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Philippine Bishops Attend Last House, New Province Forms in May

Episcopal News Service. October 4, 1989 [89168]

PHILADELPHIA, September 24 -- On the eve of their becoming an autonomous province in the Anglican Communion, a contingent of three bishops from the Philippine Episcopal Church (PEC) maintain that their church is poised to grow in spite of continuing turmoil in their society.

"For the Philippine Episcopal Church, the moment of truth has come," says the Rt. Rev. Manuel C. Lumpias, Presiding Bishop of the PEC. The 1988 General Convention in Detroit approved a proposal that the five dioceses in the Philippines leave the jurisdiction of the Episcopal Church and form a new autonomous province by May of 1990.

"We preach in the midst of destruction," said Bishop Lumpias. "The work of the church has been set back a little bit," he continued, in reference to the deteriorating political climate in the Philippines. Lumpias was supported in his assessment by the Rt. Rev. Robert Longid of the Diocese of the Northern Philippines: "Problems with land reform, militarization, oppression, and economic ills are still there. Many of our lay people are still struggling for their lives."

Bishop Longid recounted the difficulties faced by Episcopalians who participated in the opposition to the Marcos regime. "Many of our members were tortured, arrested, and murdered," he said. "We celebrated and rejoiced because of the promises of freedom (after the election of Cory Aquino)," Longid continued, "but we are finding out that the so-called democratic space is getting narrower and narrower, and beginning to crush us the way that Marcos did. Just because a dictator leaves does not necessarily mean the end of tyranny."

Bishop Longid's outspokenness has put him in danger in his native land. "There was a recent attempt to kill me by a government-organized vigilante group," he said. Longid reports that the gun used in the attempt was purportedly made in the United States.

The involvement of the United States government in Philippine affairs, particularly of military bases on Philippine soil, is a perennial source of debate. "There is a growing feeling that they [U.S. armed forces in Subic Bay] should get out," said Bishop Longid. "Currently more than half of the Philippine Senate have expressed opposition to renewing [the leases of] the bases," he continued.

Ironically, the PEC originated in attempts to serve the presence of the U.S. armed forces stationed in the Philippines. The PEC expanded to include work among the civilian population, the Chinese in Manila, the so-called non-Christian tribes of the Ciordillera, and the Moros and Tiruray of Mindanao. The PEC was created as a missionary district at the 1901 General Convention and received its first missionary bishop, the Rt. Rev. Charles H. Brent, in 1902.

Currently the PEC has four active bishops and one bishop-elect (all native Filipinos), about 150 clergy, and over 100,000 baptized members.

The process leading to a covenant recognizing the autonomy of the PEC by the Episcopal Church is a poignant example of what is often called indigenization. The term refers to an attempt to overturn what some critics suggest were imperialistic tactics on the part of American missionaries until World War II. Indigenization seeks to affirm cultural models and customs of the local populace, rather than imposing those of foreign missionaries.

According to Lumpias, indigenization for the PEC means "the hope of incarnating the Gospel in our own culture, giving it flesh of our own flesh and spirit of our own spirit as Filipino citizens. . . . The local people should be able to experience the church as truly part of their own history. Christianity must not be seen as an imposition from outside or something alien. Rather, it has to become 'incarnate' and take flesh within the culture of the people."

Members from both the PEC and the Episcopal Church in the United States have been working together since 1985 to develop a covenant and to set in place all the structures and decision-making processes to ensure that the new province will be ready to be self-supporting, self-governing, and self-propagating. The long-range financial plan asks the Episcopal Church in the United States to accept the challenge of participating in the self-support plan in four different ways: through continued support of the integrated operating budget of the diocese and the national church structures on a devolving basis over 10 years; through assistance in capitalizing the new pension programs for both lay and clerical employees; through the raising of capital funds to help establish income-producing vehicles to assist in the long-term support of mission work; and through new partnership agreements with existing grant bodies such as the United Thank Offering.

Bishop Longid added that in its new position as an autonomous province the PEC will have the opportunity to act as a responsible, equal partner in the wider Anglican Communion. However, he emphasized that the PEC will have to be intentional about maintaining contact with Episcopalians in the United States. "We will have to explore new forms of relating and communicating," he said.

Overseas bishops meet

Learning to relate in an atmosphere of trust was very much on the minds of 13 bishops from overseas dioceses, representing four groups in various stages of autonomy, meeting just before the House of Bishops convened.

When asked what challenges they face, the bishops agreed that financial resources, increasing the trust level of leadership in their regions, and how to relate with each other were at the top of their list. "Trust is the main problem," said a bishop from Central America.

The bishops stressed the strong sense of nationalism in their countries and how that affects their ministry. The overseas dioceses are developing their own structures, for example, and experimenting with styles of theological education that will make sense in their cultural contexts.

[thumbnail: Three Philippine bishops...]