
Soriano Lilia G. Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur
Sotomayor Tabita Q. CCI UCCP, Juan Quiniones Mem. Church Banhigan, Badian, Cebu
Tabada Callum R. NDC Master of Theology Student
Tacaisan Melvin M. WVC B. Th. Student - Middler Woodward Hall, SU, Dumaguete City
Tagalo-Semacio Jerusa ADC UCCP, Buenavista Purok 4, Hubang, San Francisco, Agusan del Sur
Taganas Haniel Joses T. CCI UCCP, Bradford 85 Osmea Blvd., Cebu City
Talaboc Sheba P. CCI B. Th. Student - Senior Channon Hall, SU, Dumaguete City
Tamonan Vivian T. WVC B. Th. Student-Sophomore Channon Hall, SU, Dumaguete City
Tampus Bensi Alfredo CCI Jansen Memorial Church Punta, Engano, Lapu-lapu City
Tampus Jonathan I. LDC UCCP Tubod Capitol Comm. Church mabini St., Poblacion, Tubod, Lanao del Norte
Tan Gina I. NORWESCON UCCP San Isidro Labangbaybay Tagapul-an Western Samar
Taywan Norman G. NHAC North Highland Associate Conference Casigayan, Tabuk City, Kalinga
Tejo Arnie Q. CNAC UCCP, Abis Abis, mabinay, Negros oriental
Tenchavez Feliciana P. BCI UCCP, Fatima Ubay, Bohol
Tentativa Loida C. NORWESCON UCCP, Catubig Catubig, Northern Samar
Tentativa Cesar E. NORWESCON Emmanuel Circuit Catubig, Northern Samar
Tibus Van Cliburn M. CCI UCCP Bradford 85 Osmea Blvd., Cebu City
Tibus Iris H. CCI UCCP Bradford 85 Osmea Blvd., Cebu City
Tilos Yves O. NDC
Tinagsa Ric M. Masbate UCCP, Pio Corpus etc.. Panique, Aroroy, Masbate
Tinambacan Mari Lou L. NDC Doctor of Theology Student
Tindoys Wilfredo A. SWLC UCCP, Isabel Isabel, Leyte
Torreon Romeo H. CCI UCCP, Good Samaritan Church Pulpugon Phase III, Consolacion, Cebu
Torres Tessie D. CMAC UCCP Cagayan UCCP Abellanosa St., Cagayan de Oro City
Trupa Eric
Tubo Lorenzo H. Jr. ADC M. Div. Student - Middler Divinity School Village, SU, Dumaguete City
Tumandao Cesar C. Jr. NELBICON UCCP, Tacloban City 181, Paterno Zamora, Tacloban City
Ucsang Salvador B. SWLC UCCP, Baybay Baybay, Leyte
Ursos Juriel BCI
Ursula Inot CCI Tabok, Mandaue City
Uy Karlo F. NDC B. Th. Student - Sophomore Woodward Hall, SU, Dumaguete City
Vallente Avidnigo D. BCI UCCP Sweetland, Buenavista, Bohol Basak, Taloto, Tagbilaran City
Vallera Japhet Kenn S. CMAC
Vallespa Cheryll G. NDDC
Vanguardia Nestor T. KTKK UCCP Binubusan/Hessed Learning Center NCFA San Roque St., Brgy. 4, Nasugbu, Batangas
Villarin Nelson B. CMAC UCCP, Macasandig 49 Western Kolambug, Lapasan, Cagayan de oro City
Villarin Eliezer B. CMAC UCCP Opol UCCP Opol, Opol, Misamis Oriental
Villarin Roselieto A. CNAC Bugay, Bayawan Dawis, Bayawan City
8
Villarmea Saclarita E. DCNM UCCP, Calamba, Misamis Occidental Sta Cruz, Plaridel, Misamis Occidental
Villarmea Karl James E. DCNM Silliman Univeristy DS-RSP Silliman Heights Subdivision, Junob, Dumaguete City
Vitorillo Betty V. NDDC UCCP, DAPECOL Dujali, Tanglaw, Davao del Norte
Waddington Myra CMAC Silliman University DS-RSP Camp Lookout, Valencia, Negros Oriental
Yaez Ricardo C. Jr. UCCP - CDO Pioneer St., San Pedro, Dumingag, Zamboanga del Sur
Zambrano Abner P. CMAC UCCP, Lapasan Lapasan, Cagayan de Oro City
I0IkL dN8Ek 0F kES|5IEkE0 FkkI|6|FkdI5: 389
LEGEND
ADC Agusan District Conference
BAC Bukidnon Area Conference
BCI Bohol Conference Incorporated
CAC Cotabato Annual Conference
CCI Cebu Conference Incorporated
CMAC Central Mindanao Annual Conference
CNAC Central Negros Associate Conference
DCNM District Conference of Northern Mindanao
DCNZ District Conference of Northern Zamboanga
DCSZ District Conference of Southern Zamboanga
ELC Evangelical Lutheran Church - Tanzania
Highland Highland Conference
HKBP Christian Batak Protestant Church
HKI The Indonesian Christian Church
KTKK Kumperensya ng Timog-Kanlurang Katagalugan
LCSMC Lowland Cavite-South Manila Conference
LDC Lanao District Conference
Masbate Masbate Conference
Mindoro Mindoro Conference
MNC Manila North Conference
NDC Negros District Conference
NDDC Northeastern Davao District Conference
NELBICON North-East Leyte Biliran Conference
NHAC North Highland Associate Conference
NLJ North Luzon Jurisdictional Area
NNC North Negros Conference
NORWESCON Northern-Western Samar Conference
NSTC Northeast Southern Tagalog Conference
NWLC Northwest Luzon Conference
PC-USA Presbyterian Church (USA)
SBC South Bicol Conference
SDC Surigao District Conference
SIDC Samar Island District Conference
SMDC Southern Mindanao District Conference
STC Southern Tagalog Conference
SWLC Southern-Western Leyte Conference
UMC United Metropolis Conference
WMC Western Mindanao Conference
WVC Western Visayas Conference
Cultural: Jean CuananNalam, Jerilde Flor, Manuel
Jarabe Jr, Ruth Donasco, Gary Michael del Rosario,
Vivan Tamonan (not in photo)
Errol Balderas, Cesar Romero
Awards: Miriam Juanerio, Dr. Noriel Capulong,
Marilou Tinambacan (not in photo) Dr. Valentino
Sitoy, Bp. Erme Camba, Yves Tilos, Christian
Hohmann
Transportation & Hospitality: Pastor Ephrym Perez,
Amelito Majestrado, Dr. Sol Apla-on, Christopher Bur-
gos, Joven Elvira, Prof. Rebecca Capulong
Aesthetics and Physical Arrangement: Ronnie
Flor Nicanor, Dan Magno, Neson Abrea,
Lorenzo Tubo Jr.
Accommodation: Pell Namocatcat, Brendan Ayta,
Ariane Calvario, Pastor Eusabel Lasta, Karlo Uy,
John Guido Cinco, Amihan Asi, Joshua Salva
Registration: JE Endico, Pastor Adonis Bomes, Char-
maign Formanes, Charlyn Dayola, Melvin Tacaisan,
Rev. Arnel Faller, Pastor Lemuel Igdanes, Joy Salvan
Program: Reece Ven Bico, Dr. Victor Aguilan, Ma-
ruhum Simangunsong, Napoleon Romero Jr. Julie
Gadingan, Marilou Tinambacan, Rev. Jackelyn Dizon
Security: Rev. Alfonso Noy-
nay, Edward Flora
Worship: Michael Quezon, Pedro Mabanan Jr., Rev.
Magnolia Mendoza, Michelle Ilano (not photo) Sheba
Talaboc, Juriel Ursos, Joy dela Cruz, Perla Luz Khu
Food: Jonalyn Alay-ay, Roberto Estrella, Amran
Sumangunsong, Erelyn Academia, Manolito Ro-
Documentation: Mag Gillo, Matt Llego, Kim Nejudne, Dr. Muriel
Montenegro, January Alpuerto, Rev. Callum Tabada, PK, Bp
Benito Dominguez

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