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Delegation to Philippines probes violence against church workers
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The Rev. R. Randy Day |
Jan. 3, 2005
By United Methodist News Service*
A delegation of United
Methodist leaders from the United States is visiting the Philippines
Jan. 3-7 to learn more about the killing and harassment of church
workers, peace and human rights activists, and journalists.
“The situation in the
Philippines is deeply disturbing,” said the Rev. R. Randy Day, chief
executive of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries in New
York. “Church workers, human rights activists and others who are
perceived as threats are terrorized and killed.
“We need to hear firsthand
the stories of the people who serve God in the midst of this danger,
and show them that the international church is with them in their
struggle,” said Day, who attended college in the Philippines.
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Bishop John L. Hopkins |
The delegation expects to meet with church
leaders and U.S. State Department and Philippine government officials
during its four-day visit and will report on its work before
departing. Day is one of the nine United Methodist leaders who will
gather in Manila. The delegation includes Bishop John Hopkins of the
East Ohio Annual (regional) Conference, who leads the denomination’s
program coordinating organization, the Connectional Table, and top staff
executives of three of the church’s program agencies.
The United Methodist
Church has had a presence in the Philippines since the late 19th
century. Its three bishops serve a community of about a million people
connected to nearly 1,700 congregations throughout the nation. The
denomination works closely with the United Church of Christ in the
Philippines, the largest Protestant denomination in the nation, and the
National Council of Churches in the Philippines. Its third
denominational partner is Iglesia Evangelica Metodista en Las Islas
Filipinas.
In addition to Day and Hopkins, the delegation includes:
- James Winkler of Washington D.C., chief executive of the Board of Church and Society.
- The Rev. Larry Hollon, Nashville, Tenn., top staff executive of United Methodist Communications.
- The Rev. Larry Pickens, New York, top executive of the Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns.
- Ascencion “Inday” Day, New York, executive director of the National Federation of Asian American United Methodists.
- The Rev. Liberato Bautista, New York, a staff executive at the Board of Church and Society.
- The Rev. Ruby-Nell Estrella, superintendent of the Northwest Manila District in the Philippines.
- Kristina Gonzales, Seattle, a member of the Connectional Table.
Before leaving for Manila,
Winkler met with a member of the staff of Sen. Richard Lugar of
Indiana, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, to update
him on the delegation’s visit and share the denomination’s concerns
about the human rights situation in the Philippines.
A delegation of Protestant
bishops and representatives of the World Council of Churches and the
Christian Conference of Asia visited the Philippines last July on a
fact-finding mission, at the urging of the country’s National Council of
Churches. The church leaders said that besides outright killings, human
rights violations included intimidation by the military, illegal
detention and torture of peasants working on farms for rich landlords,
according to Ecumenical News International.
Worldwide, the United
Methodist Church has a presence in about 125 countries. Its
congregations provided more than $5.3 billion in funding for church
missions, outreach and administration in 2003.
The denomination has about 181,000 members in the Philippines, among more than 11 million members worldwide.
*This story is adapted from a press release by the Public Information Office at United Methodist Communications.
News media contact: Tim Tanton, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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Resources
Global Connections: The Philippines
Country profile: The Philippines
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