A portrait of a Philippine Baptist pastor 1898 - 2002

Abstract

After more than one hundred years of Baptist history in the Philippines there is still a lack of a comprehensive written history on Philippine Baptist pastors focusing on their pastoral identity, their contributions in shaping Baptist churches, and their involvement in the society.

Written histories mostly put the Philippine Baptist pastors in the background. Their contributions in organizing churches were not highlighted but rather marginalized. For example, Raymond Beaver, whose point of view is largely influenced by American historiography, viewed the Philippine Baptist history as a continuation of the American Baptist mission. His view is similar to Torbet’s presentation of mission work in the Philippines as an “Outpost in the Pacific.” These accounts painted a one sided picture that highlighted the contributions of the American missionaries; and scarcely mentioned the contributions of the Philippine converts. Renato Constantino has this to say about American Historiography:

“Since the mass of humanity is still in a state of poverty and ignorance...What was hitherto been regarded as history is predominantly a conscious record of the rich and powerful but by no means the just and correct... In the recorded pages of history they have remained in the background, as if they had played only a negligible role... The people have been taken for granted and their role has been minimized or even denied.”

Those who espoused American historiography are often called writers from the “Democratic-Imperialist School.” Writers of this school are “dominated by the idea of the superiority of American culture. This school reduced the Filipino to a silent backdrop and passive recipient of the blessings of American civilization.”

On the other hand, there are attempts to view history from the Philippine perspective. For instance, there is a Kaupod perspective5 which stresses that the year 1898 was the starting point of the Philippine Baptist history. This is in contrast to that of Beaver’s view, in which 1900 was the beginning of Philippine Baptist history. This special paper hopes to contribute to the writing of a history of the Philippine Baptist pastors from a point of view that emphasizes the Philippine Baptist pastors.

This study aims at reconstructing a history of the Philippine Baptist pastors from the year 1898 to 2002. This reconstruction will find out who they are and highlight their significant contributions to the church and society.

Specifically, this study will:

(1) Describe and analyze their pastoral identity such as:

a. Their theology and understanding of the ministry;

b. Political and ideological perspective;

c. Socio-economic status;

d. Their reasons why they committed themselves to become a pastor;

e. And their significant strength and weaknesses that led to their present predicament.

(2) Describe and analyze their contribution in the area of:

a. Planting Churches

b. Christian Education

c. Ministry for Social Justice.

This study covers the years 1898 to 2002. It deals with the history of CPBC pastors with emphasis on their contributions in church and society, theology, faith, political perspective, socio-economic status and reasons why they committed themselves to become pastors. Data related to this study include published and unpublished documents and oral testimonies from Philippine Baptist pastors.