Mabuhay Ka Dakilang Dios is a favorite hymn in the Filipino-Methodist
tradition. Roughly translated, I believe it means “welcome, you great God”.
This is my deep sentiment as we enter November 17
th, our celebration
of 100 years of Methodist faith journeys with God’s children of Filipino heritage.
I am excited to accept the invitation
for our congregation to recognize the ways that diversity has been weaved into
our faith communities. (“All Means All” in so many ways)
Welcoming God is also my sentiment
as we grieve in solidarity with people whose
lives have been change forever by Typhoon Haiyan. The pictures and stories of horrific
destruction and heart wrenching recovery are unsettling, even soul quickening – restless spirit, work through me. God is a loving and creating God. Certainly
this Dakilang Dios is welcome in the most tragic of circumstances. From a
distance, it seems like all we can do in a time like this is unite in prayer,
but I am not sure that is true.
Mabuhay Ka Dakilang Dios is also the sentiment that calls each one of
us be made new by God today. The creating God of all is creating in us as well –
stirring our hearts, rending a compassion that changes lives. Today I read a
story about the aftermath of Haiyan. The author of a British newspaper was
astonished at the unusual characteristics of this aftermath. He wrote that
normally we see masses of people flocking away from disasters as fast as
possible. Yet, in Tacloban the traffic is decidedly headed INTO the center of
devastation and heartbreak. With the Philippine Government paralyzed and
infrastructure demolished, people are charging in to towns and villages to
bring aide to people that are mourning, starving, and resurrecting all at once.
Sometimes a heart open to Dakilang Dios is moved to act in unpredictable ways.
I hope we all feel urged to new levels of compassion – called into the fray
instead of out of the way.
Bishop Warner H. Brown encourages our
solidarity in a formal statement
of compassion, even as the storm was striking the coast of the Philippines.
“Our humanitarian relief and development agency, the United Methodist Committee
On Relief (UMCOR), is monitoring the developing situation (currently, on the
ground at the point of devastation). For this emergency, and others that arise,
donations to UMCOR are channeled through The Advance. One-hundred percent of
each donation goes directly to the disaster. Donations to International
Disaster Response, Advance #982450, will be used to respond to this and similar
emergencies.”
Merced is home to a growing and thriving Filipino – American
community. My neighborhood in particular is a wellspring of influential,
supportive, community shaping people of Filipino heritage. I am certain that our community would be set
back in the absence of the significant contributions of those who came from the
Philippines to journey with us as citizens and workers in a common community.
The same is true of our entire annual Conference. I would
like to share some of the history that was written by the California-Nevada
Filipino American Methodists in reflection of the 100th anniversary
of Filipino participation in the Methodist tradition. These are the words of
our own Filipino faith community. They are proud to share the history of
partnership and enrichment that Filipino Methodists have contributed to the
life of our church. Please read and enjoy the exciting contributions that have reinforced
our conference and our faith.
To
date, the list of Filipino churches and other United Methodist Churches with
predominantly Filipino presence in our Conference includes: Grace-St. Francis,
Vallejo Fellowship, South Hayward, St. Paul’s in Fremont, Fresno Christian
Fellowship, St. Paul’s in Stockton, Daly City UMC, Geneva Avenue UMC, Pinole
UMC, Valley Faith, and Delano UMC. It should be noted that only four out of the
eleven churches are served by Filipino Pastors.
In addition to local Filipino churches developed and chartered,
another unique and significant contribution of Filipino ministry in our
conference was the adoption of a century old yet new ministry to the youth in
this Annual Conference called Christmas Institute. It is a school of faith for
youths and young adults held annually for five days after Christmas Day. This
Methodist Church program in the Philippines attracted many young people whose
faiths were nourished and their love for the church deepened. It
facilitated friendships among the participants that later
blossomed into committed relationships. The school also became a vehicle of
clergy and deaconess recruitment.
In this Conference,
this program ministry started when Arturo Capuli took some young people from
Grace UMC and Fresno Fellowship to attend the Christmas Institute held December
of 1984 at the Los Angeles National Forest sponsored by the Filipino Caucus of
the California Paci fic Annual Conference. The following year, with the leadership
of Rev. David Rodriguez, Rev. Nathanael Cort
ez, and lay members Rosadia Escueta, Regina Eng, Boni
Capistrano, Marcelo and Josefina Capistrano, and Ruth Cortez, a Christmas
Institute was held in San Francisco attended by a large number of youths and
young adults. Since then, this uniquely significant ministry program is held
annually participated in by youths from Filipino churches and their friends.
The program has now evolved to
be self supporting and largely led by youths and young
adults. The yearly average attendance is 150.
List of Filipino Clergy in the 2013 Journal of
the California Nevada Annual Conference: (see Appendix A. Out of this number,
two served as District Superintendents: Ruth O.Cortez and Benoni Silva-Netto.
In 1999, Ruth Cortez was appointed Shasta District Superintendent by Bishop
Melvin Talbert to become the first Filipino in California Nevada Annual
Conference and the first Filipino woman in the United States to hold such an
office. Benoni Silva-Netto was appointed District Superintendent of Shasta
District by Bishop Beverly Shamana in 2005. Among the clergy, Felicisimo Cao
was elected Chair of the Conference Board of Ordained Ministry in 2013,
becoming the first Filipino to assume such responsibility in this Conference.
Another Filipino clergy, Bener Agtarap, has been appointed by Bishop Warner
Brown as Superintendent for Church Growth and Vitality.
This Conference wide recognition is not confined to the
clergy. Many of the lay people in our Conference became actively involved in
the work and organizational structure of the Annual Conference. Laddie Perez
Galang have been chair of the Committee on Nominations for many years and
currently serves as chair of Conference Mission Service (formerly Conference
Board of Missions). Alice
Pena have been involved actively in the work of the Conference.
All of the recent Filipino recipients of
the Annual Conference Bishop’s Award were lay women: Alice
Pena (deceased), Virginia
Maniti Williams, and Ruby Bago.
In more recent years,
Filipino churches, groups, lay and clergy, have contributed to the growth of
the total ministry in California Nevada Annual Conference.
In the realm of liturgy and music Ministry, Pasasalamat (A
Call to Thanksgiving) is the Annual Thanksgiving Gathering of Filipino American
churches, usually held in November on a Saturday before Thanksgiving Day. The
whole day is dedicated to worship, fellowship, sharing of talents, and dining
together. The liturgy and music have distinctly Filipino flavor expressing the
experience of the past, appreciation of the present, and hope for the future.
Among the local church singing groups that have been notably appreciated are
the Pinole UMC Singing Ensemble and the Melrose UMC Spiritual Image.
The latter has been invited to sing in local churches, civic
gatherings, and musical concerts including performances during 2004 and 2008
General Conferences (Global Gathering) of the United Methodist Church. The
Spiritual Image also sang in concerts in the Philippines and Myanmar.
In
the sphere of social justice, in 2006, a group of Filipino pastors and lay
people brought to the attention and action of the Annual Conference in session
the spate of extra-judicial killings in the Philippines targeting journalists,
civic leaders, human rights activists, clergy and church lay leaders. The
response of the Conference was the creation of the Philippine Pastoral and
Solidarity Task Force, who in partnership with the National Council of Churches
in the Philippines (NCCP), made its first solidarity trip in 2007. The then
presiding Bishop, Bishop Beverly Shamana, led the first team of sixteen (16)
clergy and lay persons. The first team and all the teams that since made the
trip had face to face meetings with families and other survivors of victims of
extra-judicial killings, abductions, harassments, and torture. The team also
met with government and military officials, most notably, the Chief Justice of
the Philippine Supreme Court, Reynato Puno, a United Methodist. From this
initial trip, a DVD and Study
Guide
on human rights issue in the Philippines were made and distributed to United
Methodist Churches in California and Nevada. Bishop Warner Brown, the current
resident bishop, has also made the solidarity visit with the task force in a
recent year. The latest solidarity trip was made in July 2013. Participants in
the on-going program have become advocates for justice bringing backstories of
injustice to the United States and the international community. The National
Council of Churches in the Philippines and other human rights advocates in the
Philippines have been urging the members of the Task Force and the whole Annual
Conference to help in pressing both the Philippine Government and the National
Democratic
Front to continue the peace talks and eventually end the more than thirty years
war of insurgency.
Volunteers
in Mission is another area where Filipino AmericanUMCs are actively involved.
The most notable is the Medical Mission that visits the Philippines yearly and
partners with some Philippine medical practitioners to provide healthcare
assistance to the poor.
To
continue the work done in the formation of new congregations and revitalization
of existing ones, the Annual Conference Session in June 2009 approved the
creation of a Committee to focus on this program ministry. The Conference
Committee on Filipino American Ministry (CCFAM) was created and mandated to
grow a strong sense of unity among Filipinos, develop a sense of mission and
ministry, celebrate and enhance Filipino cultural roots and values, fully
engaged and support NAFAUM (National Association of Filipino American United
Methodists) And PAGLAGO, the national Filipino program for church growth and
development.
The
previous paragraphs provide some clues on where the ministry of and among
Filipinos in California Nevada Annual Conference is headed and what may be the
shape and contour of that ministry.
Currently,
there are twenty seven (27) active and retired clergy in the California Nevada
Annual conference
1.Jeannelle Ablola
2.Bener Agtarap
3.Leonard Autajay
4.Mark Buenafe
5.Paul Cabotaje
6.Alex Cambe
7.Felicisimo Cao
8.Arturo Capuli
9.Arnel Clemente
10.Ruth O. Cortez
11.Winston Cruz
12.Estan Cueto
13.Elmar de Ocera
14.Wilson de Ocera
15.Deborah Dillon
16.Elpidio Estolas
17.Romeo Gunzon
18.Rodrigo Estrada
19.Reynaldo Letana
20.Edilberto Lubiano
21.David Rodriguez
22.Emil Sazon
23Benoni Silva-Netto
24 Dante Simon
25.Florante Tangonan
26.Tony Ubalde
27.Romeo Velasco
“Advent teaches us that God does not come with power to make the
world right. God comes (…), and hope for a new world is born in a nondescript
cow stall in an obscure town called Bethlehem. God arrives by way of the human
sweat and blood in which everyone is born. God comes (…) to save the world, not
by what the world calls power but by the subversive and often hidden power of
self-giving love. God comes (...), and hope is born.” James Harnish (The Upper
Room)
A helpless
babe; is that all? This infant won’t survive the night without constant care.
He has no way to maintain his own body heat, so his mother wraps him tightly in
whatever rags are close at hand. He will starve unless someone gives of
themselves to supply him with food. He can’t protect himself. Someone will need
to stand up for him when he can’t stand up for himself. He has no means, no
shelter, and no strength; yet, to us a savior is born?
The messengers
sing. They sing glory to the new born king, born is the king of Israel, today a
savior is born – a message heard in pastures close by and in cities far away.
Fear not??? I wonder if the fear we are trying to prevent is fear of an
unexpected message given by a stranger, or fear that our savior is a helpless
babe, fear that our savior needs a great deal of saving himself.
This
helpless babe seeks to heal our lives by the wonders of his love. Maybe the
fact that he comes to us in this neediest of forms is just the balm we need for
our sin sick souls. Are we not moved by the faces of need? Are we not called by
a needy savior to new ways of life – life abundant? To the face of need, wise
men bring presents. To the face of need, a community brings presence. When we
lean into the manger, do we see the face of need – a helpless babe? Do we feel
challenged and inspired by an infant lowly, an infant holy?
The face of
need is breaking into my world this Christmas. The food pantry gave out 150
bags of food last night. The face of need waited patiently at our doors
throughout the cold and breezy day. The face of need will show up again – we
will eat a hot meal together at 5:30 on December 22nd. It is a wondrous
love that calls us together – makes community where we imagine competition. As
I gaze upon the landscape of our community beside the faithful servants of this
church, we notice together needs that overwhelm us. The helpless babe shows us
our fears as well as our capacity for love – both are so powerful.
The helpless
babe challenges and inspires us to embrace the power of love in spite of the
power of fear. My prayer is that we see the holy within the lowly in the
Christmas moment and in the moments that follow. God give us new hope. Show us
that our offerings of presents and presence are truly the beginnings of
relationships. Nurture in us the willingness to be in relationship. Open our
hearts to welcome the helpless babe into our celebrations, into our churches,
into our communities, and into our lives. Make born this day, a savior. Hope;
it’s what’s for Christmas.
