Philippine United Methodist institutes change lives
The 1908 Union Theological Seminary community was the first
photographed at the ecumenical institution founded in 1907. The seminary
celebrates its centennial Nov. 20-23 in Manila. A UMNS photo courtesy
of Union Theological Seminary.
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By Kathy L. Gilbert*
Nov. 16, 2007 | MANILA, Philippines (UMNS)
Two 100-year-old United Methodist institutions of higher education in
the Philippines are producing Christian leaders who are making a
difference around the world.
Union Theological Seminary and Harris Memorial College also have been
instrumental in bringing Methodism to the South Asian country.
Students study in the seminary library.
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Founded in 1907, Union Theological Seminary is an ecumenical
theological institution offering bachelor’s degrees in religious
education, Christian education, early childhood education, church music
and theology. Master’s degrees in divinity and theology as well as
doctorate degrees in theology are offered on the campus in Cavite,
Philippines, on the southern shores of Manila Bay.
Union was born out of the 1907 merger of the Presbyterians’ Ellinwood
Bible School and the Methodists’ Florence B. Nicholson Seminary. The
United Brethren, Disciples of Christ and Congregational Church joined
the seminary in the following years.
The college celebrates its centennial Nov. 20-23 and more than 1,000 are expected to converge on the campus.
On Nov. 20, the Philippine National Historical Institute will unveil
identical markers on the facade of the old Union Theology Seminary
building in Manila and in the atrium of the library building on the
campus in Dasmariñas, Cavite. The observance will celebrate Union’s
significant contribution to Philippine evangelization.
Preaching the Word at Union
“Preach the Word is the motto of the seminary,” said the Rev. Romeo
L. del Rosario, the school’s president. “Through the years, the
evangelization that resulted from the program and ministry of the
seminary helped shape many of nation’s best leaders in the different
fields and areas of life.”
The seminary has been an inspiration for many Filipinos, and its impact “reaches the shores of many lands,” he said.
The Rev. Romeo L. del Rosario is president of the historic seminary founded in 1907. |
Union is located on a 97-hectare property surrounded by 1,200 mango
trees. Students help raise vegetables, and they supply fresh produce to
the college and community. Also on campus are fish ponds, beehives and a
greenhouse for growing mushrooms. Various farm animals — cows, goats,
turkeys and poultry — walk undisturbed through the campus’ lush green
acres.
“We think we have a unique opportunity where we are to teach and
inculcate the divine call to care for the earth and to be faithful
stewards of its gifts. If we can be gentle with the earth, it will
also care and provide for us,” del Rosario said.
Most of the seminary students come from the farming areas or
agricultural regions of the Philippines, and their cultures are
strongly and significantly linked to the land.
“We are in the process of shaping a curriculum that recognizes this and
that honors the theology of land that the students already bring with
them to the seminary. We need to tap this as a resource in teaching
and in linking the students’ training and education in the
seminary to the realities of life in the various localities where
they will return to serve.”
Pioneering women of Harris
United Methodist women dedicated to the care and nurture of children
and youth have been changing lives for more than 100 years as graduates
of Harris Memorial College.
Phebe Crismo, a deaconess from the Philippine's
Davoa episcopal area, leads participants in the national anthem during a
Muslim-Christian peace building dialogue. |
“I have heard it said that the pioneering work of deaconesses in its
early years in the Philippines contributed significantly to the growth
of Methodism in the Philippines,” said Rebecca Asedillo, staff executive
for the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries. “They were
involved in evangelism, early childhood education and Christian
education in the local churches.”
For more than 100 years, the college has been the only training center
for deaconesses in Southeast Asia. It was established in 1903 and has
played a major role in the ministry, life and mission of The United
Methodist Church, said Christina M. Mainyabat, director of the center
for Christian education and discipleship at Harris.
Harris pioneered early childhood education as the Philippines’ first
school to establish kindergarten and train kindergarten teachers, noted
Phebe Crismo, a deaconess serving in the Davao episcopal area.
“Deaconesses work day in and day out,” she said of her sisters in the
ministry.
Called to be in ministry with children and the marginalized, these
Filipino women are often underappreciated, according to Mainyabat.
Christina M. Mainyabat participates in a United Methodist Social Creed Task Force meeting. |
“As deaconesses we would like to see ourselves not only confining our
ministries within the four walls of the church, but also as God would
use us to make a difference in the lives of people, especially those who
are neglected, who are marginalized, who are outcast in the community
and the wider society,” she said.
Asedillo said the role of deaconesses is often stereotyped.
“When I was studying to be a deaconess, churches tended to expect
deaconesses to be able to play the organ, sing and conduct choirs,” she
explained. “I hope that is no longer the case because we all have
varying gifts, and each gift deserves to be treasured and affirmed.”
Sadly, the stereotype does still exist, according to Crismo, and some
deaconesses are even expected to clean the church they serve.
Deaconesses often live in substandard housing, and the highest paid ones
make about $200 a month.
“I visited one deaconess who told me she was so filled with joy at
having lodging, but when I saw where she was living I was furious,” she
said, adding that the woman and her children were living in a passageway
between the church and the kindergarten. “The exhaust from the toilet
was in her room, and she and her children slept on a mattress on the
floor. They cooked their meals outside.”
Today, deaconesses have expanded their functions to include community
development, advocacy and care for the vulnerable segments of the larger
society, according to Asedillo.
“Even while the option of ordination is open to them (and many women,
including deaconesses) have taken that option, it seems the majority of
deaconesses remain as deaconesses because that is where they have found
their calling — ‘to serve the present age.’”
*Gilbert is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in Nashville, Tenn.
News media contact: Kathy L. Gilbert, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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Resources
Union Theological Seminary
United Methodist Board of Global Ministries |