SILLIMAN MINISTRY

MAGAZINE
A Publication of The Divinity School of Silliman University Issue No. 00
Serving Protestant Ministry in the Philippines August 2008
Editor: Rev. Reuel Norman O. Marigza ISSN 00037-5276

A History of the UCCP:

Its Social Posture and

Its Social Environs p.9

GREEN CHRISTIAN VIRTUES TODAY

by Prof. Victor Aguilan, p.25
RESOURCES FOR ADVENT &
CHRISTMASTIDE, p.30
FACULTY PROFILES:
Victor Aguilan, p.34
Jean Cuanan-Nalam, p.35

August 2008, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 1

 E-File:
Reuel Norman O. Marigza
Editor-in-Chief

S
halom! This is our greeting and prayer to you our readers. This our
prayer for our land and for our world torn asunder by conflicts and wars
and by violence in many forms.
SMM brings you as its lead article a brief look at our history as a Church
in the social arena - the Church in the public square, as it were. This is in line
with the year-long 60th Anniversary celebration as a Church. SMM tandems
with the Church Workers Convocation which adapted the UCCP 60th Anni-
versary theme as its own theme this year as the Divinity School's contribution
to the Church celebration. The theme is: "In Union with Christ, Witnessing
from the Neighborhood to the World"
Prof. Victor Aguilan in his sermon, "Green Christian Virtues Today,"
reminds us of necessary virtues we must reclaim and practice if we are to be
effective witnesses not only to our own neighborhoods but also to the world.
Our Dean, Dr. Muriel Orevillo-Montenegro, updates you on important
matters regarding the Divinity School and its future, and challenges us to be
partners with us in theological education and ministerial formation.
Our LiMuCen (sounds like limousine ha!), through the Rev. Magnolia
Nova Mendoza, compiled Liturgical materials that you can use for the Advent
and Christmas season.
Two high-powered theologian and Bible scholars shares with us what
they had been reading lately through the Book Review section.
DSSA is alive and kicking, find out about it in the news section. Two
Faculty members are featured. We thank the students Gideon Gunda, Marnie
Vega and Wella Hoyle for their contributions.
We round up our issue with the Literary Section, featuring Dr. Sam
Gregorio's Ambis, and something I wrote during the First General Assembly
of the United Church Workers Organization last July at the National City United
Church in Quezon City. My special thanks to Pastor Renee and family for
their kindness to provide a room for me at the Parsonage during the Assem-
bly.
We welcome back the Rev. Callum Roble Tabada and thank him for
the lay-out of this issue. He and I originally partnered in the SMM when I first
began as Editor-in-Chief in 1998. Callum is taking his M.Div. And this issue
will not be complete without the persistence of our Managing Editor, the Rev.
Magnolia Nova Mendoza, who followed-up the writers and contributors.
Daghang salamat po! SMM
2 • August 2008, Silliman Ministry Magazine
 From the Dean’s Desk
Muriel Orevillo-Montenegro, Ph.D.

Witnessing to the World through an Endeavor

towards Quality Theological Education

The 2008 Church Workers’ Convocation lenges of the third millennium.

Theme More than ever, the Philippines

T
he month of August is here once again
and the Divinity School continues to
commit to host the Church Workers’
Convocation no matter what. This Convoca-
tion is one aspect of continuing education that
the D.S. can offer to the pastors and lay lead-
ers of the United Church of Christ in the Phil-
ippines and sister-churches within NCCP. It
is an opportunity for pastors to refresh
their theological learning, and to re-con-
nect with fellow alumni and with friends
of the Divinity School. This year ’s
Church Workers’ Convocation theme is
an adaptation of the theme of the 60 th
Anniversary of UCCP: “In Union with
Christ, Witnessing from the Neighbor-
hood to the World.” This theme is an ex-
pression of the recognition that God’s
household is bigger than our own de-
nomination, broader than our own brand
of Christianity, and wider than our na-
tional territory. The theme is also timely
as Protestant churches all over the world
anticipate the centennial celebration of
the landmark missionary gathering in
Edinburgh in 1910 and re-visit its con-
cept of mission in the face of the chal-
is facing serious political, economic, so-
cial-cultural, and ecological challenges.
Recently, the breakdown of the peace
talks between the GRP and the MILF has
triggered more violence in Mindanao.
Christians need to seriously and honestly
seek to understand the plight of the Moro
people, and the historical reason behind
the sentiment and claim for their ances-
tral domain. When we criticize the wan-
ton corruption in the government, we
must also seriously evaluate our values
and ask why we chose such people to take
the seat of leadership and power. Some-
how, people seem comfortable in conced-
ing to the sinful ways of the world than
to struggle to free from the shackles of
sin. This is observable in all levels of
relationships – be it personal, institu-
tional or societal. There is a prevalent
enthrallment with the politics of rhetoric
among people, and walking the talk is
found to be difficult by many – be it in
the government, in church and society.
Consequently, we play deaf and blind in
the face of the violence of poverty and
hunger, of militarization, of other visible

August 2008, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 3

and invisible forms of violence and cru- not our religion - to the world and
elty at home, in church, in the workplace challenges us to be sensitive to the
and in society. A recent study by a doc- suffering of the world brought about
toral student reveals that sexual abuses by the hubris of humanity. The theme
committed by the clergy are not only “ I n U n i o n w i t h C h r i s t , Wi t n e s s i n g
h a p p e n i n g i n t h e R o m a n C a t h o l i c from the Neighborhood to the World”
Church; it is also happening in the Prot- should provide Christians the impe-
estant churches in the Philippines. tus to seriously re-think the meaning
People tent to use religion to of each word in this phrase. What is
gain power over others
both in private and pub- Figure 1. Number of Students in Program Offerings
lic sphere for selfish in-
PROGRAM NUMBER OF STUDENTS
OFFERINGS
terests. There is a resur-
SY 07-08 SY 08-09
gence of a kind of piety
Bachelor of Theology
and religiosity that make
a. Pastoral Ministry 46 42
people believe that they
b. Liturgy and Music 8 9
have the monopoly of
Master of Divinity 24 17
G o d ’s l o v e , t h a t o n l y
they have the right un- Master of Theology 4 1
d e r s t a n d i n g a n d i n t e r- Doctor of Theology 2 2
pretation of the Scrip- Special Student 1
tures, and consequently, Cross-enrollee 1
the want to impose their Part-time student 1
set of doctrines to the Total 84 74
rest of the world. Some-
times, those who adopt Figure 2. Region of Student’s Origin
this kind of piety begin REGION / CHURCH / NUMBER OF STUDENTS
to project their own COUNTRY OF ORIGIN SY 07-08 SY 08-09
thoughts to God and South Luzon 12 7
make God in their own East Visayas 9 8
image. They forget that West Visayas 40 33
God loves the world, its NW Mindanao 20 17
people regardless of re-
SE Mindanao 6 5
ligion, and that God
S. Korea 1 1
wants the Creation to
Baptist Church 1
flourish. Lest we fall
into a bigoted brand of IFI 1
Christianity, the theme Others (Evangelical Church) 1
of the convocation calls Total 88 74
us to witness God’s love Less: drop outs 4
in union with Christ – General Total 84 74

4 • August 2008, Silliman Ministry Magazine

the meaning of Christ? Of being in
union with this Christ? What does
“neighbor and world” mean? Why do
some people wage war and kill in the
name of Christ? How does one make
sense of being a witness of Christ’s
salvific work for the world? Such
theme has a crucial implication also
in theological education in the Phil-
ippines. The Divinity School takes the
challenge to witness to the world
through its efforts to aim for a high-
quality theological education.
Students at the Divinity School: Enrolment
in 2008-2009
Due to the increasing cost of edu-
cation, the enrolment at the Divinity
School in this first semester has reduced.
There are fifty-eight (58) full time stu-
dents, 14 interns, one cross-enrollee and
one part-time student, making a total of
74. Last school year, we had eighty four
(84) including the interns.
The Challenges of Recruitment and Schol-
arships
When the church decided to be in-
dependent from the missionaries and
Figure 3. Ratio between Sexes
SCHOOL YEAR
07-08 08-09
Male 50 32
Female 38 42
Figure 4. Marital Status of Students
SCHOOL YEAR
07-08 08-09
Married 25 22
Single 63 52
August 2008, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 5
stand on its own feet as a Filipino church,
as UCCP, it was a brave act, and a sign
of maturity. The leaders must have an-
ticipated also the financial challenges in
running its ministerial formation program
among other things. Churches need pas-
tors, and so quality theological education
must be given attention. The lay training
programs of the conferences are impor-
tant dimensions of equipping the laity but
it should not be taken as a substitute for
formal theological education of pastors.
Considering this situation, the confer-
ences must also take seriously the task
of recruitment. Conferences need to send
students who are truly interested in the
ministry; ones who possess the right pas-
toral attitude and the capacity to do the
rigors of theological education. It is also
important that conferences and local
churches, parents and benefactors fore-
see and support the students’ need for
shelter, food, clothing and personal con-
tingencies.
On its part, the Divinity School
along with Silliman University will seek
for scholarships to support the tuition
fees of the students. Scholarships how-
ever are not entitlements. Thus, students
must also demonstrate good academic
performance and right attitudes for the
ministry.
Requirement for Admissions
Changes in academic and scholar-
ship policies were implemented gradu-
ally over the last three years. The Divin-
ity School will now strictly implement
University policies that covers scholar-
ships and dormitory rules. New admis-
sion policies specific for the D.S. stu-
dents are implemented. Submission dates
for the Admission Forms is mid-January.
This also demands that the conferences
conduct the performance evaluation of
their prospective students who should be
finishing about two thirds of their appren-
ticeship programs. By January, confer-
ences should have an idea already about
the number of students they are sending
to the seminary.
The Admission forms and other in-
formation could be downloaded from the
Website of Silliman University. Copies
were also sent copies to the offices of
the Conference Ministers and Bishops to
be made accessible to the prospective
students.
Moving Towards Full Integration with the
University
In the past, the Divinity School was
dubbed to be a separate “Republic” or a
“kingdom” by some people in the Univer-
sity. There were suspicions that it is hiding
some treasures inside it. A little bit of his-
tory may be helpful in this matter.
The Divinity School started as
a joint Congregationalist-Presbyterian
Training School or a ministerial for-
mation center for the Visayan-speak-
ing candidates for the ministry as en-
visioned by Dr. Frank Laubach of the
American Board Mission (Congrega-
tionalist). This was attached to the
Presbyterian Mission’s Silliman Insti-
tute in Dumaguete and opened as
Bible School in June 1921. It had its
own housing facilities for students
and faculty, classrooms and library
that stood on a three-hectare piece of
land. Eventually, the School was in-
6 • August 2008, Silliman Ministry Magazine
tegrated with Silliman Institute be-
cause of the need, especially its li-
brary, to complete the requirements of
becoming a University in 1935. The
merger resulted to the turnover of the
three-hectare property where housing
facilities, such as the Brokenshire
Cottage ( later was renamed Davao
Cottage), Worcester Cottage, Doltz
Hall, and another houses near
Channon Hall called Brokenshire Cot-
tage (now known as Banaba Cottage)
stood, to the University. 1 Today, the
only remaining historical landmark
associated with the Divinity School is
Channon Hall. With the merger, part-
ner churches sent their donations for
the Divinity School through the Uni-
versity based on the understanding
that the University will look after the
welfare of the Divinity School. Over
time, such commitment has been over-
looked and regarded like any other
unit in the University. There was even
a time when it was looked upon by
some business-oriented members of
t h e c o m m u n i t y a s “ a l o s i n g e n t e r-
prise” rather than looking at it as a
ministry. Meantime, the DS struggled
to raise scholarships for its students
and managed these funds.
When the incumbent president, Dr.
Ben S. Malayang III came to office, he
showed special concern for the Divinity
School and understood its presence as a min-
istry of the University. In the midst of the
rising cost of education, this view brings the
challenge for the University to create a spe-
cial plan to sustain the ministerial and church
workers’ education. It has to make theologi-
cal education affordable. In response to this
view, the Divinity School responded posi-
tively to the challenge of moving towards full
integration with the University. This entails
the integration of Divinity School scholar-
ship funds to the University Community of
Accounts, and for the University to take care
of the welfare of the Divinity School as a
whole.
On its end, the third party in this en-
deavor, the UCCP, must also do its part in
supporting the students by allocating and giv-
ing faithfully the general assembly-mandated
scholarships for the students.
The memory of the emergence of the
Divinity School and merger with Silliman
University must be kept alive always. In this
way, the dreams and intention of its founders
will not be lost and swallowed by forgetful-
ness. We therefore beg the churches and
friends to pray for the Divinity School and
re-member it in their life and ministry.
Revitalized Program Offerings
I would like to announce that in
April 2008, the Curriculum Committee
and the Academic Council of Silliman
University had approved in principle the
revised curriculum for Bachelor of The-
ology, with some suggestions to be inte-
grated. These academic bodies have also
approved the revised curriculum of the
Master of Divinity for non-B.Th. hold-
ers. Thus, the Divinity School hopes to
implement them in June 2009.
The SU Curriculum Committee and
Academic Council have also approved
the new Master of Divinity program for
those who had basic theological educa-
tion. This is a two-year, thesis-track pro-
gram that allows the student to focus on
a major field of interest and need such
August 2008, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 7
as theology, biblical studies, Christian
Education, pastoral ministry, and spiri-
tual care (CPE). In order to implement
this new program, all the D.S. need to
do is to submit the feasibility studies for
the approval of the Board of Trustees.
The Divinity School therefore challenges
the conferences to send students for these
new programs.
Along this line, the Divinity
School will soon offer a masters’ de-
gree program in Missions Studies (M.
Th.) in consortium with the United
Evangelical Mission. This program
will have an international flavor be-
cause students and faculty will be
coming from Asia, Africa and Ger-
many. Hopefully, students from other
continents will also come to study at
the Divinity School. UEM officials
and leaders of the participating semi-
naries in the three continents will
hold a planning consultation in No-
vember 25-28, 2008 here in Silliman
University. Once again, the Divinity
School covets your prayers for these
efforts to flourish.
The Divinity School also envisions
short courses and ladderized programs for
the lay persons and church workers who
hunger for continuing education. This we
hope to finalize the plan and implement
this next summer. Flyers on these pro-
grams will be sent to the conferences.
Justice and Peace Center
This program created by the
Board of Trustees of Silliman Univer-
sity is lodged under the Divinity
School to help to embody the pro-
phetic ministry of Silliman Univer-
sity. In the past years, it ran a project
that focused on trainings in conflict
transformation. Considering the re-
sults of the internal and external
evaluations, another three-year
project is set. This project will focus
on peacebuilding programs in partner-
ship with some identified communi-
ties. However, it will also continue
to provide trainings in peace educa-
tion, peace building, conflict transfor-
mation and other subject areas within
the three-year program using
contextualized modules. It has ac-
quired new set of qualified project-
based staff that will implement the
project with the help of the Board of
Management.
Meantime, JPC needs a program di-
rector that is organically connected with the
University. Generally, this person is expected
to conceive of other projects to respond to
specific justice and peace issues and help find
funds for the local counterpart of the fund-
ing for these projects.
Notes on the Faculty
D. Th. candidate Prof. Victor Aguilan
will defend his dissertation entitled “Peace-
making Ministry from the Perspective of the
1
See Victor Aguilan, “A Brief Historical Overview of the Development of the Campus of the Divinity School of Silliman
University (from 1921-1968 (draft).” n.p.
8 • August 2008, Silliman Ministry Magazine
United Church of Christ in the Philippines”
on August 20, 2008. Magnolia Nova
Mendoza has also began taking the entrance
exams for the M. Theol. program in Liturgy.
Rev. Lope Robin is back from his three-
month stint in Tainan, Taiwan where he stud-
ied with Huang Po Ho and M.P. Joseph. He
will continue doing his course work for his
D.Th. in Theology here at the Divinity
School. Another faculty member who is do-
ing her D.Th. in Christian Education is Rev.
Jeaneth Harris-Faller. She is also in her sec-
ond year of studies in Hong Kong’s Lutheran
Theological School, and having done her
comprehensive exams, she is now making
preparations for her dissertation.
Loving God with all our minds
In closing, let me quote once again
from the great commandment: “Love your
God with all your heart, with all your soul,
and with all your mind.” (Matt. 22:36) I al-
ways remind my students about this passage
because this a guideline for a good quality
theological education. Students, conferences,
local churches, the Divinity School and the
rest of the stakeholders of theological edu-
cation and ministerial formation must take
this challenge. May the next generation find
us faithful in this task entrusted to us. SMM
 A History of the
United Church of Christ in the Philippines,
Its Social Posture and Its Social Environs (1948-1986)1
by Rev. Reuel Norman O. Marigza

T
he year 1948 was a historic year. It was on this year that the Universal Declara-
tion of Human Rights was approved and signed by the United Nations. It was
also on this year that the World Council of Churches was formed. Here in the
Philippines, 1948 witnessed the founding on May 25, 1948 of the United Church of
Christ in the Philippines (UCCP).2 The UCCP in its history and posture would prove
to be both ecumenical and a strong advocate for human rights and other social issues
affecting the nation and the world.
The UCCP is a product of an organic union, a process that
took about fifty (50) years. While the union was open to
all evangelical churches con- nected with the Philippine
Federation of Evangelical Churches, eventually, three
churches decided to join to- gether and establish an en-
tirely new entity. Two of these churches were, in
themselves, organ2•hurches, namely: the United Evan-
gelical Church of the Philip- pines (UECP) and the Evan-
gelical Church in the Philip- pines (ECP). The third
church was the Philippine Methodist Church, which
broke out of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1933.
Early efforts towards Organic Union. The Protestant faith was brought to
the Philippine shore largely through the efforts of the American missionaries. There
were earlier efforts to smuggle Bibles in the Philippines by the British and Foreign
Bible Societies as early as 1838,3 but it was during the coming of the American mis-
sionaries that there was a large scale coordinated effort to convert Filipinos to the
Protestant faith.
The roots of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines could be traced
back to the missionary efforts coming from the following groups:4

August 2008, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 9

 Groups Year of Arrival in RP
1. Presbyterians 1899
2. Methodists 1899
3. United Brethren 1901
4. Church of Christ (Disciples) 1902
5. Congregationalists 1902

Even before the missionaries’ arrival to the Philippines, they had started talks in
the United States of America on policies for the new mission area. They discussed (a)
territorial division of the Philippines among the different missions;
(b) a common name for the newly organized churches; (c) a plan for directing growth so
as to produce one national church; and (d) cooperation in schools, press, newspapers,
etc. The result was later carried out in the Philippines through the Evangelical Union,
organized on April 26, 1901. Its primary purpose was to bring about ”a spirit of comity,
unity and cooperation that will eliminate competition and effect harmony for the com-
mon task.”5
On February 1924, the United Church of Manila was formed to “demonstrate
the possibility and practicability of Filipino church union in the Islands, and if possible,
to pave the way for the union of all evangelical churches of the Philippines.”6 This local
church was composed of United Brethren, a number of Congregationalists and some
Baptists.7
Heeding the challenge, the United Evangelical Church in the Philippine Islands
was formed on March 15, 1929. It was a merger of the Presbyterians, the Congregation-
alists, the United Brethren, and the United Church of Manila.8
World War II came to our shore on December 8, 1941 when the Japanese bom-
barded several places in the Philippines where US military bases and installations were
present. By January of 1942, the Japanese Imperial Army had most of the Philippines
under their control. To simplify their dealings with religious groups, the Japanese Impe-
rial Army pressured the Protestants to form into just one body, which was called the
Evangelical Church of the Philippines. This church was the result of the coming to-
gether of the United Evangelical Church of the Philippines, the Church of Christ (Dis-
ciples), the Iglesia Evangelica Unida de Cristo (UNIDA), the Iglesia Evangelica Cristiana
Independiente, the Salvation Army, a segment of the Philippine Methodist Church, a
good number of autonomous congregations of the Iglesia Metodista en las Islas Filipinas,
the Iglesia Evangelica Nacional, and more than 20 smaller independent Churches.9
The UCCP. The UCCP was founded two years after the Philippines gained its
political independence from the United States of America. The national mood was
patriotic, and a primary concern was nation-building. Nation-building involved not only
re-building the nation from the ruins and ravages of the Second World War, but more

10 • August 2008, Silliman Ministry Magazine

importantly, it involved nurturing and strengthening the fledgling democracy. It then
behooved every social sector, including the Church, to contribute to these efforts.
Thus in this period, the statements released by the UCCP were generally sup-
portive of government’s attempts to improve the social condition of its citizens.
The Roman Catholic Church. On the Roman Catholic front, the effort of Fr.
Walter Hogan, S.J., in the arena of social concern and action comes to mind. He started
the Institute of Social Order (ISO) after the Second World War to “communicate the
social doctrine of the Church and to apply it to the social order.”10 It was instrumental
“for activating Church personnel into the social action field.”11
In June 1950, Fr. Hogan and Johnny Tan, his associate, began the Federation of
Free Workers (FFW), an anti-Communist democratic labor union.12 It was just ironic
that the Church hierarchy did not look too kindly on the FFW when one of its affiliate,
the University of Santo Tomas Employees Association went on strike against the Catho-
lic school. Hogan himself was muzzled by Rufino Cardinal Santos.13
In 1953, the Federation of Free Farmers (FFF) was organized by Atty. Jeremias
Montemayor and Fernando Esguerra. They were inspired by the social teachings of the
Roman Catholic Church. FFF became “very effective in helping small farmers in land
cases and in organizing them to enable to fight for their rights.”14
On the level of the Roman Catholic hierarchy, the Bishops through the Catholic
Welfare Organization (CWO), a precursor of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the
Philippines (CBCP), issued several pastoral letters on social justice even before the
Vatican II. They issued on January 20, 1948 the “Statement of the Ecclesiastical Hier-
archy of the Philippines on the Social Principles” aimed at presenting principles for
addressing pressing social problems of the Philippines and emphasized the rights and
obligation of both workers and employers as well as the need of cooperation among
them.15 On May 21, 1949, the Bishops issued the “Pastoral Letter of the Philippine
Catholic Hierarchy on Social Justice,” expressing concern for the poor as well as an
anxiety about the threat of communism. The pastoral letter also strongly criticized the
evils of the existing capitalistic system, specially the ever increasing concentration of
private property in the hands of a few.16
Pasquale Giordano notes that this pastoral letter was written when the Huks17
were gaining strength.18
The UCCP Social Posture. The Protestant churches during this period were
concentrated with talks of church unity. There were some differences that arose during
the war years that needed to be threshed out. These differences were largely due to
posture of the church leaders vis-à-vis cooperation with the Japanese Imperial Army,
and to the social question as to how Church should have positioned itself vis-à-vis the
Japanese-controlled State then.19
The Resolutions and Statements emanating from the United Church of Christ in
the Philippines at its first decade were mostly directed at its own ministries and its

August 2008, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 11

 ecumenical posture. Its statements about society tended to be on the moral front like the
Resolution Condemning Gambling and Liquor (1952); Banning of ROTC and PMT
Drills, Teachers Meetings and Other Activities on Sundays (1954). It also issued a
resolution calling for the formation of a National Federation of Credit Unions (1952);
and supported the passage of the Bill on Enriched Rice for its beneficial benefits for the
health of the people (1957).20
Aside from the traditional mission schools, student centers, clinics, and hospital
started during the missionary era and continued on by the UCCP, a Department of Public
Welfare was created in 1951 as one of the five departments of the UCCP. One of the
Committee under this Department was the Industrial Relations Committee with the man-
date to study problems in labor and industrial relations and find ways and means to
reach factory workers with the Gospel and Christian ethics. In 1954, Dr. Jovito R.
Salonga served as its Chair.21
The Industrial Relations Committee’s first task was to study of the shipping
strike of 1954. It also conducted seminars on labor problems and relations in coopera-
tion with the Philippine Federation of Christian Churches.22
The arrival of the Rev. Richard P. Poethig in March 1957 gave the Committee
an opportunity to move into new directions in industrial relations.
Poethig took charge of the Industrial Life and Vocations Program. As part of
his orientation to the task, Poethig took classes at the University of the Philippines
Labor Education Center, had exposure to industrial plants in the company of labor union
leaders, participated in assemblies of labor federations. He also took a social ethics
course on ‘industrialization and social ethics.’23
Poethig developed a program which was “to make relevant the Gospel of Jesus
Christ in the lives of people concerned with economic life of the nation and the ethics of
the Christian faith in the working life of the Christian.”24 This involved conducting
regional institutes on Church and labor-management relations; conference level training
in industrial evangelism of ministers and laypeople specially those actually involved in
industrial work, the development of seminary courses in industrial evangelism. The
program called for the maintenance of good relations with non-church groups like labor
unions, chambers of commerce and the UP Labor Education Center.
The Committee also sponsored two Young-Workers-in-Industry Institutes at Los
Baños in cooperation with the Youth Committee of the UCCP Department of Christian
Education in 1958. It also cooperated in the same year with the Philippine Federation of
Christian Churches in holding the First Asian Conference on Industrial Evangelism in
Manila. The immediate result was to arouse interest in the industrial ministries and to
open the participants’ eyes to a new and challenging field of endeavor.25
Industrial Life Seminars were also conducted in seminaries. Poethig would even-
tually teach social ethics courses at Union Theological Seminary. Dr. Norwood Tye, a
Christian Church (Disciples) missionary to the Philippines and who in 1960 served as

12 • August 2008, Silliman Ministry Magazine

General Secretary of the UCCP, notes that in 1965, a student at Union Theological
Seminary served his internship year working in the Allied Thread Company in Pasig,
rather than in a local church.26 Bishop Erme R. Camba, also a former UCCP General
Secretary, identified him as Frank Ambayon. Other seminary students followed. The
Rev. Martin Dulnuan and the Rev. Cesar Taguba of Highland Confrence, who were
ministerial students at Silliman, did their internship in mining communities in Benguet.
Exposure and immersion to the plight of struggling people would later become
a regular feature in the Summer Exposure Program of UCCP seminaries. The Rev.
Dario Alampay assisted the Rev. Poethig in this seminary program. Later, the Rev.
Ciriaco Lagunzad took over from the Rev. Poethig and the program expanded ecumeni-
cally through the Inter-Seminary Program.27
Leaders from the Church would later rise to make an impact in society. Notably,
Dr. Jovito R. Salonga, who become a Senator and later Senate President; Mr. Cipriano
Malonzo, a B.Th. graduate of Silliman College of Theology, became an active labor
leader. In 1958, the Rev. Henry Aguilan became the first UCCP minister to receive full
training at the UP Labor Education Center.28
Assessing those years, Dr. Norwood Tye wrote in 1994:
Although still largely rural-agricultural, the Philippines was feeling strongly
the impact of industrialization. The United Church knew it should be in-
volved on this cutting edge of change… With the exception of labor union
work by one or two Roman Catholic priests, the United Church investment
of personnel and pesos in this relatively new ministry was a pioneering
move, but one which was on-target in terms of needs emerging during the
next decades.29
Another Committee under the Department of Public Welfare was the Social
Work and social education Committee, established in 1956. Co-opted to its membership
were Atty. Leon O. Ty, staffmember of the well-respected and hard-hitting anti-graft
crusading Philippine Free Press: Atty. Cicero D. Calderon, a specialist in labor relations,
became the first director of the UP Asian Labor Education Center.30
One of the most far-reaching acts of this Committee was to explore ways of
doing social work in the slums of Tondo district, as part of the UCCP’s ‘responsibility
for the poor people of that area.’ Out of this effort came out later the organization
popularly known as ZOTO, the precedent of many non-governments (NGO) in the coun-
try.31
The Shift in the UCCP Social Posture. In 1960, the tenor and posture of the
United Church of Christ in the Philippines shifted with the release of the Statement of
Social Concern. It may be said as we saw in the preceding paragraphs that the seeds
were planted in the UCCP’s formative years, its first decade of existence.
The 1960 Statement on Social Concern, while on the whole still positions the
Church in collaboration with government’s effort, signals a shift in that it raised then-

August 2008, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 13

 emerging issues and concerns that will have a longer term effect on the nation’s life:
economic development, population trends, modern technology, agricultural develop-
ment, industrialization and rapid social change, urbanization, unemployment, trade union
and management relation and the responsibility of the laity in the midst of such a con-
text.
It was an initial public attempt of the church to do a social analysis.
The 1960 Statement of Concern, while tame by today’s standard, was quite
ahead of its times, it set the ground for a deeper involvement of the Church in the affairs
of Philippine society:
By the mid-60s there seems to be emerging some disenchantment on the ability
of government and private agencies, namely the business sector to address the burning
issues of the day.
On another part of the social arena, things had been brewing. The rise of stu-
dent power that started in the late 1950s and would galvanize in the 1960s would make
a strong impact on Philippine society. According to Teodoro A. Agoncillo, by the sec-
ond half of the 1960s, students had already decided to have a say, not only in academic
affairs but even, in the affairs of the nation with their capability to hold massive student
rallies, strikes and demonstrations aimed at pressuring the government to give in to their
demands.32
Agoncillo attributes the growth of student power to the following:
1. the increasing awareness that reforms in the social political and
economic spheres of the country can be hastened by their com-
mitment to those ideas which would re-structure in such a way to
make it more egalitarian;
2. the inadequacy of those in power to come to grips with realities
and their refusal or reluctance to share the responsibility in na-
tional development with the young whose realism is infused with
the idealism of youth;
3. the continuing crises in national life brought about by graft and
corruption in high and low places and by the cynical attitude of
those who continually speak about virtues and patriotism but sub-
vert society by dishonest dealings and by going into smuggling;
4. the failure of the older generation to appreciate the shift in the
bases of a stable society of which the students form a significant
segment.33
The 1970 General Assembly of the UCCP meeting in Baguio City issued a
statement expressing its being “in accord with the student population in demanding for
just reforms.” The statement further averred, “We unconditionally give our backing for
their demands …”34
The late 1960s and the early 1970s saw the blooming of what was termed as

14 • August 2008, Silliman Ministry Magazine

“student power.” The “parliament of the streets” as the student demonstrations were
called, was basically anti-government. The demonstrations, supported in part by a seg-
ment of the laboring class led to bloodshed as well as loss of lives and destruction of
property. Confronted with massive dissent and using the threat of the Jose Ma. Sison-
led Communist Party of the Philippines and its New People’s Army as an excuse, Presi-
dent Ferdinand E. Marcos placed the whole Philippines under Martial Law on Septem-
ber 21, 1972. Marcos abolished Congress and ruled through decrees, proclamations,
directives and instructions which were made part as laws of the land.35
In the preceding year, a number of Catholic and Protestant church workers,
seminarians and Christian youth met to discuss the question of Christian-Marxist coop-
eration and involvement in the “national democratic struggle” led by the Communist
Party of the Philippines. These meetings led to formation of the Christians for National
Liberation (CNL) in February 1972, with their first National Assembly a month before
Martial Law was declared. Because of the arrest of many people when Martial Law was
declared, (including those in the CNL), the CNL was forced underground. It became a
founding member of the National Democratic Front (NDF) in 1973.36 This provided
another arena where politically-motivated Christians can participate in a covert manner.
The Church at large, including the UCCP was quite ambivalent at the beginning
of Martial Law. The NCCP Newsletter of January 1973 headlined the story, “Church
Heads Support FM.” Eight heads of denominations belonging to the National Council
of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) signed a resolution expressing their support to
the move of Marcos and their belief that “the President has acted accordingly.”37
That however will not last long. As Robert Youngblood observed, “the role of
the Philippine churches, especially the Roman Catholic church, in the events that led to
termination of Marcos’ twenty-year rule, dramatically underscored the depth to which
church-state relations had fallen since Marcos’ first term as president (1966-69).”38
The Church however became more critical of the Martial Law regime and the
Marcos dictatorship as the years went by and when it became apparent that human rights
violations were mounting. The UCCP has been one of the first churches to express
concern over the conduct of Martial Law in a statement in 1974 by the General Assem-
bly and in 1978 called for the “immediate dismantling of the machinery of Martial Law
in the country.”39
Youngblood noted that
Marcos’ dealings with the churches remained cordial until the late 1960s, but
following the imposition of martial rule in September 1972, church-state rela-
tions began to deteriorate with the loss of civil liberties, increased abuses of
human rights by the military, and the rise of graft, corruption, and economic
mismanagement. Inevitably government policies serving the interests of the
President, his relatives, close associates, and other political allies clashed with
church programs aimed at assisting the poor.40

August 2008, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 15

 Recognizing its need to make a clear and forthright stand on the prevailing
crucial issue relating to the suppression and curtailment of civil and political liberties
under Martial Law, the UCCP though the1978 General Assembly issued the “A Resolu-
tion on the Restoration of Civil, Political Liberties and the Dismantling of the Machin-
ery of Martial Law.” It pronounced that the “system of one-man rule or of total concen-
tration of power in one man is anathema to the full growth and enrichment of a Chris-
tian community and oppressive to the challenges to the challenges of a creative and
responsible Christian discipleship” and that it is “in keeping with the democratic tradi-
tion of the evangelical churches that … civil and political liberties be restored, and the
machinery of Martial Law be scuttled.”41
The Church then declared “its will and desire. . . to be duly noted and be made
of record – that this church body is against the perpetuation of a one-man rule in the
country; that it is for the immediate restoration of all civil and political liberties of the
citizens; and that it is for the immediate dismantling of the machinery of Martial Law in
the country.”42
The Mindanao Situation. During the Martial Law regime and even beyond it,
the Philippine government faced a strong separatist movement in the South through the
Moro Nationalist Liberation Front (and later on, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front).
The Church has also addressed this particular reality.
The 1978 General Assembly in Cagayan de Oro City (21-26 May) issued a
Statement on the Mindanao Situation. It saw Mindanao as a land of promise, what with
its potentialities of cultures meeting and melting, where people’s faiths can shine even in
the midst of death, and the possibility where people can live in love based on the prin-
ciple of kinship of people under God.43
But it also saw Mindanao as a land of broken promises, a land of conflict and
struggle of people longing for peace based of justice and genuine development, this
conflict as a result of historical development, where politics and economics play the
dominant role. By saying that, the Church was asserting that while the religious and
cultural factors were at play, these factors are not the primary cause for the conflict, as
some quarters of Philippine would posit.44
It perceived the armed responses of the Moro National Liberation Front and its
Bangsa Moro Army and that of the New People’s Army as attempts to solve the roots of
the historic conflict of Mindanao.45
It perceived further that the efforts of the ecumenical movement through pro-
grams and project as barely making a dent towards the solution of the problems; and the
effort of government as merely “palliative” and worse as a way to “further enhance the
greed for political and economic power.”46
The Assassination of Ninoy Aquino and the Fall of Marcos. On August 21,
1983, Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr., a leading Marcos critic and oppositionist to
the Martial Law regime and himself a detainee before he was allowed to leave for the

16 • August 2008, Silliman Ministry Magazine

USA for an operation, returned to the Philippines but was assassinated at the Manila
International Airport. His death sparked a series of protest actions from the citizenry,
including many church people. These protests triggers events that lead to what is now
known as the “People Power Revolution” of February 22-25, 1986 to bring to an end the
twenty year Marcos dictatorship and eventually installing Aquino’s widow, Corazon
“Cory” C. Aquino to the Philippine Presidency.47
Cory Aquino’s ascendancy as President was initially greeted with euphoria and
the posture of the Church was captured by the slogan, “Give Cory a chance!” State-
ments coming from churches were usually cautious. It was also because rightist ele-
ments were undermining her leadership through a series of coup attempts. However, the
policies enunciated by the Aquino administration — her total war policy and the conse-
quent human rights violations it engendered, her strong support for the retention of the
US military bases, her implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform — caused
disenchantment of the people, including the Church.
The UCCP began to once more take on a prophetic stance vis-à-vis the instrumen-
talities of the State. It issued “Peacemaking: Our Ministry” statement issued on August
21, the third anniversary of the assassination of former Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr. It
became one of the most quoted UCCP statements.
It noted some positive developments that puts forward the cause of peace such
as the hope generated by ascendancy of the Aquino administration, thus ending the grip
of the Marcos dictatorship since 1972, the enjoyment of democratic space so long de-
nied the people, the desire of the government and the National Democratic Front for a
ceasefire, the recognition by government, through the President, that “roots of insur-
gency are in the economic condition of the people and the social structures that oppress
them.”48
While these positive developments exist, there were also attempts to subvert
them. The destabilization moves through coup d’etats and other means, the propensity
of some segment of the government to opt for a military solution to insurgency, intensi-
fied military operations designed to eliminate insurgents have brought havoc on the
lives of our people in the countrysides. The latter is seen as tending “to derail the
ceasefire negotiations and can frustrate efforts to attain genuine peace.”49
The Church asserted that it is the “unjust socio-economic and political struc-
tures that breed insurgents” and that “real peace happens when the roots of conflicts and
violence are removed, when a just social structure is built, and when human rights and
dignity are held sacred.”50
It also stressed that “genuine and lasting peace comes when people’s needs are
served,” and “can be attained only when founded on justice.”51
Conclusion. Through out the various critical stages in the country’s life and
history as can be shown in its official statements, the UCCP was an active participant in
pushing for social change. From a close companion of the State in pushing for a more

August 2008, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 17

 pro-people agenda, the Church has shown a more independent and critical stance vis-à-
vis the State when it became apparent that the government machinery was not respond-
ing to the people’s plight. The shift that has started in the early 60’s became more
pronounced in the Martial Law era and continued on even after the Martial Law era
ended. The coming in of a new administration, though greeted with some degree of
euphoria, ushered some optimism in our social life. But given its initial favorable read-
ing of the Marcos Martial Law regime, the Church was more cautious this time around
and chose to take a more guarded position deciding to help out by pointing to what it
deemed, from the vantage view of its faith, as acts inimical to the people and to the
nation. Thus, it has continued a prophetic advocacy vis-à-vis the policies of the State.SMM

END NOTES:
1
Excerpted from the author’s Master of Theology thesis.
2
For full historical account, see T. Valentino Sitoy, Jr.’s Several Springs, One Stream: The United Church of
Christ in the Philippines Vol. 1: Heritage and Origins (1898-1948) (Quezon City: United Church of Christ in the
Philippines, 1992) and Several Springs, One Stream: The United Church of Christ in the Philippines Vol. II: The
Formative Decade (1948-1958) (Quezon City: United Church of Christ in the Philippines, 1997) See also T. Valentino
Sitoy, Jr.’s Comity and Unity: Ardent Aspirations of Six Decades of Protestantism in the Philippines (1901-1961).
(Quezon City: National Council of Churches in the Philippines, 1989). See further Enrique C. Sobrepeña’s That They
May Be One. (Manila: United Church of Christ in the Philippines, 1964).
3
Enrique C. Sobrepeña. That They May Be One. (Manila: United Church of Christ in the Philippines, 1964)
141
4
T. Valentino Sitoy, Jr. Comity and Unity: Ardent Aspirations of Six Decades of Protestantism in the Philippines
(1901-1961). (Quezon City: National Council of Churches in the Philippines, 1989) 112
5
Sobrepeña 31-32
6
Quoted from Sitoy, Jr., Comity 67-68
7
Ibid., 68
8
Ibid., 68-69
9
Ibid., 103-111
10
Pasquale T. Giordano, S.J., Awakening to Mission: The Philippine Catholic Church, 1965-1981. (Quezon
City: New Day Publishers, c1988) 18
11
Ibid.
12
Ibid.
13
Ibid.
14
Ibid.
15
Ibid., 20
16
Ibid.
17
“Huks” was the monicker given to the armed group of the Partido Kumonista ng Pilipinas (PKP). It was known
as HUKBALAHAP or Hukbong Bayan Laban sa mga Hapon [ People’s Army against the Japanese] during the Japa-
nese Occupation of the Philippines. The PKP and the Huks continued their struggle against the State after World War
II.
18
Giordano, 21
19
See T. Valentino Sitoy, Jr.’s Comity and Unity: Ardent Aspirations of Six Decades of Protestantism in the
Philippines (1901-1961). (Quezon City: National Council of Churches in the Philippines, 1989) Chapter VI [The
Wartime Federation and Union] and Chapter VII [Postwar Efforts for Unity], 87-114. See also T. Valentino Sitoy, Jr.’s
Several Springs, One Stream: The United Church of Christ in the Philippines Vol. 1: Heritage and Origins (1898-
1948) (Quezon City: United Church of Christ in the Philippines, 1992) Chapter X [The Wartime Union of 1943] and
Chapter XI [Postwar Reorganization and Rehabilitation] 429-483. See further Enrique C. Sobrepeña’s That They
May Be One. (Manila: United Church of Christ in the Philippines, 1964).
20
UCCP Statements and Resolutions (1948-1990) (Quezon City: Education and Nurture Desk, 1990) xi-xii

18 • August 2008, Silliman Ministry Magazine

 21
T. Valentino Sitoy, Jr. Several Springs, One Stream: The United Church of Christ in the Philippines Vol. II: The
Formative Decade (1948-1958) (Quezon City: United Church of Christ in the Philippines, 1997) 986
22
Ibid.
23
Ibid., 1010
24
Quoted from Sitoy 1997. 1010
25
Ibid., 1011-1012
26
Tye 1994 271
27
Interview with Bishop Erme R. Camba
28
Sitoy 1997 1011
29
Norwood B. Tye. Journeying with the United Church of Christ in the Philippines: A History. (Quezon City:
United Church of Christ in the Philippines, 1994) 192
30
Sitoy 1997. 1011
31
Ibid., 987
32
Teodoro A. Agoncillo. History of the Filipino People, Eighth Edition (Quezon City: Garotech Publishing,
1990) 570-571
33
Ibid., 571
34
UCCP Statements and Resolutions (1948-1990), 88
35
Agoncillo 572
36
Robert L. Youngblood. Marcos Against the Church: Economic Development and Political Repression in the
Philippines (Quezon City: New Day Publishers, 1993) 81-82
37
NCCP Newsletter, Vol. 3, No. 1 (Jan 1973) 1, 4 [The following signed the resolution: Most Rev. Macario Ga
(Obispo Maximo, Iglesia Filipina Independiente), Bishop Estanislao Q. Abainza (General Secretary , UCCP), Bishop
Geronimo Maducdoc (General Superintendent, Iglesia Metodista en las Islas Filipinas), the Rev. Levi Lahaylahay
(General Secretary, Convention of Phil. Baptist Churches), Dr. Alvaro Cariño (President, Lutheran Church in the Phil-
ippines), Bishop Cornelio Ferrer (Bishop of the Manila Episcopal Area, United Methodist Church), Bishop Serafin
__erto *{ineligible} (General Superintendent, Iglesia Unida de Cristo) and The Rt. Rev.Benito Cabanban (Phil. Epis-
copal Church)]
38
Youngblood, v
39
UCCP Statements and Resolutions (1948-1990) 99-101, 122-123
40
Youngblood, v
41
“A Resolution on the Restoration of Civil, Political Liberties and the Dismantling of the Machinery of Martial
Law,” Journal of the Proceedings of the First Quadrennial General Assembly May 21-26, 1978, Cagayan de Oro City.
Appendic XXIII 565.
42
Ibid.
43
“On the Mindanao Situation,” Journal of the Proceedings of the First Quadrennial General Assembly
Appendix XXI 552
44
Ibid., 120-121
45
Ibid.
46
Ibid.
47
Reuel Norman O. Marigza. “A Chronology of Protestantism in the Philippines and Related Historical Events”
in Profiles in Protestant Witness: The First Fifty Years of Evangelical Christianity in the Philippines (1898-1948) ed.
Dale Law (Muntinlupa: Institute of Religion and Culture, 1999) 122
48
“Peacemaking: Our Ministry,” UCCP Statements, 147-148
49
Ibid., 148
50
Ibid., 147-148
51
Ibid.

August 2008, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 19

Book Reviews
Title:
“On Job: God-Talk and the
Suffering of the Innocent”
By Gustavo Gutierrez
Translated from the Spanish by Matthew J. O’Connel
Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1991.
Reviewed by : Rev. Noriel C. Capulong
T
his is one book that I really found
to be immensely helpful in the
writing of my second volume of
the Reading and Hearing the Old Testa-
ment in the Philippine Context, specifi-
cally in the chapter and section dealing
with the book of Job. For Gustavo
Gutierrez’ exhaustive treatment and dis-
cussion on the different major parts or
sections of Job simply oozes not just with
the scholarly depth for which he is al-
ready well known as a pioneer in the ar-
ticulation of the “Theology of Libera-
tion”, but most of all, with the zeal of
one who remains deeply rooted in the
Scriptures while remaining so passion-
ately moved and concerned about the
suffering and pain of his fellow Latin
American peoples.
This book is actually not a com-
mentary but a more of an extended es-
say or theological reflection on the plight
and the faith of Job in the midst of an
apparently unjust suffering. At the end,
one can readily acknowledge that this is
one clear example of a solid attempt to
re interpret the Scriptures in light of a
20 • August 2008, Silliman Ministry Magazine
very pressing and even depressing hu-
man condition and to discern from the
Word a message that can bring light and
hope to a suffering world.
Here, the text, as reread and re-
interpreted by Gutierrez is able to address
the context with clear intentionality and
renewed integrity. For Gutierrez sees in
the situation of suffering experienced by
Job a mirror-like reflection of the intense
and unjust suffering being experienced
by the majority of his fellow Latin Ameri-
can citizens in that continent, a situation
not entirely different from our own con-
temporary Philippine social and eco-
nomic conditions. Thus, the author em-
barks not just on a scholarly endeavor
but also on a spiritual journey of wres-
tling with major life and faith issues aris-
ing from the book itself and discerning
their significance for the contemporary
social and economic condition of the
Latin American peoples.
Gutierrez, thus discerns one very
central theme in the book which he partly
adopts as the sub title of his book, “How
are we to talk about God. More particu-
larly: how are we to talk about God from
within a specific situation- namely, the
suffering of the innocent.” It is the kind
of God-talk or talking about God in the
midst of suffering of the innocent that
the author tries to articulate as he weaves
through the pages and sections of Job.
This kind of God-talk was then
voiced out through two distinct languages
discerned by Gutierrez in the book, the
language of prophecy and the language
of contemplation. The language of proph-
ecy speaks of the struggle and the ten-
sion arising out of the debate between
the suffering Job and that of his friends
who turned out to be “sorry comforters”,
with Job raising his firm voice of pro-
tests to the Almighty on the unjustness
and unfairness of his suffering on the
basis of his claims to righteous and pi-
ous and even charitable modes of living.
His friends meanwhile had been admon-
ishing him for his rather “unrepentant”
and disconsolate attitude before God,
calling on him to simply return to God
with humility and repentance so that he
can be properly restored to his former
condition of prosperity and wholeness.
The friends’ stand, and essentially that of Job
also, had been premised on the old theologi-
cal tradition of rewards and punishment which
is also technically called, “The Deuteronomic
formula”. Job however, has remained ever
vehement in maintaining his innocence be-
fore God and even challenging God to a de-
bate if ever there could be a proper umpire
between them. All the more the friends be-
came so scandalized by this posture of Job.
A turning point was reached how-
ever in the seeming impasse between Job
and his friends when we reach what
Gutierrez considers as a pivotal chapter
in chap. 24. There, in very vividly de-
tailed and moving poetic presentation of
the concrete situation of the poor,
Gutierrez demonstrates right from the
text how the poverty of the poor as de-
scribed is clearly not the result of des-
tiny nor of punishment from God as is
usually presumed under the theology of
August 2008, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 21
the rewards and punishment. Rather, it
was made clear that the suffering of the
innocent poor is caused by the wicked-
ness of those who exploit and rob them
of their substance and life itself. This is
why Job describes the oppressors of the
poor as murderers (24:14). In this poem,
as discerned by Gutierrez, Job realizes
that his own situation of suffering is the
lot also of the poor. He now knows that
“he is part of the world of the poor”.
Thus, from thereon, Job’s cry for
justice and vindication is no longer a cry sim-
ply for himself. His questions to God is no
longer just for himself as he realizes the many
others among his fellows who are in similar
misfortune. His voice now begins to speak
of one who is articulating the innermost
longings and quest for justice for the suffer-
ing poor and powerless. As Job becomes the
voice of the suffering poor, he also takes his
stand before God in solidarity with all others
who suffer injustice and victimization (30:24-
25). This faith stance of Job is even com-
bined with his own professed practice of a
kind of “ecological justice toward the earth,
mother of life and source of food for the poor”
(31:38-40), [p. 42]. At the same time,
Gutierrez notes that Job connects his com-
mitment to the poor with another central
theme of the Bible- “the rejection of idola-
try” (31:24-28). In this manner Job is able to
express his complete surrender to “the God
who has a preferential option to the poor”,
which compels him to be equally attentive to
the needs and cries of the poor.
It is in this contradiction between
the manifest righteous, God-fearing
stance and behavior of Job and his ap-
parent unjust suffering that the language
 of prophecy is uttered and articulated in
revealing the tension between traditional
religious belief and concrete reality. Yet
the resolution comes not in the provision
of straightforward answers as demanded
by Job but more in the form of a con-
frontation with the ineffable mystery of
the presence of God as creator and
sustainer. Job, according to Gutierrez,
enters this time into the realm of the lan-
guage of contemplation, where he is
made to receive the response of God from
heaven (38-41:34) giving him a peek at
the plan of God for all creation (not just
for him) and of God’s just government
of the world [p. 69]. Job is presented with
the very nature of God’s just governance
of the whole creation, as God grants life
and freedom even to the wild creatures
of the earth.
At the same time, Job realizes
the utter mystery and ineffability, the
deep incomprehensible character of God,
but which “indicates the freedom and
gratuitousness of God.” There is some-
thing, as Job eventually realizes, in the
mystery and power of God which will
always remain beyond the comprehen-
sion of the human being but which can
only be experienced as pure grace or
abiding love. In entering and experienc-
ing the realm of this language of con-
templation, Job confesses a radically new
understanding of God defined now more
by his own personal encounter with this
God and less by what tradition has taught
him (42:1-6). He has come at new un-
derstanding of faith and an abiding rela-
tionship with God in this level of con-
templation.
22 • August 2008, Silliman Ministry Magazine
Here, Gutierrez makes his own
concluding interpretation of this new un-
derstanding of Job about his faith in the
midst of suffering, “that justice alone
does not have the final say about how
we are to speak of God. Only when we
come to realize that God’s love is freely
bestowed do we enter freely and defi-
nitely into the presence of the God of
faith. Grace is not opposed to the quest
for justice nor does it play it down; on
the contrary, it gives it its full meaning.
God’s love, like all true love, operates
in a world not of cause and effect but of
freedom and gratuitousness” (p. 87).
Definitely, this book is one work
of Gutierrez that is bound to become an-
other classic testimony to his pioneering
spirit as a scholar of and for liberation in
its fullest and truest sense. For those pas-
tors, Bible teachers, and lay leaders look-
ing for a way to understand and make
sense of the rather complex tapestry of
both the poetry and prose of Job, this is
one book you simply cannot afford to
miss. Surely, Gutierrez wrote this book
not just for his own people in Latin
America as target audience, for as Fili-
pinos, we can easily identify with the
very issues and concerns he is talking
about. For wherever or in whatever part
of the world there remains unjust suffer-
ing of the innocent and the poor, this
book will always have something defini-
tive to say as discerned from the book of
Job itself. We can, therefore, be thank-
ful enough for such a gift Gutierrez is
now sharing with the rest of the world,
especially, the third world church. SMM
Title:
“A New Christianity for A
New World”
By John Shelby Spong
Harper One: A Division of Harper Collins Publishers,
n.p.,2002
Reviewed by: Dr. Levi V. Oracion
I
f one finds Rick Warren’s two popu-
lar books, The Purpose Driven
Church and The Purpose Driven
Life too uncritical of the modern world
and too sanguine about the health of
Christianity, it would be best for him/her
to struggle with Bishop Spong’s A New
Christianity for a New World. It is the
same genre as John A. T. Robinson’s
Honest to God.
Bishop Spong known for taking
up the cause of the women, and gays and
lesbians in the life of the church, plunges
into another controversial territory and
shakes the intellectual foundations of the
traditional faith by arguing that theism,
which has been culturally bound up with
both the understanding and the practice
of faith, is neither an essential compo-
nent of the Christian faith nor a neces-
sary framework for its articulation.
The good bishop finds the basic
framework of traditional Christianity
quite irrelevant to the intellectual mind
set of the contemporary experience of
modern men and women and prognosti-
cates that such a hidebound embrace of
faith could only wither away and die if
the essential meaning of the Christian
faith is not articulated within the thoughts
August 2008, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 23
forms of the contemporary world.
Theism, argues Spong, is not
part of the biblical divine revelation;
rather it was a hypostatic seizure of forces
of nature that stood over against human
beings as they self-consciously experi-
enced the awesome powers they encoun-
tered in the natural world. Spong con-
cludes, “God, understood theistically, is
thus quite clearly a human
construct”(p.45).
Once upon a time, theism may
have provided a sense of security to the
world of Christianity when the belief that
no matter what happens to the believer
or to the world, he/she knows that God
is in control , and that whatever happens,
God will do what is the very best for all
God’s creatures. But, according o Bishop
Spong, such a cavalier affirmation of
faith in the theistic God is belied by both
real events in the world and by observ-
able forms of human behavior.
The latter, of course, is not a new
inasmuch as the classical critiques of
Christianity had earlier been made more
powerfully by Soren Kierkegaard in his
Attack on Christianity and by Friedrich
Nietzsche in his The Anti-Christ. As for
the former, we need only look at con-
temporary historical events- the Iraq and
Afghanistan War, the genocide that has
been happening in Darfur for a number
years now, the various act of terrorism
that take place on an almost daily basis
and the natural catastrophes that visit our
planet with alarming frequency- as well
as remember monumental horrors like
that of the holocaust and the elimination
of 30 million Russian peasants by Stalin.
 Where was God in all these evens?
Of course, there are biblical pas-
sages that quite clearly support the idea
if a theistic God that may have
emboldened theologians like Calvin to
propound a God who predestines every-
one to heaven or hell, or no matter who
they are or what they do. But Spong is
more responsive to the tender and more
humane elements in the Bible, so that he
speaks of God not as the all-powerful ab-
solute God who in the divine sovereign
will, shall bring all things into perfect
consummation; but more as friend who
invites us to travel through life in the total
trust in God’s care and tell us to aban-
don all our defenses and culturally con-
structed security systems. I think Spong
should offer as much more than what
amounts to pious talk, speak of a divine
human synergy where God’s action in
nature and history has to contend with
forces that operate independently of the
divine will, and where human participa-
tion in becomes a major force in bring-
ing the divine will into realization.
Spong’s book should generate
considerable excitement and move the
theologically minded to explore the new
veins of gold that he leads us to see. For
instance, he jettisons original sin for he
would rather stand in awe and marvel at
what human beings have achieved – great
works of Michelangelo, Mozart’s music,
massive and divine architecture, the sci-
entists work in probing the mysteries of
the human body; simply go against the
horrible notion of total human deprav-
ity. But no theologian has ever denied
that human beings are so fallen that they
24 • August 2008, Silliman Ministry Magazine
can be viewed almost as pure evil; yet
the locus from which they fell must also
be taken into account. The Pauline-
Augustinian understanding of the nature
of human beings is far more adequate in
grasping its depth and complexity. Why
God should go through all the trouble
that God did is quite incomprehensible
if the object of the divine action is purely
evil. There must be something of value
in fallen human beings that God should
come to their rescue; and “that something
of value” could be the source of great art
that fallen humanity has given rise to.
Besides, if the sin of human beings were
a mere trivia, God’s sacrifice on the cross
would appear supererogatory, to say the
least.
There are so many novel and exciting
ideas in Spong’s book. He wrestles with
the major realities of faith such as the
Incarnation and moves away from the
traditional divine-human union towards
Jesus’ realization of authentic humanity;
he no longer sees evangelism and mis-
sion in their former format but foresees
a genuine and honest coming together
of all faiths each sharing their vision of
what love, peace and justice is. It is re-
ally exciting to journey with the good
bishop as he seeks to transcend the ven-
erable boundaries of faith and dare to
walk in an open space where he can
breathe in authentic humanity wherever
it may issue forth. Bishop Spong envi-
sions an exciting human future. It sails
against the wind of the current “clash of
civilizations.” If we turn a deaf ear to
the wise counsels of this book, we do so
at our own peril. SMM
 S E R M O N

GREEN
CHRISTIAN VIRTUES
TODAY
Prof. Victor Aguilan
Biblical Texts: Ps. 147; John 6:1-15

T hanks be to God for this opportunity to share with you my reflection. As we prepare
ourselves let me share with you a prayer of John Calvin. Let us bow our head in prayer:
“Heavenly Father, in your son, Jesus Christ, are hidden all the treasures of wisdom
and knowledge. Enlighten our minds by your Holy Spirit and grant us that rever-
ence and humility, without which no one can understand your truth. Through the
same Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.”
The passage from the book of Psalm is familiar to us while the Gospel reading
reminds us of the feeding of the 5,000. I have chosen these two biblical passages in connec-
tion with our emphasis for today – RURAL LIFE.
According to United Nations Population Fund (2007) the world’s human population
is undergoing a transition from being largely rural to urban. By 2008, the global urban
population will be, for the first time in global history, greater than 50%. As such, urban
growth and accompanying changes with urbanization are increasingly being recognized as
one of the critical development issues of the 21st Century.
The issue that we will be facing this century is the relationship between urban and
rural communities. Today there is a perception that urbanization is bad for the rural commu-
nities. And that the relationship between these two, cities and the country sides, is antagonis-
tic, destructive and exploitative.
According to Peter Kareiva, chief scientist at The Nature Conservancy said “If we do
not learn to build, expand and design our cities with a respect for nature, we will have no
nature left anywhere.”
For our reflection today I would like to focus on the relationship between the urban/
city life and the rural life. As I re-read the passages the other night, it came to my attention
that the two biblical readings have something to share with us.
Let me begin with verse 2 of Ps. 147 which says “The LORD builds up Jerusalem; he
gathers the outcasts of Israel.”
The Lord builds up Jerusalem. Where is Jerusalem? It is on top of a mountain. It is the
city of David where Solomon constructed the temple. In other words, Jerusalem was a city
that God has established. The biblical truth is that the God of the Bible is the Sovereign Lord

August 2008, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 25

who builds cities and communities.
But is it a different city. Not like the city of men.
The city of men is a city of contrast and discrimination
The city of men is a city which exploits the poor, discriminates the weak and abuses
the vulnerable
The city of men is parasitic. It consumed without returning anything. It has an insa-
tiable greed for fuel, food, and other resources.
The city of men sucks out the wealth and resources of the country-sides. The city of
men has made mountain barren, dried up rivers and lakes, and strip the land empty of life.
The city of men has turn the countryside into a wasteland and a war zone
But the writer of Psalms 148 declares that God builds up Jerusalem. It is a city chosen
by God. It is a city of God and utterly different from the city of men.
The city of God is a city where outcasts find refuge and a sense of community
The city of God is a city where the brokenhearted and wounded find healing
It is a city that “he strengthens”, and guarantees blessings and prosperity to all dwellers
God’s city is a peaceful city, a place without wars, without violence and teeming with
life. The writer declares:
“12Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion! 13 For he strengthens
the bars of your gates; he blesses your sons within you. 14 He makes peace in your
borders; he fills you with the finest of the wheat.

God’s city is a city where there are abundant supplies.

God’s city is a city where mountains, hills, forests, rivers and animals are not ex-
ploited and abuse. Because the God who builds up Jerusalem, is also the God who sustains
creatures of the forest and makes the grass grows upon the hills.
To quote verses 8-9: “He covers the heavens with clouds, he prepares rain for the
earth, he makes grass grow upon the hills. He gives to the beasts their food, and to the young
ravens which cry.”
The writer of Ps. 148 declares that the God of the Israelites is the God of the whole
Creation. God is the master of the Universe. God is the God in the cities and in the country-
sides. So let us praise the LORD, city dwellers and rural folks.
I am a city person. But I long for the city of God. The various cities that I have visited
have failed to approximate the City of God. I have seen oppression, exploitations, abuse,
discrimination, opportunism and deceptions in the many cities I have visited.
To overcome this destructive and antagonistic relationship between the cities and the
rural communities, we need to learn to build, expand and design our cities with a respect for
nature. It is a greening of our cities.
Since it is located in the urban centers, seminaries can help through education and the
formation of character. This brings me to me Gospel reading John 6:1-15. The story of the

26 • August 2008, Silliman Ministry Magazine

feeding of the 5,000, I believe, has shown to us some of the virtues that we need to develop
for the greening of our cities. There are four significant virtues which the story reveals
namely: the virtue of justice, the virtue of pietism, the virtue of frugality and the virtue of
non-violence. Let us reflect on each virtue.
1. The virtue of justice. In the story, Jesus saw a multitude coming to him. He asked
his disciple Philip with an interesting question, “How are we to buy bread, so that these
people may eat?” The disciple answered him that it was an impossible task considering the
capital involved - that the 200 denarii would not be sufficient to buy enough bread. In the
synoptics, we read that the disciples protested. It would require a huge sum of money. What
they have was the five loaves and two fish!
But Jesus proved the disciples wrong. Feeding the people was not a mission impos-
sible. You do not need to rely solely on money or capital to be able to do something. The five
loaves and two fishes did not seem much. But Jesus took them. .. 5,000 people were fed. It
was a miracle. It was a sign from heaven.
In the hands of Jesus, little is always much. The disciples had forgotten what Jesus had taught
about God. Jesus taught that God cared deeply for the poor and the powerless. He not only taught it, he
enacted it. Jesus fed the poor and hungry and taught the disciples the practice of sharing with those in
need. Even with little money they could perform miracle if they only believed what Jesus believed.
Through the practice of justice, many “miracles” could be accomplished. This “miracle” begins when
there is a change of heart, from indifference to a heart that is just.
Here, Jesus shows to his disciples the virtue of justice. Justice today includes the just
distribution of the world’s goods and services, so that all humans have the essential material
conditions for human dignity. The ecological degradation aggravates economic deprivation.
And economic deprivation is major cause of ecological degradation. It is a vicious cycle.
Someone suggested that the solution to problem of hunger and scarcity of resources is by
simple living. Live simply so other may simply live.
At the Divinity School, how can we practice this virtue of justice? What little do you
have which you can share to the school so at the hands of the Divinity School your share can
accomplish a lot.
I believe that God has provided the Divinity with supplies to meet our needs. We have
the faculty members who are ever ready to share their knowledge. We have friends and
partners who continue to support our various programs. We have local churches that send
and support students and pastors for training. We have the University that can provide us
with the facilities that enhance learning. We have established networks and earned the good-
will of the larger community. We have what we need to build a sustainable formation center.
2. The virtue of pietism. Another virtue needed today is pietistic virtue. What is pietism? The
dictionary defines it as “reverence for God.” John Wesley calls these works of piety as spiritual
disciplines. These disciplines include prayers, worship, bible study and fasting.
Let us return to the text in John. The Gospel emphasizes this virtue of Jesus that before passing

August 2008, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 27

out the food Jesus gave thanks. His giving thanks is, in fact, a prominent part of the story. The Bible
tells us that after the five small loaves and two fish were given Him, Jesus “took the loaves, gave
thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted” (vs 11).
The act of giving thank to God is an act of prayer and worship. And it was character-
istic of Jesus to pray before doing anything. For Jesus is a person of prayer. Pietism is a habit
of acknowledging the God who gives us grace, and who sustains us with all our needs.
Pietism helps us acknowledge our absolute dependence on God.
Together as the gathered community at worship and in prayers we celebrate our life together
and affirm our identity as children of God and followers of Jesus.
Worship is the place where we can be transformed anew each week as we seek to
return from the struggles and vicissitudes of life in the world to restore our spiritual and
moral rooted-ness in the life of God. Worship is also a central place where we articulate our
fundamental beliefs and values. Therefore our love of God’s creation and our commitment
to care for God’s creation should play an integral role in our worship life.
3. The virtue of frugality. Connected with the virtue of pietism is the virtue of
frugality. Let us return to the story. Jesus instructed his disciples to “Gather up the frag-
ments left over, that nothing may be lost.” Why gather the left over? To gather is to show
respect and reverence to the gift of God. More so Jesus did not want the gift of God to go to
waste. It shows Jesus’ frugality.
Frugality connotes thrift, moderation, temperance, and efficiency. It is the anti-thesis
of the over-consumption, wastefulness, laziness and indifference to others need. Frugality is
the opposite of being a miser or dalo/madamot. We must be constantly watchful, especially
against becoming involved in a vain and excessive love of material possession like the rich
fool or rich man in the story of Lazarus. However today’s society encourages less saving,
more consumption, which is a characteristic of a consumerist society.
We have lost control of ourselves in the utilization of God’s earthly resources which is
one reason why we have this environmental crisis. We cut down more tree rather than plant-
ing. We over-fish the ocean.
At the Seminary, what gift or gifts of God do we need to gather so that nothing may be
lost? Do we conserve energy? Do we practice the three Rs of environmental ethics- RE-
DUCE, REUSE, and RECYCLE.
4. The virtue of peacemaking and non-violence. And finally there is a virtue that we need to
cultivate to help transform the city into a green city. This is the virtue of peace and non-violence.
After seeing the miracles the people thought Jesus was the Messiah. This fills the
people with excitement and tried to make Jesus king by force. Jesus had to leave them and
go into “hiding” (Jn 6:15). The masses wanted to a Messiah who could provide them of their
material needs They are all wrong. They all misunderstand the kind of Messiah Jesus is.
What kind of Messiah is Jesus? He is not a man of war; rather, He is a king of peace.
His kingdom or city is a city of peace. Jesus rejected violence because it begets violence.

28 • August 2008, Silliman Ministry Magazine

Killing begets killing. There is nothing good about violence. Today, one concrete manifesta-
tion is militarism. We have succumbed to the myth of redemptive violence, that violence can
settle our entire problem. We are attracted to the RAMBO solution or the Bush doctrine:
“Attack them now, ask questions later!”
Militarization must be rejected and denounced because it will not bring about just and
lasting peace. Militarization destroys democracy, civilian rule and violates human rights. It
siphons society’s resources which are needed for social services. It prevents genuine peace
talks with rebels and insurgent groups to settle armed conflicts. Militarization thrives on
fear, thus it perpetuates wars and conflicts.
To end violence and militarism, we begin by developing the virtue of peace which
Jesus has shown. I think Jesus would agree with Lao-Tse [born 604 BC], the first philoso-
pher of the Taoist school. Please allow me to quote his poem,
Peace
(from Tao Te Ching)
by Lao-Tse

If there is to be peace in the world,

there must be peace in the nations.
If there is to be peace in the nations,
there must be peace in the cities.
If there is to be peace in the cities,
there must be peace between neighbors.
If there is to be peace between neighbors,
there must be peace in the home.
If there is to be peace in the home,
there must be peace in the heart.
When we reject violence and embrace the virtue of peacemaking and non-violence,
we contribute to the greening of our cities.
There are many things which I could share. However these four virtues that I have
mentioned – justice, piety, frugality and peacemaking are green Christian virtues that we
need to practice regularly so that they become habits to help transform our cities into a green
city.
Let us pray. Look upon your people, dear God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Help us
see how much blessings we have received from you through your Seminary-the Divinity
School of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines. And move us from our compla-
cency and fill us with a deeper sense of who we are and our responsibilities as your chosen
people, as you church which you send to bear witness to the world, to do good in the midst
of evil and injustice, and to be your steward of creation. Here we are, Lord. Send us. Amen.
SMM

August 2008, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 29

 RESOURCES FOR
Advent & Christmastide
Waiting
God, so much of faith is waiting
Like a pregnant woman waiting in
hope
Like a people under siege, holding out
till relief comes
Like the soul lost in the darkness,
Unable to see even a glimmer of light
Yet stumbling through the night
because somewhere,
Out ahead, day will surely break
God, be with us in our waiting
(The Pattern of our Days, Kathy Galloway, ed.,
Wildgoose Publications, Glasgow, p.112)
After Psam 131
God, you love us with a tender love
Like Mary, holding her child gently in
her arms
Like Joseph, breaking with harsh
tradition
To stand by his beloved and her baby.
Still our restless hearts to rest in you
Knowing ourselves loved.
(The Pattern of our Days, Kathy Galloway, ed.,
Wildgoose Publications, Glasgow, p.112)
God of exiles, keep calling us home.
You know the yearning of our hearts.
You also know how easily we can lose
our way.
May this Advent season be a time of
coming home to the best of who we
are.
May our personal homecomings
influence all the earth.
30 • August 2008, Silliman Ministry Magazine
We walk this day with hopeful hearts,
Believing that your justice and com-
passion will bring comfort and
freedom
To all who are in exile. Amen.
-Joyce Rupp, May I Have This Dance?
( lifted from Let It Be Advent Meditations for Women,
Therese J. Borchard, ed., The Crossroad Pub.
Company, New York, p. 31)
O God:
Enlarge my heart that it may be big
enough to receive the greatness of
your love.
Stretch my heart that it may take into
it all those who with me around the
world believe in Jesus Christ.
Stretch it that it may take into it all
those who do not know him, but who
are my responsibility because I
know him.
And stretch it that it may take in all
those who are not lovely in my eyes,
And whose hands I do not want to
touch;
Through Jesus Christ, my Saviour,
Amen. (Luke 10.25-37)
-Prayer of an African Christian,
With All God’s People, WCC, 1989
(lifted from Bread of Tomorrow, Janet Morley, ed.,
SPCK Christian Aid, University Press, Cambridge,
UK, 1992, p. 27)
A Family Litany Of Penitence
Leader: As you have come near us in ac-
ceptance and forgiveness through Jesus
Christ our Lord, so ought we to seek out
each other in forgiveness and under-
standing, following your example. But
 too often we have failed and fallen short
of the responsibility we share as fami-
lies. (Silence)
All: For this we ask your forgiveness, and the
forgiveness of those near us we have hurt.
Children & Youth: As children we have too
often failed in our responsibilities toward
older people. We have gladly accepted
support and protection from them and
returned little but hostility and rudeness.
We have thought only of our own needs
and wants, and have been indifferent to
the needs and frailties of our parents,
quick to judge and harsh in condemna-
tion. (Silence)
All: For this we ask your forgiveness, and the
forgiveness of those near us we have hurt.
Parents & Elders: As those who are respon-
sible for the repetitive daily chores which
make a house a home, we are too often
resentful that expressions of gratitude
are rare, that we are taken for granted
by those who come and go. We too of-
ten devalue the simple yet crucial con-
tribution we make daily, and see our-
selves unimportant and of low esteem.
(Silence)
All: For this we ask your forgiveness, and
the forgiveness of those near us we have
hurt.
As members of human families, we
recognize our shortcomings and selfish
attitudes and ask your help in overcom-
ing them. Give us the strength to de-
mand from others the same respect and
care we attempt to give them, recogniz-
ing our mutual responsibility to each
other as members of families. We ask
for greater acceptance of each other and
deeper appreciation for the gifts we bring
each other. In Christ’s name and for his
sake. Amen. (Silence)
(lifted from the Book of Worship, UCC-USA, 1986)
August 2008, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 31
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 presents, or hang-
overs.
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 & Jan Sutch Pickard, Advent
Reading from IONA, Wild Goose Publications,
Glasgow, 2000.)
Leader: God calls us now in this Christ-
mas season to become new,
People: To make room for our own nativ-
ity, even where there is no room at the
inn.
Leader: Where we are busy –
People: Peace.
Leader: Where we are lost –
People: Salvation.
Leader: Where we are sad –
People: Joy.
Leader: Where we are bitter –
People: Love.
Leader: Let this hour be a time to hope for
all these gifts of God. Amen.
(Roger D. Straw, Flames of the Spirit. Ed. Ruth Duck.
The Pilgrim Press, Cleveland, Ohio, 1985, p. 19)
Leader: Tonight on Christmas Eve, we
kneel with families all over the earth in
the presence of the Most High.
People: The people who walked in dark-
ness have seen a great light; those
who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shined.
Leader: As we have been invaded by light,
let us enlighten.
People: As we have been found, let us
seek out the lost.
Leader: As we have been liberated, let us
set the captives free.
Unison: For to us a child is born, One
whom God sends to bring peace and
light, freedom and reconciliation.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
(Holly W. Whitcomb, Flames of the Spirit. Ed. Ruth
Duck. The Pilgrim Press, Cleveland,
Ohio, 1985, p. 20)
We are called to proclaim the truth…And
let us believe:
It is not true that this world and its people
are doomed to die and to be lost.
This is true: I have come that they
might have life in all its abundance.
32 • August 2008, Silliman Ministry Magazine
It is not true that we must accept inhuman-
ity and discrimination, hunger and poverty,
death and destruction.
This is true: the deaf hear, the dead are
raised to life, the poor are hearing the
good news.
It is not true that violence and hatred
should have the last word, and that war
and destruction have come to stay forever.
This is true: death shall be no more,
neither shall there be mourning nor
crying nor pain anymore.
It is not true that we are simply victims of
the powers of evil who seek to rule the
world.
This is true: the Lord whom we seek
will suddenly come to his temple; and
he is like a refiner’s fire.
It is not true that our dreams of liberations,
of human dignity, are not meant for this
earth and for this history.
This is true: it is already time for us to
wake from sleep. For the night is far
gone, the day is at hand.
-Allan Boesak, South Africa,
Adapted from an address to the WCC, 1983.
(lifted from Bread of Tomorrow, Janet Morley, ed.,
SPCK Christian Aid, University Press, Cambridge,
UK, 1992, p. 31)
Birth
To wait
To endure
To be vulnerable
To accept
To be of good courage
To go on
Day after day after day;
To be heavy with hope
To carry the weight of the future
To anticipate with joy
 To withdraw with fear
Until the pain overcomes
The waters break
And the light of the world
Is crowned.
Then the travail is over
Joy has overcome.
Lord of heaven and earth,
Crowned with blood
At your birth,
Delivered with pain,
Bring new hope to birth
In your waiting world
Bring fresh joy
To those who weep.
Be present
In all our dyings and birthings.
(The Pattern of our Days, Kathy Galloway, ed.,
Wildgoose Publications, Glasgow, p. 128)
Light of the World: you gave us the
transforming birth of the child Jesus as a light
for our path. Yet we confess that we shut
our eyes to the light. We admit that we do
not want to see the gift you have given us.
We acknowledge our reluctance to see and
share our gifts with our sisters and brothers.
We are often dazzled by the glitter and tin-
sel the world has made of Christ’s birth. We
ask that your Spirit be lit within us, that we
may share your gifts of peace and justice
with all people. We seek to receive, and
return the gift of Christ’s birth and death,
again and again. Amen.
(Rebecca Ferguson & Ruth Duck,
Flames of the Spirit. Ed. Ruth Duck. The Pilgrim
Press, Cleveland, Ohio, 1985, p. 21)
Doxology for Christmas
Praise God whose dawn transfigures night,
Whose Daystar shines for us on high,
Whose Spirit brings into our sight
The hope which to our world draws nigh.
Amen.
August 2008, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 33
Come, Christ Jesus, be our guest, and
may our lives by you be blest.
Come, God-with-us, and free us from the
false claims of the empires of this
world.
We are lonely for you and your peace.
Come, Emmanuel, and dwell with us,
make us your people indeed,
The people through whom you bring love
and justice to the world.
Come, Jesus, and reign; Claim your
rightful place in our hearts
And in the midst of our community. Plant
the seeds of hope among us.
Establish God’s reign on earth.
For we pray as you taught us that God’s
reign might come in fullness on earth.
(All pray the Prayer of Our Saviour)
(Ruth C. Duck, Flames of the Spirit. Ed. Ruth Duck.
The Pilgrim Press, Cleveland, Ohio, 1985, p. 14)
A Paraphrase of Christ’s Prayer
O God of Sky and Earth
May we reverence your presence
Both within us and beyond.
As we eat may we live your Way of pil-
grimage.
The Way of compassionate sharing.
Help us to be forgiving, forgiving of others,
forgiving of ourselves.
Liberate us from guilt -
That learning from our mistakes,
We may move beyond self-centeredness to
that depth of being
In which we are one with all things
This is the Way of love, peace and justice.
For the Earth, for human beings and for all
living creatures
Both now and forever. Amen.
(In the Circle of Faith Worship Resource Book, Lilibeth
N. Puyot, ed., a Publication of the Asian Institute for
Liturgy and Music, Q.C., Phils. p.56)
FP aculty
rofiles

A Father Speaks: Prof. Victor Aguilan

by Gideon Gunda, M.Div. Middler

H
e is strict.” This remark is usually heard among fathers, for being so stiff when it
comes to discipline of his children, be it on observing curfew hours or just doing
household chores. But no, I am not speaking of a father having in control with his
family affairs rather I am speaking of Prof. Victor Aguilan. “Strict” is the unanimous identity
of Sir Aguilan, as he is popularly addressed, among students. As a matter of fact, one of my
classmates used to say “mangurog nako kung magsugod na ang klase ni Sir Aguilan” (I
would tremble whenever our class with Sir Aguilan starts). Another of my classmate even
shared that he could hardly cope with our subject on him and that he could not survive Sir
Aguilan.
On his regular morning routine walk with his dogs I came to know more of Sir
Aguilan. He grew up in Batangas, but he was born in Lucena, Quezon Province, and born
to a church worker’s family. His father was an ordained minister while his mother was a
Bible Woman. His family was only an extension of a clan whose life was rooted in the
service to God. As to the present, their clan has ten ordained ministers and at most ten
deacons. In order to be faithful to the family tradition, and to have an ordained minister in
their family, his sister, Gailry, decided to be ordained after he decided to refuse to the call
for ordination.
He became part of Silliman University when he became a student of the Divinity
School on his Masters of Divinity program just a year after his family transferred to Dumaguete
in 1983. Six months later, they transferred to the Divinity School Village. Though a family
man, he never was alienated to the struggles of the students during his time. Like an
ordinary student he also struggled financially. There was a time when they accepted board-
ers in their unit to augment their financial condition. In one occasion at the chapel I even
overheard him and Prof. Lope Robin reminisce their experience in the village, how they
cooked San Francisco leaves as vegetable. While at the village he observed in dismay the
laxity of the students in the use of their time. He was trying to express his attitude towards
studies, giving much time reading a lot of books.
Little is said of his pastoral work. With no intention of taking the teaching ministry
as a lifetime service and with the condition that he will serve a local church nearby Dumaguete,
he received the teaching offer of the SU College of Arts and Sciences, in the Philosophy and
Religious Department 1990. He became part of the DS Koinonia in 1993, and formally
started teaching at the DS in 1995.

34 • August 2008, Silliman Ministry Magazine

 “I don’t know where that comment of ‘strictness’ is coming from,” Sir Aguilan muses.
I cannot provide specific answer to the question. But let me quote him as he discussed in
our ethics class regarding the behavior children at home, “Kung ako yan, disciplinarian ko,
aha!...” He was referring to giving punishments to children. Yet, in the end he said, “…a
parent’s love. I don’t know if a parent would throw a child after (every) mistakes.” SMM

The God of Music

in Ma’am Jeans Life
By Marnie Vega

How good it is to sing praises to our God

How delightful and how right!
Psalms 147:1

A
fter six years of untiring service and dedication to her work as music instructor,
choral trainer, also as music and movement workshop facilitator in the Divinity School,
the time has come for us to acknowledge our very own multi-talented mentor behind
UGKAT, Miss Jean Cuanan Nalam.
I went through a nightlong difficulty of visualizing a perfect view that would capture
the essentiality of music in Ma’am Jean’s life. I gained confidence in the idea of featuring
God as the source of music. “Music cannot be expressed in words but indeed a concrete
manifestation that God exists.” Quoting this statement from Ma’am Jean herself stirs up my
motivation to stick to the idea. Recalling my first acquaintance with Ma’am Jean led me to
the Chapel of Evangel. I came in to attend the Sunday worship service while she was
playing the piano for the introit. The melody she was creating indeed inspired me to bow my
head for a prayer. Overwhelmed with the solemnity of the melody I uttered thanks to God
for the music. It was my first time to attend Chapel service in the Divinity School and I was
so much impressed with her ability to lead the congregation to worshiping God. Her seem-
ingly perfect choice of hymns and songs in fact caused me to wish that I could also have the
same talent.
When I interviewed Ma’am Jean, I learned that she really had this inborn talent in
music. She told me that according to her mother she would respond to any sound created
outside while she was still in her mother’s womb. It was not surprising to them since both of
her parents have special gift and interest in music, in fact her parents yearns for a musician
in the family. When she was growing up, however, she displayed particular interest in teach-
ing. Her mother who is both a teacher and a musician kept her on tract in balancing both.
From her resume I peeked at the office, Ma’am Jean as she is fondly known to
students earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in music from Silliman University as

August 2008, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 35

a Music Education Major. She finished her bachelor’s degree in 1996
where she graduated Cum Laude. Her impressive credentials
helped a lot in immediate acceptance into the teaching force
of Silliman University elementary level. While teaching she
managed to have enrolled and completed her Master’s degree
in the same field in 2002. God’s leading has been explicitly
manifested in the life of Ma’am Jean as opportunity opened
for her to transfer from elementary into being a faculty mem-
ber in the Divinity School immediately after completing her
Master’s degree.
At the Divinity, School, she took the role and function of a
music director as she has been in the elementary. She had
been directing the Musical Theatrical Productions produced
by the Divinity school since 2000-2006. She is also the
composer and arranger of most of the songs performed
in many different shows like Embudo, Kalandrakas,
Lawig, Bahaghari, Butil and many others. She served as
resource person and facilitator of music and movement
workshop to various choral groups like the Psalmist Choir
and Singing Society of Bislig City Surigao del Sur,
Musiklesia of Matina-ao,Surigao del Norte, and La
Fortuna of Agusan del Sur.
At the present, she is the brilliant musical director behind UGKAT, an Instrumental
Cultural Group of the Divinity School performing within and outside of Silliman University. It
had performed various concerts in places like Bukidnon, Davao City, Maasin Leyte and
other places in Mindanao.
The most outstanding aspect of her music ministry as she expressed and I summa-
rized includes the following: First, she convey an encouraging spirit to any student who
showed interest in music. According to her it is more challenging to teach students who do
not yet have a theoretical background in music.
Secondly, her character as a musician connotes perfection. According to her, the beauty and
harmony of music, lies in the mastery of its elements. Such mastery is always associated with right
attitude and discipline, an attitude that requires sensitivity and commitment.
Thirdly music must be attributed to God, as music is a gift from God. She said let
music be an expression of freedom and worship, let it be full of color and surprising melo-
dies, and let it be our humble offering to God the maker of music who deserved far more
glory that the music itself.
Finally Ma’am Jean associated her life with music as shown in her openness for
growth and changes. She has no fixed plans in life in fact she loves surprises. According to
her music is boring when you already know what is the next note coming, in the same way
that she is bored with life of specific paradigms. SMM

36 • August 2008, Silliman Ministry Magazine

 “Doing All Things”
BY REV. DENNIS SOLON
Text: Philippians 4:13
T
he writing of this brief study was in
spired by the recently held Christian
Life Emphasis Week at Silliman Uni-
versity. The theme was “In Christ, We Can,”
based on apostle Paul’s very familiar affir-
mation in his letter to the Philippians, “I can
do all things, through the One who keeps em-
powering me” (my own translation). This
essay will explore the meaning of such an
affirmation in light of his letter (especially
focusing on 4:4-13) and his personal circum-
stances. It argues that Paul here affirms his
concrete devotion to Christ and unfeigned
commitment to the cause of Christ’s gospel.
Occasion of the Letter
Philippians is one of the undisputed
letters of Paul. The opening verse tells us
about it (1:1). This letter was written during
Paul’s imprisonment. Historical critics sug-
gest that the letter was written in 55 C.E.
Unfortunately, Paul does not hint at the venue
of his imprisonment. For sure, the Philippian
Christians knew everything about his impris-
onment. Although this puzzle is left to mod-
ern readers, imprisonment in Ephesus would
be plausible. This is in view of the proximity
of Philippi from Ephesus. The writing was
situated during the time of the Roman em-
peror Nero, who began his reign in 54 C.E.
August 2008, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 37
1
Nero was probably the cruelest emperor in
the history of Rome. During his reign perse-
cutions of Christians took place, though prob-
ably localized in the vicinity of Rome, espe-
cially after the fire that ravaged the city in
64 C.E. Thus, Paul was imprisoned and fi-
nally executed under Nero’s clout.
Why was Paul imprisoned?
The letter itself tells us of the primary
reason for his imprisonment. In 1:13 Paul
says, “it has become known throughout the
whole imperial guard and to everyone else
that my imprisonment is for Christ (NRSV,
emphasis added).” This is to say, in other
words, that Paul was imprisoned because of
Christ or for the sake of him. Two things can
then be ask: What is the meaning of Christ
and his figure within the Roman imperial
order? What are Paul’s activities (words and
deeds) that approximate Christ’s way?
The term Christ comes from the Greek
word Christos (Heb. Mashiach, “Messiah”),
meaning, “anointed one.” This Anointed One
refers to a special figure who would play a
special role in the last days. Paul uses the
term in reference to Jesus (see Phi 2:1-11).
The gospels tell us of Jesus’ life as a
Mashiach. His life was marked with solidar-
ity and protest. He ministered to the outcast,
sinners, the sick, the women and children.
He opposed the perpetrators of injustice and
corruption. In short, Jesus went about preach-
ing the good news for the poor, working for
their liberation from all sorts of bondage. His
risky life found its way to the cross.
Paul’s ministry defended and con-
firmed the gospel (good news) of Jesus Christ
(1:7). Such a gospel renders everyone equal,
regardless of social status, race, or gender
(Gal 3:28). He taught and promoted the shar-
ing of resources. He formed churches (Grk.
ekklesia) that seek to embody the message
of the gospel of Jesus Christ. These gather-
ings may be called Christ-communities or
messianic communities as these gatherings
single-mindedly commit to follow the cause
of Christ. Members of these gatherings call
their ultimate master or teacher, Jesus the
Christ, as “LORD.”
How are these communities (churches)
seen in relation to the Roman Empire? What
they do clearly manifest a counter-culture.
The empire was marked by cultures of hier-
archy, patron-client system, slavery, and
honor and shame. The empire was a world
of the privileged alone. They adored as
LORD the most honorable of all: Caesar, their
emperor.
Paul’s ministry and the life of the
Christian believers can explain clearly the
ground for his imprisonment. As Christian
identity was a political stance, Paul’s impris-
onment was also political. Some commenta-
tors either dismiss the political nuances of
Paul’s imprisonment or avoid discussing it.
For instance, G. Hawthorne argues that Paul’s
imprisonment is not political, “but simply
because he is a Christian.”2 R. Mellick’s read-
ing only seems to convey that Paul’s Chris-
tian identity is evident in his imprisonment
(NAC, 71).3 M. Bockmuehl refers to Paul’s
38 • August 2008, Silliman Ministry Magazine
imprisonment as a buffer for the gospel to
reach “the very heart of secular political
power,” although silently avoiding the po-
litical undertones of Paul’s imprisonment.4
His message in Phi 4 talks about the
virtues of a community that embodies the
“Christ culture.” Paul speaks of rejoicing and
maintaining a gentle spirit even in times of
adversities since the Lord (Jesus, not Cae-
sar) is near. He exhorts the Philippian Christ-
believers not to worry about anything (even
death), but to pray and thank God. He as-
sures of God’s peace (not Caesar’s peace)
that will guard their thoughts and actions in
the context of Christ’s culture. Caesar’s
peace, properly called “Pax Romana,” is
deemed by critics as Roman propaganda, a
mask of corruption and oppression. As War-
ren Carter puts it,
The cry of ‘peace’ masks the strate-
gies and structures of empire. It cov-
ers over the military basis for Rome’s
rule. It disguises the fundamental in-
equities in the Roman system that ex-
ists for the economic benefit of the
elite. It lays a veneer over the
bloodsheed and human misery expe-
rienced by the vast majority of the
empire’s subjects, those whose eco-
nomic activity sustains the lifestyle of
the elite.5
Paul challenges them to think of truth,
honor (not based on heirarchy), justice, pu-
rity, what is pleasing, commendable, excel-
lent, and worthy of praise before the Mes-
siah (not before Caesar). They are asked to
keep on doing these things, again even in the
midst of death-threatening oppositions and
adversities, for the God of peace (not the
Caesar of unpeace) is with them.
 Before acknowledging their gifts and
affirming the good will of his readers Paul
briefly expresses his personal affirmation in
4:13. The Greek word ischuo can be trans-
lated in many ways. It can mean to be in
one’s powers, in good health, to be compe-
tent, to have power, to be mighty, or to be
able.6 The meaning of panta in this verse
can help one in deciding for a more appro-
priate rendering of ischuo. The usual English
translation of panta (“all things”) is clear. But
what are these things?
The things Paul can do may refer well
to his circumstances and his expressions in
the letter up to this point in 4:13. In the midst
of his imprisonment, he can greet his
readers grace and peace from God and Jesus
the Messiah (1:2). He can pray good things
for his readers (1:9). He can treat his impris-
onment as an advantage (1:12). He can speak
with all boldness, even if it risks his life
(1:20). Taking this letter as anti-imperial, one
can say that Paul is indeed bold in pronounc-
ing God’s judgment to the oppressors (see,
for example, 3:2; 3:18-19). Furthermore, Paul
can still be glad and joyful even if poured
out as a libation (2:1, probably an allusion
to martyrdom). He can afford to lose every-
thing for the sake of Christ and share his suf-
ferings (3:8-10).
Paul’s many hortatory words to the
Philippian Christians clearly apply to him-
self. In 3:17, Paul enjoins them to imitate
him; such that the virtues he challenges them
to inculcate are those he himself lives out
(see also 1 Cor 11:1). So, his exhortations in
4:4-9 can as well add to the list of what he
can do in contexts of both favorable and un-
favorable circumstances. Among these, he
can rejoice in the Lord always. He can think
August 2008, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 39
of justice, purity, excellence, and actualize
them in his life.
All of those above Paul can do only in
the context of the One who keeps on strength-
ening him. Some Greek manuscripts add
Christ at the end of 4:13. Whether it is the
original wording of Paul, the addition speaks
rightly of what Paul has in mind. Elsewhere
in his letters, Paul mentions Christ as the
source of his strength (e.g., 2 Cor 12:9-10;
Col 1:28-29; 1 Tim 1:12).
The Greek phrase en to
endounamounti me may be translated in two
ways. Using the dative of instrument, it can
mean “through the one who strengthens me.”
Conversely, if en is read as a dative of loca-
tion, the phrase will “in the one who strength-
ens me.” Both are possible readings. While
Paul is convinced that the source of his abil-
ity is Christ, all his doings are to be done in
Christ’s context. The source of power
(dunamis), then, is not detached from the
power that is given. Paul impresses here that
everything he does and is able to do must
embody the cause of Christ.
Conclusion
I have argued in this short essay that
Paul’s personal statement in 4:13 shows much
of his devotion and loyalty to Christ. He as-
cribes to Christ all his ability to do and en-
dure all things. Similarly, what he does is all
within and for the sake of Christ. In a con-
text of political disorder such is a model of
courage that is worth emulating for today’s
Christians. Yet, there are many ways in which
Christians misappropriate Philippians 4:13.
Some use it as a biblical backing for their
political agenda. They wage war in the name
of Christ and his gospel. Still others use such
Christ-endowed power in exploiting or Further exploration of this verse would
marginalizing others. One challenge that the be on Paul’s treatment of self-sufficiency
text posts is that of ascribing to Christ any vis-à-vis the stoic understanding and
power or capacity to move and live on ac- lifestyle. Another would be on how the
count of Christ. After all, the gift of power verse informs ecumenical framework for
or ability is not detached from the giver. mission and evangelism.
1
The author would like to thank Dr. Robinson Rajagukguk who first read the draft and provided helpful comments.
2
Gerald F. Hawthorne, Word Biblical Commentary: Philippians (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1983), 34.
3
Richard R. Melick, Philippians, Colissians, Philemon (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1991), 71.
4
Marcus Bockmuehl, The Epistle to the Philippians (U.S.A.: Hendrickson Publishers, 1998), 75.
5
Warren Carter, Matthew and Empire: Initial Explorations (Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International, 2001), 32.
6
BAGD, “ischuo,” 383.

DSSA News
DSSA elects new officers
THE DIVINITY SCHOOL STUDENTS ASSOCIATION (DSSA) has elected a new set of officers for
SY 2008-2009.
The newly-elected officers are:
Gideon Gunda - Middler (President)
Arnie Tejo - Senior (Vice President)
Sarah Jean Cuyag - Sophie (Secretary)
Antonino Baconga - Senior (Treasurer)
Lalaine Sanchez - Middler (Auditor)
Arnil Leyson - Junior (PRO)
Lucy Talha - Senior (PRO)
Wella Hoyle - Middler (SUSG Rep.)
Mark Sending - Senior (SUSG Rep.)
Held on July 3 at the Chapel of the Evangel, the election was a successful wherein
rights were properly exercised by each student. Each one had expressed their freedom to
choose or to elect the responsible and trustworthy students for the organization.
The officers were officially installed together with class presidents and committee
chairpersons during a ceremony on July 11 at the DS Koinonia Friday Service.
The DSSA officers are making workable plans that would cater to the essential
needs of every student and projecting activities that would embrace the spirit of comrade-
ship among DS and non-DS students as well as programs that would beef up the organization’s
financial resources.
The officers and members of the DSSA are hoping that the with the encouragement
and support of the DS Faculty and Staff, the programs and activities of the organization will
all be achievable and meaningful for everyone.

40 • August 2008, Silliman Ministry Magazine

 Divinity School in action… (Koinonia News)

Neu Family visits DS

by Wella L. Hoyle

DS remembers
Devorah Solidarios
IT WAS A HEART-WARMING VISIT by a DS former profes- THE KOINONIA was deeply
sor, Dr. Rainer Neu,his wife Marie Paule and their four saddened by the passing
children last July 18 and 25. away of Devorah Solidarios
Dr. Neu taught New Testament, Church History last July 11, 2008. She was
and Introduction to Religion from SY 1992-96. On the supposed to be an incoming
senior. A very touching trib-
other hand, Mrs. Neu taught Special Arts at the Divin-
ute and memorial service was
ity School. The mural at the Rodriguez Hall was painted held on July 13, 2008 at the
by her class. Chapel of Evangel which
The family of Dr. Neu also helped students by was led by Devorah’s class-
providing scholarships not only in the Divinity School mates, the Seniors. The
but also to other Colleges in the University. Two of Koinonia expressed their
their scholars at the DS are Klariza Grace Lugo condolences to he beloved
(Middler) and Lyndon Castillano (Junior). • family. •

SU celebrates University Christian Life Emphasis Week

“I N C HRIST , W E C AN ”
(Philippians 4:13), this is the
theme of the University
Christian Life Emphasis
Week (UCLEW) celebration,
on July 13-19, 2008, as part
of the Silliman University’s
activities for the school year.
The Divinity School,
through some faculty mem-
bers, the DS Senior Class and
a few other students took the
lead. Dr. Robinson
Radjagukguk, Pastor Jane
Ella Montenegro and Prof.
Carlton Palm prepared the
Bible Study materials. Dr.
Noriel Capulong was the Some DS students led
speaker during the Faculty the Galilean Fellowship as co-
and Staff convocation. facilitators and song leaders. •
DS Koinonia Retreat
ON JUNE 28, 2008, the Divinity School held its retreat at
the McKinley Hall, (for the first time after many years as
the retreats were usually held off-campus). It was led by
Pastor Jane Ella Montenegro, head of the Spiritual For-
mation Committee.
The activities provided each participant an oppor-
tunity to reflect and learn more about the self and a little
more deeply, about fellow members of the Koinonia.
During the fellowship meal, native food and herbal
drink was served - it was healthful and truly invigorat-
ing. •

August 2008, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 41

 LITERARY / MUSINGS IN RHYTHMS and VERSE
IN UNION
WITH CHRIST
Rev. Reuel Norman O Marigza
We are fellow citizens
Of the Kingdom of our God,
A place where justice fully reigns
And peace makes our hearts truly glad.
We’re members of the household,
Members of God’s family
Where love and care, like precious gold
Are treasured with deep harmony
Having found the love expressed
By sisters, brothers in the Lord
We’re called to go to those distressed
From the neighborhood to the world.
We are in union with Christ
Who prayed that all of us be one,
Bound together in the spirit
Working till God’s will is done
In and through the neighborhood
We witness and take our stand
Till what is done is common good
In the world and in our land.
________
Written during the United Church Workers
Organization (UCWO) 1st General assembly on
July 16, 2008 at the National City United
Church
42 • August 2008, Silliman Ministry Magazine
Ambi
By Dr. Samuel B. Gregorio, CLP
[Last issue we published Dr. Sam Gregorio’s
Ambi #1-7. An ambi has 7 lines, with 7
syllables per line, with the 7th syllables rhym-
ing with the rest of the 7th syllables of each
line]
Ambi #8
Mayas ask while they recall:
Whose poetry, who’s the soul?
When is poetry of the soul?
Deep brown mayas know it all:
As poetry before the fall,
Love is the music of the soul
With simple words that touches all
Ambi #9
The bottle sighed to the glass
We both are vessels, alas,
A panacea of glass.
Whatever we get, we pass.
We pass for other’s repast.
Others decide where we pass
Seemingly a sad impasse.

Ambi # 10
The bright red shirt has turned pink.
“It’s useless now,” some would think.
“It’s faded and, perhaps, stinks.”
Though time flew by like a wink,
Through seasons, it did not shrink.
As justice to peace must link
With love’s indelible ink.
(Dedicated to Justice Venancio Aldecoa Jr.,
in celebration of his 82nd birthday o March 11,
2008)
Ambi #11
Watch the Maya recycle
Glass blades for a miracle.
A song of nature’s cycle
With notes that gently trickle,
Like a sand without a wrinkle,
Held fast by simple spittle
Imaginations tickle
Ambi #12
Listen to morning birdcalls.
Melodious, they rise and fall.
They echo from wall to wall,
Beyond grass blades, short and tall,
A sweet song conveyed to all.
August 2008, Silliman Ministry Magazine • 43
How beautiful the bird’s role
To touch our hearts through birdcalls.
(Written for Rev. Hidita Villas on her comple-
tion of service at Silliman University Church
Text: Psalm 84:3)
Ambi # 13
The rice yields, as before,
A bounty of grain and more.
How shall we harvest and store
God’s blessings from shore to shore?
Come, sing of a classic lore:
The living fields of color
Are surely worth living for.
(Written for Rev. Callum Tabada on his comple-
tion of service at Silliman University Church
Text: Matt. 9: 37-38)
Ambi #14
The sulô on moonless nights
Draw eager fish to the light,
As light draws youth to the right,
The right derived from God’s might.
Like candle glow in the night,
It yields itself to shed light.
Indeed, a wonderful sight.
(Written for Rev. Haniel Taganas on his
completion of service at Silliman University
Church
Text: 49:6b)
 PRINTED MATTER

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SILLIMAN MINISTRY MAGAZINE
Silliman Ministry Magazine
Mailing Address:
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Dumaguete City, 6200 Negros Oriental
Phone/Fax: (035) 225-7541
(035) 422-6002 local 540-541
Divinity School E-mail address:
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The Silliman Ministry Magazine is a

publication of the Divinity School. It comes
out three times a year in the months of
August, December and March.

EDITORIAL BOARD
Magnolia Nova Mendoza
Reuel Norman O. Marigza
Dennis Solon

Editor
Reuel Norman O. Marigza

Managing Editor
Magnolia Nova Mendoza

Layout Artist
Callum R. Tabada

The SMM welcomes articles, contributions, and

feedback from readers. It will help us tremen-
dously if said items would be directly e-mailed
to us. Manuscript intended for publication must
be accompanied with a 2” x 2” or a passport
size picture of the author. SMM reserves the
right to edit materials that it prints.
POSTAGE

Opinions and ideas expressed in this publica-

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tion belong to the individual authors and do not

necessarily reflect the official position of the
Divinity School.

44 • August 2008, Silliman Ministry Magazine