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The Church In the World
By E. G. Homrighausen

REPORT FROM THE PHILIPPINES

Arrived in Manila the day after the worst typhoon, "Dading," in over eighty years had hit the city. Thousands of trees were uprooted, hundreds of houses were damaged, 400,000 were made homeless, and forty persons were killed. It is impossible to describe a typhoon! When terrific winds up to 150 miles per hour which shift directions from cast, to west, to north, to south, are joined with tropical rain, no house, however well-built, is waterproof. People have to wait it out for several days. Phone, water, and electrical facilities are soon cut off. And the tensions mount when people are cooped up together as helpless victims of the elements. A typhoon does something not only to nature but to people.

True to pattern, however, the days after the typhoon were sunny and bright. It seemed as though nature was trying to make it up to mankind after inflicting such swift and terrible judgment. And the Filipinos emerged from their shelters true to their resilient and joyful selves. They are a happy people!

The first thoughts that came to mind as I landed in Manila were of Corregidor, Bataan, Leyte, and the death march. Along with these thoughts I recalled the terrible destruction of Manila during the war, the demonic concentration camps, the crushing humiliation of a proud people who have a fierce passion for freedom. I was hushed into silence at the McKinley Memorial where the names, ranks, and addresses of thousands are chiseled into pure marble. Here pilgrims come from all over the world to look in reverent silence for the name of a loved one who died, or was lost, in one of the most fiercely fought campaigns in the history of warfare. The Filipino names outnumber all other nationals; and the citizens of this Republic are proud to have been counted as partners in a contest which ruined their country in many ways, but preserved for them their lovely island-home and their freedom. From those who

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had been in the death march, and in concentration camps, I heard stories of heroic fortitude, patient suffering, and even rare humor which brought tears to the eyes.

This tropical Republic consists of over 7,000 islands, many of which are not yet named. It is filled with rare and varied beauty. On its islands grow 1,000 varieties of orchids. The pine flourishes in the highlands of Luzon, and the palm grows naturally everywhere. The rebuilt city of Manila has its contemporary features-including terrifying traffic, but not far to its North are jungle areas in which tribal life exists which is as yet unexplored. In area, the Republic sweeps from Formosa to Borneo. It occupies an important position as the westernmost democracy facing East and Southeast Asia.

The Philippine Islands were discovered by Magellan in 1521 and conquered by Spain in 1565. (Magellan is buried near Cebu.) During the next three centuries, the Spanish practiced the most intense kind of missionary effort. As a result, perhaps 83 per cent of the population is Roman Catholic. Spanish names were given to the people, the islands, and to the towns and villages. Spanish is one of the three accepted languages of the Filipinos.

In 1898 the islands were ceded to the United States. In 1946 full independence was granted after intensive public education and training in the meaning and exercise of democratic government. Somewhat shaken by the Huk rebellion, the Republic seems to be functioning quite well. The problems which confront the Philippines are similar to those of any young nation: the ability to adapt its strong traditional family and feudal loyalty to the new political and industrial situation; the ability to keep pace with the technological demands upon people living in the "perpetual summer" of the tropics; the ability to work out unity, in utilities for instance, in a nation that is separated by thousands of islands; the ability to make democracy work when politics is regarded as a sport, and bribery is the custom; the ability to deal constructively with the tension between mushrooming Manila, where one-fourth of the nation's population lives, and the rural areas.

Religiously, the Roman Catholic Church embraces perhaps 83 per cent of the population. Its churches are imposing and located in key geographical spots. It numbers 3,500 priests and 4,300 sisters. It supports and conducts 287 elementary schools, 119 colleges, and 570 high schools. The impact of the "renewal" in the Roman

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Church is beginning to be felt as tensions between the "Romanos" and other Christians are being relaxed, and closer relations encouraged. The historic relation of the Roman Church to the government has changed somewhat since independence, but even so, it is quite common for this Church to apply political pressures for desired benefits.

The Independent Catholic Church comprises about 8 per cent of the population, or one and one-half million persons. It was inspired by a nationalistic spirit, and promised at the time of its origin to win over many Roman Catholics. Its chief problems are the lack of trained clergy and financial resources. It coöperates closely with the Protestant Episcopal Church which accepts a number of its candidates for theological training in St. Andrews College in Manila. Through the Episcopal Church it has also received apostolic succession. It has softened its nationalistic spirit. Its priests marry; it does not accept papal authority; it uses the vernacular in services.

A large number of Muslims in the south have gained a new sense of identity by their association with the emerging Muslim States, such as Egypt and Pakistan. Hundreds of students from this group are studying in Cairo.

The half-million Protestants are divided into several groups. The largest is the United Church of Christ in which Disciples, United Church of Christ (Congregationalist), Evangelical United Brethren, Independent Methodists, and Presbyterians coöperate, comprising 130,000 members. The Methodists number 70,000, and the Protestant Episcopalians 30,000. The Lutheran Church (Missouri Synod) is at work in northern Luzon. Baptist membership is 26,000, and Adventists number 35,000. Sects have multiplied until the government has to date acknowledged 113 to which it has given the right to solemnize marriages! The United Church is in a vigorous state of health. It is active in everything from Sunday School work to theological education, from public welfare to evangelism, from the production of literature to the improvement of village life, from medical work in five hospitals to missions to the Muslims in the south and tribesmen in the Mountain Province above Manila, from elementary, secondary, and collegiate education to ecumenical affairs, from radio to research. The United Church has taken a place of leadership among the churches of Asia. It is a member of the World Council of Churches. It is a staunch member of the Philippine Federation of

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Christian Churches which brings many independent churches into coöperation with the Methodist Church and the United Church. Through the Federation the Protestant Churches have developed one of the most effective radio services, "Christian Voice," which is centered on the campus of Silliman University.

The most prominent institutions in Philippine Protestantism are the new Union Theological Seminary outside Manila on a beautiful location, five hospitals, the well-known Ellinwood complex in the heart of Manila, the Baptist Central Philippine University, and Silliman University in Damaguete.

Silliman University carries on a many-sided ministry, for example, its hospital and dispensary work, its extensive service including agriculture, home-making, religious education, citizenship education, literacy program, and its service toward the improvement of village life. The United Church includes several persons of stature and influence who are outstanding ecumenical figures.

Philippine Protestantism is in the minority, but it yields an influence in the nation out of all proportion to its size. Its members are literate and active and come largely from the middle class. It carries on a many-sided church life quite similar to that in the United States. Many of its leaders have traveled and studied abroad. And its Christianity has a high degree of indigenous character. It has missionaries in Indonesia and Thailand, and it combines evangelicalism and social action.

One of the most interesting phenomena of religious life in the Philippines is the "In Christ" church. It is the inspiration largely of one man who had a moving religious experience. It numbers a million and one-half adherents. Its theology is unitarian. And it prides itself on being indigenous, that is, it receives no help from abroad. Its church buildings are uniform in architecture, imposing in size, and comfortable in inner appointments. This church is a highly organized, disciplined, and centralized religious community. The tithe is required. Uniform prepared sermons are distributed to all churches. It is more than a religious fellowship; it partakes of the nature of a labor organization, welfare society, employment bureau, and political group. (I found similar phenomena in Korea and in Japan.) This group is growing; it is attracting many among the dispossessed, unemployed, and lonely who find their individual

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resources impotent to deal with the impersonal character of urban life in an industrial society.

To be sure, the church in the Philippines has problems. Contrary to a common opinion, that church needs "missionaries" or fraternal workers in many areas. It needs more pastors. More of the best men and women must be recruited for theological education. The rural pastorate must be given greater dignity and financial support so as to attract able ministers who otherwise gravitate to the great city. Theological education is in need of more books for its libraries, translations of western volumes to be sure, but even more of books written by Filipinos who are provided time and resources to write out of a Philippine cultural context and in the native Tagala. More creative methods could be employed in theological education so as to produce graduates who will be students all their lives. Continuing education may well be expanded to refresh the hard-working pastor. The newer concept of the minister as the pastor-director of the people of God would do much to make theological education conscious of its task to train ministers for the situation in which they will work, and with a view to building the ministering church. Visiting lecturers from abroad could relieve professors in seminaries of their heavy teaching schedules, and bring about a healthy exchange of theological ideas and church practices. Greater congregational financial support needs to be given to the churches and the seminaries, for a church is never quite independent until it is independent financially. And the church will need to take care lest its energy be spent in organization and administration, and the necessary and promising work of evangelization be neglected.

These and many other problems are not new to the alert and eager leaders in the Philippine churches. Already much has been done in the way of research projects. Advances have been made in the development of curricula and teaching methods in Christian education. The harvest is ripe indeed, but the laborers are few. In short, the careful recruiting of the best prospects for leadership and the careful educating of these recruits for creative leadership in the churches are the paramount problems of the churches in the Philippine Republic. In this high responsibility, we wish these gallant, generous, and gentle brethren every blessing of God!