Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Easter Sunrise Service 2011 finds a new home

The National Council of Churches in the Philippines will celebrate its 62nd Easter Sunrise Service on a new venue. On April 24, 2011, the yearly gathering will be held at the Liwasang Aurora of the Quezon City Memorial Circle. (click the map to enlarge)



This year's theme is "Kristong Buhay Kapangyarihang Gabay."

 The tarp in front of the Council building along EDSA in QC

Steve Green in Concert on June 3, 2011



 
The National Council of Churches in the Philippines has partnered with The Master’s Chorus Organization Inc. ( Coro Cantabile ) in promoting the upcoming Steve Green in Concert on June 3, 2011, 7:00 pm at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.

Ticket Prices P500, P650, P1500, P2000

for your ticket reservation, look for Nanie at 09192099562

Council members and staff participated in the Church-Peasant March for Land and Social Justice

Member-churches and staff of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) participated in the Church-Peasant March for Land and Social Justice held March 28-29, 2011 at the Iglesia Filipina Independiente cathedral along Taft Avenue in Manila.  The participants showed their support for the aspirations of the farmers of Hacienda Luisita and urged the Supreme Court to act with justice on the case of the farmers.
 Church leaders attending the march. from left: Bishop Solito Toquero of the UMC,
Bishop Gabriel Garol of the UCCP, Bishop Ephraim Fajutagan of the IFI and Rev. Ablon of the IFI

 Farmers and church people lighting a candle for social justice

the NCCP General Secretary Fr. Rex RB Reyes, Jr.
reading the solidarity message
  Agape breakfast after the program
 Photos courtesy of Julien Bolocon

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

IFI – Anglican Church of Melanesia Sign Concordat

March 27, Manila – The Iglesia Filipina Independiente, an NCCP member-church, and the Anglican Church of Melanesia (Solomon Islands and Vanuatu) signed a Concordat of Full Communion at the IFI National Cathedral during the regular Sunday Service.  The two churches trace their relations in 1964 when the Anglican churches in Melanesia were still part of the Anglican Church of New Zealand.

The Concordat was signed by The Most Rev. Godofredo David, Obispo Maximo of the IFI and The Most Reverend David Vunagi, Archbishop of Melanesia.  Signing as witness was The Most Rev. Edward P. Malecdan, Prime Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the Philippines.  This is a historic event as it is a concordat between two churches in the south, said Bishop Ephraim Fajutagana, General Secretary of the IFI in his preface.


credits:
text from the NCCP website
photo courtesy of Ms. Lilan Romero

Monday, March 28, 2011

TSA and NCCP Bids Col. Malcolm Induruwage Farewell


March 20 – The General Secretary joined the Salvation Army in bidding goodbye to Commissioners Malcolm and Irene Induruwage at the Auditorium of PWU, Manila.


The service celebrated the seven years of service of the couple to the Salvation Army in the Philippines, the first two years as secretary and the remaining five years as Commander of the Salvation Army.


Commissioners Malcolm and Irene will leave for Sri Lanka, to assume command of the Salvation Army in their own country. The new Commissioner of the Salvation Army will be coming from India.

credits:
text lifted from the NCCP Website
photos taken and provided by Ms. Febie Domingo Castro, TSA's Executive Administrative Assistant 

Friday, March 18, 2011

NCCP is now ready to accept donations, designated for Japan

From the NCCP General Secretary:

In light of the equally difficult times of the people in Japan, the National Council of Churches in the Philippines is now ready to accept donations, designated for Japan.  All donations shall be properly acknowledged and sent to the National Christian Council in Japan.

You can send your donations to the following accounts:

National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP)
Dollar Savings Account No 3054-0162-89
Peso Cheking Account No 3051-0063-04
Bank of the Philippine Islands
QC West Triangle Branch
1587 Quezon Avenue
Quezon City 1104 Philippines
SWIFT CODE: BOPIPHMM

or

National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP)
Dollar Savings Account No 223-700011-4
Peso Cheking Account No 223-009641-3
China Banking Corporation
E. Rodriguez Sr. Blvd. Branch
287 E. Rodriguez Sr. Blvd.
Brgy Damayan Lagi
Quezon City 1102 Philippines
SWIFT CODE: CHBKPHMM

For more details:
call (632) 928 17 79 or (632) 929 37 45 weekdays from 9am to 5pm.
or email us at library@nccphilippines.org
or send us a message on Facebook


Ecumenical Prayer Service in Solidarity with the People of Japan

Advisory of the NCCP General Secretary requesting everyone to attend an Ecumenical Prayer Service in Solidarity with the People of Japan to be held at the St. Andrew's Theological Seminary Chapel , 275 E. Rodriguez Sr. Blvd., in Quezon City, Philippines (this is behind the St. Luke's Medical Center).  The prayer service will be held on March 31, 2011 from 5:30pm to 7:30 in the evening.


update as of March 25, 2011: Below is the event poster courtesy of Ariel Siagan.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

NCCP statement on the Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan

 
March 12, 2011
 
We reach out in solidarity to the sisters and brothers in Japan at this time of unfathomable grief, sorrow and anxiety. May God's providence be cast upon them all. May those involved in rescue and clearing out operations be spared from any injury.

Even as we grieve with the people of Japan, we yet give thanks that many countries, including our own, were spared from the devastation of tsunamis. We also wish to express our elation at the way the men and women of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology worked with dispatch to inform potential target areas of any tsunami and the way local governments responded to the alarm. We hope that our consul in Japan will exert every effort to secure Filipino citizens in Japan not only to respond to their needs but also to ease the anxiety of their families here.

We urge everyone, especially the constituency of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines, to be fervent and unceasing in prayer for the people of Japan and all other nationals working therein. In our churches, in our homes, at work and with friends, may we find brief moments to intentionally reach out to them in prayer and commit them to God's mercy and protection.


signed
Padi REX RB REYES, JR.
NCCP General Secretary


signed
Bishop NATHANAEL P. LAZARO
NCCP Chairperson

Friday, March 4, 2011

A letter from the NCCP EEN Program Secretary on SIP 2011

March 1, 2011

Grace and Peace!

This year’s Summer Internship Program (SIP) of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) has been set on April 12 - May 14, 2011. This year’s theme takes inspiration from the quadrennial theme of the Council: “Ecumenical Learning: Weaving the Patchwork of Justice and Peace in a Broken World”.

The SIP is an intensive immersion program of experiential ecumenical learning of the NCCP.  It links seminarians of NCCP-related theological formation institutions with community-based development-oriented programs.  It seeks to provide venues for theological action-reflection, expression of ecumenical commitment and sharpening of mission perspectives.

We would like to invite you to send your students to participate in this program as we seek to provide opportunities for students to live and walk with the least of our sisters and brothers while developing their theologies that are grounded on the people’s experiences and struggles.

May we also inform you that since part of the SIP period will cover the Holy Week, we intentionally made it a part of their SIP experience to be exposed and participate in the yearly Easter Sunrise Service organized by the Council.  Thus, they are all required to be part of this Easter activity.

Attached herewith is a copy of the registration form for the students.  We are expecting all accomplished forms to be returned to us via e-mail: diwa_malaya72@yahoo.com  (cc: katdlc@nccphilippines.org) or fax (02 926-7076) on or before March 25, 2011.

As practiced by the NCCP in the past years, we request the seminaries to provide adequate budgetary allocations for the students they send to attend the Summer Internship Program as a manifestation of your co-ownership of SIP.  Financial obligations for SIP are therefore broken down, thus:

Seminaries (per intern):
  • Transportation to and from NCCP Headquarters
  • Immersion allowance (including food and travel at immersion site)

Seminarians:
  • Personal expenses (i.e., medicines, cell phone load, etc.)

NCCP:
  • Board, lodging and materials for Orientation and Evaluation Phases
  • Honorarium for host communities, people’s organizations, resource persons

This year, the immersion allowance is Five Thousand Pesos (PhP5,000.00) per intern. This has been increased from the last 3 years’ previous rate of Php 4,000.00 due to rising costs and expenses of the whole program. Please send this amount with the intern as she or he arrives on April 12. 

We shall now begin to await applications to this ecumenical learning experience for our second-line leaders in the work Christ called us.

May we continue to find meaning in our common quest for Shalom as we journey with God’s people.

Sincerely,


MS. DARLENE MARQUEZ-CARAMANZANA
Program Secretary
Program Unit on Ecumenical Education and Nurture

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Bring the Stranded OFW's Home Safely

The National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) is in solidarity with people in countries undergoing popular uprising to press for reforms in government or oust abusive regimes. Hands in supplication have turned to clenched fists as long-suffering people demand human dignity long denied them. 

Notwithstanding this development we continue to express concern over the situation of overseas migrant workers in those countries, especially our own sisters and brothers from the Philippines. In Libya alone, Migrante International reported 30,000 Filipinos. 

We grieve with the families who have lost their relatives. We stand with those anxious over their loved ones uncertain as we all are of their whereabouts and situation. We are glad for those who have arrived safely home. 

We demand a more resolute and speedy action from our government. A missionary in Libya has informed us that our government’s response is “sluggish”. As these popular uprisings escalate to other countries, we urge our government to take necessary proactive measures. Certainly our compatriots deserve better. Each one of them counts. 

We reiterate our call for the constituency to be unceasing in our intercession for our Filipino overseas workers. May they be safe and be home if need be. 

We pray with the faith communities in those places where social upheaval is taking place. May lives of civilians and non-combatants especially, be spared. May our partners overseas and the wider ecumenical community be faithful in providing the much-needed support to stranded foreigners. 

May God’s finger of freedom and peace touch the parched lips of all those seeking it. 


(signed)
REV. REX RB REYES, JR. 
General Secretary 
March 11, 2011



Episcopal Message of Bishop Nathanael P. Lazaro at the IEMELIF’s General Conference 2011

“The view that the Church needs to engage the world is both critical and timely, it is about time for us to seriously understand and undertake this focus.”  These are the words of Bishop Nathanael P. Lazaro, General Superintendent of Iglesia Evangelica Metodista en las Islas Filipinas (IEMELIF) and current Chairperson of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) during his Episcopal message delivered at the IEMELIF General Conference last February 24, 2011.  Addressing more than 500 lay leaders and pastors, the Bishop set a fresh understanding of the missionary task of the Church as it should be relevant and contextualized to the realities of the time.

With the theme “Visible Unity: A Force to Engage the World”, the Bishop eloquently articulated the ecumenical agenda vis-à-vis social imperatives of the Church, which according to him, should not be “limited on the salvation of man’s soul but also the redemption of the whole created order.”  Both jubilant and humbled, he reported to the Conference two major accomplishments done under his aegis as General Superintendent.  First is the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement by the IEMELIF and the IEMELIF Reform Movement (IRM) leadership to end the 18-year old dispute.  Second is the return of the break-away group led by the Rev. Nathanael Juane during the Sole-aggregate schism in 2002.  He thanked Rev. Juane for ‘reversing the history of the Church,’ referring to the seven major schisms that happened in the IEMELIF since its founding.  All congregations and church workers of the sole group already returned to the IEMELIF fold last August 2010.

Bishop Lazaro, powerfully instigated a challenge for the IEMELIF membership to be united while seeking and pursuing to be a socially relevant church.  The IEMELIF celebrated its 102nd founding anniversary on February 27, 2011 at the plenary hall of the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC).  Nicholas Zamora founded the Church in 1909 as indigenous and self-sufficient, free from any foreign governance.





Text and photos submitted by Ariel Siagan