August 2009 Edition

SILLIMAN MINISTRY

MAGAZINE A Publication of The Divinity School of Silliman University Serving Protestant Ministry in the Philippines Editor: Rev. Reuel Norman O. Marigza

Issue No. 83 August 2009 ISSN 00037-5276

L A C I G O L N O O I E T H A T C U D E TABLE OF CONTENTS The E-Files: Notes from the Editor, Reuel Norman O. Marigza ..................................................... 2 From the Dean’s Desk, Muriel Orevillo-Montenegro ...................................................................... 3 Challenges and Prospects for Theological Education, Erme R. Camba ................................... 14 Theological Education and Lay Leadership, Ben M. Dominguez ............................................... 21 Asian Spirituality and Healing, Lucio B. Mutia ............................................................................. 25 Theological Education: Wellness and Well-being, Jane Ella P. Montenegro ............................ 31 Theological Education and the Ecumenical Declaration on Just Peace: A Challenge, Muriel Orevillo-Montenegro ................................................... 33 Theological Education in the Field: A Partnership of the Church and the Seminary, Reuel Norman O. Marigza .............................................. 40 Walk the Talk, Karl James Villarmea ............................................................................................. 49 Bible Study: Living By Faith in the Midst of Crisis: The Challenge of the Christian Schools Today, Noriel C. Capulong ........................................................... 57 Sermon: Happy Birthday, Tatay!, Reuel Norman O. MarigzA .................................................... 67 Resources for Advent, Magnolia Nova V. Mendoza ..................................................................... 72 Book Review .................................................................................................................................. 76 August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 1

E-File:

Reuel Norman O. Marigza Editor-in-Chief

G

reetings of grace and peace from the Editor's cutting room. Once again, we bring you another issue of the Silliman Ministry Magazine. This school year there will be changes to our publication. SMM, in this format, will now be issued just once a year. In lieu of the other two issues, we will bring out a more frequent and more 'news-y' Silliman Divinity Newsletter. Initially we will try one issue for every three months, then when we get the pacing right, we will have it once in two months. We would like to have your email addresses because we will maximize the use of the Web for this purpose. We have also opened a social networking group at http:// divinityschool.ning.com. If you are not yet a member, please visit the site and register so you can get in touch with your batch mates. Join the re-union on the Web. For this issue, we are bringing an aperitif, an abregana for the Special Interest Groups of the Church Workers Convocation. We have asked the facilitators to submit an initial article that can be used as a springboard for the Interest Group discussions. Rev. Magnolia Nova V. Mendoza gathered some resources for Advent, while we feature the first part of Dr. Capulong's Bible Study.

This year marks the 500th birth year of John Calvin, the French Reformation leader who made a world-changing impact in Geneva. The World Alliance of Reformed Churches and other Reformed bodies worldwide have lined up a year-long series of activities to remember the legacy of Calvin. I was privileged to participate in a study tour last June in Geneva. A sermon I preached at the Chapel on July 10, this year - the very day of Calvin's 500 birthday, is included in this issue and can be adapted for use on the Reformation Sunday. Dean, Muriel Orevillo-Montenegro contributed the Book Review, as well as 'From the Dean's Desk.' SMM 2 • August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine

From the Dean’s Desk

Muriel Orevillo-Montenegro, Ph.D.

Once More with Feelings: Theological Education, Quo Vadis? Theology in Crisis and Theological Education in the Midst of Crisis: Some Musings and Making Connections In March edition of SMM, I introduced the theme for this year’s convocation. I want to continue to ponder over the matter of theological education in a very candid way. Financial crisis that hit the world in the recent months was aggravated by the spread of A(H1N1) fever and the results or impact of climate change. People, not only in the Philippines, were left devastated by floods and typhoons that caused the loss of their homes, farms and livelihood resources. The death of former President Cory C. Aquino made people remember even for a brief moment the gains of EDSA, gains that were easily trampled by traditional politicians. Some recalled the slogan that says, “Filipinos are worth dying for.” Some responded by saying that “Filipinos are [also] worth living for.” These musings are theologically challenging. Many people in-the-pew still lean towards the preaching about saving souls apart from warm bodies, and talk of salvation as a state after death rather than as an experience after birth. In an evaluation of the Christian Life Emphasis Week activities, a pastor said that a student who accepts Jesus

Christ is not expected to translate this acceptance into action immediately, such as making a connection between one’s discipleship and caring for the earth by proper garbage disposal. People get their first experience of theological education at home and in church, and yes, in the seminary, for those aiming to take formal theological education. In light of this, I could see the interconnection of the crisis in theological education in the midst of a world in crisis. In line with the observance of August as mission month, a preacher repeatedly asserted that “evangelism is about the gospel, it has nothing to do with people.” Some people may share the view with the preacher, but I was uneasy with the statement. I think it is inadequate and problematic. I understand that the word “gospel” is an English translation of the Greek word evangelion (åýáããÝëéïí). Evangelion means the good news about the life, teachings, and work of Jesus of Nazareth,1 who is regarded by believers as Christ. By saying that Jesus reveals God, we mean that the life, works, and teachings of Jesus point to the presence and work of God in this world. A person who proclaims the gospel is an evangelistis (åýáããåëéóôÞò), an evangelist.2 [In the New Testament, there

August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 3

is no word equivalent to the term “evangelism.” So such word must be coined from evangelion and evangelistis.] If the term “evangelism” is used to substitute for evangelion (gospel), and if the gospel is understood to have nothing to do with people, what then is the relevance of incarnation? If “evangelism has nothing to do with people,” what then is the relevance of the gospel to the lives of people whose lives are caught in various forms of addiction, or who suffer because of many calamities? What does an “evangelism that has nothing to do with people” say to Planet Earth that is destroyed by human greed for profit and luxury? What does an “evangelism that has nothing to do with people” say to people who seek to protect people’s human rights, like CHR Chair Leila de Lima, are accused of being a “communist” by Jovito Palparan and Jun Alcober who now sit in Congress? What does an “evangelism [that] has nothing to do with people” say to those who strive to make their dream for genuine socio-economic reforms and their longing to live a peaceful life come true? What can it say to a nation whose blood and life are sucked by the corrupt leaders of the government? An evangelist must take these more seriously, otherwise, the meaning of evangelion will be lost. Then, the theology of mission and proclamation of the gospel (evangelism) will be in crisis. On the one hand, if one views evangelion that does not address the human predicament, then we have to ask: What kind of theological education do our homes and churches offer? Once more, one cannot deny that a person first receives a snippet, if not a big chunk, of theological education in the homes and in the local churches. On the other

hand, we must also ask: must theological education ignore stewardship and accountability when it engages in solidarity with the poor? Can the struggle for justice not be practiced in a just manner? In the midst of competing justices, those who struggle for justice are called to embody the justice that the gospel of Jesus has demonstrated. Otherwise, the struggle for justice will simply be subsumed under the rage of a deflated ego, and still the world will not attain peace. Theological Education: Necessary for Church Growth and Ministerial Praxis All these things challenge us to go back and examine not only the value of theological education, its content and method, but also the kind of support it gets from the church. Theological education is affected by the crises affecting the church and the world. It is also needless to say that theological education is crucial in the growth of the church and its ministerial praxis. If the church does not recognize this, then the church will continue to get stunted, and probably even die both metaphorically and literally. It is sad when church growth is reckoned only in terms of numbers and quality is ignored. Theological education provides the impetus for a local church’s practice of its discipleship. Sound theology results in good practice. If the pastors and the members of the church are not anchored in sound theology, they become like floating debris. In Paul’s language, they are easily tossed to and fro, and are swayed simply by any teachings that come along their way. This is happening within UCCP. In some cases, such phenomenon is reinforced by different reasons and

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motivations such as prestige, power, position, money, benefits, and many others. In some cases, ministers and church members do not know their boundaries and step on each other’s toes. Consequently, problems arise and the church experiences a slow death, or remains stunted. Its organizational problems may be traced back to lack of theological education. The parts of the body lacks understanding of what the church as Christ’s body is all about, what its purpose and mission are.3 Indeed, the church, particularly the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, faces multifarious problems – both theologically and organically. The church needs pastors who can lead and nurture. The seminary can only offer to hone the potentials of students sent to its doors. Certainly, theological education may not be a panacea that solves all problems, but a church that does not take theological education seriously will face so many kinds of problems in the midst of a world in crises. Having said this, I will now focus on the situation of the seminary, or theological education in the formal setting. Who Needs a Seminary Anyway? Given the experience of a seminary related to the UCCP, I often wonder why the church does not fully support theological education. A seemingly secretive response to this question is this: Who needs a seminary anyway? After all, UCCP ordains pastors who do not go through formal theological education in the seminary. Conferences offer training programs for lay people, and after a few weeks of training, they become pastors already. So, who needs an expensive theological education that takes five to six years? Definitely, the laity needs to be

equipped and they are needed. However, there is a need to professionalize the clergy. At least, UCCP came out recently with a Magna Carta for Church Workers to address this matter. Some people reacted to this document saying that the lay pastors are the ones who go to churches in remote places. This may be caused by lack of seminary-trained pastors. This situation is also complicated by the fact that UCCP does not have a good salary scheme to support church workers who also need to support their families. Others within the church simply hold on to some kind of anti-intellectualism. Ministry does not need a diploma, so they say. One only needs the prodding of the Holy Spirit in order to preach. Others think this is enough and it is not proper for one to question traditions and to engage with social issues. The church should focus on the needs of the soul, as if their souls are separate from their bodies. To those who think this way, I can only ask: If Jesus taught us to love God with all our minds, are we not urged to study and offer the best of our minds to the service of God and God’s people? Why are we contented with mediocrity in our service to God? Once again, I insist that theological education is a primary responsibility of the church. Paul has given this exhortation to the believers: “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.” (Eph. 4:12-13) Institutions of Theological Education: Some Models I had the opportunity of visiting seminaries in other parts of Asia. I have seen

August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 5

how church denominations take seriously their seminaries. Once, as a member of an accreditation team, I visited a seminary located in the mountains of Indonesia. It is a seminary supported by one church denomination. This church provides for the salaries of its faculty and staff, scholarships for 65 % of the students (some local churches are able to give full support to their students), library facilities, dormitories and transportation for the seminary. Unlike UCCP that allows the establishment of many seminaries it could not support, this church established only one seminary for the denomination within the country to be sure it can support the seminary well. However, it opened its doors to students from other denominations who want to study there. Foreign funding was only a secondary source of support, and the seminary uses funds received from abroad to upgrade its library facilities and for faculty development. Yet, the case of the seminary in Cipanas is not isolated. I observed that seminaries in Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong are mainly supported by the denominations. Sekola Alkitab Asia Tengara in Malang, East Java that has a sprawling campus with impressive facilities hosted the ATESEA assembly last July for free, and it is mainly supported by the church. Another model is the seminary in Kandy, Sri Lanka which is jointly supported by three cooperating denominations. Why it is that UCCP could not do what other churches in Asia are doing? I am not saying that seminaries supported by only one denomination is a perfect set up. One possible set-back of a denominational seminary is the tendency of the denomination to control the content of the

course offerings within the bounds of denominational doctrines. Another model I can think of is Union Theological Seminary in New York City. I had the opportunity to study in this independent theological institution from where world renowned theologians emerged. This seminary moved towards independence when in mid 20th century the denomination that supported it wanted to restrain biblical scholarship and interpretation led by a professor named Charles Briggs. When it became independent, biblical studies flourished and it became the hub of groundbreaking scholarship. Such independence also gave this institution a rich environment for theological excitement because it opened its doors to various denominations and faiths. It recruits students and give them scholarships. Consequently, it positioned itself at the cutting edge of scholarship and practice of spirituality as it gives its constituency a space to be a risk taker. A seminary that does not take risks will not grow, just as a child who does not take the risk of learning to walk will never learn to stand up and walk. I offer these models for the members and leaders of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines to reflect upon. Or, without looking at these models, leaders and members of UCCP remove the scales from their eyes and think clearly: Does UCCP need many seminaries and simply leave them on their own to sink or swim? If UCCP needs a seminary, or seminaries, then, it should take the responsibility to establish a genuine partnership with these seminaries. The UCCP needs to re-examine its commitment to theological education – both formal and informal. How does it define its commitment to theological education? How far can UCCP go in terms of formal

6 • August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine

theological education? If it cannot support the cost of theological education, is it willing to institute changes to re-align the functions of the existing institutions and pool its resources to support one seminary? If it wants to be a partner of a university in doing theological education, what is its commitment and how far can this commitment go? These are important questions that need to be answered. Otherwise, the church could probably just settle with non-formal theological education and close the formal theological education in the seminaries. Then, the university can be challenged to pick it up and support it like Yale or Harvard do, without much expectation from the church. In this way, there will be no pretensions about a partnership that does not exist. Some Practical Matters in Theological Education Theological education is both reflective and practical. As a matter of policy, the Divinity School tries to follow the principle of sharing responsibilities. Under the assumption that the existing set up of theological education, particularly the Divinity School, is still within an ambit of partnership with the church, there are expectations to reckon with. First, recruitment of good students is critical. The church is not only expected to recruit and screen good students properly. It is also asked to provide for their students’ food, housing, allowances, and other needs. The nagging problem of students complaining that they do not have enough food continues. There are still a good number of residents who have not paid for their food since June 2009. This only shows that the church does not put into action their pledge for sup-

port. The Divinity School may implement plans to address this problem, but such plan departs from the scheme of food subsidy that was done in the past. This emergency scheme had been misunderstood by the church and students as a permanent arrangement. Second, the qualification of a student is crucial, and so admission has to be tight if quality product is given primary importance. The Divinity School is slowly moving towards this threshold. The Divinity School provides some scholarships only to qualified students. Applicants are expected to maintain a grade of at least 2.5 with no incompletes or INC. Applicants should demonstrate positive attitudes towards study as preparation for the ministry, and must render one hour per day service to the Divinity School (a total of five hours a week). Under the premise of a partnership, the Divinity School requires the student to be endorsed by the church. Students whose grades do not reach the cut-off level, have INCs and do not fulfill the required number of hours of services may not apply for scholarship in the following semester. It behooves the students to acquire the discipline to study and cultivate the positive attitudes towards the ministry. For its part, Silliman University will contribute a maximum of 50% of the student’s balance of account in tuition. Other fees are not covered by such contribution. It is our prayer that the church will honor the principle of sharing responsibilities for theological education. After all, it is mainly the task of the church. In SMM’s March 2009 edition, I mentioned that because of the challenges that the seminary is facing, the faculty decided to put this concern as the convocation theme for the next three years, beginning this year 2009, with the general theme on “Theological Education in the Midst of Crises.” In the next two years, the Convocation

August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 7

will have the following theme: “Church and Seminary Partnership: Broadening the Horizon of Theological Education,” and “Towards a Transformed and Transforming Theological Education in Doing God’s Mission in these Times.” New Program Offerings During its March 21, 2009 and May 2, 2009 meetings, the Board of Trustees approved the new program offerings of the Divinity School, namely: • Master of Theology in Mission Studies • Doctor of Theology (major in Biblical Studies, Systematic Theology and Christian Ethics) • Master of Divinity program-thesis track - with majors in Biblical Studies, Spiritual Care/Clinical Pastoral Education, Pastoral Ministry, Theology and Christian Education. There are now six M.Th. students from Tanzania, Indonesia and South Korea. In relation to the new programs, the United Evangelical Mission has given some funds for the construction of housing facilities for its scholars. The construction is now going on, and a few units enough for the present number of scholars will be finished hopefully within this semester. On May 2, 2009, the Board of Trustees approved our new M. Divinity- thesis track program. Although it was too late for the Divinity School to advertise this new program, four students came to enroll. All of them have chosen to take Spiritual Care/Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) as their major field. The revised curricula of Bachelor of Theology and Master of Divinity (non-thesis track) were also approved. New courses

are offered to address the needs of the pastors and churches such as history of theological thoughts, seminar on evangelism and church development, and feminist theologies. Church Administration and Preaching now have a total of six (6) units each. One seminar will focus on Bible and Gender, while another will put emphasis on women in the New Testament. The revised curriculum was implemented in June 2009. The Field Education Program will also see changes beginning Summer 2010 as internships – both summer and the ten-month long internship will have to be enrolled. Three years ago, the faculty also started to work on a proposed curriculum for a Bachelor in Liturgy and Church Music program. This year, the faculty is retrieving it and will soon submit this to the proper committees of the University for approval. The Admission forms and other information could be downloaded from the Website of Silliman University. Copies of such forms were also sent to the offices of the Conference Ministers and Bishops to be made accessible to the prospective students. The application letter and other required forms for admission must be submitted to the office of the Dean of the Divinity School on or before January 30. Faculty Line Up With the new program offerings, the Divinity School has to contend with a bench that is low. We are happy that there are retired but qualified persons around the area who are willing to help as adjunct professors. According to the Collective Bargaining Agreement between SUFA and the University, the services of retired academic personnel can be engaged on a yearly basis, although

8 • August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine

in practice, the contract is renewed every semester. Moreover, a unit can take on board a retiree as long as there are no younger faculty members who can teach the course, and that the person should be physically fit and mentally lucid to teach the course. If the retiree is willing to teach the course assigned to him/her, and upon the concurrence of the faculty, the office of the Dean recommends the hiring of such person. The Divinity School now enjoys the services of the following adjunct professors who were willing to accept the courses assigned to them: 1. Erme R. Camba 2. T. Valentino Sitoy, Jr. 3. Benito Dominguez 4. Jane Ella Montenegro 5. Lucio Mutia 6. Solomon C. Apla-on The Divinity School also benefits from the free services of Hope Cerose Sillero, who volunteered to help in teaching ancient languages to Divinity School students for

free. He teaches Greek and Hebrew. However, he can also teach basic Aramaic, Syriac and Akkadian to doctoral students in biblical studies. He also provides supplementary English classes to B.Th. and M.Div. students who badly need to brush up their English. Hope Sillero provides an ecumenical presence to the Divinity School as he comes from the tradition of the Seventh Day Adventist. Available Scholarships and Recipients Scholarships are available depending on the interest earned by the endowment funds. The Divinity School implements a new scheme so that the principal fund will grow. Thus, twenty per cent of the interest will be ploughed back to the principal, while the remaining eighty per cent will be made available to a qualified applicant. Of the fifty-eight (58) students enrolled, twenty-five (25) students enjoy scholarships for tuition, while two (2) others enjoy assistance for non-tuition needs as designated by the donors. These are the following:

I. Available Scholarship under DS Endowment Funds (cheques issued by the banks in the name of SU, and are already prepared for turn over to SU) Scholarship Fund

Slots (as agreed by DS Finance Committee)

Remarks

Recipient

1. Badoy Family Theol. Ed. Fund

15T for 2 semesters only For Middler or Senior Student

1) Edfie Maylan

2. DS Class ‘56

10T for 2 semesters only For Middler or Senior student

2) Julan Juayang

3. Bp. Pedro Raterta Theological Education Fund

15T for 2 semesters only Preferably Senior student

3) Reynaldo Taglucop

4. Jose & Clavel Diao Scholarship

15T/semester for 5 semesters

For student from Cebu (pref. from Bradford Church)

4) Freddie de Asis

5. Yandell Scholarship

10T/semester for 5 semesters

For Junior Liturgy & Music student

5) Cesar Chazyan Romero

August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 9

II. Other Scholarships Available (Non-Endowment) Donors give funds based on pledges, or on the statement of account issued by SU’s B/F Office; DS does not hold an account for these scholarships Name of Donors

Type

1. Rutsuki Memorial Scholarship, Hitachi Church

Earmarked; at least full 4+1 1)Shelah Mari tuition fees re- 2) Jerilde Flor cent 3) Zandy Casia 4) Nelsa Ecat 5) Napoleon Romero

Senior BTh Junior BTh Middler BTh Intern BTh Junior M.Div.

2. Minami-Hanashima Church

2/3 of tuition

1

6) Wella Hoyle

Intern BTh

3. Yangco Memorial Scholarship

Depends on the statement of accounts from SU

5

7) Alan Patadlas 8) Lalaine Sanchez

10) Roel Lebios 11) Gideon Gunda

Senior M.Div. Pre-internship Senior, M.Div. Pre-internship Senior, M.Div. Senior M.Div. Intern M.Div.

Slots

Recipients/Applicant

9) Marnie Vega

Yr Level

4. Swarthmore Presbyterian Church

Full scholarship but for 3 years only

1

12) Sarah Cuyag

Sophomore BTh

5. Cheola PROK

15T/sem for 4 semesters

1

13) Rosemarie Gonzales

1st yr M.Div. thesis track

6. Phil.Am. College of Clergy

Full

1

14) Lovanesa Cagas

Senior BTh

7. Philippine Community Presbyterian Church

Not for tuition; Designated by donors for food allowances

2

15) Choanalfe Cabuhan Senior BTh 16) Helen Daguplo

8. Harvard Family UCC Church

partial

1

17) Rio Miot

Intern BTh

9. Koram Deo Scholarship

15T/per semester for one semester; no money yet but assured

2

21) Juriel Ursos 22) Melvin Tacaisan

Sophie BTh Freshie BTh

III. Scholarships Available c/o Student Scholarship and Aid Division Name of Scholarship

Slots Available

Remarks Recipient

1. Rainer and Marie 3 slots @ P 15T per Paule Neu Scholarship semester/student

c/o SU

2. Elena Maquiso Scholarship

c/o SPO 4. Helen Daguplo

1 slot for Liturgy & Music student @ P16,500/sem

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1. Laura Gaviola 2. Valentino Nudalo 3. Florencio Gutang

Year Level Senior M.Div. Middler M.Div. Senior B.Th. Pre-Internship Senior Lit. / Music

IV. Other Available Scholarships for B.Th. and M.Div (non-thesis) Name of Scholarship

Available Amount

Nature

Remarks

1. Conrada del Carmen Scholarship

10T/semester for 4 semesters

Endowment - For a Middler student

No applicant yet

2. Bethany Hospital c/o Mr. Laurino Braulio

P 50T –available (July 2009)

Non-Endowment (one-time grant)

No applicant yet

V. Scholarships Available for M.Div. (thesis track) beginning 2009-2010 (for UCCP-endorsed students; cheques were already issued by the banks in the name of SU and are being prepared for turn over; the funds in dollar are deposited directly to SU account4 ) Scholarship Fund

Slots (grade required: 3.0)

1. Tolentino Scholarship for Ministries and CPE

a) One M.Div (thesis) for 4 semesters @ 15T/sem

2. Himaya Peace Scholarship Fund for theology

Remarks Preferably woman

Applicants 1. none yet

b) One M.Div (thesis) for 4 semesters @ 15T/sem

2. none yet

c) One M.Div (thesis) for 2 semesters @ 15T/sem

3. none yet

a) One M.Div (thesis) @ 15T/semester for 4 semesters

Preferably woman

b) One M.Div (thesis) @ 15T/semester for 2 semesters only 3. McKinley Scholarship for theology (c/o Lisabeth McKinley – dollar acct)

One M.Div. (thesis) @ 15T/sem for 4 semesters

4. Menzel Endowment Fund for theology or ethics (dollar acct)

One M.Div. (thesis) @ 15T/sem for 4 semesters

5. Fe Nebres Scholarship Fund for Christian Education (dollar acct)

One M.Div. (thesis) in Christian Ed @ 15T/sem for 2 semesters only

6. Van Dyke Scholarship Fund for Biblical Studies (US$ account)

a) One M.Div. (thesis) @ 15T/sem for 4 semesters b) One M. Div (thesis) @ 15T/sem for 2 semesters only

4. none yet

5. none yet

Preferably woman

6. none yet

7. none yet

Preferably woman

8. none yet

9. none yet 10. none yet

August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 11

VI. Scholarships that maybe Available when an Application is Submitted: 1. Holly Daze Bazaar

Depends on the funds raised during the January annual bazaar (no money yet)

1

2. Women’s Board for Pacific Island

No money yet for this year

1

3. Santiago Luzares Scholarship

Not sure; no word for this SY

1

Used to be earmarked for specific students

VII. Other Scholarship Endowment Funds (not yet available; funds need to earn more interest) Name 1. Frank and Lorna Beltran Scholarship Fund

Seed Amount Principal (as of June 2009) USD 2,500.00

Not indicated

2. Bacerra Scholarhip

Php 104,736.58

Not indicated

3. Udarbe Scholarship

34,9912.20

4. Class ’98 (Chesed)

72,357.30

5. Serapio Serate Scholarship

6. Class ‘62/2000

Php 100,000.00

140,000.00

Not indicated

65,285.24

Not indicated

7. Cristeta Capulong Scholarship Fund

126,265.45

Php 150,000.00

8. Solomon Codillo Sr. Scholarship Fund

72,259.12

Php 150,000.00

9. Dion Tanion Scholarship Fund

94,383.89

Php 150,000.00

10. Oracion/Remasog/Quiñones * Levi Oracion 17,220.45 * Ramasog 33,097.29 * Quiñones 34,716.32

85,034.06

11. Gregorio Gonzales Fund

114,487.42

12 • August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine

Remarks

Php 100,000.00

Php10T was awarded to Joseph Guc-ong from Lanao Conference last year, but is not awarded this semester due to his INC.

VIII. Graduate Teaching Fellows (GTF) Graduate Teaching Fellow

Silliman University – for M.Div. students

3

The DS Alumni raised a total of Php 33,300.00 during the reunion two years ago. The fund is still placed in one account. The DS hopes that this fund will grow as each group or batch of graduates will seek to fulfill and increase their pledges to raise scholarships for the students.

18) Ruben Puguon 19)Joanas Lozano 20) Amihan Asi

Junior M.Div. Senior M.Div. Junior M.Div.

In conclusion, I would like to borrow the words of one folksinger in the 1960s, Bob Dylan, who said: “For all that has been, Thanks! And for all that will be, Yes!” Please Contact us at: (63) (35) 422-6002 local 540-541 [email protected] SMM

END NOTES Frederick William Danker et. al., eds., A GreekEnglish Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed. (Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 2000), 402-3. 2 Ibid., 403. 3 I do not use the usual feminine image and feminine pronoun “she” for the church. If the church is people, then, it is not necessary to associate church with neither a female nor a masculine body. Jesus 1

was male, yes. But Christ (from the verb chrio [÷ñßù] “to anoint”) is a title or a label for one who is anointed to do the christic task as in Luke 4:18. Christ after all, is neither male nor female. I use the neutral pronoun for church without reducing the church into a non-organic body. 4 Please refer to January 19, 2009 Updated and Corrected list of Scholarship Endowment Funds at the DS. SMM

August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 13

Challenges and Prospects for Theological Education By Erme R. Camba

Introduction and Definition of terms

L

et me first clarify the use of terms in this article. I am speaking of theological education as “education for ministry.”[1] As Dr. Ross Kinsler, one of the origi nal proponents of theological education by extension, aptly puts it: the mandate of theological education is “to motivate, equip, and enable the people of God to develop their gifts and give their lives in meaningful service.”[2] As I make a strong emphasis on “education for ministry,” I would, in the same breath, describe theological education institutions as avant-garde in biblicotheological studies leading the Church in the contextual interpretation and praxis of the Faith. As such theological education is called upon to seek new and innovative expressions of the Faith leading the Church to creative and even radical paradigms and Christian actions. [3] For our purpose, I submit two main ideas of challenges and prospects: 1. Theological Education as “Education for Ministry” and 2. Theological Education as “Avant-garde in the interpretation and Praxis of the Faith.”

At the turn of the New Century, the Silliman University Divinity School hosted a Theological Education Summit of the UCCP related seminaries on “the nature and shape of theological education for the third millennium.” The following statement came from the report: Theological education must seek to link and integrate the social and church realities in a single praxis. These are not two detached realities nor are they two separate realms but an integrate reality, impinging on the lives of the church members both individually and collectively. The church, led by its workers, must be equipped to address these inextricably linked realities. A ministry 14 • August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine

to one, at the exclusion of the other, can only lead to a fragmented, and therefore, distorted ministry. Theological education must, first of all, be an education for basic competencies in pastoral leadership. But there should be a room for specialization in specific areas of ministry. Theological education must attract students and faculty of the highest caliber. There should be an intentional, purposive, organized and systematic program of recruitment, coupled with a system of ensuring support for theological education. Theological education must be integrative and inter-disciplinary. Economics and finance, social and political sciences must be an integral part of seminary curricula so as to equip church workers to be able to understand the socioeconomic realities from the perspectives of the Christian faith and be enabled to communicate the same to the members of the church. Theological education must be ready to address issues at the frontier of theology. The Church should promote the development of theological scholars and thinkers who will do research, write and examine issues and concerns emerging at the end of a millennium and at the dawning of a new one. For us to be able to do all these, theological education must be truly independent, self reliant, and unbeholden to any church bureaucrat nor servant of any vested interest.

______________ *An article Version of a Keynote Address for the Consultation on Theological Education of St. Andrews Theological Seminary, Quezon City on the 75th Founding Anniversary held in Pansol, Laguna, Dec. 12-14, 2007.

Theological education in the ministerial formation centers must also be faithful to the heritage of the Church as expressed in the historical creeds and [traditions], and the present creeds and positions of the [Church}. [4] I. Theological Education as “Education for Ministry”. Theological education is a servant of the Church. The seminary trains professional workers for the ministry of the Church. The objective is to educate persons for the ordained ministry but today there is a clamor in the UCCP for lay theological education. Theological education is a major part of the Church’s education for mission and ministry. The Church now calls on the seminaries to provide such “equipping the saints for ministry” since the seminary is supposed to be the most equipped institution of the August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 15

Church to do this particular ministry. In other words, the seminary is challenged to provide education not only for the ordained and other professional church workers but also for the lay people who are in the frontiers and the cutting edge of everyday life in society. The demand of lay people of varied professions such as medical doctors, justices, bankers, engineers, nurses, university professors and others to learn theology is supported by the fact that “doing theology” is not a monopoly of the professional theologians, theological professors and seminarians. As Dr. Judo Poerwowidagdo, former Executive Secretary for Ecumenical Theological Education of the World Council of Churches puts it: [Doing theology] is the right and the proper responsibility of every believing Christian, because doing theology means discerning where God reveals [God]self in the world and responding to this revelation. Moreover, he says: …in doing theology we need to actively discern the presence of “God in Christ” in the daily events surrounding our lives in the community, in society and in our nation. This discernment requires us to be actively engaged, not only reflecting academically or intellectually and speculatively, but we must also physically, mentally and emotionally engage and involve ourselves with our whole being, in the life of the people where we may be able to grasp the presence and the work of God. [5] Lay Theological Education To serve the need for lay theological education, the seminaries should endeavor to offer a curriculum that is different from the regular seminary offerings. Such curriculum should aim to give basic theological understand to equip the laity in their ministry in the world, in their own professions. Such programs may be offered on weekends or during the summer vacation. Or perhaps for periods of one school year for the lay people who may be able to take a year off work. We must however avoid the pitfall of confusing theological education for the professional Church ministry and theological education for the laity. Lay theological education is not a program “to respond to the shortage of priest and pastors.” Lay people of the Church are entitled to the best education for ministry comparable to the regular seminary offerings. However, I do not advocate for “an imitation seminary” for the lay people for them to become “substitute ministers.” I advocate for a solid Lay Theological Education that provides foundational and practical Christian education to equip the laity in their various ministries in the world where they “do theology” in word and deeds and where they are able to, as Judo puts it, “physically, 16 • August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine

mentally and emotionally engage and involve [them]selves… in the life of the people where [they] may be able to grasp the presence and the work of God.” Seminaries today must necessarily provide solid lay theological education to empower the laity towards building the Kingdom of God. Theological Education must aim at “Enabling the Enablers” As we strongly advocate for the Protestant principle of priesthood of all believers, we should also understand that there are various functions in the ministry of the Church. The Acts records that the Early Church recognized this fact (Acts 6:1-4). As the Christian community expanded, many other ministries were recognized such as apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers (Ephesians 4:11) as well as bishops, elders or presbyters and deacons (I Timothy 3:1-13; 5:17). It is a fact that not everyone in the Church can go into many years in-depth theological studies. The practice, therefore, is for the local church to select from among their members persons who have the gift for full time professional ministry in the church. As the UCCP consultation on Theological Education puts it: 1. The Professional Church Worker is “expected to possess and demonstrate the necessary skills and competencies required for an effective, faithful and socially relevant ministry” 2. The Professional Church Worker “must have completed the training required by the [UCCP Constitution] that will render the church worker adequately equipped in the various aspects and responsibilities of the ministry such as preaching, teaching, counseling, evangelizing, church administration, community involvement and leadership, and prophetic advocacy. 3. The Professional Church Worker “must strive to embody those qualities that exemplify the ideal church worker worthy of his/her calling, such as, integrity, honesty, humility, openness, patience, compassion and genuine love for people, faithfulness and devotion to one’s duties, a spirituality that can inspire others being enriched by a prayerful life and deepened by a never-ending passion for learning and growth in his/her faith and witness.[6] In sum, the professional church worker is expected to posses the necessary pastoral skills, equipped academically and professionally and exemplifies a personal life style and spiritual growth. For this purpose seminaries must provide a theological education program that is biblically and contextually oriented, academically relevant and innovative, ecumenical and inclusive, and prophetically involved in the dynamic praxis of “doing theology,” to “enable the enablers” to equip “the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:12-13). August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 17

Since the chief function of the minister is to prepare the laity for their tasks in the church and in the world, the seminary plays a crucial role in educating ministers and other professional church workers to do their supporting function faithfully and effectively. In this way the role of the seminary is to “enable the enablers.” The professional ministry demands for the Church to recruit the finest and committed youth and young professionals. We must have first-rate students who are capable of taking advantage of academic offerings of the seminaries. However, in this time of high cost of seminary education, the churches must provide adequate scholarship support for these students, not only in terms of tuition and fees but also academic tools mainly books. For their part, the seminaries must provide high quality of academic and physical plants for the students. Aside from the pastoral task, the call is for equipping the church workers for prophetic advocacy. Training students in this area is a perilous task since in the seminaries we do not only teach theories in the classroom, but place students under field education exposure program where the issues of human rights, justice and peace are lived and demonstrated. This brings me now to the second role of theological education in the educational mission of the Church. I submit the role of II. Theological Education as “Avant-garde in the Interpretation and Praxis of the Faith.” To provide theological education that is biblically and contextually oriented, academically relevant and innovative, ecumenical and inclusive, and prophetically involved in the dynamic praxis of “doing theology,” seminaries are called upon to be avant-garde in the interpretation and praxis of the Faith. The UCCP Theological Summit said that Theological education must be ready to address issues at the frontier of theology. The Church should promote the development of theological scholars and thinkers who will do research, write and examine issues and concerns. [7] Let me just list some challenges for theological education. 1. The Challenges of Philippine issues of poverty and unhealth, corruption in high places, moral bankruptcy. Can the seminaries help the Church do socio-political analyses and provide theological undergirding for a prophetic stance? 2. The Challenges of Economic Globalization. The World Alliance of Reformed Churches General Assembly in Accra, Ghana in 2004 said: We see the dramatic convergence of the economic crisis with the integration of economic globalization and geopolitics backed by neo-liberal ideology. This is a global system that defends and protects the interests of the powerful. It affects and captivates us all. Further, in biblical 18 • August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine

terms such a system of wealth accumulation at the expense of the poor is seen as unfaithful to God and responsible for preventable human suffering and is called Mammon. Jesus has told us that we cannot serve God and Mammon. (Luke 16:13)(Par.14) [8] Can the seminaries, through the faculty and students, become prophetic in studies and pronouncements? 3. The Challenge of Environmental Degradation. As churches and seminaries should we join the voices of those who are working hard to preserve God’s Creation? How much interest and effort are we giving in our theologizing for the People of God to provide theological guidance? 4. The Challenge of the Empire. A new Empire has come upon us similar to the Roman Empire that was condemned in the Book of Revelation. The WARC 2004 Assembly in Accra defined “empire” as “the coming together of economic, cultural, political and military power [constituting] a system of domination led by powerful nations to protect and defend their own interests” (Par. 11) Is the Empire a challenge to theological education? How can the seminaries theologically guide the people in the pew to understand the idolatry of the Empire? What do we say about the Kingdom of God and the Oikoumene in relation to Empire? [9] 5. The Challenge of Pluralism: Religious, Ideological, Cultural. Asia is the cradle of world religions. Indeed, Christianity is a very small community compared to the millions of Buddhists and Muslims. How does theological education handle this issue? Can the seminary scholars lend a hand by giving theological advise for decisions that should be made? To be able to meet the challenge as avant-garde in the interpretation and praxis of the Faith, theological education must be truly independent, self- reliant and unbeholden to any church bureaucrat nor servant of any vested interest. Concluding Words Theological Education stands at the cutting edge of churches ministry in church and society. Seminaries must necessarily lead the way. Let me conclude with 1989 UCCP Consultation on Education for Ministry: The ministry of the Church is the ministry of Jesus Christ. This ministry is entrusted by Christ to His Body, the Church. Within the body of Christ, some are set apart not to do the ministry on behalf of the whole body, but for the task of equipping and enabling the various parts of the body to fulfill their ministry in the world. The service of equipping and enabling the body of Christ involves the shepherding, educating and training of God’s people to engage themselves in the midst of the world’s life with its struggles, suffering, agonies as well as its hopes and joys, in August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 19

order to celebrate and bring about the fuller manifestation of God’s reign: peace, freedom, justice, love and proclamation of the acceptable year of the Lord.[10] SMM

Endnotes [1] The term “education for ministry” was recommended by the 1989 Consultation on Education for Ministry. Cf: Education for Ministry: Proposed Guidelines, UCCP-CEN, 1989. [2] Kinsler, Ross: Ministry by the People, WCC/Orbis Books, 1983 as quoted by Dr. Judo Peorwowidagdo in Towards the 21st Century: Challenges and Opportunities for Theological Education, WCC, 1995, p. 53. [3] Peorwowidagdo, Ibid, p. 61-62. Cf. James Massey, Contextual Theological Education, ISPCK, India, 1993; and TEF, Learning in Context: The Search for Innovative Patterns in Theological Education, Theological.Education Fund, England, 1973. [4] Unpublished overall synthesis entitled: “A Framework for the UCCP Theological Education,” Aug., 1999, pp.4-5. [5] Peorwowidagdo, ibid. [6] “A Framework for UCCP Theological Education,” an unpublished Overall Synthesis of the UCCP Theological Education Summit (June 22-29, 1999), p. 7. [7] “A Framework…, ibid., p.5. [8] Par 14, 24th WARC Gen Ass in Accra, Ghana, July 30-Aug. 13, 2004. [9] See Camba: “The New Roman Empire,” Reformed World, pp. 404-414. [10] Education for Ministry: Proposed Guidelines, UCCP-CEN, 1989, p. 3.

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Theological Education and Lay Leadership Ben M. Dominguez INTRODUCTION The Church of our Savior Jesus Christ started as a lay movement. The members of the early church saw themselves as the new people (laos) of God tasked to pursue the mission of Jesus summed up as proclaiming—in word and life—the good news of God’s love in Jesus Christ that makes all humankind and creation new! (2 Cor. 5. 17-19; John 10.10; Matt. 16.18). The theme, “Theological Education in the Midst of Crisis: Prospects and Challenges”, somehow portrays the context and situation of theological education in the UCCP. The sub-theme, “Theological Education and Lay Leadership” offers an apt and relevant venue for rediscovering/recapturing the “missing link” in pursuing the mandate of the church. Our sub-theme aims to probe into the prospects and challenges of the church of Jesus Christ as a lay movement. THE CHURCH AS A LAY MOVEMENT Characteristics of the Church as a lay movement 1. Charismatic leadership Leadership in the church as a lay movement is based on people’s charisma (gifts/talents). The leaders are not elected but assume their positions of leadership by virtue of their gifts (e.g., I Cor. 12; Rom. 12). Thus, a member who has the gift of singing becomes the song leader; one who is good in speaking becomes the preacher; and one who facilitates well becomes the teacher, etc.. The members take this way of assuming leadership positions as following the guidance of the Spirit for members are given all the opportunities to develop, employ and share their charisma only for one purpose, that is, for the edification of the faith community and to ensure that the cause of Jesus will go on. The lay leaders view and practice leadership as commitment/responsibility to serve and not as positions of authority. This characteristic of the church as lay movement was dominant in the churches that Paul founded. August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 21

2. Highly participatory A church as a lay movement constantly offers opportunities to every member to make a contribution towards the implementation of the mandate of the church. The “idealized” picture of the church in Acts 2 and 4 demonstrates this characteristic of the church as a lay movement. The goal of the Greek cosmopolis (the world as one big city, and all are sisters and brothers); and the dream of the Jewish messianic community (where no one remains hungry) found fulfillment in the new faith community in Jerusalem made possible by lay people making their contributions and uniting to carry out the mandate of the church, i.e., to offer opportunities for people to “have life and have it to the full” (Jn. 10.10) 3. Ownership of the Church’s mandate The laos must commit themselves to God’s mandate for God’s people. In other words, members of the church should own the mission of the church in the sense that they actively take part, support and unite in pursuing the cause of Jesus in the world. This could be the reason why, in the early church, witnessing and martyrdom were inseparable. The laos were ready to give up their lives as they proclaimed the gospel to people in their communities and beyond (witness in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the “ends of the earth”, i.e., Rome). The picture does not only portray geographical contexts but also (and more important!) ethnic/cultural contexts, i.e., from relatives and friends to enemies and persecutors. The church, however, was able to go through a long and winding road to Rome because the Church, at that time, was a lay movement. INTERRUPTION OF THE CHURCH AS A LAY MOVEMENT By the time of the Pastorals (I Timothy, II Timothy, Titus), the “division” of the laos of God into clergy and lay started to take place. This was towards the end of the 1st and the beginning of the 2nd century AD. The problem of “false” teachings confronting the faith communities “forced” the churches to make adjustments in order to respond to threats coming from rival teachings that waylaid members of the churches. The leaders of the churches (presbyters and bishops) were set apart and tasked to serve as a) guardians of sound teaching (doctrine); and b) interpreters of the faith. The leaders assumed the position of clergy. Their interpretations of the faith and their guarding of sound teaching from “error” were taken as authoritative by the faithful (lay) although their authority (seen in the Pastorals) rested on their faithfulness to their calling and responsibility to the faith community and not legislated. Thus began the clergy – lay distinction in the Church which interrupted her being a lay movement and eventually stifled active

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lay participation and relegated them into the background in pursuing the cause of Jesus in the world. THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION AND LAY LEADERSHIP Current Practice of Theological Education As practiced by the churches, theological education is the process of preparing, sustaining and nurturing women and men for full-time church work. The basic functions of the clergy laid down by the church during the time of the Pastorals feature at the heart of theological education in the present: interpreters of the Christian heritage and guardians of “sound” teaching for the faith communities. What is sad, however, is the continuing relegation of the lay into the margins of the church’s theological enterprise! Theological education is not for lay people. What is available for them is lay formation and lay leadership trainings which hardly equip them for serious, in-depth, effective and sustained participation and leadership in carrying out Jesus’ mandate for the church in the world. Thus our local churches today are clergy-dependent! Lay Theological Education: a very Urgent Need in the UCCP Today Theological education for the clergy is meaningless without theological education for the lay - for theological education empowers faith communities and equips them for courageous and unhindered witness in the world. (See the many lay persons mentioned by Paul in his letters who pursued his work in the different local churches that he organized.). Lay leadership, therefore, is a necessary component of theological education. Theological education for lay people must not duplicate theological education for the clergy to arrest what is currently happening in the UCCP. Often, trained lay persons in the local churches are assimilated into the “clergy” class. Thus, lay persons who go into training for leadership in the local churches get the idea that they are prepared to be church workers, which aborts opportunities to recapture the church as a lay movement! The two (2) basic theological education strategies in the early church were: a) charisma enhancement, and b) apprenticeship Church members, depending on their charisma, went with lay people with special gifts, e.g., evangelists, teachers, prophets (there were early Christian prophets), administrators, etc., observed, took part, and learned from what these lay leaders did in pursuing the mission of the church. Then they put into practice what they learned in their local faith communities. The practice was replicated involving other members. This ensured that the faith communities were lay movements! This is the kind of theological education that is urgently needed in the UCCP.

August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 23

Characteristics of Lay Theological Education 1) Creative To be creative, theological education should be culture-sensitive. Our culture as a people is so rich and could provide different ways of expressing/communicating faith. Hand in hand with culture sensitivity is a good grasp of/familiarity with the basic beliefs that Christians should know. (In formulating the curriculum for lay theological education there should be some sort of “standard” level of competence in Bible, Theology and Ethics, Church History, Ministries, etc, to enable them to creatively help enable their peers and comembers to recapture the church as a lay movement) 2) Critical Awareness of “what is” that is critically analyzed and a vision of “what should be” that is based on faith make a dynamic witness. Lay theological education should equip participants with analytical tools on the one hand and an integrating orientation on the other. The church as a lay movement needs lay leaders that could see through “blinders” and could “read between the lines”. 3) Reflective At the heart of the church as a lay movement is witnessing which always brings the church into an experience of “double wrestling”, i.e., grappling with the word and the world. In the process, the witnesses have to draw and “drink from their own wells” of experiences and contexts. Faith, therefore, becomes a lived experience that brings about confessions of what God in Jesus does in the lives of peoples and communities. 4) Committed When Moses asked Yahweh what name of God he would announce to the enslaved people he was tasked to help deliver, Yahweh said, “I am who I am”, i.e. “I walk with you!” (Exodus 3). When Jesus gave his “great commission” to the disciples (Matthew 28), he assured them, “I will be with you always…” A real experience of the companionship of God is in involvement. Lay theological education should be planned and structured in such a way that it would lead participants to commit themselves to concrete ministries that would result in rediscovering the Church as a lay movement. CONCLUSION Lay theological education is the “missing link that would lead to the rediscovery of the Church as a lay movement. It is our hope that our endeavors promoting lay theological education will bear fruits of change, empowerment and new life in the UCCP! SMM 24 • August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine

ASIAN SPIRITUALITY AND HEALING By Lucio B. Mutia

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new wind is blowing in pastoral care educa tion and spirituality from the Asian perspec tive. It blows toward praxis - reclaiming the process of healing and spirituality in the context of the Asian paradigm called TAO or the WHOLE. What is this WHOLE? The Asian thought is very clear. The WHOLE is unnamable. You cannot represent it. It has no image, no word. The amazing classic TAO TE CHING puts it this way: “The TAO that can be named is not the eternal TAO; the NAME that can be named is not the eternal name.”1 The sense of the WHOLE is always there that has no name, no image, no concept, but since, we must talk about it, let’s call it TAO. It’s not simply nothing. It is the source of all things. It is that one which undergird and nurtures the multiplicity and diversities of the world. It is the source of power that allows things to be and to become and to not become as well. That TAO – WHOLE is always there. We are part of the cosmos, the whole. In 1989 at EWHA Women’s University – a gathering in search of Asian Christian spirituality concludes: land is sacred and the whole cosmos is interrelated and interdependent.2 From Matthew Fox’s book, Spirituality Named Compassion, he says: “as we enter the new millennium, society needs to realize that spirituality’s purpose is to guide us on a path that leads to a genuine love of all our relations and a love for our shared interdependence and to recognize the interconnectedness of all things.”3 Lao Tzu, the sage, creates a paradigm: “Heaven, Earth, Mankind constitutes a single unity; no boundAugust 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 25

aries separate them, they are all bounded in single unity. They nurture and support each other.” 4 A Filipino poet and folk songs composer, Joey Ayala, describes his perception this way: “Lupa, laot, langit ay magkaugnay; hayop, halaman, tao ay magkaugnay. Ang lahat na bagay ay magkaugnay, magkaugnay ang lahat.”5 The song says, … “all things are interrelated and interdependent.” The 20th century Western thought from the quantum mechanics theory, we learn that heaven is really a universe, rich, creative and dynamic where “all things are interrelated and interdependent.” 6 The WHOLE or TAO manifests itself in human life and in the universe and work in three amazing phenomenal ways: WU WEI, meaning - non-action, YING YANG, meaning - polarity, and CHI, meaning - energy. 1. WU WEI manifest first of all in this amazing wonderful word wu wei (wu meaning non-not, wei means doing). So, its non-doing. This is a remarkable perception on special way of doing: all things get done by non-doing.7 TAO works and showed the creation. It is a special way of manifesting; it’s by non-doing, you just flow spontaneously like water. Water does not strain, no tension. Image a rock, hit by a continuous “drip, drip, drip” of water. It’s just a drip; it does not shout, saying: “no, no, no.” Within a year the rock may become pebbles.8 A slow yet constant rain changes the contour of the land even of a vast mountain. This is the special way of doing. This is called wu-wei – non-doing. A story of a butcher is told about his practice of not sharpening his knives. The people asked him. “How come?” Then, he said: “I always find the open space. That’s all. No bones to contend with.”9 Imagine patients (or non-patients) who come to you or you visit them and you locate the open space. We always focus on the bone of contention called prob26 • August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine

lems. Why not find out that open space. That is wuwei, that is the manifestation of the TAO. 2. YING YANG. This is the polarity, such as: Dark and light, wet and dry, soft and hard, cold and warm, feminine and masculine. Both are absolutely necessary. In every ying there is yang, and every yang there is ying. There is no point searching and reaching the top of the mountain because upon reaching the top, it circles back. Mountains have always an aura of inviting people to climb its heights, such as Mount Everest. The challenge though is most always in the category of success versus failure. This writer’s pastoral colleague from Washington D.C. after his retirement from parish assignments fulfilled his dream to climb Mt. Everest. However, he came home to the U.S. a cargo. In our Asian context, we know so well that in all life there is amazing change, a reversal. So a man or woman can be conceited, proud, disgraced, then, humility follows. In every success there is an awesome sense of failure. In every illness there is an amazing enlightenment, yet to be learned; a grace to embrace. YING YANG – an amazing thing in this Asian perception of healing is not that there are polarities but somehow there is the amazing thing called CHI – a vital energy. From quantum mechanics, again, it says that human being is a microcosm within the vast universe of microcosm where the physical body is a unique aggregation of particles of matter and matter is nothing but frozen light – interspersed with the physical body of light are the vast cosmic energy from where there is the sustaining flowing in and out of the body.10 3. CHI. Asians learned long ago that before you understand the muscle, the anatomy, you find out the energy that flows in the physical body. It took physicists to suggest that matter is really nothing but light energy. This is emerging in the medical field in the west; It is called the vibrational medicine. VibraAugust 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 27

tion is something to reckon with. The CHI that flows in is slowly working to wholeness again. This is the essential paradigm of the Asian understanding of healing. As a whole, within the whole web of relationship and throughout all relation there is an amazing energy that nurtures. To summarize, there are four elements of healing that an Asian understands and a Western knows: 1) Prevention. We pay doctors to prevent us from getting sick. Exercise, dieting, food productions are imperatives for wholeness to happen. 2) In caring for someone, know the person: a) family history, b) family relationship, c) the times of the day the illness occur: morning, afternoon or evening, and d) understanding the environment. This is the statement made famous by the Canadian surgeon, Dr. Olses. 3) The amazing sense that the body is the instrument of healing. This means to let the body, through its immune system, heal itself. This is what acupuncture and herbal are all about. All we need to know is that the body is made to heal itself. The mind trains the body. If I do negativity, the body and its immune system do an amazing thing. Immune system is so structured that a negative thought raises the stress syndrome and depress the immune system. On the contrary if I make an affirmation of something positive, the whole immune system goes up and stress goes down. This is how it works every moment of our lives. Every movement of the body has a ying and a yang. The point is that if we, through our minds, do not put roadblocks, the body will know exactly what to do … absolutely! Based on the above, the patient is the healer: not the doctor. It is neither the medicines, not drugs nor any wonderful aids that heals. The patient is the 28 • August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine

healer. The patient must learn to accept the responsibility and discipline. And the patient realizes and becomes aware that there is TAO … an amazing energy and s/he lives in a world of relationships that he must love and learn to understand. This is the Asian big picture. 4) Spirituality. This is a spiritual resource. We are spiritual being, made in the image of God. I am talking of spirituality divorced of religion. Every human being has this dimension. We are reluctant to talk about it because there is nothing we can prove. Our language is inadequate and few will risk talking about it. By definition, the spirit is a transcending element. When spirituality embraces what we call religion, then that spirituality transforms into what we call self-transformation. THEN SOMETHING IS OPEN at this point to that which we call God in the sense of the holy but has no name. Religion is the awesome courage to name it and say: “I am that I am.” It takes courage to affirm that name. Religion provides a name “I am that I am,” a presence with a name, unlike TAO which is unnamable. This has a history and has a community. The Psalmist says: “Yeah, though I walk in the shadow of the valley of death I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.” 11 That’s presence.12 So, what is the man/woman of TAO in the Asian perspective? He/she is the man/woman who allows energy to flow to him/her so he/she sees that life is a web of relationship … always open to the energy that flows. His/her life becomes an even dance. The spirituality of the man/woman in the Asian context becomes a dance that immerses itself in the suffering of other human beings whose lives are immersed in awesome tensions and alienations. It does not avoid them because when he/she calls his name “God,” that God has a commandment that says, “Thou shall love your neighbor as thyAugust 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 29

self.” It has a sense of justice. Having said that a different kind of spirituality is unveiled here grounded from the Source of power that allows things to be and to become divorced from religion. When you manifest this spirituality, you become a healing listening presence, not an answer. This lies at the heart of an authentic Asian spirituality. SMM ____________________ *Dr. Lucio B. Mutia, a Certified ACPE CPE Supervisor of the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education, Inc., U.S.A and of the Pastoral Care Foundations in the Philippines, Inc; directing the Spiritual Care and CPE Program of both the Silliman Divinity School and Silliman Medical Center and Instructor of Pastoral Care and Counseling courses at the Silliman Divinity School.

1

Lao Tzu, Te Tao Ching, New York: Ballantine Books, 1989, p. 20 2 Virginia Fabella (ed.) Asian Christian Spirituality, New York: Orbis Books, 1992, pp. 1-10. 3 Matthew Fox, Spirituality Named Compassion. Vermont: Inner Traditions, 1999, p. 126-127. 4 Lao Tzu, Loc. cit. 5 Joey Ayala sung this song during his concert at the Luce Auditorium in Silliman University in 1988. 6 Nick Herbert, Quantum Reality, New York, Anchor Books, 1987, p. 41-44. 7 From an address of Dr. Mitsuo Aoki to the Annual Convention of the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education, U.S.A. Inc. in Oakland, CA. in May 2001. 8 Mitsuo Aoki, Loc. Cit. 9 Loc. Cit. 10 Nick Herbert, Ibid., p. 47. 11 Psalms 23:4 30 • August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine

Theological Education:

Wellness and Well-being By Jane Ella P. Montenegro

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hat? Theological Education is now entering the medical domain and the healing enterprise? Is this a challenge to abstract, ambiguous male-centered, EuroAmerican theological education that we inherited from our colonial past? Is the theological education of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines endeavoring to become more relevant and striving to be more responsive to the actual needs of the “common tao” today? Indeed, this topic arouses much curiosity, especially because the UCCP seminaries, theology and Bible Schools were pioneered by mostly male, Euro-American missionaries. The Biblical scholarship imported to our homeland introduced colonial and derogatory attitudes which separated the new “converted Christians” from their own sisters and brothers “who remained pagans, uncivilized and primitive devil worshipers.” The medical enterprise took the same path. Male Euro-American colonizers claimed the sole right and responsibility of treating the sick and handling childbirth. And in a short time, the “manghihilot,” midwife, herbalist, and “babaylan” became a non-entity in her own land. In fact, in Europe and in many Asian countries, their counterparts were tortured, massacred or burned at stake during the Medieval Ages. Can we say then that in this 48th Church Workers Convocation of the SU Divinity School in particular, and the UCCP’s theological education in general, this tradition is beginning to shift – reclaiming what is inherently the cultural-spiritual ethos of our people? For the priceless treasure of our indigenous peoples is. . . The wellness of our Being (pagkatao) Living wellness (pagsasabuhay ) And having one’s well-being interconnected with others (pakikipagkapwa-tao) In harmony with nature , with the spirits, with the cosmos and with the Divine Spirit.(pakiki –isa sa kalikasan) In the Interest Group, we hope to share a lived-experience of wellness and wellbeing even for just a brief time. Hopefully, this will become the seeds that will sprout in August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 31

the hearts of those who are touched by it – converging with other heart-spirits who will also carry it on for the generations following. Perhaps then, our theological education shall learn to drink from our own wells and shall learn how to live life abundantly, collectively! (Acts 17:24-28) Objectives: 1. To reclaim the obscured treasure of Wellness and Well being which was a way of life for the early Filipinos. 2. To experience facets of indigenous wisdom for the nurturance of wellness and well being. 3. To share some practical life-enhancing activities practiced by Filipino healers today. 4. To gather the collective insights of participants on how the UCCP’s theological Education/Ministerial Formation Centers could benefit from Filipino healers in his search for life-giving theologies SMM References: Rosario Battung, RGS. “Indigenous Peoples’ Primal Religions and Cosmic Spirituality as Wellsprings of Life”. Taken from Springs of Water: Asia, Her Life, Struggles and Hope. Proceedings of the Fourth Asian Theological Conference of the Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians (EATWOT, 1997, Yogyakarta, Indonesia). R.S. Sugirtharajah. ed. Voices from the Margin: Interpreting the Bible in the Third World. Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1991. Choan-SengSong. Third-eye Theology. Indigenous Theological Resources. Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1979. Pp. 8-9.

Resource Person: Ms. Lualhati (Lally) Deslate Abainza +a graduate of Bachelor of Religious Education, major in Sacred Music, Union Theological Seminary, Cavite, 1980 +a practitioner of Acupuncture and Moxibustion , Nanjing University of Traditional Medicine, 1992‘ +Certified Human Potential Development Facilitator, University of the Philippines, 2004 +Facilitator, enabler, healer; practices music and dance therapy, Naturopathy, Chi-gong, Reikki healing, etc.

32 • August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine

Theological Education and the Ecumenical Declaration on Just Peace: A Challenge By Muriel Orevillo-Montenegro Introductory Remarks

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couple of weeks ago, a workshop with the representatives of the Peace Panels of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front in the Philippines was organized to discuss possible inputs for the next round of peace talks. The focus for the next round of peace talks will be the Comprehensive Agreement on Socio-Economic Reforms (CASER). This workshop was organized by Justice and Peace Center-Kalinaw Project and the Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform. This effort is a demonstration of taking steps to make the church workers of the ecumenical church be aware of the peace process that is going on, and to help the churches accompany such peace process. The vicissitudes in the process are too many, but Christians are called to not to grow weary and work for peace for the sake of the children of today and for the sake of the world. I believe that the church will be able to accompany peace processes and to practice just peacebuilding if it is well grounded in sound understanding of just peace, not simply about peace. Thus, I would like to bring to the reader’s attention an important document from the World Council of Churches. It is an initial statement on Just Peace, and so I invite the reader and the workshop participant to share nuggets of wisdom to enrich the statement. The Making of the Initial Statement on Just Peace A week ago, a visiting lecturer and retired German professor, Karl Wilhelm Dahm who gave a lecture on the ethics of peace made an uninformed critique on the Ecumenical Declaration on Just Peace as a product of a “top-to-bottom” process. Unfortunately, uninformed critiques are usually not fair and not helpful. Indeed, the drafters and the World Council of Churches invited critiques, comments and suggestions so that in 2010, the next set of drafters will be able to improve the initial statement. The improved statement will be submitted for discussion during the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation in May 2011 in Kingston, Jamaica. “Glory to God and Peace on Earth!” This is the theme of the assembly of the World Council of Churches held in Porto Alegre in February 2006. In line with the theme, the assembly composed of representatives from 349 member-churches in more than 110 countries gave a mandate to formulate a statement on peace to be presented during the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation to culminate the Decade to Overcome Violence (DOV) August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 33

in 2011. Upon the mandate of the general assembly, a Drafting Committee whose members come from different Christian traditions and from different continents was formed by the general secretary of WCC, Dr. Samuel Kobia. The members of the Drafting Committee were: Dr. Daniel Benga from Romania, Rev. Dr. Wanda Deifelt from Brazil based in the USA, Fr. Kurian Jacob of India, Dr. Muriel Orevillo-Montenegro from the Philippines, Dr. Larry Rasmussen from the US, Prof. Robert Schreiter from the US who provided the Roman Catholic presence, and Dr. Geiko Muller-Fahrenholz (Coordinator of the IEPC) from Germany. One member, Dr. Lin Hong-Hsin of Taiwan contributed during the first part of the first meeting, while Prof. Musa Dube from Africa failed to participate in the whole process. In its first meeting, the committee discussed task of drafting the initial statement and agreed on a certain framework. This framework was presented to the multi-racial DOV Reference Group headed by a Mennonite professor, Dr. Fernando Enns of Hamburg University. The Reference Group reviewed the framework and provided guidance by challenging the Drafting Committee to think over seven points, namely: Initial Guiding Concerns, the Importance of Coherence, Methodological Considerations, and the Objective of the Document, Audience and Length of the Document, Interfaith Contexts, and Points of Tension. After the discussion between the Reference Group and the Drafting Committee, the following points were agreed upon: a. That the drafting of a Just Peace Declaration is a process that comes out of DOV; b. That one document should be produced as an initial statement; c. That the length will be around 25 pages; d. That the document will be sent to the member churches for their comments and that the DOV office will send the document to other entities for comments (e.g., other Christian organizations, certain NGOs, etc.); e. That at a later stage in the process, we might consider a longer and a shorter document, the longer perhaps constituting a study guide; f. That the primary audience of this statement are the member-churches of WCC, while recognizing that it is also an invitation for Christian churches and the wider public that is religiously plural (though they may maintain different academic and political commitment), to enter into a conversation on the nature of Just Peace. Subsequently, the members of committee were given assignments to write based on the outline decided upon by the committee. The second meeting was spent on presentations and integrating the critiques and suggestions from each member on each section of the document. Over all, the purpose of this initial document on Just Peace declaration is to stimulate discussions in the level of member-churches and give their feedbacks within 2009. In 2010, another drafting committee will be organized to either integrate these feedbacks into the initial draft, or write a new document based on these feedbacks. The Initial Statement: Ecumenical Declaration on Just Peace As mentioned above, this workshop seeks to introduce the initial statement towards 34 • August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine

an Ecumenical Declaration on Just Peace and to solicit responses to this document.1 The statement has five parts, namely: 1. A Meditative Introduction 2. A Preamble: Witnessing to Peace in a Violent World 3. Chapter 1: The God of Peace and the Peace of God 4. Chapter 2: In the Name of Christ: Churches as Communities and Agents of Peacebuilding 5. Chapter 3: On the Way towards Just Peace – The Scope of the Churches’ Engagement The titles give us an idea of the content of each section. The Drafting Committee hopes that this declaration will motivate churches to revisit their understanding of peace and see that peace is basically God’s peace. Peace is God’s gift and churches need to wrestle what “God’s peace” means for their witness in this contemporary world. We must remember how the once-persecuted church have become the persecutor and legitimated violence and support patriarchy, slavery, genocide and many other colonizing projects in the name of God and to gain power in history. The Drafting Committee also sees the effort as a “mission statement” but then, it calls the church to draw concrete steps of peace-building in situations where they are called to live out their faith. The Introduction The Meditative Introduction draws out reflections from the Lukan text where the angels brought the good news to the shepherds in the fields: “Glory to God and peace on Earth.” It is important to note that the angels stressed that peace is located on earth, but people must learn to have goodwill. The birth of a child in a lowly condition only shows that God’s peace requires people to be humble and live simply. The Preamble The Preamble is a call to witness peace in the midst of a violent world. It is a recognition that humanity’s sinfulness brought so much violence to the world and that brings to memory some images of violence that should not ever happen again in this Earth. Thus, reminding us that as individuals, as a people, and as church, we must repent for whatever complicity we have done. The preamble also highlights a few milestones of humanity’s effort to make peace a reality. The God of Peace and the Peace of God The first chapter gives a brief elucidation of the meaning of peace based on the biblical sources and how peace is embedded in the Trinitarian doctrine. It articulates that while peace is God’s gift, people have responsibility to make it a reality. The concepts of shalom or eirene in the Bible are comprehensive and inclusive of personal and communal life. One cannot talk of peace apart from justice. Yet, to be a peacebuilder requires submisAugust 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 35

sion of one’s life to God’s will and purpose. This section reflects briefly on human nature as earthlings, sinfulness and the nature of violence. Thus, peace recognizes the need for humanity to be humble and repent and move towards the embrace of God in love, peace and beauty; into the eternal Trinitarian dance of creating and sustaining, healing and redeeming, bringing to fulfilment and reconciliation in peace. In the Name of Christ: Churches as Communities and Agents of Peacebuilding From there, the next chapter takes a closer look at the nature of the church as communities of peace and as agents of peacebuilding. As a creation of the Spirit, the church is a gift of God, and is a sign and instrument of God’s mission in this world. As such, the church is a sacrament of peace and a prophetic sign and instrument in peacebuilding. Peacebuilding requires healing and reconciliation. The church, as people of God, is therefore called to mirror among the members the harmonious relationship and co-inherence between the Persons of the Trinity. Yet, the awareness among Christians “how far they often are from realizing this communion with one another and with the Trinity” should lead them to repentance and turn around to realize their calling. Peace is a way of life, spirituality, and a web of practices and attitudes that consistently demonstrates the relationships of Trinitarian life - sustaining, transforming, and sanctifying a broken world. On the Way towards Just Peace – The Scope of the Churches’ Engagement The third chapter articulates the breadth and width of the church’s engagement. We are guided to distinguish just peace vis-à-vis the old traditions such as Christian pacifism and just war, properly understood as justified use theory. Both the old traditions uphold the norm of non-violence, seek to reduce violence, and aim to overcome violence. Both adhere to the way of Jesus that calls for reconciliation. Yet, both parted ways on the question of exceptional use of killing violence. Just use theory allows the use of exceptional, deadly violence in strictly limited ways and conditions. Pacifists hold that violence, even if used as a last resort, will not result enduring or lasting peace. However, both work together for nuclear disarmament, in anti-dictatorship, anti-regimes and anti-racism and other peacebuilding efforts. They seek to change the thinking from militarism (killing to gain “victory”) to policing (saving innocent lives or preventing further harm). Yet, peace must not be conceived with military focus because the other potential peace builders – the ordinary citizens – are left out. Just peace broadens the scope of the older peace traditions. Just peace addresses the following areas: massive reality of human self-destruction; gender-related and intergenerational violence; the entertainment industry’s use of the fascination of violence; violence against nature; the violence inherent in economic injustice in its globalized ramifications and structural expressions; and the age-old scourge of war that continues to afflict millions of people on this Earth. It is concerned with the promotion “of processes of truth 36 • August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine

and reconciliation in transition societies, on healing the memories of past violations, and on developing the means of conflict resolution for home, school, church, community, and workplace.” In other words, just peace encompasses the whole earthly life of humanity and the healthy life of the planet that older Christian peace traditions have ignored. Just peacebuilding addresses the challenge of securing, on a healthy planet, the goods of the community of all beings God has created, and confronts the obscene opulence of few in the face of imposed poverty in light of human being’s well being and dignity. The Challenge of the Ecumenical Declaration on Just Peace to Theological Education The Declaration poses many challenges to theological education in the churches and seminaries at all levels. It recognizes the value of peace education and skills training for peace work, but that peace education must foremost be understood as soul-craft. Otherwise, whatever skills training on conflict transformation, mediation and others will be inadequate if not bound to fail. Peace education, if understood as soul-craft, will create and sustain just peacebuilders. One may therefore have acquired some knowledge and skills or a certificate and diploma on that field of study and in strategies of work for peace, but education for peace is more than these. It is about the shaping of character and honing capacities to respond non-violently to provocations The Initial Declaration defines soul-craft as the gradual, intentional shaping of one’s values, perspectives and development of a person’s character and identity. Soul-craft is the slow formation and transformation of character and conscience in a thousand ways, many barely noticed in the routine of growing people up. Soul-craft is the ancient practice of shaping an authentic self; it is one prayer at a time, one offer of hospitality at a time, one planting and watering at a time, with one child at a time. Soul-craft is the moulding of convictions and morality and greatness of heart befitting peacemakers as the blessed children of God.(§86) The challenge of peace education or soul-craft is a challenge to theological education. Theological education must take on the task of soul-craft, or in the language of the Divinity School and seminaries, the task of spiritual formation. Yet, the task of spiritual formation takes over a long period of time and it begins in the homes and church. Soul-craft or peace education is a process “from womb to tomb.” Let me quote again from the Declaration: Growth in the biblical understanding of peace, learning about the temptations that lead people away from peace into violence, examining our narratives about how we describe to ourselves those who may be our potential enemies, learning to engage in practices of peace (especially for children and adolescents), learning to care for the earth as a way of cultivating peace, and making prayer for peace a prominent part of our worship: all of these things promote peace. (§ 61) August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 37

Did theological education take cognizance of this challenge? Peace education seemed to have been pushed to the periphery or, simply as an “implicit curriculum” or better still, a “null curriculum to use the words of Elliot Eisner, and elaborated by Maria Harris.2 Peace education was there but there was no intentional recognition that soul-craft is itself the core of peace education. Consequently, peace education was never a part of seminary curriculum. If ever it exists, it is taken as a separate department, or simply a project. Universities have offered degrees in “peace studies” and “peace education”, but these are limited to instruction in skills, strategies of work for peace, and acquisition of knowledge. While knowledge, skills and strategies of work for peace are important, these must be built upon soul-craft. The formation of a way of life that avoids harm to others is part of soul-craft, because just peace is about one’s spirituality. For this reason, theological education needs to take the challenge of the Ecumenical Declaration of Just Peace, particularly peace education as soul-craft. Peace education is about “walking the talk,” or “doing what we preach.” It is about doing no harm to one’s self, other people and the Earth. It is making connections with our way of life with the health of a people, of the economy, and Planet Earth. By saying that peace education or soul-craft is a womb-to-tomb process, it is important to see that parents are the first agent of peace or agent of unpeace that children encounter. Parents teach their children well by their spoken and unspoken languages. Then, children learn from the church as models of peace or, as models of unpeace. Thus, parents and churches face the challenge of embodying the theological foundations of soul-craft or peace education in the homes and churches. Our society is undeniably a violent one. Yet, children who grow in homes that are conscious of soul-craft will mature into being agents of peace. The church must provide space, encouragement and active support in this effort towards soul-craft or peace education. The church also needs to support people who have special gifts for promoting particular paths of peacebuilding, and take these as “gifts of the Spirit of Peace within the churches and for the sake of the world. . . Some will have distinct capacities for accompanying victims of violence; others, for settling disputes; still others, for caring for the earth.”(§62) Church members – parents, church school teachers, and ministers - must engage in self-criticism and ask themselves: How did our theology, biblical interpretation, structures, language, actions, choices, decisions and lifestyle make our children agents of peace? Or, in what ways did we make ourselves and our children agents of unpeace? More questions must be asked, to prod us into soul-searching and be humble enough to acknowledge our weaknesses and our indirect or direct complicity with agents of unpeace and violence. Concluding Remarks Member-churches of the World Council of Churches are now busy reflecting on the document and making responses to it. I wonder if the ecumenical churches in the Philippines know anything about this document. It is heartwarming that at least, a small ecumenical 38 • August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine

group of women are trying to study and reflect on this document. Perhaps, people are so busy with many things, the basic concept of peace education or soul-crafting is indeed a null curriculum, or if at best, merely an implicit curriculum. In his December 2008 letter to the member churches, associate councils, council of churches, Christian world communions, regional ecumenical organizations, specialized ministries and international ecumenical organizations, the General Secretary of the World Council of Churches, Dr. Samuel Kobia requested these bodies to give their inputs to the Ecumenical Declaration on Just Peace. He reminds Christians that “[P]rimarily, our work for an ecumenical declaration on just peace is . . . directed towards practical steps and exemplary practices that are being developed in our churches.” He recognizes that even in the midst of a violent world, there are many stories of meaningful on-going peacebuilding efforts that need to be told because the wider ecumenical family and the world at large do not know about these. Indeed, it is important to share these stories of meaningful peacebuilding works in order to inspire others to do their part. Such stories, when shared, will give people who are in the midst of hopeless violence a glimmer of hope. You and I are called not only to give inputs on the document, we are also called to submit to WCC the names of committed groups that contribute to the creation of peacebuilding networks for the flourishing of life on earth as widely as possible. In closing this piece, I would like General Secretary Samuel Kobia to speak to you once more: “I call on all our member churches, their ecumenical officers, theological seminaries and faculties, action groups and ecumenical initiatives at all levels of the churches’ life to rally around this project. Let this be an example of our discipleship to God who sent the Son as the Prince of Peace in our midst.” SMM

END NOTES 1 For the full text of the initial statement, please go to WCC’s website for Decade to Overcome Violence: http://www.overcomingviolence.org/en/resources/documents/declarations-on-just-peace/drafting-group/initial-statement.html 2 Maria Harris, Fashion Me a People (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1989). “Implicit curriculum” refers to patterns, organization or procedures that frame the explicit curriculum (the intentional), such as attitudes, the setting of educational activities, the presence or absence of particular groups as children or women, etc. “Null curriculum” is a paradox because it is there but it does not exist. It refers to areas that are left out (themes, content, a point of view, and I may add, language) and methods or procedures that are not used. Implicit curriculum refers to patterns, organization or procedures that frame the explicit curriculum (the intentional), such as attitudes, the setting of educational activities, the presence or absence of particular groups as children or women, etc.

August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 39

Theological Education in the Field:

A Partnership of the Church and the Seminary COMPILED BY REUEL NORMAN O. MARIGZA

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ne of the ways in which the partner ship of the church and the ministe rial formation centers is concretized is in the area of Field Education. The local churches provide the “laboratory” where the seminarians can observe and practice what they learn in the classrooms, and they bring back to the classroom what they have experienced in the field, thus, enriching the academic component of ministerial formation and grounding it to the context and reality of our churches. This process can be described as an action-reflection-action continuum. Our Field Education Program carries this rationale for our Program. Education for the Christian Ministry is first and foremost the task of the Church. God has endowed upon the church the different gifts of the Ministry of Jesus Christ, such as in Ephesians 4:11-13, “...that some should be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers; to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, for building up the body of Christ...” The proclamation of the whole WORD to all people, the ministry of shepherding, reconciliation, nurturing, healing, guiding and empowerment of the people must continue until all human beings submit to and experience the REIGN OF GOD. Such theological education of the

Church is assisted by the accredited seminaries, which in turn provide basic foundational academic preparation for the candidates’ pastoral formation. The Church and the seminary are partners, since we cannot separate theological education from the total mission of the Church in the field or parish. Hence, the integral field education program, which includes weekend assignment, summer exposures and the one-year internship, are required in the curriculum. The Internship Year The year-long internship is done usually before the senior year. In some cases, however, students may request for a postsenior year-out especially the married students and those with some deficiencies. It is the Conference from which the student comes that gives the assignment, either in the local church, circuit, cooperative parish, church-owned or church-related institutions that can provide the student rich experiential learning. This is exposing the student to the demanding routine of a practical otherwise realistic personal, intellectual, spiritual/ devotional and professional fitness for church vocation. Internship can also be the time for the candidate for the Christian Ministry to discover whether s/he is called to such min-

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istry, and if not, may still have a chance to change into another career after serious considerations. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES: The SUDS Internship Program has two major goals. One has to do with defined personality development in which the student is challenged to utilize her/his full potentials to become a mature Christian, a responsible and effective steward of God’s gifts and creation. This is enhanced in the meaningful use of one’s self in a dynamic relationship network: with God, with other humankind, with the physical world. This field assignment offers a variety of ways for the students to grow into a wholesome person: a child of God. The other goal is dealing with professional growth and competence in doing the ministry of Jesus Christ. It involves the development of the capacity to interpret the WORD of GOD and the Christian Faith in order to empower the church people to be equipped for their own witness and service in the world of work, profession, lifestyle and leisure. This also entails the actual practice of developing skills in church administration, pastoral care and counseling, education and nurture and all others related to the strengthening of one’s own vocational identity. It is therefore incumbent upon the Church to expose the Intern into the multifaceted life and work of the people of God; thereby the following objectives be realized: A. For personal developmental tasks 1. To grow spiritually through a dynamic study of the Bible, books, reading materials, and through daily personal devotions. 2. To keep a sound mind in a sound body as one takes good care of personal health and develop wholesome

habits. 3. To be able to develop self-discipline and self-management. 4. To be able to develop positive attitude toward work and daily routines. 5. To develop genuineness and unconditional regard towards others and to grow in relationship with the people and other creation of God. 6. To grow in wisdom and understanding as a child of God and a responsible trustee of God’s creation. B. For vocation/professional competence: that the intern 1.

demonstrates the ability to put into practice the things learned.

2.

develops the capacity to learn from the various experiences that the assignment has in store for her/him.

3.

is enabled to grow in her/his vocation identity as s/he takes on the following tasks: a. conducting the liturgical function as a pastor/church worker; b. facilitating Bible studies with church groups and families; c.

preaching the Word: and in the teaching nurturing functions;

d. administering the affairs of the church; e. stimulating/implementing/monitoring and evaluating of church programs together with church officers concerned; f.

stimulating the church to develop financial resourcing and budgeting; resources development to support the ministry;

August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 41

4.

g. pastoral care and counseling with people at the point of their needs;

ister the Sacraments. Such license shall expire after the internship is concluded.

h. network building with church agencies for empowerment of church people and for them to empower the community

5. The Intern is expected to cooperate, collaborate in carrying out Church/ Conference programs as far as permitted.

improve vocational/professional skills to concretize the priesthood/ pastorhood of all believers.

6. Pertinent to Conference membership, the Intern must submit willingly to disciplinary actions within the rules of the Church or Judicatory.

RELATIONSHIP OF THE INTERN A. With the School: Definitely, the intern is a student of the SUDS doing theological education through full-time service in the assignment other than the campus. However, s/he is not matriculated in the University during the internship year. The DS Faculty continues to have a formal continuing link with the intern through the Office of the Field Education Director.

7. The Intern, as nearly as possible, is in the same relationship as any other member of the Conference Ministerial Roll, yet without violating his/her definitive relationship with the School. POLICIES

B. With the Conference and other Church Judicatories: 1. The church service relationship of the Intern is by special Conference assignment under the joint arrangement of the Seminary and the Conference through the Settlement or Ministerial Formation Committee. 2. The assignment is temporary for at least ten months coinciding a school year. 3. Since the student belongs to a Conference and Jurisdiction, these judicatories have responsibility over the Intern, who in turn is expected to recognize and respect their authority. 4. Relative to the pastoral functions, the Intern must be granted partial license (Licentiate status) to admin42 • August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine

1. Internship year is basically an integral part of theological education and it should be preferably done after the Middler year of the student’s academic preparations. It is only when a request for a post-senior circumstance that the internship is deferred to the last year of the entire course. 2. The School, through the Field Education Director, communicates to the Conference the names of their students who are qualified to go on internship. 3. The Conference through the Settlement or Ministerial Formation Committee, takes charge of assignment, housing, support (material, moral) and expected relevant matters. 4. The Head of the Church or Conference shall take charge of assigning a supervisor-counselor in consultation with the Education or Ministerial Formation Committee. The School, through the Field Education

Office, must be notified in order to confirm such appointment and if possible give some kind of training to these Supervisors. 5. The Intern must attend pre-internship seminar, mid-year processing and post-internship evaluation and sharing in order to satisfactorily complete the Internship requirements. 6. No intern shall be assigned to his/ her home church. Only one Church is allowable. 7. No student can go to internship if there is any academic deficiency or incomplete grades. At least a cumulative QPA of 2.0 or more is desired and required. 8. S/he must comply with all requirements and must obtain/send written evaluation and certification for satisfactory completion from Church, Supervisor-counselor and from the Conference Minister. 9. In the event of illness or any emergencies, the School, through the Field Education Office must be notified, especially when the illness or emergency constitute a big disruption to the internship assignment. Necessary measures must be in place for the benefit of those concerned. 10. Only one summer exposure can be deferred before a student can qualify for a year-long internship. 11. International exposures for 3 weeks or more can be credited towards one summer exposure. 12. The limited license (Licentiate status) expires as the Intern finishes the assignment. 13. The work of the pastor/church

worker entails 6 days-a-week labor. Monday is usually a day-off. 14. A two-week vacation after the New Year’s Day shall be enjoyed by Intern. This must be communicated earlier so that the Church activities can be arranged properly ahead of time. 15. Getting married during internship is discouraged. However, one can be allowed only upon earlier arrangement with the family, church, Conference and the School before internship. The New Magna Carta for Church Workers and Theological Education Among its many provisions, the newlyapproved Magna Carta for Church Workers details the relationship of various church judicatories relative to the recruitment and training of church workers: Section 2. The Recruitment Process a. As the primary locus of mission, the local church “recruits, recommends, and supports candidates for its varied forms of ministry” (Constitution, Art. V, sec. 4.e.). The local church therefore, through the Church Council, the Board of Christian Educators and the ChurchRecognized Organizations, is responsible for recruiting prospective candidates in preparation for the ministry. When done seriously, sincerely and systematically, the recruitment process may come to prospective candidates for the ministry as the divine “call” they have been wanting to hear to confirm their desire to enter into full-time ministry of the Church. The recruitment process starts in consciously scouting for candidates especially from the ranks of the youth. The

August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 43

ability to recruit and the availability of recruits is greatly enhanced by how the Christian education and nurture program of the church has prepared and formed members from childhood. Recruitment is further effected by and with close coordination with parents who help enhance the identified gifts and talents of their children who are prospective recruits for the ministry of the church. The recruitment process intentionally emphasizes gender equality and gender justice. This gender emphasis will remain a nonnegotiable feature in the recruitment of candidates for the ministry, in ministerial formation and in the ministry of the UCCP.

ceed to the one-year Apprenticeship Program.

b. Prospective candidates for ministerial preparation are endorsed by the Board of Christian Educators to the Local Church through the Church Council.

Section 3. The Apprenticeship Program The one year Apprenticeship Program aims to offer venues to help the church discover the potentials of those who desire to go into ministerial formation for the ministry of the Church. The program will be conducted in Local Churches designated for the purpose. The apprenticeship centers are expected to provide the apprentices exposures to and experiences of a dynamic and wholistic ministry. The program intentionally aims to have the apprentices experience varying situations in their exposure, including exposures to tensions and conflicts that crop up in the local churches and in the different ministries of the Church as people endeavor to journey and witness together to the life-giving presence and transforming love of Jesus Christ.

c.

a. Objectives of the Program

The Local Church, through the Church Council, recommends and endorses the candidates to the Conference Ministerial Formation Committee which reviews all the requirements; 1) academic records, 2) church endorsements, 3) pledges of support, 4) physical examination, 5) essay on the candidates’ journey of faith and why s/he desires to prepare for the ministry.

d. The Conference Ministerial Formation Committee interviews and screens the candidates. The screening includes having the candidates undergo psychological testing. Those who meet the requirements are recommended by the Conference Ministerial Formation Committee to the Conference Council for approval as ministerial formation students and confirmed by the Conference in its annual session.

1. Expose the apprentices to the different aspects and faces of the ministry of the Church. 2. Guide the apprentices in developing appreciation and understanding of the various aspects and faces of the Church’s ministry and their roles in these ministries. 3. Prepare and assess the apprentices as regards their gifts, capabilities and potentials for growth and maturity in relation to the ministry of the Church. b. Responsibilities of the Apprenticeship Centers

e. The approved apprentices shall then pro44 • August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine

1. Provide the apprentices a wide variety of support systems available in the host local church and in the different ministries of the Church.

2. Organize Sponsor Families that will host the apprentices.

Section 4. Support Groups and Mechanisms for the Apprenticeship Program

3. Encourage, inspire and support the apprentices in developing a) Steadfast faith in Jesus Christ and a wholistic understanding of the ministry of the Church.

a. An Apprenticeship Committee is formed to monitor, offer guidance and counsel and other forms of support and encouragement for the apprentice in close coordination with the host Local Church.

b) Regular devotional life and study time.

b. The Apprenticeship Committee shall be composed of the following:

c) Lively reading habit and interest in a wide variety of subjects

1. The Pastor of the Host Local Church

d) Respect for cultural heritage

2. A Church Worker serving in the specific ministry of the intended apprenticeship

e) Gender sensitivity and gender justice Sense of dignity of own personhood and of others

3. Representative of the Board of Christian Educators of the host Local Church

g) Capacity for listening and empathizing

4. Representative of the Board of Elders of the Host Local Church

f)

h) Compassion for the suffering and the needy i)

Healthy and wholesome relationships

j)

Stewardship of time, talents and resources

c.

The apprentice is presented by the Chair of the Conference Ministerial Formation and the Conference Minister to the Local Church where s/he is to be assigned.

Simple, humble, selfless and courageous lifestyle

d. The Conference Ministerial Formation Committee and the Host Local Church of the apprentice shall to ensure adequate provisions for apprenticeship and for ministerial preparation, which may include the following:

m) Emotional, physical, intellectual and spiritual fitness for the life and work of the Church

1. Personal contributions from the apprentice and/or his/her family

n) Recognition of personal weaknesses and strengths and potentials for change

2. Home Church of the apprentice

o) Ability and humility to recognize and admit errors, prejudices and biases

4. Churches within the circuit/parish/district cluster of the apprentice

p) Ability to accept praise and recognition humbly and gratefully

5. Conference

k) Care for the environment] l)

3. Apprenticeship Center

6. General Assembly 7. Donations

August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 45

e. The Apprenticeship Committee, together with the apprentice, plans and designs the apprenticeship program. f.

posed of three (3) active ministers and two (2) lay persons who shall have oversight of the recruitment, apprenticeship and formation of ministerial students of the Conference. The Committee shall assist students in their work and needs, and certify to their progress and standing to the Conference.

The Apprenticeship Committee schedules periodic meetings with the apprentice. In the meetings the apprentice submits a progress report.

g. Special meetings may be held upon request by the Apprenticeship Center and the apprentice. Section 5. Apprenticeship Evaluation and Certification Procedures

Section 6. Field Education in Ministerial Formation

a. After thorough evaluation of the apprentice at the end of the apprenticeship year, the Apprenticeship Committee recommends to the Conference Ministerial Formation Committee any of the following:

a. Field Education is an integral process of theological education. Through this program ministerial students are enabled to put into practice the theories and principles learned in the classroom setting. This educational process also helps students develop a growing capacity to engage in critical thinking, disciplined reflection and continuing exploration in the many aspects of the ministry.

1. Approval for ministerial formation 2. Extension of apprenticeship 3. Disapproval or deferment of candidacy b. The approved apprentice is endorsed by the Conference Ministerial Formation Committee to the Conference during its annual session. c.

b. Field education emphasizes that the ability of church workers to engage in ministry can be greatly enhanced by engaging in ministry itself and attempting at all times to improve the quality of that involvement. In sum Field Education is an integrative factor in ministerial preparation where students bring their classroom knowledge and theories into the field and their experiences from the field into their classroom discussions and reflections. In the process the students grow in their capability to articulate and verbalize their learning while they also grow in their ability to undertake more demanding tasks in the field.

The Conference certifies the approved apprentice as ministerial student and endorses her/him to a Ministerial Formation Center.

MC Section 7. Oversight and Support Systems. a. Conference Committees on the Ministry (By-Laws Article II, Section 8) 1. Ministerial Formation Committee. The Conference shall appoint upon nomination of the Conference Minister, a Ministerial Formation Committee com-

c.

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Included in the ministerial formation program are the following phases of Field Education:

1. Concurrent Field Education is done by the student while on campus. It is a week-end assignment that takes place within the three (3) years of the student’s residence in the Ministerial Formation Center. Venues for Concurrent Field Education are Local Churches and Church-Related/Owned Institutions and special Church-based projects in areas close to the Ministerial Formation Centers. 2. Summer Field Education is done in 2 summers, each lasting for six (6) weeks. Areas of Summer Field Education shall include any of these ministries of the UCCP; rural life, urban-industrial, campus, clinical pastoral education, ecumenical and community. 3. Internship shall be done by assigning students before their senior year (or post-senior, on a case-to-case basis) to a pastoral charge or ministerial position for two (2) semesters within one (1) ecclesial year. Wherever they may be assigned, the final decision for such shall rest with the Settlement Committee of the Conference where the intern belongs. Internship serves to test in practice the theories, knowledge and skills learned in the classroom and also as time-off for introspection and reexamination of one’s vocational path and. Students who have, at least, five years of experience

as a licentiate may have the privilege of exemption. d. Each Ministerial Formation Center shall have a Field Education Director who shall coordinate the implementation and supervision of the Field Education Direction program of the school and together with the students design a program for reflections and assessment of their summer work in their respective areas of exposure. e. The Conference Ministerial Formation Committee acting as the Field Education Committee together with Conference Minister, in coordination with the Ministerial Formation Center Field Education Director, designates a Local Church as Exposure Center that will host regular reflections of Field Education students facilitated by the Exposure Center Coordinator, an ordained Church Worker with a master’s level Ministerial Formation Center degree and with at least 5 years experience as Church Worker. f.

Concurrent Field Education students meet monthly with the Exposure Center Coordinator. Shared reflections will be the subject of further discussions in the Ministerial Formation Centers with the Field Education Director.

g. Interns shall meet quarterly with their Field Education Director for reflection, assessment and supplemental seminars. It is advisable and strongly suggested that the Conference assign a mentorcounselor from among the nearest and accessible ordained or diaconal ministers to care for the intern. Section 7. Over-all Supervision of the Field Education Programs a. The over-all supervision of the Field

August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 47

Education Programs is coordinated by the UCCP Office of the Clergy.

cies that they should be present before any action is taken on their behalf. Such attendance to CAS shall be counted as part of the exposure proper.

Section 8. Summer Field Education Program Process a. Interview of students by the Ministerial Formation Center Field Education Director. b. Communication by the Field Education Director of the MFC to the Office of the Clergy, UCCP National Office and to the Conference where such students belong, on students going into summer exposure. Exposure Centers are furnished copies of the letter. c.

Summer exposure students are informed of the orientation programs and actual schedules arranged by the Exposure Centers for summer exposure students.

d. As far as practicable, exposurees must be given time to attend their Conference Annual Sessions, ministerial students having been classified as voting members of the CAS with usual standing poli-

e. Daily logbook of participants include recording of experiences/activities and theological reflections. f.

Periodic visits to students by Ministerial Formation Center Field Education Director.

g. Report-Writing by participants at the close of the exposure program with copies furnished to the Ministerial Formation Center Field Education Director, Exposure Center Coordinator, and the Office of the Ministry, UCCP. h. Evaluation and group reflection of the summer exposure participants with the Field Education Directors of the Ministerial Formation Centers and Exposure Center Coordinators facilitated by the Office of the Ministry, UCCP. SMM

48 • August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine

Walk The Talk:

Worship That Does The Messianic Reign by Karl James Villarmea

In my previous article The Meeting on the Eighth Day: Towards a Liturgy of Liberation, I offered a theological reflection on the way in which we could think and reinvent our worship—which I call as the meeting on the eighth day—that could make us more faithful, as followers of Jesus, to his mission. In my own estimation, the urgency of such consideration is particularly important in light of the recent ‘fad’ among our local congregations and pastors alike who embrace liturgical practices in order to accommodate church’s “concerns”—from making it more entertaining to increasing membership—without much reflection whether this could make the community as visible signs of the reign of justice, generosity and joy or purveyors of indifference, apathy and injustice. Using historical and biblical accounts and the ordo of Christian worship, I have provisionally offered ways in which to construct and enact a liturgy of liberation that contributes and ushers in the reign of God in our midst, in the here and now. Here, I would like to reflect on some theoretical resources that could be appropriated for such a project. To substantiate this further, I will show exactly how these resources could provide us theoretically concrete ground to think about the project and why it is important today to not only preach the good news but also to enact it every Sunday. As a constructive suggestion, I will show at the end what we could do to perhaps walk our talk.

On the issue: idea over practice/word over flesh here seems to be a kernel of truth in the common observation that we, Protestants, are obsessed with words: not only that we put much value in our preaching but we also value less the importance of our action especially those done in the sanctuary during worship service. Although our faith tradition, as we claim, is one that helps build the kingdom of God in our midst, one could really wonder how we exactly live this out in our communal life together (today, this happens especially every Sunday). From my conversations with seminarians and colleagues in the ministry, I can sense that there is clearly a bias

T

August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 49

for ideas over practice. Pastoral theology and liturgical study is less loved compared to systematic theology and biblical studies, for example. In the history of Western thought, such dualism of ideas and practice could be traced in the works of, and the thinking of Plato. Attributed as the figure in the tradition of such dualism of mind (ideas) and body (practice), Plato developed the notion that the mind is superior to the body. In a very fascinating way, this was carried on, in different expressions and various articulations, by Western thinkers, from Augustine to Kant, Hegel to Descartes and Marx to Bourdieu. With the way we prioritize things in our faith communities, it seems to me that we are deeply influenced by this Platonian tradition, for good and bad. Thus I think, and not without good reason, that we must remind ourselves yet again that in our Christian tradition, this dualism is challenged by Incarnation: the becoming of God into man, the self-emptying of the Transcendence into the Immanence. As an aside: not only that this became a scandal to the Greco-Roman civilization, but also one that continues to haunt humanity in general: the opting out of God to what is visible and material—which is unquestionably the transcendental political act of our God. Indeed this is a circuitous way of saying that there seems to be an urgent need for us to reconsider yet again the centrality of the material and concrete—that is, of and for the flesh—in our faith tradition if we are to continue our faithful witness to this in-breaking and unfolding of this reality that is ushered in the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ. I believe this is the task of our times. It is in this context that I situate and continue to ask and pursue the question of what it means, or to be more precise, on what we could do in order to enact the messianic reign, incarnate in us, in our life together as faithful witness and agents. Questions that pertain to what we could do in concrete and practical sense. One venue for this for us to consider, I believe, is our liturgical practice when we meet on the eighth day. My claim here is simply this: what happens in worship tells more about who we are, to whose we are, and what we are for—more than what our statement of faith could faithfully express. This is a point that I have briefly alluded to in my previous article. In this reflection, I will offer theoretical grounds to substantiate it further, and to help us imagine and ground our thinking in constructing a liturgy of liberation; and to illustrate, as a conclusion, how this could be done and show its direct relevance to our task. On materiality of beliefs, embodied practice and performativity: Considering Althusser, Bourdieu and Butler In Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses, Louis Althusser made an important contribution to the way in which we think about ideology (transposed here simply as ideas). Contrary to an intellectual tradition that simply attributes ideology as false consciousness; he claims that ideology is concrete and material. As such, ideological beliefs are not simply in people’s mind but also is embedded and embodied in social institutions. In this seminal work, he argues that these ideological beliefs come into being particularly in its material 50 • August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine

expressions in institutions, i.e., churches and universities.1 These ideological apparatuses become a system that reproduces the condition of production. As product of social arrangements shaped by the principles of production, these institutions support, if not fortify, the ruling (normative and regulative) ideologies of the society. A good contemporary example of this is how our contemporary universities functions within the capitalist system: a university produces graduates who support and sustain the network and mechanism of global capitalist production—say, workers and managers of factories. Except only on occasional basis, universities produce ideas that maintain the status quo, especially in preserving the class that configures and determines the relations of the means of production of the society. Indeed for Althusser, ideas produce or are made manifest in material forms, i.e. in institutions that produce the mode of reproduction of such ideas. In Logic of Practice, Pierre Bourdieu gave a powerful sociological account on how ideas and values are not only in institutions but are also and actually embodied in practice and actions of people.2 For sure, this is a development from Althusser’s work: ideas and values do not only materially come into expressions in institutions, but also, and actually, in everyday practice of bodies, that is, of people. In his influential ethnographic study of Kabyle community in Algeria, he showed how ideas and values are embodied in practice, not in an abstract manner; say,only through theoretical connection between ideas and practices. Rather he demonstrated in this study that it is both constituted and embodied in bodily practice and movements. In his theoretical formulation, the way we move our bodies are shaped and influenced by ideas embedded in our bodies as habitus, and in return, these bodily movements and practices configure the symbolic order (that is, simply put, the realm of ideas that supplement or shape the organizing principle of the real world). In this cycle of co-configuration and constitution of the symbolic and the real world, ideas and values—or the habitus, as Bourdieu call it, embedded in the bodies—are shaped and formed in the material world, that is, in the practice and movement of concrete bodies. What Bourdieu did not emphasize, however, is on the way in which the habitus is formed through performativity on the basis of interpellation (in a thoroughly Althusserian sense). Judith Butler gave theoretical account on this gap.3 A professor at Berkeley and one of the key figures in postmodern feminism and queer theory, she built on what Althusser has theoretically opened up and Bourdieu developed. In Butler’s formulation, the practice or iteration is already and necessarily an effect of social and institutional interpellation (a linguistic performativity) and such reproduce the very phenomenon that makes it culturally intelligible. The habitus embodied in the practice and embedded in the body, in other words, is a contingent product of material and historical conditions, of particular time and space; and is self-reproducing and a reproductive principle of the condition of production. In a sort of re-articulation of Althusserian theory, she placed back the central role of social institutions in the way in which ideas and practice are formed and configured in social reality and how the bodies and practices are produced through reiterative power of discourse/interpellation. In so doing, she fills in the gap in the theories of Bourdieu and Althusser. August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 51

Although this brief theoretical excursion—for sure—is not enough to give a full account of their theoretical formulations, what I hope to show is how materiality of beliefs, embodied practice and performativity could give us a basis of thinking on the importance of worship as action or reiteration of remembrance and enactment of the story that sustains and endows life and meaning to our identity as Christians:4 how practice/reiterative actions shape social configuration and could enact social reality. Moreover, this could also remind us of the importance of the role of the institution (church) in forming such reality, especially the interpellating character of the institution—but since this deserves more attention and particular focus, this should be set aside for another paper. Let me offer a caveat however. Theories like doctrines are travel compass; they tell us where we could go, the directions where we could possibly continue our journey. They could help us navigate and steer away from dangers, and help us find our way to our destination. But they could not bring us to the-there. It is only us that could make ourselves arrive—not them. As a way, therefore, to proceed, using the theoretical insights that I have laid out above, let me offer concrete reflections and proposals on how we could make our meeting on the eighth day reiterative and expressive of our faith-commitments, in a more material and concrete way. The word made flesh: re-thinking worship If there is one thing that we could learn (or perhaps to be more accurate, that we are reminded about) from these thinkers, it is that—to put it in theological term—the new reality that God in Christ Jesus enacts, of justice, mercy, generosity and joy are not only ideas, but they incarnate among us: not in the other-world, but in this-world. And they are in us— embodied and embedded. Thus, and for our purposes here, it is important for us to think and consider what we do as its embodiments when we gather on the eighth day. Have we been embodiment of this incarnation? Are we reiterating those that which that sustain life and enable the new reality? So we must ask yet again: every Sunday, in what way have we embodied, or, reiterated/reiterating, the messianic reign in the way we welcome one another? When we celebrate the Lord’s Supper? In the way we ask and give forgiveness to one another? When we pass to one another the peace of Christ given to us? It is in this context that we could perhaps think about some of the implications of this reflection on its direct relation to our worship practice. In our attempt to emphasize words over deed, I ask rhetorically: have we not failed to incarnate what has been ushered to us in the life and ministry of Jesus? When we gather every Sunday, is it not that only very seldom we think that the way we arrange ourselves in the sanctuary, the way we perform and sing our hymns, recite prayers, and hold one another are the ways in which the messianic is and could be in our midst? I believe what the aforementioned thinkers provoke us to think about is that the word 52 • August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine

is made flesh in us—interestingly enough they do not suggest something new, rather in my own estimation, only reminded us about the core character of our faith. They offer us something to think about how “the word is made flesh”, and thus, how this could especially embody in our practice, and most especially in our gathering on the eighth day. The time to come together to sing, praise, pray, confess, bless, listen, eat and welcome one another could become the time when the messianic reign becomes a concrete reality for us and for the others: a time that could unleash a potentiality into an actuality, from promise into reality, from hope into real-hope. As a community that pledges loyalty to such messianic reign, we must then reconsider and reenact our meeting on the eighth to make it one that embodies and enacts such reign. (Re)enacting Worship Given the limited space here, I could not offer a comprehensive demonstration and illustration on what worship could be like if we take into account the theoretical insights that I have discussed above. What I will provide instead are a couple of thoughts (concrete proposals) that could perhaps become a basis for liturgical renewal and making our worship a better manifestation of the messianic reign. Welcome. In most if not all churches today, it is a very common practice that the elders or few assigned person or even the pastor will greet and welcome the worshipper upon entering the sanctuary. In some setting, the greeters are even dressed in beautiful and tailored uniforms. In the first instance, there seems to be nothing wrong with this practice until we compare it to that in theatres and auditoriums, say like the Luce Auditorium of Silliman University. Like in theaters and auditoriums, the ways we welcome members seem like to suggest that our worship is like a show. It is as if we are saying, “please enjoy the show” (the sermon, the songs, the choir, the prayers)—of course we only color it with the so-called godlanguage. We give them the order of worship (the program of the show) and lead them to their seats. Whether this happens in big or small churches, we seem to just look like a poor copycat. Ushers at Luce, for example, are often, if not always, more welcoming and warm than the ushers in our churches; and they are more conversant with the proper etiquette and protocols and house rules than we are. Could we not welcome one another, that is, everybody welcomes everybody? If we are indeed a manifestation and signs of the messianic reign in our midst, is it not the case that whatever and however we do our welcome signifies and tells us who we really are and to whom we are for? Simply said, the task of welcome is the task of the whole church, and we welcome everybody without any condition. It is not the kind of welcome that is perpetuated by those who, unfortunately, claim they are also faithful Christians. They welcome the sinners but not the sins. How can that be a part of the messianic welcome! Our welcome should be like a messianic welcome, that is, a welcome that welcomes everybody without condition. The August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 53

embrace is in its totality. And unlike auditoriums and concert halls, in the sanctuary of our church, the only etiquette we have is respect and responsibility with one another. It is not about the dress or the jewelry, but the warmth and openness to others. It is not about the social status or categories of the individual or group, but the kind of commitment and dedication they have for the messianic mission —that we welcome one another. These are the bases of our welcome. Perhaps we could also ask: in our gathering every Sunday, have we also welcomed those whom the messiah had welcomed—the strangers and the vulnerable— into our community? Our invitation and welcome are not necessarily to make them members of our community. Rather it is to let them experience what we witness and proclaim. And to teach us what it means to be part of the mission of the messiah and to enact it. Perhaps here we could also learn something from Jacques Derrida; in Hospitality, he writes that perhaps only those who experienced homelessness could offer and provide true hospitality. Lord’s Supper. This is the part that I really feel that we could do more to become better representatives and manifestations of the messianic reign that we yearn to come. In our practice, most of our churches do this part of the worship once every month, usually every first Sunday. And it is without failure that one could notice that most churches use little pieces of bread or communion wafers and small cups of grape juice or red wine. Common practice is to either line up in the center aisle to receive the elements or wait in the pews while the elders distribute the communion elements. At least since childhood, this has been the sight every first Sunday in the churches where my parents were assigned. For the intent of this paper, I would like to invite us to reconsider this practice not only from a liturgical point of view but also from a more theological and practical concern. If indeed this is the Lord’s Supper, as we claim it to be, isn’t this supposed to be therefore a meal that satisfies not only the doctrinal understanding, but also, more importantly, a meal that satisfies the hunger and thirst, provide companionship and assurance, and assure us of forgiveness and mercy? To give us a biblical story to sort of concretize this abstract description of what the Lord Supper is and could be, let me recall a passage in the gospel of Mark. Here we found one of the most powerful and moving accounts of the Lord’s Supper, that is, a supper that enacts what Jesus meant when he reminded his disciples to remember him. In the feeding of the four thousand: through the sharing of food with one another, by not abandoning one another at the dessert, by sitting together and resting after a day’s work, Jesus and the crowd demonstrated when and how the messianic reign is realized. For them, the messianic reign breaks in when the reality of generosity and abundance is shared with one another; in food and in company with one another where rest and abundance come into full manifestation—indeed, not in the assurance that they will be all right (false sense of security), not in the 54 • August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine

belief that Jesus will ‘save’ them from hunger and weariness (false belief), not in self-preservation and private possession of goods (false sense of humanity). This is the Lord’s Supper in the gospel of Mark: sharing generously what one has and giving company to each other. Taking the hint from the basic ordo of the story, I believe we can reinvent and construct our Lord’s Supper in this manner so that it could become what Jesus asked us to do when we remember him. In our celebration and commemoration, we could invite all members of the church to bring what they want to share with the whole congregation—this could be some leftovers or extra or especially prepared foods for such an occasion—and we share these with one another especially to those whom we have invited whose access to food and drink is very limited. The point of it all is to include and welcome those whom Jesus asked us to serve and care and to share generously what we have with one another—that is, the integrity and faithfulness of our witness and mission. And if this is the case, then perhaps we will not also limit how many times we enact the reality that Jesus asked us to remember and enable. Concluding Remarks I offer this reflection because of my conviction that this is an important and urgent task of our time especially for the religious leaders of our communities. Indeed our task is not only to transform ideas but also to transform practices so that we could expect and enact the reality which we hope and yearn for. We liberate ourselves as we liberate others—not only our society but also our churches. Jurgen Moltmann once commented that “(w)ithout a liberated church there can be no liberated society; without a reform of the churches there can be no social revolution.”5 Indeed I believe that a church trapped in the realm ‘ideas’ could not live out its external life, that is, the life for others, the life for the world, thus, it could not participate in the messianic mission of Jesus to liberate humanity from their destructive ways; and in liberating our society from avarice, injustice and domination. Ritual and liturgical scholars are in agreement that internal disposition of the worship space and action bear significance to the meaning and understanding of such gathering.6 And as I have discussed above, this meaning and understanding is not only present in the symbolic level but in fact it is (could) incarnate in the everyday practice of life. Thus if what we do continually in our worship is a reality of liberation then liberation is not anymore a coming-to but in the process of our living-out—in our worship! And as I have hopefully clearly illustrated here, one way to liberate our church is to liberate August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 55

the way we worship. From a doctrinaire understanding to a more creative, flowing and dynamic recreation and retelling of our story; in the enacting and living out the word of who we are and what we are for even in our worship service, I believe we become a liberated church in a small but significant way. Because not only then that we witness in words, but we incarnate them in our action. We walk our talk—and only then, I believe and as Tillich puts it, we become a visible form of grace.7 SMM

END NOTES 1 Louis Althusser, “Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses (Notes towards an Investigation),” in Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays, trans. Ben Brewster (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1971). 2 Pierre Bourdieu, The Logic of Practice, trans. Richard Nice (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1990). 3 Judith Butler, Gender Trouble: Feminism and Subversion and Identity (New York and London: Routledge Press, 1990), and Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of “Sex” (New York and London: Routledge Press, 1993). 4 This reflection could also benefit the works of Mircea Eliade (The Sacred and The Profane), Victor Turner (The Ritual Process), and Theodoe W. Jennings, Jr. (On Ritual Knowledge). Due to limitation of space and theoretical scope, I must refrain from discussing them, but their significance should be acknowledged if this work should be developed further. 5 Jurgen Moltmann, God for a Secular Society: The Public Relevance of Theology (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1999), 64. 6 James White, “The Spatial Setting” in The Oxford History of Christian Worship, eds. Geoffrey Wainwright and Karen B. Westerfield Tucker (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006), 793-816. 7 Paul Tillich, “Protestantism as a Critical and Creative Principle,” in Political Expectation (New York: Harper & Row, 1971).

56 • August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine

Living By Faith in the Midst of Crisis:

The Challenge of the Christian Schools Today (A Bible Study on the Book of Habakkuk) By Dr. Noriel C. Capulong1

I. Introduction: Editor’s Note: Part I of two sessions of Bible study reflections on ACSCU convention on the theme: “The Christian Schools in the Face of Challenges: Preparing the Young for Responsible Citizenship.” On the challenges facing the Christian schools of today and the need to understand it from a Biblical perspective - challenges that we all face these days and reflecting on this from the perspective of the passages from Habakkuk (1:1-13; 2:1-4; 3:17-19). The second part will address, the need to redefine and reaffirm the mission of the Christian schools towards the youth of our land who enter its portals in the face of the critical challenges they are facing these days. . This three-chapter book of Habakkuk is short enough for the purpose of studying and reflecting, as we try to discern the word of God for guidance in the living of these very challenging times. II. The context and principal issues in the time of Habakkuk The book of the prophet Habakkuk2 emerged out of a time in Israel’s history that is filled with much distress and rising contradictions and disappointed hope, aptly described by the prophet in 1:4 , “Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise; the law becomes slack and justice never prevails. The wicked surround the righteous- therefore judgment comes forth perverted”. The year was 609 BCE. It was a time when Judah’s best hope for a truly independent and sovereign nation free from the domination of foreign imperial nations like Assyria, crumbled to pieces when its much beloved king Josiah was brutally killed in a battle against the Egyptians in the historic pass of Megiddo.3 It was a time when the political and military power of Assyria was already spent and waning, and other and more ambitious imperial nations, like Babylon and Egypt were racing to the scene hoping to become the next world power to fill in the vacuum about to be created by the impending demise of Assyria. In the clash of these giant superpowers, each one asserted its claim of being the more powerful by displaying its capacity for greater vioAugust 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 57

lence and cruelty than the other. In the process the little nation of Judah was simply stepped upon and ended up with their beloved, very idealistic, nationalistic and Godfearing king Josiah dead (2 Kgs. 23:29-30).4 What followed was a situation of near chaos in the internal conditions of the nation. At first, Judah became a vassal of Egypt, then shortly thereafter, when Egypt was defeated by Babylon, her new king, Jehoiakim, a son of the late king Josiah, shifted his allegiance and began remitting to Babylon (Chaldea, in our text) the required tributes forcibly collected from the citizens of the land. The forcible confiscation of the farmers’ produce and properties, to support their puppet and corrupt local government and pay the required tribute to their colonial master Babylon, led to the further impoverishment and deprivation of the majority of the citizens, resulting into an economic crisis of unprecedented proportions. The local rulers and their partners amassed wealth at the expense of the people through confiscation and foreclosure of properties of citizens who could not afford to pay their taxes and tributes, as well as those who could not pay their loans to the usurer. As a result, some of these victimized people became debt slaves, some became tenants in their own former lands, some were driven out of their homes and were reduced to begging outside the city. A number of them however began to resort to banditry and thievery. The social landscape became one that was filled with much economic distress, political instability, emotional insecurity and religious anxiety. This is where we can locate Habakkuk’s context as he opens his own book with a series of gut level complaints to the Lord and demanding immediate answers. For somehow, in view of what is happening, Habakkuk feels that the Lord has stopped listening to the pleadings and cries of His people. “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen? Or cry to you ‘Violence’, and you will not save?” (1:2) As if everywhere he looks, Habakkuk hears and sees scenes of violence, corruption and victimization, all violations and distortions of God’s just order as revealed in the covenant law or the Torah. Thus, he really complains to the Lord in manner rarely heard in Israel as if making the implication that God has become insensitive to the plight of His own people. Why do you make me see wrong-doing and look at trouble? Why must I look at misery? (1:3) Why? Why does God allow his prophet to experience such miserable condition in life? It is as if the prophet has begun to feel so helpless in the face of the apparent collapse of the moral and spiritual foundations of the nation as defined in the law. Now he even sees the law or the Torah being ignored (1:4) as destruction and violence reign in this post-Josiah era. It is as if the law has become a useless instrument in the life of the people. With the demands of the law being ignored, the perversion of justice comes 58 • August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine

easy. There are the oppression of the weak by the strong, endless litigations and quarrels and deceitful dealings between persons. God’s intended order for Judah as a covenanted, chosen people of God has become totally missing. This is what the prophet was feeling so miserable about as he sees the growing contradiction between what Judah was supposed to be as a covenanted, chosen people of God, and what Judah has become.5 III. From Habakkuk to the Contemporary Philippine Context: The problems of Judah in the time of Habakkuk are actually not much different from the challenges we are also facing as a nation these days. We, too, are facing a lot of contradictions in the way we live as a nation. Our nation is supposed to be the only predominantly Christian nation in Asia. Yet, we have to bear the stigma of being perceived as the most corrupt in Asia and one of the most corrupt countries in the world. We are supposed to be a predominantly Christian nation, yet we see that other non-Christian nations around us here in Asia are becoming far more progressive, far more developed and stable, far more caring of each other and for their own people. We are supposed to be a predominantly Christian nation, yet we are considered as the “basket case” of Asia, having one of the highest levels of poverty, unemployment, hunger, illiteracy, mortality rates due to poor health services and homelessness.6 Some people would immediately point to the endemic condition of poverty as a main problem that demands immediate attention from the government and from its own people. But even as this is real and urgent, I would also suggest that aside from economic poverty being experienced by the people today, the nation is actually suffering from a much more serious malady, that is the poverty of the spirit. This means a very serious erosion of the spiritual and moral fiber of the nation. This has been the subject of the talk of Jun Lozada last December here in Silliman University and the source of his deep anguish to the point that he sounded like a man who has already lost hope. One year after courageously testifying what he knows about the notorious ZTENBN scandal, nothing has come out of his own revelations. He himself had remained jobless, income less as he and his family remained under the care, protection and support of the nuns and priests of the La Salle community. What has he gained in his attempt to speak the truth? Nothing, but more and more legal suits against him. But he remained so firm in his stand. He voiced out the conviction that our people had been robbed, in the various corruption scandals that he had personal knowledge of, not only of billions of pesos of precious resources that could have decisively improved their living conditions and provided a better future for them. They have been robbed of their hopes and ability to dream. Because of this poverty of the spirit, the people also have August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 59

become impoverished of their hope and ability to dream of a better future. The president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, Bishop Angel Lagdameo, formerly assigned in Dumaguete, described the observance of Human Rights Day last December as “A Day of Shame”, owing to the long list of unresolved human rights violations record of the government7 . This list includes the case of the murder of my younger brother. No one’s been arrested, no one’s been brought to court, no one’s been convicted and put in jail for any of the more than 900 cases of extra judicial killings and involuntary disappearances that has occurred under the present government. These are also days of continuing wars and conflicts between peoples and nations in various parts of the world, and even in our own neighboring Mindanao, where anyone, even innocent civilians can become targets of violent attacks and more lately, of almost unabated kidnappings for ransom, that it may appear to have developed already as a promising cottage industry in the area. We could actually raise the same cry as that of Habakkuk: “Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. So the law becomes slack and justice never prevails. The wicked surround the righteous- therefore judgment comes forth perverted.” We live in an age of growing hopelessness, fear and loss of the spiritual and moral moorings of so many of our people. We live in a time of growing insecurity and fear over what the future may bring. Headline after headline in the newspapers these days contain almost nothing but bad news that forebode more of bad times to come. With the global financial meltdown afflicting every major developed nation of the world, and now beginning to spill over right into our own backyard, threatening the jobs of thousands of our own overseas Filipino workers, we cannot but feel the growing fear and anxiety of many families these days. Is this the end of globalization as we know it? Does this point to the failure of capitalism the way we know it? What is missing here? And what if we still add the almost regular occurrence now of natural calamities that come with more devastating impact than ever before, whether it is here in our country or in many other countries. We now have more powerful and destructive typhoons, earthquakes, like the one that hit central Italy only recently, and deadlier floods and landslide and mudslides burying entire villages, but much warmer and drier and longer summers, and fast melting polar ice caps, rising sea levels, most of them brought about by the unrelenting, wasteful and destructive activities of people. Are we seeing the beginning of the end of life as we know it? Is there still hope for us as a nation in the midst of seemingly hopeless and deteriorating conditions? In fact, hope is fading fast in the hearts of many people these days. A mother in my home province in Laguna, out of extreme poverty and wanting to end it all, poisoned her own three children before committing suicide herself. Another mother not 60 • August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine

too long ago, so desperate over her failure to find food to appease their hunger, hanged her own young child and then killed herself. A young school girl in Mindanao committed suicide because in the face of the poverty of her family, she found no hope of a better future. Hope is fast fading in the hearts of millions of our people these days. What then can we do. We need to look for answers the way Habakkuk did. We need to look for hope or signs of hope that may come from our own dialogue with God. IV. Habakkuk’s Dialogue with the Lord This is precisely what Habakkuk sought to do, to search for answers to the questions arising from the contradictions that he sees around him, to look at the only source where the answer and where hope can be found. Habakkuk engaged the Lord in a series of dialogues. This is how serious and deeply rooted in his faith Habakkuk was as a prophet of God. He raised very serious questions addressed to God not because he has begun to doubt the power of God’s providence and just rule, but because he has considered God as a covenant partner of his own people, a listening, conversation partner, and as a partner, one who can be engaged in a dialogue that can provide answers and offer hope. Habakkuk certainly knows that God rules history and reigns supreme in the life even of other nations. He knows that God has a plan that will restore order, purpose and meaning in all history and creation. But he sees around him the apparent collapse of order and meaning as he witnesses the intensification of the forces of evil, especially with the arrival of the Babylonian forces which could only bring bloodshed, death of the innocent and dread and fear of the new colonizer. So, he asks,”… why do you look on the treacherous and are silent when the wicked swallow those more righteous than they?” (1:13). How long o Lord, are you going to allow this distortion of your will to happen? Lord, when are you going to fulfill your redemptive purpose on the earth? Here, Habakkuk is voicing out the dilemma that has confronted faithful people in every age- “the dilemma of seemingly unanswered prayer for the healing of the society.”8 Indeed, those who trust in the Lord may sometimes wonder, as Habakkuk wonders, how God’s promises and blessings for the faithful can be realized on earth in the face of overwhelming human sin and evil.9 Yet, Habakkuk decided he will await God’s answer to all his questions in what is called a watchtower. This watchtower has now become a symbol of patient, eager, faithful waiting for the Lord. We cannot force an answer from the Lord the way we want it, when we want it, according to our own expectations, according to our own terms. The Lord will reveal his answer to all of our questions, to all the contradictions that we see around us, in God’s own good time, in his own appointed time, in God’s own kairos. We can only wait in faith and in openness and readiness to receive and August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 61

embrace whatever the response from the Lord may be. “If it seems to tarry, (or seemingly delayed), wait for it; it will surely come. It will not delay,” says the Lord. (2:3) But this is not supposed to be a passive waiting, or passive resignation to the events that are occurring, according to the very significant passage in 2:4. While waiting, history goes on and events will continue to take place. There is the proud, the arrogant, those drunk with power, those immersed in activities that only produce weeping victims on the side. The Lord says, “their spirit is not right in them.” The Lord has already judged this people as those who would rather live with the wrong spirit, those who would rather live with the spirit of wickedness, destruction, oppression and exploitation. But, the Lord also says, the righteous shall live by their faith, by the ethical, moral and spiritual tenets of their faith. There is a big difference though between the proud and the righteous. The proud, aside from being arrogantly drunk with power, are those who live their lives for their own, believing and relying only on their own power and resources, assuming they can already play god over the lives of others. They make their own life crooked or distorted, away from the true intention of God. In short, they live their lives separate from and independent of God’s will and control. The righteous, meanwhile are those who live their lives always in humble and faithful reliance on the power and grace of God. They live by the power and grace of God and not by their own power and abilities. They humbly acknowledge their own limitations as human but also accept the gifts of God in their life and use them so that they may be able to live their lives fully, so that they truly blossom and flourish and bear good fruit in due season. Most of all, as Scriptures affirm, to be righteous means to fulfill the demands of a relationship. Since this relationship is a relationship with God, this is to be fulfilled by “faithfulness”, which means trust, dependence, clinging to God not just in times of crisis, but in every moment of our life. V. Living by Faith in Times Like These Living by faith in times like these therefore, is not a passive thing. It is active waiting and living faithfully, taking on the responsibilities and duties of a true child of God even in the face of critical challenges in our life and in our faith, opposing with all of our spiritual and moral energies those whose spirit is not right in them, those who, in their arrogance and greed for power, have taken on the prerogatives of the divine, those whose wicked activities have driven them to the point of destroying life itself and distorting the sacredness and goodness of all creation. Taking up the challenge of those whose spirit is not right, the proud, the arrogant, those hungry for power, privileges and wealth, this is living by faith, living by trust and confidence in the eventual coming of the redemption that God has promised to those who remain faithful to the 62 • August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine

very end. For our God takes every human activity, every human decision seriously and responds to them in light of God’s own goal and plan for the eventual redemption and transformation of the whole creation. In effect, there will always be a continuing encounter, a dialogue in history that will always take place between God and His people, as we respond to the challenges of our times and as God responds to our actions, to our prayers, to our appeals for help and strength along the way. This is living “in the meantime”. For God takes note of how we fare even at this time, not just at how we view and believe in the end time. God takes seriously our own daily affairs, how our faith becomes expressed in our day to day activities, duties, concerns and involvements, how we place God at the very center of all of our life’s concerns. This is why Habakkuk 2:4 has become one of the central affirmations of our biblical faith as it summarizes what it means to live a faithful life. This teaching of Habakkuk on righteousness and living by faith became so foundational in the development of the apostle Paul’s interpretation of what it means to have faith in Jesus Christ in Romans 1:17 and Gal. 3:11 as it became also one of the main theological principles in the summary of the faith of the Protestant reformation. “The one who is righteous will live by faith.” VI. Poetic Summary of Habakkuk’s Faith That is why we can talk of what Habakkuk talks about in 3:17-19. There we can clearly see in beautiful poetry what it means to live in faith especially in a time of great crisis. Faith always has that element of “in spite and despite of”. That is, in spite or despite of the non-resolution of the crisis stated in chapter 1, that is, even with continuation of the violence and destruction that were still raging in his community, and nations still rage and devour those weaker than they, even as the arrogant and the proud still rule in their land and the poor still suffer and the slaves still labor for nothing (2:13), even if the whole land has become so barren and empty and was not able to produce enough for their own sustenance and survival, still, these will not stop the prophet from affirming and even singing this song of trust as an expression his own faith conviction in precisely those times, as he exclaims: Even though the fig tree does not blossom, and no fruit is on the vines; though the produce of the olive fails, and the fields yield no food; though the flock is cut from the fold, and there is no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will exult in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, and he makes me tread upon the heights.10 In such challenging times, it is this kind of faith affirmation that makes the book of Habakkuk a very valuable resource for spiritual, theological and moral renewal. August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 63

This even more becomes so important as a source of basic guidance in the religious posture and basic ethical response we are going take towards particular burning issues in our time, in our land, which cry for immediate and just resolution. This could be of great help whether it is about the lingering or worsening economic crisis and the viability of globalization as an economic policy, the crisis of our environment that is fast deteriorating, the worsening issue of corruption in the government, the need for genuine and lasting peace in Mindanao and the rest of the country and of course, the need for a more relevant and responsive and effective educational system in the country and many more. More significantly, Habakkuk provides us with a very powerful paradigm on the faith understanding and practice we need to undertake as we respond to the challenge of our very critical times, a faith understanding that is rooted in a life of sustained prayer as a means of dialogue or conversation with God. This will essentially define who we are as individuals and as institutions. Our identity will now revolve around the nature of our faith understanding, on the kind of identity and nature of God that we can now discern from the testimony of the prophet and with whom we can confess and profess a relationship of trust, dependence and faithfulness. This will also determine our vision and mission as an institution. VII. Conclusion God’s own vision of a truly new world that is coming, which Habakkuk still have to write on tablets, will then have to be our own vision, too, as institutions devoted to the practice and promotion of this faith in this God. That vision itself has been articulated more concretely by Jesus in his preaching on the kingdom of God, or the reign of God reflecting and living out a truly different world where values and relationships have become radically transformed in accordance with God’s righteous and just will. This is a world where the sick and those with broken lives can have the hope of healing, where the poor can receive the good news of a better future, where the lame can walk free of the old crutches that has enslaved them in the past, where the blind can see out of the darkness which had kept both mind and body and soul imprisoned for so long, and the deaf are able to hear new truths previously unheard of, where the oppressed can experience God’s gift of true freedom and where even the oppressor, slave owners, tax collectors, usurers and corrupt officials can experience real transformation and conversion towards the new life of reconciliation, renewal and wholeness. (Matt. 11:2-5; Luke 4:18-19). This is a different world where values and perspectives have become reversed, where the first shall become the last, and where those who are last shall become first, where those who serve the most are to be the greatest, where the lowly are to be lifted 64 • August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine

up and where the powerful ones are to brought down from their thrones, where the hungry will be filled with good things, while the rich are sent away empty. (Luke 1:4653). In Habakkuk, God’s vision of a new world also becomes God’s mission in dealing with nations and powers and authorities, with the proud and the arrogant and at the same time sustaining the righteous in their life of faithfulness. God’s mission, as it has been concretized and embodied in the life and ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus will then have to be our mission, too, as we now live our life of faith in times of crisis like these days. And as we become instruments of God’s mission, we also become agents of hope for a truly new world that is coming. How is this mission to be explicated further in more concrete acts as it was demonstrated in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, however, will be the subject of our next study which will focus on Matt. 28:16-20. Truly, may we find Habakkuk and his faith testimony a worthy response to the multiplicity of questions we ourselves are constantly raising these days. Amen. SMM END NOTES Presented as Bible Study for the Association of Christian Schools, Colleges and Universities National Convention, May 11-12, 2009 in Silliman University 2 The origin and meaning of the name “Habakkuk” or “Habaqquk” is unclear. But it may have been derived from the Hebrew verb habaq which means to embrace or to fold as if to designate an expression of love by means of the action or positioning of one’s hands or arms (Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, vol. 1, eds. R. Laird Harris, et al. [Chicago: Moody Press, 1980]); E. A. Leslie, “Habakkuk” in The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, vol. 2, eds. G. A. Buttrick, et al. (New York and Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1962), 503, however considers as more probable its being derived from an Akkadian name of a plant, hambakuku. 3 John Bright, A History of Israel, 2nd ed. (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1972), 324-325. 4 Noriel C. Capulong, Reading and Hearing the Old Testament in Philippine Context, vol. 2 forthcoming publication (Quezon City: New Day Publishers, 2009), 27-29. 5 Capulong, ibid., 29-31. 6 Leonor Magtolis Briones, “Balancing Personal Faith with Social and Economic Justice,” unpublished article, National College of Public Administration and Governance, University of the Philippines. 7 Philippine Daily Inquirer (December 10, 2008). 8 Elizabeth Achtemeier, “Nahum-Malachi”, Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Preaching and Teaching, eds. James L. Mays, et. al. (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1986), 35-36. 9 Ibid., 36. 10 Achtemeier, ibid., 58-60. 1

Bibliography: Achtemeier, Elizabeth. “Nahum-Malachi”, Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Preaching and Teaching, eds. James L. Mays, et. al. Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1986. August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 65

Bright, John. A History of Israel, 2nd ed. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1972. Briones, Leonor Magtolis. “Balancing Personal Faith with Social and Economic Justice.” unpublished article, National College of Public Administration and Governance, University of the Philippines. Capulong, Noriel C. Reading and Hearing the Old Testament in Philippine Context, vol. 2 forthcoming publication Quezon City: New Day Publishers, 2009. Leslie, E. A. “Habakkuk,” The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible. vol. 2, eds. G. A. Buttrick, et al. New York and Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1962. Philippine Daily Inquirer. (December 10, 2008). Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, vol. 1. eds. R. Laird Harris, et al. Chicago: Moody Press, 1980.

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Happy Birthday, Tatay Text: Hebrews 12:1

Rev. Reuel Norman O. Marigza July 10, 2009 Divinity School

O

n the June 17 this year, the Sunday School children of the Chapel of the Evangel Fellowship paid tribute to their fathers. I even received a card from a daughter of a co-pastor whose father was out doing his pastoral duty outside Dumaguete. It was a very touching emotional moment especially as even older children upon the prodding of some in the congregation went in front to share their thoughts on their fathers who were there. Many eyes were moist with gathering tears, not least among them, the “astig na mga tatays.” Though my father was not in the congregation, I stood to pay tribute to my father as in a few days thereafter, on June 23, he would celebrate his 80th birthday. I said that I always thought of my father in terms of the song, “the Leader of the Band” – not only to our family and clan, but to the many his life has touched, but more so to the more than 25 young people who entered into various ministries both in church and parachurch ministries during his 13 years as pastor of the UCCP-Baguio. As I often say, in line with the song, “My life has been a poor attempt to imitate the man, but I am a living legacy to the leader of the band.” Today, we celebrate the birthday of another father – the 500th birthday of the fa-

ther of the Reformed faith, the father of the Presbyterian polity, the father of a body of theology associated to his name (Calvinism) – John Calvin, born on July 10, 1509, in Noyon, France. Were he alive today, he would surely protest having his name attached to a theology he began and which his followers espoused and widely spread. While he was a forceful personality, he was very self-effacing and did not want to draw attention to himself. In fact, even before his death, Calvin had been afraid that people may treat him in the way he had seen the saints being venerated and was anxious that this would not happen. So, in accordance with his instruction, he was buried in a simple grave in the cemetery (in the year 1564). The grave was left unmarked and no memorial built upon it (Ian Manson, Calvin in Context, pp. 117-8) So, why then this attention given to him on his 500th birthday? Well, for one, we are a living legacy to the leader of the band. We celebrate, not to venerate the man nor praise him but to thank God for giving us an example of how one life, how one individual can make a tremendous impact in his immediate community and even the world. And hopefully we may be inspired and challenged

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to continue the legacy he has begun and left to us — calling us to be reformed and transformed and to be agents of continuing reformation and transformation within the church and within the wider community outside the church. After all, one of the battle-cries of Calvinism is that of the church reformed and is always reforming. Many things can be said about Calvin – many good things, not a few misconceptions as well. Rev. Peter Wyatt, in his blog, lists some of the “myths” concerning Calvin, like: Myth: Calvin ruled Geneva as a theocracy. The truth of the matter was Calvin was a refugee from France. In fact, the pejorative title given him by those who opposed him in Geneva was “that Frenchman.” His actual position was chief pastor, and there was actually a ruling Council in Geneva, running its civic and political affairs. It was this Council that hired him in 1536 and which fired him, yes, he was fired after two years. But he was invited to return in 1541 It was at this time when his influence grew. “But his direct denunciations of the unethical behavior of the good burghers and magistrates of Geneva sometimes resulted in fights breaking out on the church steps. There was even a time when he was manhandled near his home. Political control continued to be in the hand of the State Council. He is at times caricatured as a stern and grumpy old man and a killjoy, but he was quite young when he made his mark. He was only 26, when he wrote the first version of “The Institute of the Christian Religion,” sa ato pa, CYFer pa lang siya. He was only 27 when he went to Geneva. He

was only 55 when he died. He was not very healthy and was far from being a physically imposing figure. He had bouts with regular migraines, his lungs might have been affected with some form of asthma and he suffered from bladder stones and gout. Sometimes, he would conduct his lectures on his bed or be carried to the meeting halls (Manson). Myth: Calvin was the spiritual father of capitalism. Rev Wyatt made this observation: It was true that “Calvin was the first European theologian to defend the lending of money with interest. However, money was already being lent throughout Europe at rates of 12 and 14 percent by the Christian kings of England and France. (In Geneva, the rate was capped at five percent.) Living in the time of transition between the middle and modern ages, Calvin understood that a principled realism needed to replace an unsustainable idealism about “filthy profit.” In the turbulent economy of 16th-century Europe, he discerned that businesses need credit to get started and thus provide employment for workers — among them Geneva’s many refugees. Calvin defended only those interestbearing loans that would benefit lender and borrower alike.” What can we learn and emulate from Calvin? The study material published by the WARC and the John Knox International Reformed Center entitled, “The Legacy of John Calvin: Some Actions for the Church in the 21st Century,” points to some legacies which we can pick up for our own time and place. I will be drawing some insights from this study guide and adding a little reflection on

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my own. As it was in the time of Calvin, these concerns remain to be some of the pressing issues of our times. As we look at these themes, and see what Calvin has done with regards to them in his time and in his adopted land, we are also at the same time challenged to see and act on “what can be done by us today, right here in our land.” Let us focus on three areas of concern: unity, justice and care for creation. First on concern for unity. In his passion for Christian unity, Calvin once said, “I’d cross ten seas in the cause of Christian unity.” For Calvin the church and its unity was a central (key) concern. For instance, he said, “Each time we read the word ‘one’, let us be reminded that it is used emphatically. Christ cannot be divided. Faith cannot be divided. There are not various baptisms, but one, which is common to all. God cannot be torn into different parts. It cannot but be our duty to cherish holy unity, which is so bound by many ties. Faith and baptism, and God the Father and Christ, ought to unite us, so as almost to become one human being.” [Commentary on the Epistle to the Ephesians] Yet when we look at the church today, we see divisions and fragmentation. Even within the Reformed tradition alone. When I attended the Consultation of United and Uniting Churches in South Africa last year, I discovered that some of these uniting churches-in-process are all from the same communion, unlike our UCCP which came from several. To cite an example the Reformed Churches in South Africa were divided along racial lines: the whites, the

blacks and the coloreds – all Calvinists or Reformed but formerly apart. That is not to say that while we became united in 1948 that we no longer have issues of division and disunity within our own church. In fact for the last two quadrennia, this problem has taken so much of our time, resources and energies. In the difference of Luther and Zwingli on the Eucharist, Calvin sought to take a middle position, which unfortunately was not acceded to by the two. He had corresponded to other leaders of the Reformation, even to Luther whom he addressed as the “very excellent pastor of the Christian church … and my much respected father.” Unfortunately, it did not seem to reach Luther. Can we too manifest the same passion for Christian unity among ourselves and among others outside our church circles? Second, on the issue of justice. On his sermon on Matthew 3:9-10, he preached “. . . the rich should not be like wild beasts to eat and gobble up the poor and suck their blood and their substance – but should rather help them and always look on them with fairness . . . For otherwise they are like murderers if they see their neighbors wasting away and yet do not open their hands to help them. In this, I tell you, they are certainly like murderers.” In another, he declared: “(A fair distribution) can become reality • if the rich do not greedily swallow up whatsoever they can get together; • if they do not rake up on every side what belongs to others to satisfy their greed • if they do not gorge themselves upon the hunger and want of the poor

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if they do not, as far as in them lies, stifle the blessings of God • in a word, if they do not accumulate great heaps as their intemperance (or their excessiveness) drives them . . . (Commentary on the 5 Books of Moses, Exo. 16:19) In recent times and in keeping with Calvin’s legacy, the Reformed tradition has taken seriously the call for justice. It stated that apartheid is anathema and is contrary to God’s will and that it is a matter of faith to reject it. More recently, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches issued the Accra Confession, which I hope can be studied in our ethic and theology subjects. Issued in 2004, the Accra Confession which carries a series of ‘We Believe – Therefore we reject’ assertions, “is an instrument to help Christians articulate our understanding of God’s demands in the areas of justice in the economy and taking care of creation” (The Legacy of Calvin, 32). To quote in part, as a way of illustration, the Accra Confession states: • “We believe that any economy of the household of life, given to us by God’s covenant to sustain life, is accountable to God. We believe the economy exists to serve the dignity and wellbeing of people in community, within the bounds of the sustainability of creation. We believe that human beings are called to choose God over Mammon and that confessing our faith is an act of obedience. • Therefore we reject the unregulated accumulation of wealth and limitless growth that has already cost the

lives of millions and destroyed much of God’s creation. Lastly, on the issue of the care of creation. John Calvin instructed his hearers then and now: “Whoever owns a piece of land, should harvest the fruits in such a way that the soil does not suffer any damage. He should leave the land to his children and children’s children in the same state as he has received it or even improve on it. He should enjoy the revenue of the land in such a way that it does not serve luxury nor become marred or ruined by neglect. Even more, let us be guided by a sense of responsibility and respect towards all the good things God provides us with, so that everybody considers himself for the things he owns as God’s stewards. If we follow this line, nobody will behave immoderately and destroy through misuse what God wishes to preserve. (Commentary on the 5 books of Moses, Gen. 2:15) Today, we live with the awareness that the resources of our planet are limited. Even worse, it is becoming increasingly apparent that technological and industrial development was causing irreversible damage to the environment. Soil, water and the atmosphere suffer from pollution. In short, humanity lives beyond its means (The Legacy of Calvin, 30) – and our planet and its atmosphere can no longer cope with our demands. The way the world is going is unsustainable and untenable. As the song that Helen sang last Monday reminds us: “Remember the children, remember the future, remember the children, remember Mother Nature.” Many more good things can be learned from our “leader of the band.” It is my hope

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that this “abregana” has whetted your appetite to dig in and find out more about the man and the impact of his life even today. Calvin is now part of that great cloud of witnesses cheering us on to run the race, to continue the legacy he and the others had begun. Calvin was not a perfect person. It is not my intention to make him appear so. He too had his flaws, like many of us. Even towards the end, he acknowledges the mercy and compassion of God for reaching to a

poor sinner like himself. Yet, God had deemed it wise to take that solitary life to become a force for good in both church and society. As we celebrate Calvin’s birthday and as we thank God for his life and his contribution to the deepening of our faith, let us, each one of us, offer our lives as a fertile soil ready to receive the seed of challenge to be agents of change and transformation to the honor and praise of our living God. Amen. SMM

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RESOURCES FOR

Advent & Christmastide A Prayer Holy and gracious God, the season of Advent is so important to me: It’s not just the parties and presents. Not for me! What I look forward to each year, is your coming; your love born again, as if never before. But save me from thinking this is just happening to me. Or to my family. Or to a family of like-minded people called Christians. Remind me that Advent is about everyone, with or without beliefs, or presents, or baggage. And remind me, too, that Advent is not just for individuals, but for the world, and everything in it; for cultures and nations and peoples; for justice and equality; and for enough care of the planet to make hills sing with joy. Remind me most of all, holy and gracious God, that Advent is about you, and your reign over all things. Remind me of how you changed the history of the world; and hold time and space in your hands. Help me to see just how big this party is! And whatever else you do, God, Please save me from making a fool of myself by pretending that it is my party, or the celebration of the faithful few. Brian Woodcock and Jan Sutch Pickard, Advent Readings from Iona, Glasgow: Bell & Bain, 2000.

Leader:

If we have worshipped you as a relic from the past, a theological concept, a religious novelty, but not as a living God:

People: Lord, forgive us. Leader:

If we have confused your will with our understanding of it, if we have preferred divergence to unity:

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People: Lord, forgive us. Leader:

If we have heard stories of struggle, with no intention of sharing the burden or pain:

People: Lord, forgive us. Leader:

If we have identified the misuse of power, but failed to prophesy against it, and refused to empower the weak:

People: Lord, forgive us. Leader:

If we have sung songs in praise of your creation, while defiling the goodness of the earth:

People: Lord, forgive us. O God, show mercy to those who have no one else to turn to. Leader:

The Lord says: I will bring my people back to me, I will love them with all my heart. No longer am I angry with them. I will be to the people like rain in a dry land. This is the promise of God.

People: Amen. Thanks be to God. Worship resources World Conference on Mission & Evangelism (World Council of Churches 1989). Ps. 72.6; Isa. 1.12-17; Isa.24.13-14; Hos.11.1-9 Bread of Tomorrow, Edited by Janet Morley, Cambridge, Great Britain: University Press, 1992, pp. 23- 24

The Song Our Lives Sing Women: O holy God, your name is the song our lives sing. We long for the knowledge that you are with us. Help us to see you and your vast love in our ordinary lives, because often we feel like helpless children in the dark. Men:

O holy God, your name is the song our lives sing. We pray to see more clearly the artificial goals that cause us pain and separate us from you. We ask for strength to pursue honestly the genuine meaning of your peace in this Advent season.

Women: O holy God, your name is the song our lives sing. Help us to bring your light and peace into our lives, into this church, into this community, into the jails, into government housing, into the hospitals, and into all the hearts of this earth. Men:

O holy God, your name is the song our lives sing. Help us to see the birth of Christ wherever people are searching for meaning, wherever life is struggling to express itself, wherever hands are reaching out to August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 73

grasp other hands, wherever strong hearts whisper to the weak, “You count,” and wherever leaders are determined to provide people with love and equality on this earth. Both:

O holy God, your name is the song our lives sing. Amen.

By Betty Caton, Athens, Georgia USA Sing Out New Visions: Prayers, Poems and Reflections by Women, An ecumenical collection produced in cooperation with the Justice for Women Working Group of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, edited by Jean Martensen, p. 77.

For Christmas We Pray for All Children this Night Almighty and Eternal God, we come today because of the birth of your child. Let us come to this event as little children: innocent, wide-eyed with anticipation and wonder and awe. Let the simplicity of the manger fill our hearts and minds as we worship the Christ Child. We pray for all your children: ever age, color, and nationality. We pray for your children who are living with grief; give them comfort. We pray for your children who are living with war; give them peace. We pray for your children who are abused; give them strength. We pray for your children who are sick; give them health. We pray for your children who are homeless; give them shelter. And for your children who are lost; we pray, give them the hope of Jesus. O God, we pray that the Spirit of Christ will be born in us. Help us to share the gift that came to us in a manger in Bethlehem. And when we hear the question “What child is this?” Let us respond clearly: “This is the Christ, Ruler and Savior of my life!” We ask these things humbly in the Holy Child’s name. Amen.

By Nancy Oliver, Decatur, Georgia USA Sing Out New Visions: Prayers, Poems and Reflections by Women, An ecumenical collection produced in cooperation with the Justice for Women Working Group of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, edited by Jean Martensen, p. 77.

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For Christmas/Epiphany There is dignity here – we will exalt it. There is courage here – we will support it. There is humanity here – we will enjoy it. There is a universe in every child – we will share in it. There is a voice calling through the chaos of our times; There is a spirit moving across the waters of our world; There is movement, a light, a promise of hope. Let them that have eyes to see, see. Let them that have ears to hear, hear. But look not for Armageddon, nor listen for a trumpet. Behold, we bring you good tidings of great joy; the incarnation.

By Philip Andrews, ‘The Song of the Magi,’ in Ron O’Grady and Lee Soo Jin, eds. Suffering and Hope, Christian Conference of Asia (Singapore 1976). Gen.1.2; Mk.4.9; Mk.8.18; Lk.2.10 Bread of Tomorrow, Edited by Janet Morley, Cambridge, Great Britain: University Press, 1992, pp. 57-58

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book review

Christianity with an Asian Face: Asian American Theology in the Making By Peter C. Phan. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 2003. 253 pp.

A

s Richelle Go yielded to the possibility of dying, her Catholic sensibilities made her think she would soon “meet the Lord.” She asked herself: “How will I speak to the Lord? Will I speak in Tagalog? In Mandarin? In Fookien? In English? What if the Lord is Spanish? All I know is ‘sí Señor’ and ‘gracías’. Is that enough so I can go to heaven?” This is a scene from the Filipino film entitled Mano Pô,1 a movie that demonstrates the struggle of people who are caught in between two worlds of culture, tradition, religion, race and class. The main character, Richelle Go, is a third generation Chinese-Filipino girl who earns the disdain of her family for her Westernized, carefree lifestyle. She shuttles between two worlds and the contrasting traditions of her Catholic Filipina grandmother and her Buddhist Chinese grandfather within the Filipino society that heavily bears the marks of Western colonization. Caught in the intersection of two cultures, religions, races, and classes, Richelle Go has to come to terms with being “in-between,” of being “neither-this-nor-that” but also being “both-this-and-that,” and longing to be “beyond-this-and-that” in order to live life to the fullest. Unlike Richelle who grows up in the Third World context of the Philippines, Peter C. Phan left the third world-ness of Vietnam for the United States in 1975 as a refugee. Like Richelle who shares the success of her family who became part of the Chinese business enclave in Manila, Phan also flourished in his adopted country as a priest and became the first non-Caucasian president of the Catholic Theological Society of America. The experience of Asian immigrants in North America is complex because not only are they thrown into a multicultural context, they also become part of “the system of racial, gender, economic, and political exploitation and domination” (p. xv) of an unrivalled empire. It is from this context and experience of “in-between-ness” that Peter C. Phan explores theology as “both Asian and American.” As such, the experience of being uprooted from one’s homeland, of suffering, and of “in-between-ness” is an important resource and starting point for understanding Asian American theology. Phan considers his effort a “modest attempt at furnishing building blocks for constructing an Asian American theology whose contours still remain vague,” (p. xi) but he is clear that it is an intercultural theology, one that is “forged in the cauldron of the

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book review encounter of two vastly different cultures” (p.xiv). How does a person who is “neither-this-nor-that” but is “both-this-and-that” and “beyond-this-and- that” speak of God and of Jesus the Christ? How does an Asian American person understand one’s being in relation with other human beings in order to build communities? How can an Asian American make a difference to those who are deprived and help them to have a decent life? Through the collection of essays that form his book, Phan attempts to address these issues. The book is divided into two parts. The first part discusses a theological methodology that makes central the theme of liberation. To retrieve useful dimensions of both Western and Asian traditions for the needs of Asian communities in North America, Phan examines different types of liberation theologies, particularly black, Hispanic, and Asian theologies. He suggests that an Asian American theology can make a “unique contribution” if it undertakes the triple task of mediation/negotiation of social analysis, hermeneutics, and practice of liberation theologies. He especially acknowledges his indebtedness to the Federation of the Asian Bishops’ Conference (FABC) that challenged him to embark on the three-fold task of liberation, inter-religious dialogue, and enculturation. These interlocking tasks are necessary to make a significant contribution to the theological enterprise, particularly in the area of contemporary theological method and ecclesiology. The third chapter of Part I probes into the encyclical of Pope John Paul entitled Fides et Ratio which serves as a springboard for the discussion on the overarching theme of enculturation in the second part of the book. Here, Phan points to the “limitations philosophy as a tool for the enculturation of the Christian faith in Asia.” In the eight chapters of Part II, Phan gathers together the building blocks for the construction of an Asian American theology with special attention to the sub-themes of the kingdom of God, Christology, the church, evangelism and catechesis. He also gathers together resources from Asian traditions, particularly the indigenous cult of the spirits, Confucianism and Taoism. He argues for the recovery and affirmation of the revolutionary as well as the transcendent dimensions of Jesus’ message about the kingdom of God. Devoting more space to the discussion on Christology, Phan examines the works of Asian theologians like Aloysius Pieris, Lee Jung Young, Chung Hyun Kyung, and C.S. Song, and focuses on their methodology to construct a meaningful Christology for Asians. Phan makes a significant contribution in putting forward his Christology that draws wisdom from the Confucianist tradition of filial piety and the religion of ancestor worship. To him, more than being an embodiment of an immigrant par excellence, Jesus is the Elder Brother and the paradigmatic Ancestor of superior distinction. Anticipating feminist objections against the sexism and androcentrism of Confucianist tradition, Phan is quick to point out that feminist perspectives could help purify the Asian traditions to make theology truly liberating for women and men. With the understanding that ecclesiology August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 77

book review and catechism are crucial to the direction of mission and evangelism in Asia, he draws insights from the apostolic exhortation of Pope John Paul II called Ecclesia in Asia as well as from the documents of the Federation of Asian Bishops Conference. Phan explores the possibilities of new ways of being church and proposes a catechetical approach that takes seriously the importance of enculturation. He holds up the catechetical material produced by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines as a model. The final chapter of the book includes particular emphasis on a Vietnamese American theology that hopes to see the dragon (Vietnam) and the eagle (U.S.) “learn to dwell together in harmony and peace.” This theology also expresses a hope to see the emergence of a new culture among the Asians in America that is shaped by the “dialectical fusion” of communitarianism and individualism (p. 243) as an outcome of the meeting of the Asian and North American cultures. Although the essays were written on various occasions, Phan compiles his essays in a way that projects a coherent and unified presentation. In his book, Phan also demonstrates that weaving together multicultural traditions leads to the emergence of a beautiful multicoloured theological fabric that enables us to feel the warmth of God’s love that transcends religions and cultures. I stand on the premise that all theologies are partial and are not, therefore, free from limitations. Yet, I also contend that some of these limitations can be minimized, if not corrected. Phan should be commended for not overlooking the category of gender in his methodology and putting it alongside the categories of race, culture, class and ethnicity. However, bringing up the lone female voice of Chung Hyun Kyung in this book gives me the impression that Phan uses her voice merely as a token among those of the males. The book could have been richer if Phan had brought more Asian feminist women’s theological voices into the conversation. It would be interesting to see how far Asian American theology could take the purifying perspectives of Asian feminists particularly on the subject of women’s rights over their bodies on the issue of contraception and abortion, and on the issue of women’s ordination in the Roman Catholic Church. It is indeed inspiring to see Phan engage in dialogue with various types of liberation theologies in order to enrich his articulation of an Asian American theology. However, I missed the presence of some subaltern voices within the Asian-American communities in this book. I am frustrated to note that Phan engages with the liberation theologies only of straight people, and has advertently left out the liberationist voices of gay and lesbian Asians and Asian-Americans. Phan turns his gaze away from these members of the Asian American community who are marginalized and discriminated against by their own Asian communities as well as by the dominant White North American society. In refusing to address homophobia in the Asian and Asian-American communities, Phan refuses to acknowledge the existence and personhood of Asian-American gay men and lesbian women. 78 • August 2009, Silliman Ministry Magazine

book review If the theological task of Asian-American theology, as Phan points out, is to reflect on the significance of Asian-American experiences of separation, ambiguity, diversity, and love of the stranger (xenophilia) in the midst of a xenophobic and heterosexist white culture, then, such theology should give space to the reflection on homophobia within Asian and Asian-American communities. One can only discern that Phan is not yet totally free from the clasp of patriarchy that is deeply entrenched in the cultural and religious mix from which he comes. Such “mix” certainly involves traditions that remain hesitant to open the door to someone who is “different,” who is the “other.” The final chapter is indeed hopeful as it envisions a “new heaven and a new earth.” This book was written before the Obama event; but with or without Obama, I still wish to see an Asian-American theology that takes a more vigorous approach to its prophetic task of challenging the Eagle, Phan’s adopted country, to be accountable for its actions, not only inside its own territory, but most especially in the Third World. The presence of Obama in the presidency of the US, and the ominous financial melt-down in the empire do not reduce the challenge of taming the Eagle for it to learn respect the rights of other nations and to stop supporting corrupt governments like the one we have in the Philippines. Globalization has increased the mobility of people around the world. People move from one region of the planet to another due to multifarious reasons – be it economic, political, or socio-cultural. Such mobility of people has spurred the growth of multicultural communities around the world and makes us encounter many Richelle Gos in contexts that are similar yet also different. From his social location, Peter C. Phan puts forth the challenge of positing an intercultural theology that speaks meaningfully to the missionary projects that are caught in the cauldron of cultural multiplicity. For this, Phan deserves our thanks and appreciation.

This is a revised version of the review published in Quest: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Asian Christian Scholars, Vol. 3, number 1 (April 2004):125-128. 1 Joel Lamangan, “Mano Pô” (Manila, Philippines: Regal Studio, 2000). The Filipino tradition of taking and putting the back of the hand of any elderly member of the family on one’s forehead is a sign of respect. It is a way of saying, “I bless and respect you. Please bless me also.”

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