https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12852/1639 2026-04-06T14:23:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12852/2311 A mission history of the Philippine Baptist churches 1898-1998 from a Philippine perspective Bunda, Nestor D. In 1963 Dr. Agustin E. Masa, former General Secretary and President of the Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches (CPBC), in his nine-page <em>Outline History of the Baptists in the Philippines</em>, had endeavored "to set in writing the history of the Baptists in the Philippines" as a response to a "popular request". He emphasized that "without such organized written account of the activities of various Baptist groups in the country, there will be no basis for objective investigation of such activities or no way to assess their advances or lapses." In a way, history serves as a basis to understand and transform the present and a guide to plan for the future. Meditating on religion, politics and social transformation, Philippine Baptist scholar Dr. Lester Edwin J. Ruiz pointed out that "memory, narrative, and vision are decisive for transformation inasmuch as they mediate the possibilities of the 'fundamentally new and better. Without dreams - indeed, without the capacity to dream - the future is closed; without memory we are cut adrift in the present without any guiding stars to show the way; and without narrative - or the capacity to tell and re-tell our past and future - there is no possibility for meaning. Taken as a triadix structure, past, present, and future provides the context for human: life." The American Baptist missionaries were not unaware of the need to write history. In 1966 Elizabeth Chambers, librarian of the Baptist-owned Central Philippine University, was one of the participants in an Asian-wide conference on theological education attended by Asian church leaders involved in education, together with some theological school leaders from the United States. In that conference, Missionary Russell Brown affirmed that Chambers acknowledged that there are no historical materials available to help the Philippine people to know about their religious origins. Chambers stressed the importance for Protestant denominations to have a sense of their own beginnings in the Philippines and Brown requested the missionaries „to give serious thought to the possibility of the preparation of a Baptist Church History for the Philippines.” Not before 1976, however, the delegates to the annual assembly of Philippine Baptist churches had resolved to write a Philippine Baptist history. In succeeding years a number of committees were commissioned to do research and to come out with a written history. In June 1981 another committee was created to facilitate a Baptist historiography. That committee wrote a project proposal, "Historical Education and Research (HEAR)", to come out with a book on the history of the Philippine Baptist Churches. With a budget of 219,000 pesos it was expected to launch the book in 1985.4 In 1984, Dr. Domingo J. Diel, Jr., then CPBC General Secretary, announced that the CPBC would "come out with a Baptist primer, compilation of selected sermons, and selected biographies of selected Baptist pastors." The need to write a history cropped up again in 1990. During the 55th CPBC annual assembly, the delegates made two important recommendations: first, that "the Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches asks the Central Philippine University College of Theology to include in its curriculum a subject of theology in the Philippine context." Second, that "the Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches should encourage Filipino Baptist theologians to write books or Baptist Primer taking into account the Philippine setting and culture." Those endeavors, although they were not realized, could be regarded as efforts of Baptists to recognize the need to write a history. This study is an attempt to partly fill in that need. Author's dissertation -- Universität Hamburg, 1999 Preliminary pages available Full text available on request 1999-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12852/1866 Managing faith resources Bunda, Nestor D.; Faulan, Rea Angelica D.; Jalando-on, Francis Neil G.; Narciso, Jerson B. This volume, Managing Faith Resources, offers a variety of published and unpublished works mostly coming from the CBMA membership. Most of these theological resources are not yet disseminated to the CBMA members. Moreover, there are some more theological resources coming from other CBMA members, Baptist churches and institutions, which are not included in this volume. Thus, to a greater extent the CBMA has a reservoir of faith and theology resources. This volume, therefore, attempts to disseminate the Convention Baptist’s intellectual and theological “properties” to members of CBMA, local churches and the society in general. Hopefully, responses or critique from the readers could be obtained leading to the recovery of more “hidden wealth and resources” of the Philippine Baptist churches. It is hoped that these resources could assist in strengthening unity, in broadening and deepening awareness, in sharpening skills, in deepening faith and commitment and enriching good values and attitudes of the CBMA members and the readers in the service of God in Jesus Christ through varied ministries. When these happen, then CBMA members maybe more willing to actively participate in resolving their basic problems as well as the problems of the church and society. The contents of this volume are divided into five sections which also follow the topics to be discussed during the CBMA 2003 Assembly. Chapter I is about our history, situation and ethics as basis of managing faith resources (for more information about our history we refer you to the volume Faith and Challenges Learn to be Qualified, Agriam, et al, 2002). Chapter II deals with the basis of managing our faith resources and the importance of developing our leadership commitment and skills in multiplying, preserving and appropriating our Godgiven resources. Chapter III deals with managing our Christian mission and evangelism. It tries to interpret the mission of Jesus in the context of our situation and some experiences. Chapter IV is about managing our ecumenical relations and community service. It explains some theories and experiences in developing communities and relating to other groups in the society working for peace and justice. Chapter V deals with managing Christian education and worship. It attempts to portray some of our resources in theological education and worship as Baptist Christians. What is “unique” in this volume are its sources, which come from some of the “biographies” and “bibliographies” of our own pastors and theologians from the 1930s to the present. Full text Book 2003-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12852/1865 Revisiting faith resources Bunda, Nestor D.; Jalando-on, Francis Neil G.; Narciso, Jerson B. This volume serves as a guide for the CBMA 61st Annual Assembly. This is a new and big breakthrough in the life of our association. We hope that this will serve as a reference for pastors in their ministry; and as a challenge to succeeding leaders of our provincial and national ministerial associations to document and preserve their significant experiences, testimonies and theological reflections. Full text Book 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12852/1864 A moving faith: Life and ministry of Pastor Rodolfo Palmerola Acosta Bunda, Nestor D.; Faulan, Rea Angelica D. ""A Moving Faith" appropriately describes the life and ministry of Pastor Acosta. His is a faith and life that not only ―move mountains, but move and touch the hearts of people who have encountered him, listened to his sermons and teachings, and been at the receiving end of his generosity and kindness. The life of Pastor Acosta has continually affirmed what Jesus has so desired for us - abundant life. This book is an honest witness to the invaluable contribution of Pastor Acosta to the lives of many people, the College of Theology of Central Philippine University, the Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches, and the Christian church and ministry, in general. Having been one of the students, and now co-worker of Pastor Acosta in the College of Theology, I can attest that definitely Pastor Acosta is (to borrow some of the words of the writers in this book) ―a pebble dropped into a calm lake, causing ripples in the lives of many; devoted teacher; a profound and thought-provoking preacher; a dedicated and conscientious pastor; a loyal friend; a creative composer and singer. The list goes on, but only one thing is clear: the life that Pastor Acosta lives is so moving and touching that it is worth emulating and honoring. This is one of the reasons for this book project. This is to honor the man who has brought joy, blessings, wisdom, love and even pain to many of us, and who has touched and challenged us to live a life worthy of God‘s calling. Moreover, this book aims to share wisdom and stories that will equip, encourage and inspire many to continue their own journey of faith." from the Preface 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z