The level of understanding of the Lord’s Supper of the delegates to the IKBC 94th annual assembly: Its relationship to selected variables

Abstract

The Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches, Inc. had initiated the move to meet the deficiency of its members in their understanding of their beliefs as Baptist Christians. This doctrinal poverty was also echoed by Dr. Nathaniel M. Fabula, former General Secretary of the CPBC. To meet the problem of identity crisis among Convention Baptists, a lecture on Baptist Heritage was delivered during the 61st CPBC Annual Assembly held at Bakyas Evangelical Church, Bakyas, Bacolod City last March 1996 (Borlado, 1998).

In line with this, the researcher has found evaluating the level of understanding of the Lord’s Supper of the delegates of the Iloilo Kasapulanan of Baptist Churches (IKBC) an interesting study. The Iloilo Kasapulanan of Baptist Churches, Inc. is one of the auxiliary organizations of the Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches, Inc.. There are five auxiliary organizations comprising the IKBC namely: Iloilo Baptist Ministers’ Association (IBMA), Iloilo Baptist Men (IBM), Iloilo Union of Baptist Women’s Missionary Societies (IUBWMS), Iloilo Kasapulanan of Baptist Youth Fellowship Union (IKBYFU), and Iloilo Ministers’ Wives Association (IMWA).

Many members of local churches today under the IKBC and the CPBC do not know exactly why they are Baptist Christians. Specifically, many seem not to know the significance of partaking the Lord’s Supper. They could not fully conceptualize their stand on the Lord’s Supper as Convention Baptists. It is sad to note that this “deficiency” has already existed a long time ago. While it is true that many Baptists are partaking the Lord’s Supper, do they truly understand its meaning? This has been the traditional practice of Baptists to the point that it has become routinary.

Worse, this basic understanding of the significance of the Lord’s Supper to every Baptist Christian seems to have been neglected.

Every year, the IKBC holds its province-wide assembly. Traditionally, the Lord’s Supper is included as one of the most meaningful parts in the closing celebration of the assembly where delegates participate in the communion. Yet, within the member churches of the IKBC, there had been no known study or research that has been conducted to evaluate the church members’ level of understanding of the Lord’s Supper. Hence, the researcher felt that a more serious move be done in order to know why this deficiency exists. In last year’s assembly where 150 delegates were in attendance, a random survey was conducted to determine their understanding of the Lord’s Supper by asking them through a questionnaire.

How much do the IKBC delegates know about the Lord’s Supper? What factors contribute to the level of understanding of the Lord’s Supper? Has the Lord’s Supper grown so familiar these days that they have missed to learn and understand its importance in their lives as Baptists?

Objectives

This study was conducted to determine the delegates’ level of understanding of the Lord’s Supper to the 94th Annual Assembly of the Iloilo Kasapulanan of Baptist Churches (IKBC) last April 2001.

Specifically, this study aims:

1. To determine the delegates’ extent of understanding of the Lord’s Supper.

2. To determine what specific aspects of the Lord’s Supper the delegates were knowledgeable about.

3. To determine whether a significant relationship exists between the HCBC delegates’ level of understanding of the Lord’s Supper and each of the following variables: length of years of having been baptized, attendance in Sunday School, attendance in Baptismal Class, and parent’s religion: mother’s and father’s.