The history of the Stone-Campbell Movement in the Philippines is long and complex and has had significant and far reaching consequences, especially upon the missionary activities of the American churches in the early part of the twentieth century. Following the Spanish American War and the purchase of the Philippines by the United States from Spain the islands were opened to Protestant missions. Prior to this time the Roman Catholic Church held almost complete hegemony of the Christian faith on the islands. Mr. and Mrs. W.H. Hanna were the first missionaries sent by the Foreign Christian Missionary Society of the American churches, landing in Manila on August 3, 1901. The Hannas were followed in a few weeks by Mr. and Mrs. Hermon P. Williams. Hermon had been a former American chaplain serving in the recent war and was eager to return to the Philippines as a missionary. A chapel was soon rented for preaching services, a Sunday school, mid-week prayer service established and other activities were begun. Initially the work was small especially among American servicemen and civilians for which there was a high turnover. Evangelistic services in a street chapel touched the hearts of several people and seven converts were baptized in Manila Bay. Thereafter the work began to grow and the hearts of the Filipino people began to be more receptive to the simple plea of New Testament Christianity. By 1919 the work had grown to have included almost forty missionaries in four centers: Manila, Vigan, Laoag and Aparri. More than sixty native workers were trained and equipped for service; eighty-three churches were established, sixty of which were housed in their own buildings and regular meetings were held in 116 places. The membership was placed at 6,975 with a membership in the Sunday schools adding about 700 to that number. Three schools were established along with four hospitals and dispensaries. Several printing presses were in operation turning untold pages of Bibles, song books, periodicals, tracts, pamphlets and the like. During the Depression of the 1930s several of these institutions were closed or sold and the majority of the missionaries were forced to return to the U.S. The so called “golden age” of the Filipino churches thus came to a close with the departure of the missionaries.
By the early 1920s there had begun to be conflicting views in the United States regarding the missionary societies and the practice of open membership and comity on the foreign fields. By 1920 the three historic missionary societies (and several other agencies) had merged to become the United Christian Missionary Society. Among the conservative members of the Disciples of Christ there began to be concern that some missionaries and mission churches were allowing nationals to become members of the churches who had not been baptized by immersion. The conservatives felt that this practice was contrary to the historic plea of the Stone-Campbell Movement. One country where the controversy was particularly played out was the Philippines. Leslie and Carrie Wolfe were Society missionaries in the Philippines who decried the open membership practices of the Philippine mission and their exposure of what they saw as inconsistencies in the mission added fuel to an already growing fire in the United States which would eventually see polarization of the Disciples into conservative and liberal camps. By 1968 that polarization would yield a split in the Movement when the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) was voted into existence as a denomination. The Wolfes helped draw many congregations away from support of the United Christian Missionary Society and into a form of support known as Direct Support or Independent missions. In 1926 the Wolfes were separated from the service of the UCMS and returned to the United States. The following year they once again returned to the Philippines and carried out successful mission work for the next two decades supported directly by congregations in the United States. During the Japanese occupation of the Philippines they were interned at the camp in Los Banos. Leslie Wolfe died about a month after being rescued from the camp. After some time in America Carrie Wolfe returned once more to the Philippines.
While the Depression and the closing of most of the mission stations had forced many of the missionaries home a few were able to remain and carry on the work. Late in the 1930s a new wave of missionaries came to the Philippines including the return of a few of the veteran workers. During the Second World War the Japanese invaded the Philippines and a number of the American missionaries were interned in prisoner of war camps for the remainder of the war; some did not survive the camps. Following the war some relief aid became an immediate need for the mission. Several new missionaries were recruited for the field, including Norwood and Wilma Tye who gave many devoted years of service teaching, preaching, evangelizing and cooperating in interdenominational projects. By 1954 it was reported that there were 136 congregations, more than a third of which were entirely self-supporting. The population of these congregations was numbered at just under 10,000 making it the second largest national church of any of the mission fields supported by the Disciples of Christ. In the last half of the twentieth century the UCMS and later the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Division of Overseas Ministries continued to do extensive work on the islands. One major effort of the CC(DC) has been to engage in ecumenical activity and support united activities. In 1943 the Evangelical Church of the Philippines was formed when the United Evangelical Church, the Disciples, the Philippine Methodist Church and some other independent churches were brought together. In 1948 these and others merged to become the United Church of Christ in the Philippines. Currently the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) supports five individuals in connection with their work regarding the Philippines and provides financial support for the National Council of Churches in the Philippines and the United Church of Christ in the Philippines. Four educational centers are also financially supported or have Disciples personnel, including Northern Christian College.
Following Leslie and Carrie Wolfe’s difficulty with the missionary society they became independent missionaries supported by congregations and individuals separate from the missionary societies. Many of these congregations had withdrawn their financial support from the missionary society and directed their support to the Wolfes and other independent missions. In addition, virtually all of the churches of the Tagalog district remained loyal to the Wolfes and their mission. Eventually the worked carried out by Leslie and Carrie Wolfe became one of the largest independent mission works of the Christian Churches. Their heritage of independent mission work is still strongly felt throughout the Philippines today as the activities of the missions of the Christian Churches and Churches of Christ in America are very strong and have produced many indigenous leaders and countless workers. Approximately two dozen families are currently serving in the Philippines with support of the American churches. The three major areas of work are Manila (central), Mindanao (south) and Aparri (north). Some of the missionaries and ministries are listed below under "B. Congregational information".
A number of these missions and their personnel are involved with teaching and training Filipino nationals to carry the Gospel to their own people. There are at least eight colleges and schools providing education to Filipino nationals. In 2001, at the 92nd national convention in Manila the churches celebrated their 100th anniversary with 7,000 delegates present. Dr. Diego Romulo, former minister of the 3,000 member Cruzada church in Manila, was chair of the committee charged with publishing the Centennial Book of the Philippines. At that time there was a reported 1,214 churches with an estimated membership of 200-300,000. In 2004 the Churches of Christ in the Philippines will gather for their 94th national convention.
The American a cappella Churches of Christ have also built a significant presence in the Philippines beginning in about 1928. In that year George S. Benson began holding evangelistic meetings and baptizing converts. From these converts he was able to establish local congregations. Soon afterwards H.G. Cassell and Orville T. Rodman arrived to aid in the efforts. During the Second World War a number of soldiers who were stationed in the Philippines or passed through during the battle for the Pacific became aware of the Christian opportunities in the Philippine islands. Several returned after the war as missionaries themselves or were influential in sending missionaries. Mac Lynn’s Churches of Christ Around the World says that some of the most exciting missionary activity currently taking place in the Philippines is work being done by World Bible School and World English Institute. Nearly forty missionaries are listed in Lynn’s book together with dozens of American sponsoring churches. The churches of Christ also support eight colleges and Christian schools. The Broadway and Orman Church of Christ at 611 Broadway, Pueblo, Colorado 81004 certifies visas for missionaries to the Philippines. Two ministries supported by the a cappella churches include the Filipino Bible Matching Fund (Cedar Hill Church of Christ, Fort Worth, Texas) and Philippine Shipping Mission (Yucaipa Church of Christ, Yucaipa, California). Clinton J. HollowayNational Profiles EditorDecember 2003 For further historical reference:Churches of Christ Around the World, Lynn, Mac, 21st Century Christian Publications, Nashville, TN, 2003.
The History of the Foreign Christian Missionary Society, Archibald McLean, Fleming Revell, 1919.They Went to the Philippines, Biographical Sketches of Missionaries of the Disciples of Christ, United Christian Missionary Society, Indianapolis, Indiana, no date.Christianity in the Philippines, A Report on the only Christian Nation in the Orient, Dwight E. Stevenson, The College of the Bible, Lexington, Kentucky, 1956.Journeying with the United Church of Christ in the Philippines: A History, Norwood B. Tye, United Church of Christ in the Philippines, Quezon City, 1994.Personal Papers of Norwood and Wilma Tye, Disciples of Christ Historical Society, Nashville, Tennessee.The Disciples of Christ in the Philippines, L. Shelton Woods, Discipliana, Spring 1998, Disciples of Christ Historical Society, Nashville, TN.History of the Philippine Mission, Mark Maxey, Go Ye Books, San Clemente, CA., 1973.The First Fifty Years, A History of the Direct-Support Missionary Movement, David Filbeck, College Press Publishing Company, Joplin, MO., 1989.In Search of Christian Unity, A History of the Restoration Movement, Henry E. Webb, Standard Publishing, Cincinnati, OH., 1990. Reprinted Abilene Christian University Press, 2003.
SOURCE:
http://www.worldconvention.org
