A SURVEY OF CHRISTIAN CHURCHES/DENOMINATIONS WITH VALID BAPTISM
A Catholic Perspective in the Philippine Context
Episcopal Commission on Doctrine of the Faith
CATHOLIC BISHOPS CONFERENCE OF THE PHILIPPINES
Manila, 2020
Table of Contents
A Review of Past and Recent Listings
5
The National Council of Churches in the Philippines
8
Methodists
Episcopalians
Baptists
Adventists
Philippine Independent Chrch
United Evangelical Church of Christ
Salvation Army
Lutherans
United Church of Christ in the Philippines
Apostolic Catholic Church (Philippines)
The Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches
Presbyterians
Church of the Nazarene
Wesleyans
Pentecostals
United Pentecostal Church (Phils.) Inc.
Christian Reformed Church
Protestant Reformed Church
United Reformed Church
Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
Christian and Missionary Alliance Churches (Philippines)
The Anabaptists
8
10
11
12
14
16
16
17
18
18
19
20
21
22
22
23
25
26
26
27
29
30
Amish
Mennonite Church
Jesus Our Firm Foundation Church
Mega Non-Denominational Churches
30
31
32
32
Jesus Miracle Crusade International Ministry
Jesus Is Lord Church Worldwide
Victory Christian Fellowship of the Philippines
Greenhills Christian Fellowship
Bread of Life Ministry International
Cathedral of Praise
[2]
32
32
33
34
34
34
Christ’s Commission Fellowship
World of Hope Christian Church
Day by Day Jesus Ministry
Restoration Churches
35
35
36
36
Jehovah’s Witnesses
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
Iglesia ni Cristo
Members Church of God (Ang Dating Daan)
The Kingdom of Jesus Christ
Congregational Churches
36
37
39
40
40
41
Conservative Congregational Christian Fellowship
United Church of Christ
National Association of Congregational Christian Church
Non-Protestant Churches and Independent Catholics
Greek Orthodox Church
Eastern Catholic Church
Old Catholic Church
Old Roman Catholic Church
Liberal Catholic Church
Old Catholic Apostolic Church
Palmarian Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church of England & Wales
Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association
42
42
42
42
42
44
45
46
46
47
48
49
50
Eastern Rite Catholic Churches
51
Society of St. Pius X
52
Indigenous and/or Autochthonous Cults
54
Iglesia Watawat ng Lahi
Samahan ng Tatlong Persona Solo Dios
Ciudad Mistica de Dios
Older Rizalists
More Recent Rizalists
Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association
The New 2020 List of Valid Baptisms
55
57
58
59
60
61
61
Valid Baptisms
Invalid Baptisms
62
67
[3]
Determining the Validity of Baptism
69
On the Matter
Form (Formula)
Intent of the Minister
The Recipient
70
70
71
71
Conclusion
72
Appendices
Appendix 1
Appendix 2
Appendix 3
74
76
80
[4]
A SURVEY OF CHRISTIAN CHURCHES/DENOMINATIONS WITH VALID BAPTISM
A Catholic Perspective in the Philippine Context
A Review of Past and Recent Listings1
It is very timely indeed that during this year’s (2020) celebration of the Year of Ecumenism,
Interreligious Dialogue and Indigenous People, the Catholic Church in the Philippines expresses its
solidarity with other Christian brethren by reaffirming and recognizing a common baptism that
binds the whole Christian communion. According to the Directory for the Application of Principles
and Norms on Ecumenism issued by the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity in
1993, “Baptism… constitutes the sacramental bond of unity existing among all who through it are
reborn.”2 That being the case, the Directory recommended that “dialogue concerning both the
significance and the valid celebration of baptism take place between Catholic authorities and
those of other Churches and ecclesial Communities at the diocesan or Episcopal Conference
levels.”3 As a result of this dialogue, “it should be possible to arrive at common statements
through which they express mutual recognition of baptisms as well as procedures for
considering cases in which a doubt may arise as to the validity of a particular baptism.”4
In fact, even before the Directory was issued by the Holy See, the Catholic Church in the
Philippines already had had such a dialogue with some Christian Churches and had come to an
agreement with them regarding the mutual recognition of the validity of baptism according to
the baptismal rites each of them prescribed. The list5 of these Churches consisted of: the
Lutheran Church of the Philippines (LCP)6, Philippine Episcopal Church (PEC)7, United Church of
Christ in the Philippines (UCCP), Iglesia Evangelica Metodista en las Islas Filipinas (IEMELIF), United
Methodist Church in the Philippines (UMCP), Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches (CPBC),
Presbyterian Church (PC), and the Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA). The mutual recognition, of
course, was made possible because in all the aforementioned churches, baptism, among other
considerations, was conferred with water and with a formula which clearly indicated that
baptism was done in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 8
See Appendix 1, pp. 74-75.
Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism, n. 92.
3 Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism, n. 94 (italics supplied).
4 Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism, n. 94.
5 See F. TESTERA, O.P., Canon Law Digest of the Philippine Catholic Church, Text and Commentary, 2nd rev. ed.,
University of Santo Tomas, Manila, 1989, p. 25-26 (1st ed., 1987). This book predates the Directory for the
Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism, issued by the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of
Christian Unity in 1993.
6 See also Boletín Eclesiástico de Filipinas, 1972, pp. 267-278. On January 9, 1969, a joint committee with
representatives from the Catholic Church in the Philippines and the Lutheran Church in the Philippines,
following a series of theological dialogues, adopted and recommended approval by their respective
churches a “Baptismal Agreement” which was eventually ratified in the October 1970 General Convention.
Said Baptismal Agreement was publicly signed at Trinity Lutheran Church in Quezon City, on February 6,
1972. See ROBERT DAY MCAMIS, History of a Half a Century of God’s Grace in the Lutheran Mission in the
Republic of the Philippines, 1996.
7 See also Boletín Eclesiástico de Filipinas, 1980, p. 142.
8 That was exactly how the Directory would later stipulate. See Directory for the Application of Principles
and Norms on Ecumenism, n. 93.
1
2
[5]
The list above appeared to have been unchanged until 1995.9 Over the years, however, many of
the above Christian Churches have splintered into so many other smaller groups, while others
have coalesced into federations, along with the emergence of other new Christian groups in the
country in recent years. The original list above being no longer sufficient, the need was felt to
update it. It was now becoming more obvious, in fact, that the steady influx of newer groups
required constant updating. Thus, in 2018, the Episcopal Commission on Doctrine of the Faith
(ECDF) proposed a new list that included the following:
1. United Church of Christ in the
Philippines (UCCP)
2. Iglesia Evangelica Metodista en las
Islas Filipinas (IEMELIF)
3. Convention of Philippine Baptist
Churches (CPBC)
4. Prebyterian Church
5. Eastern non-Catholics (Orthodox)
6. Adventists
7. African Methodist Episcopal
8. Amish
9. Anglican
10. Assembly of God
11. Baptists
12. Evangelical United Brethren
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
Church of the Brethren
Church of God
Congregational Church
Disciples of Christ
Episcopalians
Evangelical Churches
Methodists
Lutherans
Liberal Catholic Church
Old Catholics
Old Roman Catholics
Church of the Nazarene
Polish National Church
Reformer Churches
United Church of Christ
The new feature of this 2018 list (counting 27 denominations or groups of denominations) is that
four Churches from the former list have been subsumed into their mainstream aggrupations.
The Lutheran Church in the Philippines, in particular, was incorporated into the federation of
various Lutheran groups worldwide, the Philippine Episcopal Church (PEC) into the wider
Anglican communion outside of the United Kingdom, i.e., the Episcopalians, the United
Methodist Church in the Philippines (UMCP) into the bigger group of Methodists, and the
Seventh-Day Adventists Church into the larger cluster of adherents of the Adventist Movement.
A year later (2019), the CBCP Episcopal Commission on Canon Law (ECCL) and the Episcopal
Commission on Ecumenical Affairs (ECEA) collaborated to prepare an integrated list that modified
what was prepared by the ECDF the previous year. It would seem that this list now recognizes
Christian groups the Catholic Church had had no agreement with, the only basis for the
recognition being that these Churches’ baptismal rituals complied with the conditions for
sacramental validity as required by the Magisterium of the Catholic Church.
The new
integrated list is as follows:
The same list, in fact, is reflected in F. TESTERA, O.P., Canon Law Digest of the Philippine Catholic Church,
Text and Commentary, 3rd ed., University of Santo Tomas, Manila, 1995, p. 34.
9
[6]
1. Lutheran Church in the Philippines
(LCP)
2. Philippine Episcopal Church (PEC)
3. United Church of Christ in the
Philippines (UCCP)
4. Iglesia Evangelica Metodista en las
Islas Filipinas (IEMELIF)
5. United Methodist Church in the
Philippines (UMCP)
6. Convention of Philippine Baptist
Churches (CPBC)
7. Presbyterian Church
8. Seventh-Day Adventist Church
9. All Eastern non-Catholics (Orthodox)
10. Adventists
11. African Methodist Episcopal
12. Amish
13. Anglican
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
Assembly of God
Baptists
Evangelical United Brethren
Church of the Brethren
Church of God
Congregational Church
Disciples of Christ
Episcopalians
Evangelical Churches
Methodists
Lutherans
Liberal Catholic Church
Old Catholics
Old Roman Catholics
Church of the Nazarene
Polish National Church
Reformer Churches
United Church of Christ
To supplement this list, the ECDF also enumerated some Churches whose baptisms cannot be
recognized as valid. To wit: Apostolic Church,10 Bohemian Free Thinkers, Christian and Missionary
Alliances,11 Christian Scientists, Church of Divine Science, People’s Church of Chicago, Quakers,
Salvation Army, Pentecostal Churches, Christadelphians, Jehova’s Witnesses, and Unitarians. The
ECCL noted that the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) must be added to
this list—following the negative response to a dubium by the Congregation for the Doctrine of
the Faith on 5 June 2001.
Regarding the Philippine Independent Church (Aglipayans), the ECCL invoked relatively recent
studies showing that after 1960, the baptism administered by the faction of Isabelo de los Reyes—
recognized by the Supreme Court as the legitimate successor of Gregorio Aglipay in January
1955—deserves to be recognized as valid.12
It will be shown in this survey that the Church bearing this name and a church with a similar-sounding
name, the New Apostolic Church both administer valid baptism. See p. 19 below.
11 Some member-churches of the Christian and Missionary Alliance Churches of the Philippines (COMACOP)
are members of the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches (see Appendix 2, pp. 76-79). These Churches
profess the Trinitarian doctrine (see http://www.cmalliance.org/about/beliefs/doctrine).
12 To support this, the ECCL cited the following sources: GARY FORMOSO, “The Problem of Validity of the
Aglipayan Baptism,” in Philippine Canonical Forum, Vol. VII, January-December 2005, p. 177; A.N.
DACANAY, “The Requirements for the validity of Baptism: Application to Aglipayan Baptism” in Landas
15 (2001), p. 77-100, p. 88-89; A.N. Dacanay, The Sacraments of Initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist):
A Commentary of Cc.849 – 958 of the Code of Canon Law, Anvil Publishing Inc., Pasig City, 2006 (408pp.), p.
48-53.
10
[7]
When scrutinized by the bishops during their July 2019 Plenary Assembly, many questions
were raised and most of them remained unanswered. For one thing, the list is completely silent
about some groups that have gained many followers in the Philippines and abroad in recent
years. Among the prominent ones are F. Manalo’s Iglesia ni Cristo (INC), E. Soriano’s Ang
Dating Daan (ADD), E. Villanueva’s Jesus is Lord Movement (JIL), and A. Quiboloy’s Kingdom of
Jesus Christ, The Name Above Every Name, Inc. Though considered more as cults than as Christian
Churches by a number of critics, word must be said about them because a good number of their
members convert or revert back to Catholicism. The ECDF then was tasked to review the list
and make an in-depth study in order to address the various issues raised.13
The first to draw attention was the observation that to simply list several denominations under
one federated name could prove unhelpful since people who ask for the sacraments carry the
specific names of their denominational affiliation. The need was felt then to determine just
what denominations belonged to the Methodists, Baptists, Adventists and Lutherans.
At the outset, it must be said that it is not easy to examine the beliefs and baptismal practices of
all non-Catholic Christian sects and denominations in the Philippines due to their sheer
number. In fact, any attempt to do otherwise is not only daunting but most likely to fail. Even
producing a complete list of these groups is just not possible. In any case, apart from the old
listings already mentioned, additional lists of membership of Protestant Churches in two
national associations, namely, the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) and the
Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches (PCEC) also serve as helpful references as to which
churches might just be included in this survey.
The National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP)14
The National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) was established in 1963. In its mission
statement, the organization is meant “to be an ecumenical fellowship of churches, (and) a channel for
united witness and common action, by being in solidarity with the people in the struggle for justice, peace
and the integrity of creation.” The basis of membership then is based not on a common statement of
beliefs but rather on a common vision that is promotive of “life in a just, egalitarian, self-reliant, and
sustainable society.” At present, NCCP has ten member churches: Apostolic Catholic Church
(ACC), Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches (CPBC), Episcopal Church in the Philippines
(ECP), Iglesia Evangelica Metodista en las Islas Filipinas (IEMELIF, or the Evangelical
Methodist Church in the Philippine Islands), Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI, or the
Philippine Independent Church), Iglesia Unida Ekyumenikal (IUE, or the United Ecumenical
Church), Lutheran Church in the Philippines (LCP), The Salvation Army Philippine Territory
(TSA), United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP), and The Philippines Central
Conference of the United Methodist Church (UMC).
See CBCP Minutes of July 2019 Plenary Assembly, p. 13.
NCCP’s forerunners were: the Philippine Federation of Christian Churches in 1949; the Philippine Federation
of Evangelical Churches in 1939; the National Christian Council in 1929; the Evangelical Union in 1901; and the
Missionary Alliance in 1900.
13
14
[8]
Among NCCP’s member-churches, the Methodists were among the first of the Protestant
denominations to come to the Philippines, that is, towards the end of the nineteenth (19th)
century and the beginning of the twentieth (20th) century.15 Methodism was actually introduced
in the Philippines in 1898 by Rev. Maj. George C. Stull, a minister from the Montana Annual
Conference, which was a part of the Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC). It was Stull who
established the first MEC in the country in the beginning of the 20th century. The initial growth
of Methodism in the country spurred the founding of the Spanish congregation, Knox Memorial
Church by Nicolas Zamora, alongside the English congregation under Arthur Prautch. Zamora’s
congregation evolved into what was to be called the Knox United Methodist Church (Knox UMC).
Zamora later on would be instrumental in the founding of the Iglesia Evangelica Metodista en las
Islas Filipinas or the IEMELIF (The Evangelical Methodist Church in the Philippine Islands) on 28
February 1909.
Meanwhile, in 1908, the Philippine Islands Annual Conference (PIAC), under the jurisdiction of the
Southern Asia Central Conference, was organized at the instance of the General Conference of
the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1936, the PIAC was to become the Philippines Central
Conference, which when ratified in 1939 led to the creation of the United Methodist Church in the
Philippines (UMCP).
Another Methodist missionary effort in the 1900s, this time coming from the African Methodist
Episcopal Church (AMEC) was undertaken by Bishop James M. Thoburn, who pioneered ministries
not only in the Philippines but also in Malaysia.16 There was sympathy among AMEC members
for Filipinos exploited by Spanish overlords. The AMECs viewed the Spanish-American war as
a spur to evangelize colored brethren in the Philippines. It is not clear, however, where in the
Philippines AMEC has established its institutional presence. In any case, it should be noted that
AMEC was organized in Philadelphia by people of African descent and heritage, led by Richard
Allen and a group of fellow worshippers of color, who reacted to white American Methodists’
enforcement at that time of racial discrimination against African Americans. It was the product
of the schism that shook the Methodist Episcopal Church in the U.S. in 1787, that also saw the
birth of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in New York. Methodist in terms of its basic
doctrine and order of worship, AMEC professes the traditional Christian doctrine of the Trinity
as expressed in the Apostles Creed.
Going back to early history, the IEMELIF already mentioned earlier, and founded by Bishop
Nicolas Zamora of the Knox United Methodist Church Congregation (supra) was actually inspired by
the Filipino nationalist movement in the late 19th century. It is thus recognized as the first
indigenous and autonomous Evangelical Protestant denomination in the Philippines that
sought to be both self-sustaining and self-propagating. Though naturally fledgling in the
beginning, the Church soon expanded not only in Manila but also in the provinces with
growing numbers in membership. As IEMELIF continued to grow, a major rift would occur in
See RICHARD L. DEATS, The Story of Methodism in the Philippines, Manila: National Council of Churches in
the Philippines, 1964. xii, 129 pp.; LUTHER JEREMIAH OCONER, Spirit-Filled Protestantism, HolinessPentecostal Revivals and the Making of Filipino Methodist Identity, Pickwick Publications, 2017.
16 See DENNIS C. DICKERSON, The African Methodist Episcopal Church: A History, Cambridge University
Press, 2020, p. 214; HOMER CLYDE STUNTZ, The Philippine Mission of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Nabu
Press 2014, 52 pp.
15
[9]
1933, when a prominent minister, Melecio de Armas, was accused by his colleagues of immorality
and consequently expelled from the Church. When this decision was reversed by the General
Conference of the Methodist Church of America (GCMCA), a group led by another Church
pastor, Samuel Stagg, left IEMELIF and declared themselves the General Conference of the
Methodist Church in the Philippine Islands (GCMCPI). Out of this General Conference, the
Philippine Methodist Church (PMC) was formed under Cipriano Navarro as bishop. Stagg went on
to form the Cosmopolitan Church, which became the leading congregation of the new
denomination. In 1948, the Philippine Methodist Church agreed to join the United Church of
Christ in the Philippines.
In 1992, IEMELIF started to experience internal conflict anew. This eventually led to the
secession of some 105 local churches and ministers that formed what has come to be known as
the IEMELIF Reform Movement (IRM) led by Bishop Reynaldo C. Domingo. IRM’s separation from
the original IEMELIF took place in 2011, when it registered with the Securities and Exchange
Commission under the new name, I am Redeemer and Master Evangelical Church (IRMEC).
Sometime lately, a group of Methodists separated from the UMCP because of self interest and
the desire to have its own church and leaders. The group called themselves Ang Iglesia Metodista
sa Pilipinas (The Methodist Church in the Philippines), or AIM Pilipinas, and became an indigenous
autonomous Methodist church in the Philippines. The founders of the church, led by Presiding
Bishop Rev. Lito Tangonan, officially registered their congregation with the Securities and
Exchange Commission on December 7, 2011, thereby becoming the most recent denomination in
the Philippines belonging to the Methodist tradition.
In spite of the splits and divisions, each of the Methodist denominations remains faithful to the
doctrines taught by John Wesley, the father of Methodism. Like the rest of Methodists in the
world, all accept the doctrine on the Trinity (God as one in three Divine Persons), and believe
particularly in the deity of Jesus Christ as the central tenet of faith. Each of them also adheres to
Wesley’s method that was later called the Wesleyan Quadrilateral (four sources of beliefs),
namely, Scripture, Reason, Tradition and Experience. For all these Methodists, the Holy Bible is
the sole basis of faith and a reference of discipline in the church.
The Episcopal Church17 first set foot on Philippine soil towards the end of the 19th century, when
American forces that occupied Manila—thereby ending Spanish rule in August 1898—were
accompanied by chaplains of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the USA (PECUSA). It is said that
the first Episcopal Sunday service in the country took place on September 4, 1898. The Church,
however, began its mission work only in 1901, that is, when the Philippines was created as a
Missionary District by the San Francisco General Convention, with Charles Henry Brent as the
first Bishop of the District. In 1937, the Missionary District of the Philippines officially came to be
known as the Philippine Episcopal Church (PEC). The following year, three Filipinos (Eduardo
Longid, Albert Masferre, and Mark Suluen), the first among the native Episcopalians, were
ordained deacons, a sign that the Church was slowly growing in membership. The Church
became a member of the NCCP in 1963. On January 20, 1980, the PEC signed with the Roman
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Episcopal_Church_in_the_Philippines. For more information on
the Episcopal Church see, DAVID L. HOLMES, A Brief History of the Episcopal Church, Harrisburg, PA:
Trinity Press International, 1993.
17
[10]
Catholic Church of the Philippines an agreement that recognized baptism in both Churches as
valid. PEC was eventually inaugurated as an autonomous Church Province within the
Anglican Communion in 1990 and has come to be known as the Episcopal Church in the
Philippines (ECP). Other tangible signs of ECP’s successes in its long history in the country are
the schools and colleges it administers, foremost of which are the Brent International Schools in
Baguio, Manila and Subic, and the Trinity College in Quezon City. Its hospital, St. Luke’s
Medical Center, has also become a leading health care center in the country.
Apart from the ECP, the ECDF 2018 list of valid baptisms also mentions the Anglicans—the ECP
is a member of the worldwide Anglican Communion after all. Yet there is an Anglican Church
in the Philippines which calls itself Anglican Church in the Philippines (Traditional) Inc. (ACPT),18
which may not be an official member of the Anglican Communion as it declares itself to be an
independent Anglican Province. Though professing traditional Anglican teachings, its exact
origin is not known since there is no historical account that would give information on how the
church came about in the Philippines.
Maintaining its central house in Barangay Masoc,
Bayombong (Nueva Vizcaya), it is presently headed by its Presiding Archbishop, Frederick Luis M.
Belmonte. Its vision states that as part of the one, holy, catholic, apostolic and Universal Church,
ACPT envisions its members to display a visible expression of the attributes and character of
God in society while upholding sound teachings and biblical morality. Accordingly, the
Church does not accept homosexuals and neither same-sex marriage. It also rejects women
ordination, but it does retain the ministry of deaconesses. More importantly, it professes belief
in the “Three Divine and distinct persons in One true God,” who “together is worshipped and
glorified,” sharing—as all three divine and distinct persons do—”as one substance in the Deity of
God.” Though independent, it has forged alliance with the following Churches of similarly
Anglican descent: Anglican Community Church, ACPT in Northern Luzon and the NCR, Misyon
Anglikano ng Pilipinas (MAP), Convergence Church Philippines (CCP New), and Traditional
Anglican Mission International (TAMI).
The Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches (CPBC)19 or the Kasapulanan sang Bautista nga
Pilipinhon, is a Baptist Christian denomination that was created on May 23, l935 that catalyzed
the union of all Baptist churches or congregations in the Philippines.20 Baptist historians,
however, viewing history from an inclusive perspective, claim that the origin of the Baptist
presence and mission in the Philippines can actually be traced back to events in Barcelona
(Spain) in 1898.21 There, during that year, the very first Filipino Baptist, Braulio Ciriaco Manikan,
was baptized into the Baptist Church and the Bible was initially translated into Hiligaynon. It
was Manikan and Eric Lund, a Swedish Baptist minister working under the auspices of the
American Baptist Missionary Union (ABMU), who were both instrumental in initiating the first
Baptist mission in the Philippines in 1900 and in the founding of the Jaro Evangelical Church (the
first Baptist and second Protestant church in the Philippines) on the Island of Panay. One of the
tangible signs of the mission’s success was the establishment in Iloilo in 1905 of the Baptist
See http://anglicancatholicph.blogspot.com (date accessed: March 16, 2020).
PETER C. PHAN, Christianities in Asia, John Wiley & Sons, USA, 2011, p. 109-110; WILLIAM H. BRACKNEY,
Historical Dictionary of the Baptists, Scarecrow Press, USA, 2009, p. 442.
20 Ang Manugbantala, 1935, June issue, p. 16 as cited by NESTOR D. BUNDA, Philippine Baptist Centennial
History 1898-1998 Revisited, p. 4.
21 NESTOR D. BUNDA, op. cit., p. 1.
18
19
[11]
Missionary Training School and the Jaro Industrial School, both merging to form the Central
Philippine College in 1923 to eventually become what is now the Central Philippine University, the
first Baptist American university in the Philippines and Asia. From Iloilo, the Baptist faith
spread with the founding of churches and congregations in the islands.
Sometime in 1927, schismatic Baptists threatened to disturb unity so far enjoyed by the Baptists
and halt progress in missionary work. The rift, however, was healed and the reconciliation that
was effected was consolidated with the formal formation and establishment of the Convention of
Philippine Baptist Churches (CPBC) in 1935. Over 1,000 churches or denominations now belong
to this overarching denominational body.
As a protestant denomination, CPBC believes that the Bible is the inspired word of God and the
final (sole) authority in matters of faith. The CBPC affirms belief in the Trinity, namely, that the
one God exists as three persons in complete unity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the
Holy Spirit. They confess Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord through whom those who believe can
have fellowship with God. He died, taking on the sins of the world, and was resurrected,
triumphing over sin and death. CPBC practices baptism by immersion, which is conferred only
on those of an age already capable of understanding its significance.
Among the Adventists in the Philippines, the most predominant denomination is the Seventh-day
Adventist Church,22 which evolved from the original Millerite movement (also called the Millerites),
initiated in the 1830’s in the United States by the Baptist preacher, William Miller. The main
belief of Adventism as propagated by Miller is that the Second Coming (or Second Advent) of
Jesus Christ would occur at some point between 1843 and 1844. When things did not happen
on October 22, 1944 the way Miller had predicted—a period in Adventist history called the
Great Disappointment—the Millerite movement split up into various groups that became
collectively known as the Adventist movement. While many people in the movement gave up on
Adventism as a result, there were those who remained, but only gave up believing in any
prophetic (biblical) significance for the October 22 date, and remained expectant of the near
Advent (second coming of Jesus). Those, however, who retained the October 22 date,
maintained that Jesus had indeed come, not literally but spiritually, and thus were later called
“Spiritualizer Adventists”.
In any case, the split actually occurred after the so-called Albany Conference in 1845, which was
convened to determine the future course and meaning of the Millerite movement. From then on,
the “Millerites” had come to be known as “Adventists” or “Second Adventists”. The split was
inevitable as the gathering was marred by disagreements on several theological points. The
disagreements eventually generated four competing groups: The Evangelical Adventists, The Life
and Advent Union, the Advent Christian Church, and the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
A portion of the largest group came to be known as the Evangelical Adventist Church (EAC). Its
membership, however, steadily declined thereafter to the point of almost non-existence in the
present time. It is, however, survived by the Christadelphians (or Brethren in Christ) that was
See EDWARD L. QUEEN-STEPHEN, R. PROTHERO-GARDINER, & H. SHATTUCK, “Seventh-day Adventist
Church,” in Encyclopedia of American Religious History, 3rd ed.,Vol. 3 (New York: Infobase Publishing,
2009), p. 913.
22
[12]
founded by John Thomas and separated from the EAC in 1844. The second group was The Life
and Advent Union founded by George Storrs in 1863, but which merged in 1964 with the third
group, the Adventist Christian Church (ACC) that was actually formed in 1861. The Primitive
Adventist Christian Church (PACC) separated from it sometime later. Among the four groups, it
was the Seventh-Day Adventists (SDA)—formed in 1863—that thrived and grew into a large
worldwide denomination. It is best known for teaching that Saturday, the seventh day of the
week, is the Sabbath which is therefore the appropriate day for worship. Not to be forgotten
though is that SDA’s core belief is the second coming of Jesus Christ and Judgment Day as
based on Revelations 14,6-13. The SDA has not been spared from schism though as the Seventh
Day Adventist Reform Movement separated from it shortly after World War I. Two more
schismatic groups emerged from SDA roots, the Davidian Seventh-Day Adventist Association (also
called as Davidians), founded by Victor Houteff in 1929, and the Branch Davidians that split from
the original Davidians.
Another group that separated in 1858 from those Adventists—associated with Ellen G. White—
who later organized themselves as the Seventh-Day Adventists in 1863 was the Church of God
(Seventh-Day). This break-away church has also become the origin of two more separatist
groups: The Conference of the Church of God (Seventh-Day), and The Worldwide Church of God.
Other known Adventist splinter groups include: Church of God and Saints of Christ (1896), Church
of God General Conference (1921), Creation Seventh-Day Adventist (?), United Seventh-Day Brethren
(1947), True and Free Adventists (a Soviet Union offshoot), and United Sabbath-Day Adventist
Church (an African-American offshoot of SDA in New York City).
The earliest trace of Adventist presence in the Philippines—mainly of the SDA offshoot—was in
the early 1900s, at a time when the Church intensified its missionary activities in South and
Central America and in the Philippines.23 Its successes in Europe, mainly in Switzerland, gave
impetus to SDA missionaries to spread the SDA faith elsewhere. Originating as it did from the
SDA offshoot, the faith that was planted in the country was typically Protestant. For instance,
the SDA Church accepts the Bible as the only source of its beliefs, based on the Protestant
conviction of Sola Scriptura—the Bible as the only standard of faith and practice for Christians.
Furthermore, SDA affirms that there is one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a unity of three
co-eternal Persons. God is immortal, all-powerful, all-knowing, above all, and ever present. He
is infinite and beyond human comprehension, yet known through His self-revelation. He is
forever worthy of worship, adoration, and service by the whole creation. Finally, baptism is
done by immersion in water and is contingent on an affirmation of faith in Jesus and evidence
of repentance of sin.
Sharing the same SDA Trinitarian faith among the aforementioned Adventist splinter groups is
the Worldwide Church of God renamed more recently as the Grace Communion International.24
Established in the Philippines in 1962,25 GCI Philippines is now headed by its National Director,
See also https://www.stepstolife.org/article/historic-adventist-movement-philippines: The Historic
Adventist Church Movement in the Philippines (date accessed: 15 March 2020).
24 The Grace Communion International (GCI) is a mosaic of churches knit together in grace. Then called The
Radio Church of God, GCI was founded by radio- and tele-evangelist Herbert W. Armstrong in 1934. The
Church was renamed the Worldwide Church of God on January 5, 1968, and only more recently (2009) to its
present name. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Communion_International.
25 See https://www.gci.ph/gci/archive08/aboutwcgphils.htm.
23
[13]
Eugene Guzon, who also acts as the denomination’s Missions Developer for the Philippines,
North East Asia and the United Arab Emirates. GCI confesses that there is one God—Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit. Moreover, God, by the testimony of Scripture, is one divine Being in three
eternal, co-essential, yet distinct Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The One God may be
known only in the Three and the Three may be known only as the one true God, good,
omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent, and immutable in his covenant love for humanity.26
Not all aforesaid Adventist denominations though are Trinitarians. The Christadelphians or
Brethren in Christ,27 for instance, do not accept the Trinity of the Godhead. According to them,
Jesus may be the Son of God, but he is not co-equal with the Father. Furthermore, while the
Church of God (Seventh Day) affirms belief in the existence of God the Father, Jesus the Son, and
the Holy Spirit, it is not very clear whether or not it believes in the Trinity. For one thing, the
word “Trinity” does not occur anywhere in its statement of faith.28 According to this statement,
God is revealed in Scripture as Father and Son and are thus to be worshipped, yet to the
seeming exclusion of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, it may have acknowledged Jesus as the object
of worship, and that he shares the nature, names, and attributes of God with the Father, but he
remains only subordinate to His Father in rank.
It is not certain whether the Church of God, Philippines (COGP)29 has any link with the Church of
God (Seventh Day), but an examination of its beliefs would seem to establish such a link. First,
COGP members, whose presence is entrenched mostly in Davao City, Cagayan de Oro City,
Makilala and Malinao (North Cotabato), and Pantukan (Compostela Valley), are Sabbathkeeping worshippers. More significantly, COGP holds that God the Father and Jesus Christ the
Son are two distinct beings who compose the God family (Elohim), and that the Holy Spirit is
simply the Power of God in the accomplishment of God’s will, and in generating God’s divine
character among humans. Without being clearly Trinitarian in belief, baptism administered in
both Church of God (Seventh Day) and Church of God, Philippines cannot be regarded as valid.
The Philippine Independent Church (Iglesia Filipina Independiente, also called the Aglipayan
Church)30 started as a movement instigated by a Catholic priest then, Gregorio Aglipay (18601940)—thus, called the Aglipayan Movement—as a reaction against the Spanish-dominated
Church in the Philippines due to the mistreatment of the Filipinos by Spanish priests. The
movement was gradually institutionalized in a church called Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI),
See https://www.gci.org/about-us/
Christadelphians call their individual communities “ecclesia”. In the Philippines, they are found in:
Bangui (Ilocos Norte), Isabela, Baguio City, Santa Barbara (Pangasinan), Samat, Bugallon (Pangasinan),
Bani, Bayambang (Pangasinan), Tangkarang, Mayantoc (Tarlac), Basang Hamog, Talavera (Nueva Ecija),
Bataan, Quezon City, Malate (Manila), Cabuyao (Laguna), and Tulay na Lupa, Labo (Camarines Norte).
28 See https://cog7.org/what-we-believe/
29 See http://www.cogphilippines.org/about-us/ The Church of God (Philippines) is distinct from Church
of God World Mission Philippines (COGWMP) which is a member of the Philippine Council of Evangelical
Churches (PCEC), which is therefore traditionally Trinitarian. See Appendix 2, p. 76.
30 P.S. DE ACHUTEGUI, S.J. & M.A. BERNAD, S.J., Religious Revolution in the Philippines, Vol.1 1860-1940,
Atheneo de Manila, 1960, pp. 428-429; MANUEL PIÑON, O.P., “Some Notes on Two Major Sects of the
Philippines,” in Religion & Religions, Dominican House of Studies, Quezon City, 2 nd edition, 1982; DANIEL
F. DOEPPERS, “Changing Patterns of Aglipayan Adherence in the Philippines, 1918-1970,” in Philippine
Studies, 25/3 (3rd Quarter 1977), pp. 265-277.
26
27
[14]
later called the Philippine Independent Church (PIC)—thus, becoming a national church in the
Philippines after its schism from the Roman Catholic Church in 1902. Isabelo de los Reyes was
one of those responsible for the separation and it was he who proposed to install Gregorio
Aglipay as the head (Obispo Maximo) of the schismatic church. Early on, after the separation,
between 1902 and 1907, the doctrine of the PIC (IFI) was still basically Catholic, except that the
authority of the Pope was no longer recognized.31 From 1908 to 1920, the PIC has turned
Unitarian—thus, professing in one God, one essence and one person, but from 1921 to 1947, it
has even turned agnostic.32 All these years though, between 1908 and 1947, the baptismal
formula that was used did no longer have any reference to the Father and the Holy Spirit, but
only to Jesus Christ.
Saddled by conflict and internal squabbles, the PIC broke up into two factions in 1947, one
under the leadership of Isabelo de los Reyes, and the other under Santiago Antonio Fonacier. It was
Reyes, however, who was recognized in 1955 by the Supreme Court of the Philippines as the
lawful successor of G. Aglipay and the church he heads as the legitimate PIC. Fonacier was
consigned to reorganizing his group and renaming it to Independent Church of Filipino Christians
(ICFC). Two other churches grew out of the division, namely, the Philippine Unitarian Church
(PUC) of Pedro Aglipay, and Christ Jesus’ Holy Church (CJHC), founded and headed by the same
Pedro Aglipay, after he left the PUC. The more important development though was that Reyes’
PIC reverted back to being Trinitarian that was formally effected when it signed a concordat
with the Philippine Episcopal Church in 1961, while Fonacier’s ICFC, P. Aglipay’s PUC and CJHC
either remained Unitarian and/or preferred to use a baptismal formula that was simply
Christocentric in character. The validity of PIC’s baptism has been recognized with caution by
the First Plenary Council of the Philippines in 1953.33 PIC’s alliance with the Protestant Episcopal
Church in the USA (PECUSA) and its counterpart in the Philippines, the Philippine Episcopal
Church—that started way back in 1947 and formalized in 196134—however, erased all doubts
about its baptism’s validity especially after 1961. ICFC, on the other hand, did not enjoy the
same recognition for obvious reasons. So many other smaller churches of Aglipayan origin,
including the PUC and CJHC, given their defective baptismal formulae could similarly not be
accorded the same recognition.35
ADOLFO DACANAY, S.J., “The Requirements for the validity of Baptism: Application to Aglipayan
Baptism,” in Landas 15 (2000), p. 78-100, p. 87-88.
32 The PIC departed completely from the Catholic faith much earlier than this (cf. PEDRO DE ACHUTEGUI,
S.J. & MIGUEL BERNAD, S.J., Religious Revolution in the Philippines, Vol. II, Ateneo de Manila, 1968, p. 157158 as cited by A. Dacanay, “The Requirements for the Validity of Baptism”, p. 88; GARY NOEL S.
FORMOSO, “The Problem of Validity of Aglipayan Baptism,” Philippine Canonical Forum, Vol. 7 (2005), pp.
157-177.
33 See ENRIQUE GONZALES, O.M.I., “The Baptismal Rites in Filipino Christian Churches,” in Philippine
Studies 16/1 (1968), p. 155-177, p. 165.
34 The concordat of full communion between the PIC and the PECUSA/PEC (ECP), originally formalized
in 1961 was updated and signed on February 17, 1997. See PETER-BEN SMIT, “The Road Towards Full
Communion Between the Philippine Independent Church and The Episcopal Church,” in Anglican and
Episcopal History, 84/2 (June 2015), pp. 121-165 (cfr. official website of the PEC /ECP and the Protestant
Episcopal Church in the USA). See also PHILIPPE LAURENT DE COSTER, Latin Old Roman Catholic Church of
Flanders (Independent and non-papal) © 2006-2007 (Pdf), pp. 26-37 (on IFI and PIC).
35 These smaller churches included: Bishop’s Church (BC), founded by J. Pasion in 1951; Iglesia Catolica
Apostolica Nacional (ICAN), organized by D. Ramiro in 1930; Filipino Christian Church (FCC), founded by
C. de las Llagas in 1926; Philippine Liberal Church (PLC), organized by Bishop Ramirez in 1930; Iglesia
31
[15]
The United Evangelical Church of Christ (Iglesia Evangelica Unida de Cristo)36 is also commonly
known as the Unida Church, Unida Christian Church or Unida Evangelical Church. Unida Church
is an evangelical Protestant denomination in the Philippines founded by Don Toribio Teodoro in
1932. Teodoro, a lay man and industrialist who was a member of the Iglesia Evangelica de los
Cristianos Filipinos (Evangelical Church of the Filipino Christians), gathered six Filipino
evangelical groups of Presbyterian and Methodist backgrounds, in order to form a merger. Out
of this gathering a church union, which is now officially called the United Evangelical Church of
Christ, was formed and declared on 3 January 1932 at the Manila Grand Opera House. The
Churches that agreed to form this union were: Iglesia Christiana Trinitaria, Iglesia Evangelica de
Atlag, Iglesia Evangelica de los Cristianos Filipinos, Iglesia Evangelica Metodista Reformada, La Iglesia
de Dios, and La Iglesia de Jesu-Cristo, “Jerusalem Nueva”. Since its foundation, the Church has
spread out into Metro Manila, Bulacan, Southern Tagalog, Bicol, and some places in the Visayas
and Mindanao.
In 1963, Unida Church became one of the founding members of the National Council of Churches
in the Philippines (NCCP). In 1994, however, it withdrew membership from said ecumenical
body, accusing it to be a communist front and an anti-Christ organization. A faction of the
Church, faithful to its commitment to ecumenism, seceded from the Church to form a new
denomination, the Iglesia Unida Ecumenical or Iglesia Unida Ekyumenikal (IUE). With lawyer
Raoul V. Victorino as founding chairperson, the IUE was eventually incorporated in 1995 by local
congregations that affirmed the same commitment to fostering unity among Christians and
stayed on as member of NCCP.
Given their Presbyterian roots, both the Unida Church and the IUE hold the Trinitarian faith.
The IUE, in particular, continuing its membership in the NCCP, profess with fellow members in
the organization faith in the One and Triune God.
The Salvation Army (SA) started way back in 1865 as a movement which was called the East
London Revival Society (ELRS).37 The movement was based on a definite creed to which its
members subscribed. Between 1866 and 1867, a document was printed by ELRS that included
seven articles of faith (a “creed” to believe) and a five–point bond of agreement (a “code of
conduct” to follow). Immediately worthy of note is the second article of faith which affirms
belief in only one God, who is infinitely perfect, the Creator, Preserver, and Governor of all
things, and who is the only proper object of religious worship. The third article of faith, on the
other hand, declares belief that there are three persons in the Godhead – the Father, the Son and
the Holy Ghost, undivided in essence and co-equal in power and glory. The movement
eventually evolved into a denomination, which in 1878 began to be called Salvation Army. At
this time, although four more articles were added to the original seven articles of faith, to make
Ciematica Filipina Nacional (ICFN) founded C. Diel in 1940; Iglesia de la Libertad (IL), organized by B.
Aguinaldo in 1904; Iglesia Nacional de Filipinas (INF), later headed by S. Elegado in 2000; Church of God
(CG), headed by F. Yagaya; Iglesia Filipina Reformada (IF’R), founded by A.F. Mata; and Iglesia Filipina
Evangelica Independiente (IFEI), founded by D. Pascual in 1924 (See E. Gonzales, “The Baptismal Rites”, p.
164-165).
36 See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unida_Church (date accessed: March 7, 2020).
37 EARL ROBINSON, The History of Salvation Army Doctrine; WILLIAM CLARK, Profile: The Salvation Army. A
paper presented to the Conference of Secretaries of Christian World Communions in Budapest, Hungary, 1990.
[16]
eleven in all, the second and third, along with the other seven remained unchanged—making
SA a typically Protestant and particularly Wesleyan denomination. In any case, twenty years
later, in 1898, Major John Milsaps, a Salvation Army chaplain, came to the Philippines with the
American forces led by General Wesley Meritt, the first American military governor. Milsaps was
the first SA member to have set foot on Philippine soil. His stay here, however, was shortlived
as he had to return to the U.S. in 1900. It was between 1920’s and the 1930’s when SA presence
was felt in the country, that is, when Filipinos who had been converted through contact with
the Salvation Army in Hawaii returned home. It was particularly on June 6, 1937 when Col. and
Mrs. Alfred Lindvall officially inaugurated SA’s work in the country at the Central Methodist
Church. SA was incorporated in 1963 as a religious and charitable non-profit organization.
Though remaining monotheist and Trinitarian in belief all these years, SA does not practice
baptism.
As far as the Lutherans are concerned, there seems to be only one strain of their kind in the
country, represented by the Lutheran Church in the Philippines (LCP).38 Its forerunner was the
Philippine Lutheran Church organized by missionaries of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod
(LCMS) in 1956, and renamed LCP in 1963. 39 In 1969, the LCP was acccepted into the National
Council of Churches in the Philippines. Of the four worldwide organizations of Lutherans40, the
LCP has also become a member of the Lutheran World Federation41 (1973), and in the International
Lutheran Council in 1975.
The LCP has had its own share of disputes and conflicts that led to its fragmentation into two
factions sometime in the 1990’s. The issues, however, did not dwell on doctrine but rather on
administrative concerns. The division came to an end in 2014 when both factions agreed to
settle their differences, thus giving way to a reinvigorated and reunited LCP with more than 130
congregations or outstations all over the country. As a Church, its belief in baptism is worth
noting here: “Baptism works forgiveness of sins, delivers from death and the devil, and gives everlasting
salvation to all who believe, as the word and promise of God declare. Baptism is an act of God, rather
than an act of man. Through the Sacrament of Baptism the Holy Spirit applies the gospel to sinners,
giving them new life (Titus 3,5) and cleansing them from all sin (Acts 2,38). The Lord points to the
blessing of Baptism when he promised, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16,16).
The blessing of Baptism is meant for all people (Matthew 28,19), including infants. Infants are born
sinful (John 3,6) and therefore need to be born again, that is, to be brought to faith, through Baptism
(John 3,5).”42
LCP is also called Lutherische Kirche auf den Philippinen, Église luthérienne des Philippines, and Iglesia
Luterana en las Filipinas. These names may also appear in baptismal certificates.
39 See HERBERT KRETZMANN, “History of the Lutheran Church in the Philippines,” in Philippine Lutheran
Magazine, March 1971.
40 These are: the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), the Global Confessional and Missional Lutheran Forum
(GCMLF), the International Lutheran Council (ILC), and the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference
(CELC).
41 The Lutheran World Federation (LCW) is a global communion of 148 churches in the Lutheran tradition,
representing over 75.5 million Christians in 99 countries.
42 See http://lutheranph.org/about-baptism (date accessed: March 6, 2020).
38
[17]
The formation of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP)43 was actually a tangible
outcome of the Evangelical Union established by Protestant missionaries in the Philippines on
April 26, 1901. Its purpose was to evangelize the Philippines through common effort. After
many years of collaboration, in May 1948, several Protestant denominations—such as the United
Evangelical Church, the Philippine Methodist Church, the Evangelical Church of the Philippines,44
some congregations of the Iglesia Evangelica Unida de Cristo, the Convention of the Churches of
Christ (Disciples of Christ) of Northern Luzon, the Iglesia Evangelica Nacional and some
congregations of the Iglesia Evangelica Metodista En Las Islas Filipinas (IEMELIF)—bonded
together to form the UCCP. Enrique Sobrepena was its first Presiding Bishop. Not all Protestant
churches, of course, joined the new denomination as some congregations of the United
Methodists, Baptists and other independent evangelical churches resisted being part of the
merger. UCCP nonetheless became one of the visible signs of inter-denominational and
Protestant unity in the country, second only after the United Evangelical Church of Christ (the
Unida Church) was founded in 1932 (supra). As a Protestant denomination, UCCP is Trinitarian
and holds the belief that Jesus Christ is both God and Man. It also practices baptism which it
regards as a sacrament of initiation into the church though not necessarily a means of salvation
as it is simply the first step of obedience undertaken by the new believer.
The Apostolic Catholic Church (ACC) is a relatively new Christian denomination in the
Philippines founded by Dr. John Florentine L. Teruel in 1992.45 It considers itself—and is thereby
classified—as an autocephalus, independent Catholic church. It claims to mediate and unite the
Western Rite (the Roman Catholic Church), and the Eastern Rite (the Eastern Orthodox Church)
to form a single Catholic church. The ACC is autocephalus and self-governing in the sense that
it is not in communion with the Pope, although it has established ties with the NCCP and the
Canadian Council of Churches. Though cult-like, according to some critics, it is said to follow
mostly Roman Catholic teaching and theology. For instance, ACC adheres to the doctrine of
Trinitarianism and promotes devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints, the first and the
only one so far to have been beatified and canonized by the ACC Patriarchate, being St. Maria
Virginia Peñaflor Leonzon, mother of the Patriarch himself, John Florentine Teruel. ACC’s idea of
the Trinity, however, is tied to the belief that by divine revelation, the Third Person of the Holy
Trinity called himself with the name Ingkong and manifested himself in the Philippines through
the Living Covenant, Maria Virginia. In fact, ACC has two religious orders and congregations:
the Order of the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit (OMHS) and the Order of the Missionaries of John
Florentine (OMJF). The members of these congregations are bound by their evangelical vows of
chastity, poverty, obedience, and acceptance of their immediate superiors to the Patriarch and
to God the Holy Spirit, addressed as Ingkong by adherents. It is difficult to see how baptism that
is administered with a formula that invokes such a distorted understanding of the Holy Spirit
(i.e., manifested through Maria Virginia) might be regarded as valid.
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Church_of_Christ_in_the_Philippines (date accessed:
March 18, 2020). Cfr. 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), esp. pp. 246-247.
44 The Evangelical Church of the Philippines was also called the Evangelical Union. No longer existent as
such, it was organized in 1901 with the following component denominations: Methodist Episcopal Church,
United Brethren in Christ (UBC), Northern Baptist Church, Christian and Missionary Alliance, Free Methodist
Church, and Presbyterian Church.
45 Acc-ingkong.com (date accessed: March 2, 2020).
43
[18]
The ACC should not be confused with another Christian denomination calling itself the
Apostolic Church (AC), which needs to be mentioned here because a namesake appears in the 2019
Integrated List of churches with invalid baptism.46 These two churches are clearly distinct
because unlike the ACC which is of indigenous origin, the AC is a Pentecostal movement of
Welsh origin.47 More importantly, compared to ACC’s invalid baptism, AC’s baptism appears
to be valid inasmuch as it is done by means of water immersion and accompanied by the
Trinitarian formula. Moreover, while AC bears some influence on another denomination called
Equippers Church (EC), which has three church offices in the Philippines, namely, in Marikina,
Las Piñas, and Parañaque, it does not seem to have any ties with another church with a similarsounding name, the New Apostolic Church (NAC) in the Philippines. NAC Philippines is rather
bonded with the New Apostolic Church International which traces its beginnings in England and
Scotland in the 1830s. NAC Philippines also belongs to the Church’s District of South-East Asia
and is presently led by District Apostle Edy Isnugroho.48 It should be noted, therefore, that there
is no church in the Philippines that is called Apostolic Church (as such) with any connection with
the three aforementioned churches—all three, in fact, having valid baptisms. Thus, it is
puzzling how a church with such a name got into the 2019 Integrated List. Both EC and the
NAC—along with the Welsh AC—profess belief in the Trinity and practice water baptism.
The Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches (PCEC)
The Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches (PCEC)49 was established in 1965. To date, it is the
fourth50 largest organization (faith group) of Christian denominations in the Philippines as it is
comprised of more than seventy (70) Evangelical and Mainline Protestant churches, and more
than two hundred ten (210) para-church organizations in the Philippines. It is a member of the
World Evangelical Alliance. It was founded by a group of Christian leaders seeking to create a
Christian body that embodies oneness in Jesus Christ and as such validates the growing force
and influence of evangelism in the country. The founding members were motivated by the need
to bond together for the defense of the fundamentals of faith, the need to evangelize the
Philippines, and the need to have a clearly evangelical witness expressed in ministries that help
the downtrodden in Philippine society.
See p. 7 and also Appendix 1, p. 75.
The Apostolic Church arose from the 1904–1905 Welsh Revival, the largest Christian revival in Wales
during the 20th century. The movement also triggered revivals in several other countries, in Scandinavia,
parts of Europe, North America, the mission fields of India and the Orient, Africa and Latin America. See
J. EDWIN ORR, The Flaming Tongue, Chicago: Moody, 1973.
48 See https://nac-philippines.org/
49 See RAYMUNDO GO, The Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches: Its Background, Context, and Formation
among Post-World War II Churches, Langham Monographs (April 30, 2019), 364pp. For a list of member
churches see Appendix 2, pp. 76-79.
50 By percentage the PCEC counts 2.4 percent of the population, while the Catholic Church has 79.5),
Islam 6.0% and Iglesia ni Cristo 2.6%. See “Philippine Population Surpassed the 100 Million Mark, Results
from the 2015 Census of Population) | Philippine Statistics Authority (psa.gov.ph. Philippine Statistics Authority,
date accessed: March 23, 2020).
46
47
[19]
Unlike the NCCP, the PCEC members have agreed to formulate a Statement of Faith,51 according
to which the Bible, the Word of God, fully inspired, inerrant and infallible as it is, is regarded as
the final authority in faith and life. More importantly, it affirms the existence of One God,
eternally existing in three distinct Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and grounds this belief
in Deuteronomy 6,4, Matthew 28,19, and 2 Corinthians 13,14. Most of the denominations that
make up the PCEC practice water baptism by immersion. All this indeed would render
baptism in these denominations as valid. Be that as it may, there is still a need to scrutinize the
beliefs and practices of member-denominations that are not well known according to the criteria
stipulated by Canon Law as will be discussed later in this survey. Inasmuch as PCEC
membership is overwhelmingly huge, only the larger and more popular denominations will be
considered in this survey.
The Presbyterian Church actually reached the Philippine in 1899 as it was brought here by
American missionaries led by Rev. James Burton Rodgers.52 In 1901, it entered into comity
agreement with other American-founded denominations such as the the Methodist Episcopal
Church, Northern Baptists, United Brethren Church, Christian and Missionary Alliance,
Disciples of Christ, and Congregational churches, which as a group came to be known as the
Evangelical Church. The group’s cohesiveness, however, was shaky. In 1932, some Presbyterian
congregations broke away and joined instead the United Evangelical Church of Christ, or the
Iglesia Evangelica Unida de Cristo (Unida Church). In 1948, the group finally disintegrated,
pushing the remaining Presbyterian congregations to forge alliance with other Protestant
denominations that formed the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) (supra).
It seemed in the beginning, and for a long time thence, that the specfically Presbyterian identity
would simply fade into the background, absorbed as it was in the abovementioned alliances.
But in 1977, a new Presbyterian movement found fertile ground on Philippine soil. It all started
when two Presbyterian missionaries were sent to the Philippines. One was Rev. Choi ChangYoung, of the Presbyterian Church in Korea (TongHap) and who worked with the Bible Society in
the Philippines between 1974 and 1977, and the other was Rev. Kim Hwal-Young of Presbyterian
Church of Korea (HapDong). Unable to establish constructive relationship with the UCCP, they
founded the Evangelical Presbyterian Mission in order to restore the Presbyterian Church in the
country. By 1981, the time became ripe for the establishment of the Presbyterian Church of the
Philippines. It was not smooth sailing, however, from then on.
As the Korean missionaries grew in number, the tension among them also heightened. Due to
the conflict, it was inevitable that the Presbyterian Church would be torn apart in 1989. Rev.
Yooshik (Joseph) Kim, a missionary from the Presbyterian Church of Korea (HapDong) in Manila
in 1979, led a breakaway congregation into establishing the Reformed Presbyterian Church of the
Philippines. In 1986, an agreement was reached by the leaders of Evangelical Presbyterian Mission
(HapDong), Reformed Church of the Philippines (TongHap), Presbyterian Mission in the Philippines
See Appendix 2, p. 79.
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presbyterian_Church_of_the_Philippines (date accessed: March 15,
2020). More on Presbyterians in LEFFERTS A. LOETSCHER, A Brief History of the Presbyterians, 4th ed.,
Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1983, 224 pp.
51
52
[20]
(Koshin) and HapdongBosu Mission declaring their unity and cooperation to establish a single
Presbyterian denomination in the Philippines.
In 2002, the Presbyterian Church of the Philippines participated in a series of dialogues with other
Presbyterian denominations and groups in the Philippines that included Reformed Presbyterian
Church of the Philippines, Daeshin Presbyterian Church in the Philippines and some independent
Presbyterian groups. The dialogue resulted in the creation of an ecumenical body, the Council of
Presbyterian Churches in the Philippines (CPCP) in 2003.
Adhering to the Westminster Confession of Faith, all Presbyterians believe in the traditional
doctrine of the Trinity, that is, that the one and only God exists as three persons, “of one
substance, power, and eternity”, namely, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
According to Presbyterian practice, individuals should be baptized in water using
the Trinitarian formula (“in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost”).
Baptism by immersion is not necessary; effusion and aspersion are acceptable modes.
The Church of the Nazarene traces its origin from the “holiness movement” that arose in the 1830s
to promote John Wesley’s doctrinal teachings, particularly, justification and sanctification by
grace through faith and entire sanctification as an inheritance available to every Christian.53
Though the movement eventually splintered by 1900, committed leaders exerted efforts to unite
the various factions. In 1907, a merger was formed between the Association of Pentecostal
Churches of America and the Church of Nazarene in Chicago, Illinois. It was, however, in 1908,
in Pilot Point (Texas), where the Southern denominations fully merged with their Northern
counterparts.54 Key leaders in this 1908 merger were Phineas F. Bresee, Hiram F. Reynolds, Charles
B. Jernigan and Mary Lee Cagle. The year 1908, then, became the point of reference for the formal
organization of the Church of the Nazarene (CN), which described itself thence as a Protestant
Christian church in the Wesleyan-Holiness tradition.55
From there and then on, CN spread into the various regions in the world, particularly in the
Philippines-Micronesia Region. Even before CN could reach Philippine territory, several
Filipinos had already converted to the CN faith. Among them, to name but two, were Marciano
Encarnacion, a native of Cabanatuan (Nueva Ecija) and Rev. Basilio T. Vargas, a former Methodist
who joined the CN around 1934.56 It was, however, only in February 1948, when the first CN
missionary, Joseph Pitts, came to the Philippines with the task of pioneering CN mission work
in the country. Met and joined by Encarnacion, who decided to return to the country in 1946,
Pitts set up the first CN church in Cabanatuan. He moved to Iloilo and founded the second CN
church here. From there, he moved up to Baguio, where he established what would become the
See FLOYD T. CUNNINGHAM, “The Early History of the Church of the Nazarene in the Philippines,” in
Philippine Studies 41/1 (1993), pp. 51-76.
54 These denominations were: the Central Evangelical Holiness Association (New England), the Association of
Pentecostal Churches of America (Middle Atlantic States), New Testament Church of Christ (South),
Independent Holiness Church (Southwest), the Church of the Nazarene (West Coast), the Pentecostal Church of
Scotland, and the Pentecostal Mission (Southeast).
55 Still, the CN has split into other groups in the course of time, namely, Pentecost-Pilgrim Church (1917);
Bible Missionary Church (1955); Holiness Church of the Nazarene (1958); and Church of the Bible Covenant
(1967).
56 See FLOYD T. CUNNINGHAM, op. cit., p. 52-53.
53
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CN headquarters in the country. In 1958, a split jolted the Church of the Nazarene when Pitts
and Encarnacion left the church over what they saw as the church’s departure from its original
emphasis upon strict laws and rules. Together, they organized the Holiness Church of the
Nazarene, which in 1968 eventually coaslesced with the Church of the Bible Covenant, which had
split from the Church of the Nazarene in the U.S. over many of the same issues. Over the
succeeding years, nonetheless, CN has managed to establish its presence in Metro Manila
District, Philippine Luzon District, and Bicol District. By 2016, after 60 years of mission work in
the Philippines, CN could boast having 350 churches nationwide in 11 Districts.57
As for its beliefs and doctrines,58 CN believes in one eternally existent, infinite God, Sovereign
Creator and Sustainer of the universe; that He only is God, holy in nature, attributes, and
purpose. The God who is holy, love and light is Triune in essential being, revealed as Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit. CN also believes in Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Triune
Godhead; that He was eternally one with the Father; that He became incarnate by the Holy
Spirit and was born of the Virgin Mary, so that two whole and perfect natures, that is to say, the
Godhead and manhood, are thus united in one Person very God and very man, the God-man.
Baptism, which according to CN faith, is a symbol of the new covenant, may be administered to
young children, whose parents or guardians give assurance to provide them the necessary
Christian training. According to CN practice, Baptism may be administered by sprinkling,
pouring, or immersion, according to the choice of the applicant.
Among the Methodists, the Wesleyan Methodist Church (WMC), was one of the first to enter the
Philippines after the war.59 Romeo Boronia, a WMC member, who returned to the Philippines
from the U.S. in 1947, undertook mission work in the country (in Urdaneta, Pangasinan) in
1949 with the support of the Dakota District. The congregation he formed in Urdaneta soon
grew with the affiliation of another congregation in Villasis. Soon afterwards, WMC expanded
to Isabela province in 1958, and also to Lanao Province and Cotabato in Mindanao in the South
In 1968, WMC merged with the Pilgrim Holiness Church (PHC), also a denomination in the
Wesleyan Holiness tradition that arrived in the Philippines in 1932, to form the Wesleyan Church of
the Philippines (WCP). Saturnino Garcia of PHC became General Superintendent of the merger,
while Luis Ordonez, of WMC and Boronia’s successor, became Garcia’s assistant. In 1989, the
Wesleyan Church Philippine General Conference (WCPGC) was organized with Alfonso Pablo as
General Superintendent. As its name suggests, WCP honors John Wesley, a priest of the Church
of England, who called upon Christian believers to commit to a life of holiness and the study of
God’s Word. WCP adheres to the Trinitarian doctrine, as it professes belief in one God, but
who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and the Savior of all who put their faith in him alone for
eternal life. According to the Wesleyan articles of religion of which WCP is likewise an
adherent, baptism is a sacrament commanded by the Lord and administered to believers. It
works as a symbol and as part of the new covenant of grace.
See https://asiapacificnazarene.org/fields/philippines-micronesia (date accessed: March 17, 2020).
See CN Articles of Faith (cf. https://asiapacificnazarene.org/about-us/articles-of-faith), date accessed:
March 17, 2020.
59 FLOYD T. CUNNINGHAM, Diversities Within Post-War Philippine Protestantism, p. 113. See also ROBERT
ANDREW BICKERT, Perception and response to receptivity: The history and growth of the Wesleyan Church in the
Philippines, 1932-1994, 1996 (Ann Arbor, MI, University Microfilms, 1997).
57
58
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The history of Pentecostalism in the Philippines began with the coming of Pentecostal
missionaries in the country in several waves.60 First, Church of God (COG) missionaries came in
1918. In 1921, a second wave of missionaries from the pentecostal United Free Gospel Church,
headquartered in Pennsylvania, arrived in the Philippines. A third group of missionaries of the
Assembly of God (AOG) came in 1926. Finally, a second batch of AOG missionaries and those of
the International Church of the Foursquare61 Gospel (ICFG/CFG) also came in 1937. In March 1940,
the Philippine District Council of the Assemblies of God was launched. Then in 1946, a United
Pentecostal Fellowship was organized and consisted of the Foursquare Church, the Church of God,
the Philippine Assemblies of the First Born, the United Free Gospel and Missionary Society, and the
Assemblies of God. The Fellowship, however, did not last long as it ended after a few years.
Nonetheless, Pentecostal missionary activity and revivals intensified after the Philippines
gained independence in 1946. Part of the Pentecostals’ success was that they encouraged and
produced self-motivated local leaders. When the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches was
organized in 1965, among those that joined were the COG, the AOG, and the CFG, which at that
time had already significantly grown. A split though jolted the Foursquare Church around this
time, that resulted in the founding of the Evangelical Full-Gospel Church (EFGC), which, led by
Ashel Maurillo, flourished in Eastern Mindanao.
As far as doctrine is concerned, Pentecostals are divided into two camps. It was in the 1910s
when the Pentecostal movement split into Trinitarian Pentecostalism and Oneness Pentecostalism.
The Trinitarian Pentecostal denominations believe in the doctrine of the Trinity, that is, the
Godhead is composed of three completely distinct persons who are co-eternal with each other
and united as one substance. The Son is from all eternity who became incarnate as Jesus, and
likewise the Holy Spirit is from all eternity, and both are with the eternal Father from all
eternity. All Pentecostals mentioned here so far, and other countless Pentecostal groups that
have sprung up in the country in recent years,62 belong to this camp.
The Oneness Pentecostal denominations, however, view the doctrine of the Trinity as polytheistic.
Considered as nontrinitarian, these denominations believe in the Oneness theology about God,
that is, the Godhead is not three persons united by one substance, but one person who reveals
himself in three different modes, and thus described by three different titles. In other words,
God manifested himself as Father within creation, he became Son by virtue of his incarnation as
Jesus Christ, and he becomes the Holy Spirit by way of his activity in the life of the believer.
JOSEPH SUICO, “Pentecostal Churches in the Philippines,” in Studies in World Christianity, 10/2 (2008),
pp. 223-232. See also DOREEN ALCORAN-BENAVIDEZ, EDWARDNEIL BENAVIDEZ, ADONIS ABELARD O.
GOROSPE and DYNNICE ROSANNY ENGCOY, “Pentecostalism in the Philippines,” in Asia Pacific
Pentecostalism (Brill, 2019), pp. 217–242; FLOYD T. CUNNINGHAM, Diversities Within Post-War Philippine
Protestantism, pp. 63-64.
61 The term foursquare refers to the four fundamental beliefs of Pentecostalism: a) Jesus saves according to
John 3,16; b) baptizes with the Holy Spirit according to Acts 2,4; c) heals bodily according to James 5,15; and
d) is coming again to receive those who are saved according to 1 Thess. 4,16–17.
62 For example, the Pentecostal Church of God Asian Missions, Inc., the Philippine Pentecostal Holiness Church,
the First Christian Pentecostal Church, the First Pentecostal Church of God, and the Universal Pentecostal
Church, Inc.—all of which are members of the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches.
60
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The United Pentecostal Church (Phil’s) Inc. (UPCP)63 under the United Pentecostal Church
International (UPCI) is one such Oneness Pentecostal denomination in the Philippines. It was
the Filipino, Urbano Aventura, who, having come home from Hawaii to the Philippines before
World War II, was instrumental in the founding of the UPC in the country. Already baptized
by a Pentecostal Englishwoman, Adah Lochbaum (of the Apostolic Faith Church), in Hawaii in
1939, Aventura decided to settle in Baguer, Pigcawayan (Cotabato) after his preaching of the
good news was rejected by his relatives in Iloilo. Winning some converts in Baguer, he set up
his own congregation here, which he named after the church where he was baptized, Apostolic
Faith Church (AFC). He thus had a small church made of indigenous materials erected in
Baguer in 1950. Aventura carried on but not without detractors. In fact, his congregation was
ridiculed by the people in Baguer who thought his doctrinal teachings were all his inventions.
To prove the people wrong, he sought the help of an American Pentecostal missionary, Rev.
Arthur Dillon, who was already doing mission work in Fabrica, Negros Occidental. In any case,
Dillon obliged and went to Baguer. After some time, in 1960, Aventura decided to affiliate his
church (AFC) with that of Dillon, for after all it had the same doctrines that he had learned in
his original church. It was thus that another UPC, a Oneness Pentecostal non-trinitarian church,
was born and eventually recognized by the UCPI in Weldon Spring, Missouri (USA). From
then on, notwithstanding Aventura’s death in 1968, the church grew, owing mainly to the
efforts of local pastors who succeeded their church’s Founder.
Even before the UPC was established in Baguer in 1960, another American Missionary, Carlos
Grant, succeeded in converting Filipinos to Oneness Pentecostalism in Fabrica, Negros
Occidental. In October, 1957, Grant established the UPCP in Fabrica. In 1965, however, he left
the church he himself organized to form a new group named after the church where he came
from in the U.S., the Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ (ACJC, 1967).
Meanwhile, another Oneness Pentecostal church emerged in Pangasinan in 1947, under the
leadership of Diamond A. Noble.64 Baptized at the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ (COOLJC) in
the U.S. in 1945, he called the congregation he founded in Pangasinan in 1956, the Assemblies of
the Lord Jesus Christ (ALJC). From this group sprang so many other schismatic Oneness
Pentecostal churches, it would suffice to simply mention some of them here: Gospel of Christ
(GOC, 1974), Jesus People Apostolic Pentecostal Oneness Phil. (JPAP, 1983), Faith in Christ Jesus
Church (FCJC, 1984), Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ (COLJC, 1989), Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ
(GLJC, 1993), Revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ (RLJC, 1995) and Christ Apostolic Ministries Phil.
(CAM, 2000). By 2016, there have already been about 210 different Oneness Pentecostal
denominations in the country.65 Despite the divisive conflicts, the irreconcilable differences in
See http//www.upcphilippineshistory.blogspot.com (date accessed: March 8, 2020). See also JOHNNY
LOYE KING, Spirit and Schism: A History of Oneness Pentecostalism in the Philippines, doct. diss., School of
Philosophy, Theology and Religion College of Arts and Law, University of Birmingham (Birmingham,
UK), April 2016, pp. 97-113; DANIEL SCOTT, The Evolving World of Foreign Missions, The Historical Saga of a
World Missions Vision by the United Pentecostal Church International, Hazelwood, MO: Foreign Missions
Division United Pentecostal Church International, 2009, pp. 101-102.
64 On D. Noble’s life and ministry, see JOHNNY LOYE KING, Spirit and Schism, pp. 113-139.
65 JOHNNY LOYE KING, Spirit and Schism, p. 190. King mentions many of them, for example (p. 289-290):
Assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ, Inc. (ALJC 2, 1968); Bible Apostolic Church (BAC, 1969); Philippine
Apostolics of Jesus Christ, Inc. (PAJC, 1970); Family Tabernacle of Jesus Christ (FTJC, 1971); The Jesus Church
(JC, 1971); Apostolic Ministers Fellowship Philippines (AMF, 1972); Apostolic Faith Church (AFC, 1974); Gospel
63
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matters of leadership, administration and even of doctrine, all share the belief that God is but
one person who revealed himself in three different modes—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. All
reject the traditional Christian doctrine of the Trinity which they regard as polytheistic.
The Christian Reformed Church traces its roots in the Reformation of the 16th century.
Historically, however, it considers its origin from the branch of the early Christian church—the
Reformed church—that flourished in the Netherlands under the influence of John Calvin in the
aftermath of the Reformation.66 Calvin’s key teachings, it will be recalled, centered on the
sovereignty of God, and on predestination and election which assured a believer that no one and
nothing, not even one’s own bad choices, can snatch him/her out of God’s hand. While the Reformed
church eventually established itself as the State Church in the Netherlands, it was not spared
from the moral decay the Enlightenment had spawned all over Europe. A grassroots movement
that held on to traditional Calvinist doctrines countered this trend. Facing persecution though
from the official Reformed church, the leaders of this movement decided to secede, giving rise
to the Christian Reformed Church in the Netherlands. One of the secessionists pastors, Albertus Van
Raalte (1811– 1876), fled to the U.S. and established in 1848, in what is now Holland (Michigan),
a group of strictly Calvinist-minded believers. The bleak conditions, however, that the new
community had to experience forced Van Raalte to seek help from the Reformed Church of
Dutch immigrants that had already settled in New York much earlier. A merger grew out of this
linkage, only for it to break up in 1857 due to, among other things, dissatisfaction over the
doctrinal preaching by American pastors and their pandering to American culture. The
secession gave rise to the Christian Reformed Church (CRC), mostly of Dutch immigrants whose
of Christ (GOC 1, 1974); Gospel of Christ Phils Apostolic Doctrine Pentecostal Oneness (GOC 2, 1974); Jesus
Miracle Crusade International Ministry (JMCIM, 1975); Apostolic Independent Mission (AIM, 1982); True Jesus
Church (TJC, 1983); Faith in Christ Jesus Church, Inc. (FCJC, 1984); Oasis Pentecostal International Fellowship
(OPIF, 1984); Worldwide Pentecostal Church of Christ (WPCC, 1984); Apostolic Pentecostal Assembly (APA,
1985); God’s Love Apostolicc Pentecostal Ministries (GLAPM, 1985); Jesus Christ to God be the Glory
International, Inc. (JCTGBTG, 1985); Pentecostal Bible Apostolic Holiness Church, Inc. (PBAHC, 1985);
Lighthouse Apostolic Ministry of Pentecost (LAMP, 1986); Lighthouse Apostolic Fellowship (LAF, 1987); Jesus
Christ Hope of the World Christian Fellowship (JCHW, 1988); Spirit & Truth Evangelistic Ministry (STEM,
1988); Jesus Christ Followers Church (JCFC, 1990); Apostolic Jesus Name Church (AJNC, 1991); Jesus Christ Our
King Forever Apostolic Ministry (JCOKF, 1991); Convention Apostolic Churches of Jesus Christ, Inc. (CACJC,
1993); Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ (GLJC, 1993); Bible Believer’s Fellowship (BBF, 1994); Philippine Apostolic
Mission, Inc. (PAMI, 1994); Apostolic Ministries for Christ (AMC, 1995); Revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ
(RLJC, 1995); Assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ Philippines, Inc. (ALJC 3, 1997); Hebron Apostolic Ministries
Philippines (HAMP, 1997); Christ Apostolic Ministries, Inc. (CAM, 2000); Apostolic Christian Church (ACC,
2001); Assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ Apostolic Faith (ALJCAF, 2001); Church of the Word of God Phil, Inc.
(CWCG, 2001); Jesus Flock Apostolic Ministry, Inc. (JFAM, 2001); Jesus Church Ministry (JCM, 2002); Jesus
Name Tabernacle of Faith (JNTF, 2003); Rainbow Tabernacle of Praise Global Christian Ministry, Inc. (RTP,
2005); United Apostolic Christian Ministries, Inc. (UACM, 2005); International Oneness Apostolic Churches of
Jesus Christ (IOACJC, 2007); Global Ministries Zion, Inc. (GMZINC, 2008); Northern Light Apostolic Church
International (NLACi, 2008); Worldwide Pentecostal Fellowship Philippines (WPFP, 2008); Members Apostolic
Church of the Lord Jesus Christ (MACLJC, 2009); Apostolic Holiness Fellowship of Jesus Christ (AHFJC, 2010);
United Church Jesus Christ (UCJC, 2010); Crossroads Christian Central Fellowship (CCCF, 2011); Apostolic
Church of the Lord Jesus Christ Internation Phil. Inc. (ACJCII, 2012); and Reign of Christ’s Kingdom Global
Ministry (RCKGM, 2012).
66 See JAMES H. BRATT, Dutch Calvinism in Modern America: A History of a Conservative Subculture, (Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans, 1984).
[25]
views were shaped largely this time by the new vision of the great Dutch theologian, Abraham
Kuyper (1837–1920)—that is, to claim Christ’s lordship over all of life and to cultivate a more
outward-looking faith that remains solidly grounded in Scripture and the confessions. Such a
new vision moved the CRC out of isolation, but also made it vulnerable to the negative
influence of Americanism.
Then in the 1920s, an internal conflict would break up the CRC. In its Synodical meeting which
began on June 18, 1924 in Kalamazoo (Michigan), the CRC adopted as official church dogma
what came to be known as the doctrine of common grace according to which, among other things,
“God shows also a certain favor or grace to His creatures in general, apart from the saving grace He
shows only to those that are elect unto eternal life.” Certain ministers, among them Herman
Hoeksema (1886-1965),67 claiming to hold on to the tradition of the Protestant Reformation of the
16th century, refused to subscribe to this doctrine, which they saw was against Scriptures and an
opening to introduce worldliness into the church. They (along with their congregations) were
then either suspended, deposed from office or completely put out of CRC. This paved the way
for a secession and the founding of a new denomination, the Protestant Reformed Church (PRC)
on the basis of the truth of God’s sovereign, particular grace in Jesus Christ as taught in Scripture.
Hoeksema himself became a long-time pastor in the First Protestant Reformed Church in Grand
Rapids (Michigan).
Meanwhile, another group of Reformed-minded Calvinists, having to put up with much of the
same anti-Reformation teaching, decided to leave the state church of the Netherlands much
later in 1886, and joined the CRC in the U.S. that was organized in 1857 (supra). Many of them
did not join the PRC and the others who left the CRC much earlier, yet in the 1990s started to
feel that the CRC was promoting once again some teachings that simply were not clear
Reformation teachings. These teachings, they claimed, involved doctrines that even clearly
contradicted the Three Forms of Unity (such as a move away from the inspiration and authority of
Scripture as well as teaching the Arminian view of the love of God). Another disputed issue was
whether women could and should hold ecclesiastical offices, which CRC supported. More
controversial was its acceptance of evolution and of the idea that some parts of Scripture were
not the Word of God. Thus, in 1994, many of these Reformed-minded faithful from 62 churches
met in November to discuss solutions to the problem. As a result, 32 of these churches
subsequently formed a federation, which after holding a Synod in 1996, adopted the name,
United Reformed Churches in North America (URC).
The CRC, the PRC and the URC may have gone in separate ways over doctrinal issues, but all
three—as each one of them claims—remained faithful in affirming the three creeds, i.e., the
Apostles Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed and the three confessions—the Belgic
Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism, and the Canons of Dort. That also means to say that all three
denominations profess belief in the Trinity, the one God known as three persons: Father, Son and
Holy Spirit and the belief that Christ’s death on the cross was a sacrifice for the salvation of
humanity.
67
On H. Hoeksema, see G.C. BERKOUWER, A Half Century of Theology (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1977).
[26]
In recent years, all three have expanded beyond North America. CRC started its mission in the
Philippines in 1962, in particular, planting churches on Negros Island.68 The denomination was
officially organized with three congregations in 1976. By the 1990s, the church is said to have
had 20 congregations and mission churches, which have grown to over 50 congregations in
recent years. It also maintains the Christian Reformed Seminary and the Bible Institute in
Bacolod City.
The PRC, on the other hand, began work in the Philippines in 1995 through its Peace Evangelism
Committee. Later, work was assumed by the Foreign Mission Committee (FMC) which then
oversaw the sending of PRC delegations to the Philippines to see if there was a place for PRC in
the country. The FMC eventually proposed to the PRC Synod of 2001 that a missionary be sent
to work in the Philippines. In July 2002, Rev. A. Spriensma moved to Manila with his family to
do mission work. Out of his labors was born in 2006 the first PRC congregation in the country,
the Berean Protestant Reformed Church in Antipolo (Rizal). Before he left in 2007, he also did
mission work in Bacolod City and Inayauan, on the island of Negros. Subsequent missionary
work on the field restarted in 2009 by Rev. Daniel Kleyn and Rev. Richard Smit, bore fruit in the
founding of four more PRC congregations, the First Reformed Church in Bulacan, the All of Grace
Protestant Reformed Fellowship in Gabaldon (Nueva Ecija), the Christian Faith Ministry in Batasan
Hills (Quezon City), and the Maranatha Church in Valenzuela (Bulacan).
Finally, the URC has also managed to establish its presence in the Philippines within the last
two decades. The Pasig Covenant Reformed Church (now located in Cainta, Rizal) started as a
small home Bible study in June 2008 after Rev. Nollie Malabuyo was called and ordained to be a
missionary-pastor to the Philippines by Trinity URC in Walnut Creek (California). The Trinity
Covenant Reformed Church in Imus, Cavite also started as a small home Bible study in June 2011.
These two church-communities, moreover, have connections with other Reformed mission
churches in Luzon and Mindanao, the United Covenant Reformed Churches in the Philippines (in
Las Piñas, Rizal; San Carlos, Pangasinan; and San Pablo, Laguna) organized in 2005, and the
Davao Covenant Reformed Church (Davao City).
An evangelical Christian denomination which is not necessarily similar to any mainstream
Protestant denomination, and which would not fit into any of the categorization of religious
groups in this survey, but which bears mentioning here is what is more popularly known as the
Quakers.69 What is of interest about the Quakers is that one of its American splinter groups, the
Evangelical Friends Church (EFC), maintains institutional presence in the Philippines and has
links with the PCEC.
The Quakers actually emerged during and after the English Civil War (1642–1651) as one of the
groups dissatisfied with the rigid forms of the Church of England and in search of a more
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Reformed_Church_in_the_Philippines.
Not all Quakers see themselves as Christians. Regarding the name “Quaker”, one story says that the
founder, George Fox, then accused of blasphemy, once told a magistrate to tremble (quake) at the name of
God, thus the name Quakers. It is thought that Fox was referring to Isaiah 66,2 or Ezra 9,4 when he did
this. At first, the name Quaker began as a way of ridiculing Fox’s admonition, but it became widely
accepted in the course of time to refer to his followers.
68
69
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inwardly satisfying way of worship and life.70 A young man by the name of George Fox claimed
that he was favored with a private revelation, because of which he became convinced that it was
possible to have a direct experience of Christ without the aid of any mediation, particularly that
of the clergy. He also claimed that in a vision (1652), he was allowed by the Lord to see what
places he had a great people to gather, thereby urging him to go to these places, first around
Great Britain and then overseas, to preach and teach his newfound faith and restore a true and
“pure” Christian church. Persecuted at first for its “unorthodox” teachings, seen (of course)
from the prism of Anglicanism, Fox nevertheless succeeded in converting many followers to his
fold to form what was in the course of time formally came to be known as the Religious Society of
Friends or Friends Church.71 Between the 1650s and the 1660s, the growth of the Church
eventually reached what is now the Northeastern region of the United States. But as it was the
destiny of so many other Christian denominations in Europe and in the New World, divisions
within the Church developed especially in the 19th century, owing to disagreements in matters
(issues) of faith and practice. Thus emerged such factions as the Conservative Friends (Wilburite
Conservative), the Friends United Meeting (Gurneyite), the Evangelical Friends Church International
(Evangelical), the Beaconite, and the Friends General Conference (Hicksite).
Whatever their ever-growing disagreements were, they were still one in the belief that each
individual had the ability to experientially access the light within him/herself because there is
something of God in everybody inasmuch as God can directly reveal himself to each and every
individual. Quakers in general then seek religious truth in inner experience, and place great
reliance on conscience as the basis of morality. Such emphasis on the direct experience of God
led most Quakers to abandon rituals and ceremonies (especially as mediated by ministers),
believing that these are an unnecessary obstruction between the believer and God. It is for this
reason that most Quakers do not practice baptism or whatever sacraments there may be.
It is on this latter point, however, that the Evangelical Friends Church (EFC), while claiming to
remain within the fold of Quakerism, has chosen to differ from the other Quaker factions and
embrace instead similar religious beliefs and practices of other evangelical Christians. While
most Quakers, for instance, do not hold on to a formulated creed, the EFC members have
agreed to formulate their Church’s Statement of Faith.72 In this statement, God is recognized as
one, eternal, omnipresent, unchanging, personal God, etc. Moreover, God is thought to exist as
one divine being and yet as a trinity of three distinct persons, identical, inseparable, and equal in
divinity, power, and eternity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Apart
from affirming such Trinitarian faith, the EFC has also approved, albeit reluctantly, the practice
of using the outward sacraments in their Sunday services (meetings) and in particular the ritual
of adult baptism by immersion in water. However, caution must still be exercised in dealing
with EFC baptism for even if the it felt constrained to grant liberty concerning the use or nonSee GORDON BROWNE, Introducing Quakers, Pendle Hill College, Philadelphia, 1992; HARVEY GILLMAN, A
Light that is Shining, Quaker Home Service, London, 1997; Quaker Faith & Practice, Book of Christian
Discipline of the Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain, London, 1995.
See also https://www.history.com/topics/immigration/history-of-quakerism.
71 Followers of G. Fox eventually called themselves in the 1860s “Friends of the Truth” or “Friends of the
Light”, as they regarded themselves as friends of Jesus (John 15,14-15). In time they came to be known
simply as Friends, thus, the Religious Society of Friends or Friends Church.
72 Evangelical Friends Church (Eastern Region), Faith and Practice, 2018 edition, approved July 19, 2019,
pp. 4-7.
70
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use of the outward element of water in Christian baptism, the EFC would still prefer baptism of
the Holy Spirit to stress the point that baptism should not be a single act of initiation but a
continuing growth in the Holy Spirit and a commitment which must be continually renewed.73
Collectively then, for most Friends Churches (Quakers), the validity of baptism is a non-issue.
With EFC baptism, extreme caution must be exercised in regarding its baptism as valid.
Exactly the same caution must be exercised in dealing with the issue of validity as far as
Quakers in the Philippines are concerned, for not all of them belong to the EFC in the first place.
Only two, it seems, of such groups belong to the EFC, namely, the Philippine Evangelical Friends
Christian Church in Pasig74 and the Marikina Evangelical Friends Church in Marikina,75 and both
are listed in the 2016 list of PCEC membership,76 whose baptisms may therefore appear to be
valid. All the rest, particularly those based in Bohol and in the Samar/Leyte area, who call
themselves Pinoy Quakers or the more formal Unprogrammed77 Friends in the Philippines (UFP),78
would seem to belong to the other branches of Quakerism, who continue to hold that one is
never saved by any ritual ceremony, tradition, or sacrament (e.g., baptism) and that creeds and
dogmas never really answer a believer’s deepest questions and are therefore unnecessary.
Also listed as members of the PCEC are some individual Alliance Church communities, which
belong to the Christian and Missionary Alliance Churches of the Philippines (COMACOP). This
particular denomination traces its roots to a missionary society started by Albert Benjamin Simpson
(1843–1919),79 a Canadian, who early in life was raised in a strict Calvinistic Scottish Presbyterian
and Puritan tradition. Sometime in 1881, having discerned he had a call from God, he resigned
as a Presbyterian pastor in New York City in order to begin an independent gospel ministry to
the many new immigrants and the neglected masses in the same city. Among these were
prostitutes, longshoremen, and the homeless. To widen the reach of his mission he founded in
1887 two organizations in Old Orchard Beach (Maine), The Christian Alliance, which
concentrated on domestic missions, and The Evangelical Missionary Alliance, which focused on
overseas missions. In 1897, these two organizations merged to form the Christian and Missionary
Alliance (CMA). Beginning in 1965, CMA morphed and officially became a denomination in
1975, with the organization of the Alliance World Fellowship (AWF), the international governing
On this, see Evangelical Friends Church (Eastern Region), Faith and Practice, p. 16-17.
These Quakers also seem to call themselves the Philippine Evangelical Friends International Ministries –
PEFIM. See https://www.facebook.com/PEFIM/ or https://www.facebook.com/pg/PEFIM/posts/
75 See https://www.facebook.com/pages/Marikina-Evangelical-Friends-Church/272846592866679
76 See https://pcecph.home.blog/members/ Another EFC member, the Mandaue Evangelical Friendship
Church in Cebu, does not appear in this PCEC list.
77 The word “unprogrammed” in the name of this group must have been derived from the practice of
unprogrammed worship, that is, one which is done in silence (and where those who are inspired can speak)
without the guidance of a pastor.
78 For reference, see https://universalistfriends.org/weblog/paragraphs-from-the-philippines. See also
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=193940013982983&id=130346943675624. In this
second site, one reads the following quotation: “Dear friends, those who are highly intellectual and
deeply spiritual usually do not resonate with elaborate rituals and loud prayers, much less with the
hierarchy of verbose pastors/ministers, bishops and priests. That is why we think it is important that you
will know that there is a non-hierarchical faith that caters to your independent thinking. See for yourself.
Pinoy Quakers on Facebook, quakersphilippines@gmail.com.” (Italics added.)
79 ALBERT E. THOMPSON, The Life of A.B. Simpson, Brooklyn, New York: The Christian Alliance Publishing
Company, 1920.
73
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body of the CMA. It was at this time when the expansion of CMA—already felt in the 1940s—
even stretched further not only within the U.S. but also into different parts of the world,
counting 50 countries in 2010, not to mention that the AWF is headquartered in São Paulo,
Brazil.
As early as 1901, CMA missionary work already started in the Philippines, particularly in the
Western Mindanao and the Sulu regions.80 The first Alliance Church is said to have been
inaugurated in Tetuan, Zamboanga region, on December 25, 1904.
This early attempt,
however, was not as successful as the missionaries had hoped for. Officially established in the
Philippines in 1947, with the incorporation of 13 organized Alliance Churches into what came to
be known as the Christian and Missionary Alliance Churches of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMACOP),
the denomination’s growth started to pick up. Fairly recently in 1982, with the recruitment of
more indigenous leaders and given its decisive action, the denomination’s expansion was no
longer confined to Mindanao but filtered into other parts of the whole country as well. In the
2010s, CAMACOP could now count more than 2,900 churches and an estimated following of
470,000 members.
CMA’s system of beliefs, and that of COMACOP for that matter, is anchored on the so-called
Fourfold Gospel enunciated by Simpson himself, namely, that Christ, who is the true God and the
true man, is not only the Savior, but also the Sanctifier, the Healer, and the Coming King.81 Also at
the core of the church’s doctrine is its belief that there is one God, who is infinitely perfect,
existing eternally in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But while the church may
administer baptism by invoking such belief in the Trinity, it rejects that baptism is for the
remission of sins and that a sinner attains remission of sins before and even without water baptism
by immersion as prescribed by Sacred Scriptures.82 There is therefore every reason to consider
CMA’s baptism as invalid because it contradicts the very purpose for which it ought to be
administered and received. There is therefore also enough reason to put into question the
intent of the minister and that of the recipient in the administration and reception of the
sacrament.
The Anabaptists
The Anabaptists constitute a group of its own.83 One of the Anabaptist denominations
mentioned in the ECDF 2018 list of valid baptisms is the Amish. It remains a curious thing,
however, how it got into the list insofar as there is no veritable evidence of Amish institutional
presence in the Philippines, neither even of a sure trace of Amish people living in the country.
What could be ascertained though was the fact that indeed four members of the Amish
community in Ohio, USA, came to the Philippines in March 2014 as volunteers in helping out
typhoon victims in the country. They came back to their home state infected with measles. It
was consequently reported afterwards that 16 cases of measles were confirmed at the Knox
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_and_Missionary_Alliance_Churches_of_the_Philippines.
See https://www.cmalliance.org/about/beliefs/doctrine. See footnote 88 below.
82 Cfr. Mk 16,16; Acts 2,38; 22,16 and 1 Peter 3,21.
83 See WILLIAM R. ESTEP, The Anabaptist Story, Grand Rapids, MI: William B Eerdmans, 1963.
80
81
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county in Central Ohio, where the Amish community is located.84 Apart from this piece of
news, it is not known whether the Amish community has in fact settled in the Philippines.
What is unmistakable though is the presence of the Mennonite Church in the country. A little
background is here required. The Amish—sometimes called Amish Mennonites—were
secessionists from the Mennonites, which are of Anabaptist provenance.
They are called
Anabaptist, meaning “one who baptizes again” or “re-baptizers” (from Neo-Latin anabaptista; from
the Greek ἀναβαπτισμός,: ἀνά- “re-” and βαπτισμός “baptism”; German: Täufer, earlier also
Wiedertäufer). There are three main theories on the origins of Anabaptism as a movement: a) the
movement began in a single expression in Zürich and spread from there (monogenesis); b) it
developed through several independent movements (polygenesis); and c) it was a continuation of
true New Testament Christianity (apostolic succession or church perpetuity).
Regardless of their exact origin, the early Anabaptists formulated their beliefs in the Schleitheim
Confession, in 1527. Anabaptists believe that baptism is valid only when candidates confess their
faith in Christ and thereby want to be baptized. Anabaptists therefore are opposed to the
baptism of infants, who are not able to make a conscious decision to be baptized. The Amish (a
group led by Jakob Ammann, c. 1644–c. 1730), the Hutterites (founded by Jacob Hutter), and
Mennonites (named after Menno Simons) are direct progenies of the early Anabaptist movement,
while the Schwarzenau Brethren, Brüderhof, and the Apostolic Christian Church are considered later
developments among the Anabaptists. The Mennonites themselves have further bifurcated into
the Old Colony Mennonites and the Old Order Mennonites. Both Mennonites and Amish believe in
one God eternally existing as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Romans 8,1-17). They believe that Jesus
Christ, God’s only Son, died on the cross for the sins of the world. They also believe that the
Holy Spirit convicts of sin, and also empowers believers for service and holy living. They
believe that salvation is by grace through faith in Christ, a free gift bestowed by God on those
who repent and believe.
The Mennonites first came to the Philippines in 1946 through relief efforts by the U.S. Mennonite
Central Committee (MCC),85 particularly in Abra. MCC left the country in 1950, but not without
some converts to the Mennonite faith. Two such converts, Felonito Sacapaño and Marcelo
Masaoay worked together to do missionary work with the Tingin tribes in Northern Luzon. In
1965, Sacapaño developed Missions Now Inc. (MNI), which in 1971 was endorsed by the General
Conference Mennonite Church in the U.S. In 1972, the Eastern Mennonite Board of Missions and
Charities (EMBMC) sent to the Philippines James Metzler who went on to form 22 pioneer
churches and mission points.
Meanwhile, on October 6, 1987 Felonito Sacapaño died and his son, Sammy Sacapaño, became
the leader. When the younger Sacapaño decided to lead MNI in a new direction and split from
the Mennonite church, those who remained formed the Integrated Mennonite Churches, Inc. (IMC)
See https://www.rappler.com/nation/56475-amish-philippines-measles-outbreak-ohio (date accessed:
March 16, 2020).
85 See REGINA MONDEZ, “The Mennonite Church in the Philippines,” in JOHN LAPP and ARNOLD SNYDER,
eds., Churches Engage Asian Traditions, Intercourse, PA: Good Books, 2011, pp. 259-275. See also
https://mwc-cmm.org/content/gentle-peace-witness-mennonite-church-philippines (REGINA MONDEZ,
A gentle peace witness: The Mennonite church in the Philippines). (Date accessed: March 16, 2020).
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on October 23, 1991. It is not clear whether MNI is still existent at this time. In any case, in
2008, another split occurred over financial and leadership issues resulting in another group, the
Integrated Mennonite Conference of the Philippines, Inc. (IMCP). At present, Mennonite presence is
largely felt in Lumban, Laguna.
Mention was made earlier of the Schwarzenau Brethren (or German Baptist Brethren, Dunkers,
Dunkards, Tunkers, or simply the German Baptists), an Anabaptist group organized in 1708 after
it dissented from several Lutheran and Reformed churches that were officially established in
some German-speaking states in Western and Southwestern parts of the Roman Empire. There
are groups of Anabaptist Christians in the U.S. that trace their origin to this Anabaptist sect in
Germany, one of which is the Church of the Brethren86 which has a partner Church in the
Philippines, the Jesus Our Firm Foundation Church (JOFF) in Bocaue, Bulacan. It is not clear as to
when this Church was established here. In any case, it is a small community that seems to be
gaining more members into its fold under the leadership of its Pastor, Gary Castro, a graduate of
Ashland Theological Seminary in Ashland, Ohio (USA). Like all Church of the Brethren
communities, JOFF adheres to non-creedalism—meaning, it does not subscribe to any creed—and
derives its beliefs solely from the Bible, which for them reveals the one true and living God in
three equal persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Its belief, therefore, in the Trinity
is derived not from any of the formulated creeds, but rather solely on Biblical texts and verses.
JOFF also practices water baptism by immersion.
Mega Non-Denominational Churches87
The Jesus Miracle Crusade International Ministry (JMCIM) is an Apostolic (Oneness) Pentecostal
religious group founded by Evangelist and Pastor Wilde E. Almeda and his wife, Lina C. Almeda,
in Novaliches, Quezon City, Metro Manila, on February 14, 1975. It is well known for its
promotion of miracles, and faith in God for healing. Now said to be the largest Oneness
Pentecostal organization in the Philippines, JMCIM—like most Oneness Pentecostals—strongly
emphasizes a doctrine of salvation based on Acts 2,38, involving repentance, baptism in the
name of Jesus Christ for forgiveness of sins, and the reception of the gift of the Holy Spirit. This
teaching on baptism in Jesus’ name is closely tied to the most distinctive core of JMCIM’s
doctrine which is its absolute monotheistic view of God and the rejection of the traditional
doctrine of the Trinity. Its baptismal formula then reflects a Christocentric soteriology, which
though also makes mention of the Holy Spirit, is completely devoid of any reference to God the
Father.
The Jesus Is Lord Church Worldwide (JILCW), more popularly called Jesus Is Lord Church (JIL), is a
Christian church founded by Eddie Villanueva, said to be a former atheist and activist, in Manila
in 1978. Once a professor of Philippine College of Commerce (now the Polytechnic University of
Two of these groups (number to about seven or eight of them) which trace their origin to the
Schwarzenau Brethren are the Old German Baptist Brethren and the Brethren Church. The Church of the
Brethren used to be called the German Baptist Brethren, a name that was supplanted by the present one in
1908.
87 This section relies mainly on https://www.history-ph.blogspot.com/2017/01/megachurch.html (AL
RAPOSAS, Protestantism in the Philippines: Megachurch Fever, 2017).
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the Philippines), Villanueva gathered 15 of his students to form a Bible study group that
eventually evolved into the church that it now is. JIL now describes itself as a Full Gospel88,
Christ-centred, and Bible-based church, whose members are mostly Filipino workers and their
families abroad. The church’s kind of worship is particularly characterized by inspirational and
life-transforming praise and worship songs produced by the Musikatha, JIL’s recording ministry
and main music arm. Its mission is, “To bring all peoples to the kingdom of the living God regardless
of race, status, belief and religious affiliations through the saving, healing, delivering, and transforming
power of the Lord Jesus Christ.” Its vision, on the other hand, bears some allusion to the Trinity,
though it does not explicitly use this vocabulary in its Declaration of Faith. Rather it speaks of
the Eternal Godhead. In its vision, JIL declares that it “…is a channel of God’s divine
transforming power through the Holy Spirit, manifested in the daily Christ-like lifestyle of its
members.” Thus, while it affirms the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the glory of the Father (Eph.
2,6-11), it also acknowledges the role of the Holy Spirit in its reference to 1 John 5,7-8 (KJV)
which states: “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost:
and these three are one. ” All three constitute what JIL calls the Eternal Godhead. Because of this,
indications are that JIL’s baptism is valid. More so because its practice of water baptism is
explicitly grounded on Matthew 28,19-20 (NKJV): “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe
all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Victory Christian Fellowship of the Philippines, Inc. (VCF), a member of Every Nation Churches, is an
evangelical Protestant church started by Steve and Deborah Murrell in the Philippines in 1984.
Together with Rice Broocks and 65 other American university students, the Murrell couple came
to the Philippines on a one-month summer mission trip. Since 1984, Victory has grown until it
presently has churches in 60 Philippine cities. As a member of Every Nation Churches, VCF
adheres to the statement of faith of the World Evangelical Alliance, and as a member of the
Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches, it also adheres to the council’s statement of faith. As
such, one of its core beliefs is the confession of one God, Creator of all, expressed as three distinct
persons - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Deuteronomy 6,4; Genesis 1,1; Matthew 28,19).
Many of VCF’s teachings resemble those of the Catholic Church. For instance, VCF teaches that
humanity is separated from God because of sin, and is therefore in need of salvation from this
wretched condition. It also teaches that Jesus Christ became a man by means of the virgin birth
to offer Himself as the only way to be saved by a sacrificial death and resurrection on the third
day after His death. As an evangelical protestant church, however, VCF asserts that the only
way to be saved from man’s wretched condition and eternal damnation is by faith in the full
work of Jesus Christ. Moreover, it also adheres to the principle of sola scriptura as the only
inspired, fully irrefutable, and infallible written revelation of God. On moral issues, VCF
regards all human life as sacred and of inestimable worth in all its dimensions, including preborn babies, the aged, the physically or mentally challenged, and every other stage or condition
Full Gospel is a term that characterizes the doctrinal teachings of Pentecostalism and Charismatic
Christianity, evangelical movements that originated in the 19th century. The movement and its teachings
grew out the Wesleyan Arminianism of the post-American Civil War era’s holiness movement, especially
through the “fourfold” gospel of A. B. Simpson, founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance (see p. 30
supra). Early Pentecostalism saw their teachings on baptism with the Holy Spirit, spiritual gifts, and divine
healing as a return to the doctrines and power of the Apostolic Age. Because of this, many early
Pentecostals and Charismatics call their movement the Apostolic Faith or the Full Gospel. See ALBERT B.
SIMPSON, Four-fold Gospel, Word, Work & World Publishing Company, 1888.
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from conception through natural death. It upholds marriage as the union between a man and a
woman—anything other than this VCF would not recognize as marriage.
Greenhills Christian Fellowship (GCF) started as a meeting of 67 people at Club Filipino
(Greenhills, San Juan) for a Valentine’s Fellowship Dinner on February 14, 1978. From this
meeting, and inspired by the vision of Rev. David and Patty Jo Yount of the Conservative Baptist
Mission, aimed at reaching the emerging, self-reliant Filipinos who have the influence, and the
leadership to do a significant work in spreading the Gospel in the Philippines and beyond, GCF
grew into the flourishing church that it is now at the very heart of Ortigas Center (Pasig City).
Its vision is to transform lives and communities through Jesus Christ, and its mission is to make
disciples of Jesus Christ in the Philippines and beyond. Invoking the Bible as the inspired Word
of God written without error, the only sure source of knowledge about God and His plans (2
Tim 3,16-17, 2 Peter 1,20-21), GCF believes that there is only one true God, who revealed Himself
in the Bible as three persons sharing one indivisible essence in the mystery of the Trinity, God
the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit (Deut. 6,4; Mt 28,19-20). In particular, GCF
recognizes that Jesus Christ, as the unique Son of God, is both fully God and fully man—
conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered and died in the place of sinful
humanity, was buried and resurrected, ascended bodily into heaven, and is preparing to return
bodily in glory to earth a second time (Jn 1,1-14; Jn 14,1-3; 1 Cor. 15,3-6; Phil. 2,5-11).
Bread of Life Ministries International (BOLMI) came into being when a group of 12 people, with
Pastor Butch Conde as leader, felt called by the Lord sometime in August 1982 to start a new
church in Loyola Heights, Quezon City. Its first service gathering took place at the auditorium
of Maryknoll College (now Miriam College) on November 14, 1982. The group called their
gathering at that time the Bread of Life Christian Fellowship (BOLCF). It has had to change its
name in 1992 to Bread of Life Ministries International (its present name), at a time when its
membership has already expanded into the thousands. Now known by the acronym BOL, or
simply Bread, the new church has steadily grown in membership. A sign of its growth is the
Touch of Glory Prayer Mountain, a place built by BOL in Antipolo, Rizal, to spread the spirit of
prayer in the Philippines. This prayer facility, which is now drawing crowds of believers from
different churches and denominations, has become BOL’s center for its ministry of intensifying
and deepening the prayer lives of the Filipino Christians. Driven by a nationalistic spirit, Pastor
Conde taught that if God himself provides for Filipino churches, then Filipinos must break free
from colonial mentality and cease to be too dependent on foreign missionaries. As an
evangelical church, BOL holds that Holy Scriptures is the verbally inspired Word of God in its
entirety and the final authority for faith and life. BOL also believes in the one triune God,
eternally existing in three Persons — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — all three co-eternal in being,
co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections.
BOL teaches that in order to be saved, man must be born again, regenerated by the Holy Spirit,
and to turn in genuine faith from the heart to Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Savior.
The Cathedral of Praise (COP) is a Full Gospel, Christ-centered megachurch founded by Dr. Lester
Sumrall in Manila (Philippines) in 1954. At the time of its foundation, it was called Manila Bethel
Temple (MBT). At present, COP operates a Main Campus along Taft Avenue (Manila), an East
Campus in Pioneer Centre (Pasig), a South Campus at Versailles (Las Piñas), and a North
Campus along Commonwealth Ave. (Quezon City). Since its foundation in 1954, COP has also
grown in membership into the thousands, most of whom were former Catholics drawn to
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evangelical Christianity. As far as its beliefs are concerned, COP claims that they are based
upon Sacred Scriptures as the sole source of authority in determining doctrine and practice.
Sacred Scriptures for COP are inspired by God and declare His design and plan for mankind.
One of COP’s Scriptures-based beliefs is that there is only One true God—revealed in three
persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Trinity). In particular, COP believes in the Deity of the
Lord Jesus Christ, who as God’s son was both human and divine. For the COP water baptism
by immersion is an ordinance, administered after one has repented one’s sins and has received
Christ’s gift of salvation.
Christ’s Commission Fellowship (CCF) is a non-denominational church founded by Dr. Peter TanChi in 1982. Pastor Peter Tan-Chi began an evangelistic home Bible study in Brookside
Subdivision, Cainta, Rizal. Only three couples attended that first Bible study, but as they began
to invite their friends, who then invited their own friends and families, the Bible study group
slowly grew in membership. It was particularly in August 1984 when the group met at the
Asian Institute of Management to hold its first Sunday worship service and to launch what was
then called Christ’s Commission Foundation. Since then CCF membership continued to grow,
requiring the fellowship to set up several worship centers in several places both in the
Philippines and abroad to accommodate the growing influx of membership. Its main worship
center is now located at the CCF Center in Ortigas East (formerly Frontera Verde), Pasig.
Turning to its doctrines, CCF believes that there is only one God eternally existent in three
persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He is the Creator of Heaven and Earth. According to
CCF doctrine, Jesus Christ in the flesh is both God and Man, that He was conceived by the Holy
Spirit and born of a virgin. Living a sinless life, He was crucified and He died to pay the
penalty of death for our sins. By shedding His blood, Jesus Christ made a perfect sacrifice for
sin once and for all time and was raised from the dead on the third day. For CCF, water baptism
by immersion is an act of obedience to Christ’s command. It is a public confession of personal
faith in Jesus Christ (Matthew 28,19).
The Word of Hope Christian Church (WHCC) was founded by Dr. Dave A. Sobrepena and his wife,
Nellie, in August 1988. Its founding drew inspiration from the “People Power” or the bloodless
revolution on EDSA in February 1986, an event which moved the couple, who were then
stationed in Dallas, Texas, out of their compassion for their countrymen, to go back to the
Philippines to start a new ministry. Dave and Nellie saw this as a response to a vision and call
from the Lord. With three other people, the couple planted at Paramount Theater a church that
would soon be the Word of Hope Christian Church. From then on, WHCC claims to be the fastest
growing born-again Christian churches and one of the largest in the country. It now maintains
a place of worship along EDSA in Quezon City. The WHCC holds on to what it considers
nonnegotiable tenets of faith that all Assemblies of God churches adhere to. Foremost, it regards
Scriptures as inspired by God and declare His design and plan for mankind. Similar to other
churches of the evangelical kind, it believes that there is only One True God –revealed in three
persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It also believes that Jesus Christ as the Son of
God is not only fully God but fully divine as well. WHCC also practices water baptism by
immersion that is consequent to repentance of one’s sins and the reception of Christ’s gift of
salvation.
Day By Day Jesus Ministries (formerly Day By Day Christian Ministries and now also known as
DBD) is a non-denominational evangelical Christian mega-church organization founded by
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Eduardo Lapiz in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on June 6, 1985, as a small fellowship of OFWs. Lapiz
was a pastor who went to Riyadh to work in a hospital. In Riyadh, Lapiz started facilitating
Bible studies on a day-to-day basis until the number of OFW-attendees grew. He eventually
organized a fellowship out of this group which ushered the beginning of the organization. It
was in 1991, when Lapiz returned to the Philippines. Introduced by Lapiz in the country, it was
when the fellowship started to grow rapidly in membership. It now has its main worship center
at the Folk Arts Theatre, Cultural Center of the Philippines (Manila), which DBD dedicated as
the Bulwagan ng Panginoon (Hall of the Lord). According to DBD, Jesus is the image of the
invisible God, and because all the truth and goodness of God is revealed in Jesus, his teachings
must be clearly known and identified and made as the standard by which all teachings of all
other teachers (e.g., Moses, Peter, Paul and James) are to be measured and accepted (filtered).
DBD insists that the teachings of Jesus should prevail and be obeyed. After all, Jesus is the Way
and the Truth and the Life --- and in the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow. As a member of
the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches, DBD professes faith in the Trinity and in the
divinity of Jesus, whom it recognizes as fully God and man. It also practices baptism by water
immersion.
Restoration Churches
As a sect, the Jehovah’s Witnesses are actually an offshoot of the Bible Student Movement (BSM),
which developed in the United States in the 1870s among followers of Christian Restorationist
minister Charles Taze Russell. 89 When said movement was established in London in 1900 it came
to be called International Bible Students Association (IBSA). Before the Association could spread
elsewhere, it was already rocked by schism in 1909, with a group that called itself Free Bible
Students breaking away. The schism, notwithstanding, the association began to spread to
Canada, Germany, Australia and other countries. After Russells’s death in 1916, the group
splintered further into several rival organizations, namely, the Laymen’s Home Missionary
Movement, the Associated Bible Students, and a third group (the remnant of IBSA) that was led by
Joseph “Judge” Rutherford, Russell’s successor. It was Rutherford who retained control of both
Russell’s magazine, The Watch Tower, and his legal and publishing corporation, the Watch Tower
Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania. Rutherford’s faction was what was going to endure into
what would be officially called Jehovah’s Witnesses in 1931.
Before his death in 1916, Russell in fact had the opportunity to visit the Philippines in January
1914.90 He was a Bible Student then on a lecture tour around the world, Manila having been
one of his stops for a lecture on the topic “Where are the Dead?”. Russell was followed by the
Canadian William Tinney of the BSM who came to the Philippines and organized here a bible
study class in the early 1920s. Tinney had to leave due to illness but interested Filipinos
continued the bible study class. By 1933, at a time the movement already came to be known as
Jehova’s Witnesses (JW), the “message of truth” as they called it, was already being broadcast in
RODNEY STARK & LAURENCE R. IANNACCONE, “Why the Jehovah’s Witnesses Grow So Rapidly: A
Theoretical Application,” in Journal of Contemporary Religion, 12/2 (1997), pp. 133-157, esp. pp. 142–143;
HEATHER BOTTING & GARY BOTTING, The Orwellian World of Jehovah’s Witnesses, University of Toronto
Press, 1984, p. 52.
90 https://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/worldwide/PH.
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the Philippines on radio station KZRM. This marked the beginning of the spread of JW in the
country. Not even World War II could halt its rapid growth as more JW missionaries arrived
thereafter to propagate JW’s beliefs. Before 1975, it is said that JW has reached almost 77,000
publishers as compared to 2,600 in 1946.
As far as their beliefs are concerned, the JWs claim that these are aligned with the Bible, though
they recognize that not everything in the Bible is to be taken literally. Furthermore, they also
believe that the true God has given himself a personal name—Jehovah. Jesus Christ, on the other
hand, is the Savior, “the Son of God,” and “the firstborn of all creation.” But as a created being,
he is not part of a Trinity as Jesus himself declared in John 14,28: “The Father is greater than I am.”
The JWs also practice baptism by water immersion but only for those who, on the basis of a
thorough study of the Bible, want to serve God as one of his Witnesses. Such baptism, one
cannot but conclude, is bereft of any Trinitarian significance and therefore likewise of any
validity from the Christian point of view.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) grew out of Mormonism, a predominant
religious tradition of the Latter Day Saint movement of Restorationist Christianity started by
Joseph Smith in Western New York in the 1820s and 30s.91 It is the largest denomination in the
Latter Day Saint movement founded by Joseph Smith during the early 19th century period of
religious revival known as the Second Great Awakening. In 1820, Joseph Smith, considered to be
the Founder of the worldwide religion known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is
said to have been favored with a miraculous event when God the Father and Jesus Christ
appeared to him in a vision near his home in upstate New York. It was a time when Smith was
in search of the true church as different religions were vying to recruit new members and
converts into their churches. Smith claimed that in this vision, Jesus directed him not to join
any of these churches. Since then, about ten years after this vision, Smith went on to restore the
true Church of Jesus Christ to the earth, this Church having been taken away from the earth
after the original twelve apostles of Christ died. As the Church was steadily growing, conflicts
arose due to political, social and cultural differences, eventually causing the Church to relocate
several times to various places, such as Kirtland, Ohio, then Missouri and on to Nauvoo, Illinois.
When Smith was killed by a mob in Illinois in 1844, Brigham Young succeeded him as the
prophet and President of the Church. Young stood as the leader of the Church as they travelled
across North America heading to its present-day headquarters in Utah.
The first attempt to introduce the Church in the Philippines was made in 1898 during the
Spanish-American War by Willard Call and George Seaman, LDS servicemen from Utah, who had
been set apart as missionaries prior to their departure.92 As opportunity arose, they preached
the gospel, but with no apparent success. Things would change after World War II in 1944 and
1945. Several LDS servicemen remained in the Philippines after the war ended. Among them
were Maxine Tate and recent convert Jerome Horowitz. Both were instrumental in introducing the
gospel to Aniceta Fajardo, who on Easter morning of 1946, was baptized by serviceman Loren
Ferre and is now acknowledged as the first known Filipino to become a member of The Church of
JAN SHIPPS, Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition, University of Illinois Press, 1987; ERIC
ELIASON, Mormons and Mormonism: An Introduction to an American World Religion, University of Illinois
Press, 2001.
92 See https://ph.churchofjesuschrist.org.
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Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was, however, only in 1961 when the church started to firm up
its presence in the Philippines as it obtained official recognition here. That was after Robert S.
Taylor, President of the Southern Far East Mission, filed the paperwork with the Philippine
government, thereby gaining for the LDS Church legal personality. Subsequently, on 28 April
1961, in a meeting with servicemen, American residents, and Filipino members, Gordon B.
Hinckley, then an Assistant to the Twelve, rededicated the country—thus, began the expansion
of the church throughout the country.
As far as the LDS Church’s beliefs and practices are concerned, its four primary principles are:
faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism by immersion for the remission of sin, and the laying on
of hands for the Gift of the Holy Ghost. It focuses its doctrine and teaching on Jesus Christ—
that he was the Son of God, born of Mary, lived a perfect life, performed miracles, bled from
every pore in the Garden of Gethsemane, died on the cross, rose on the third day, appeared
again to his disciples, and now resides, authoritatively, on the right hand side of God. LDS also
confesses its belief in what it calls the Godhead, that is, God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the
Holy Spirit. According to LDS scripture, the Godhead has the following attributes: they are
three separate and distinct beings; they are collectively one God, meaning that they are united in
spirit, mind, and purpose.
Given its practice of baptism by immersion and its view of the Godhead that closely resembles
the Christian doctrine on the Trinity, the baptism administered by LDS was early on considered
as valid.93 Sometime in 2001, however, a dubium was sent to the CDF for resolution on whether
the baptism conferred by the community « The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints », called
« Mormons » in the vernacular, was valid. The CDF’s response was negative.94 CDF
acknowledged that this decision in fact has changed the past practice of not questioning (thus
presuming) the validity of such baptism, that it found it appropriate to explain the reasons for
the change.95 One of the conditions for validity is that the intention of the minister must be
“…to will to do what the Church does when she baptizes.”96 An examination, however, of the
baptismal formula used by the LDS shows that the minister is prevented from having such an
intention.
Such a formula might seem at first sight to invoke the Trinity. In reality, however, there is none
here of a true invocation of the Trinity because the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,
according to LDS, are not the three persons in which subsists the one Godhead, but rather three
See JOHN M. HUELS, O.S.M., The Pastoral Companion, A Canon Law Handbook for Catholic Ministry,
Chicago, Illinois: The Franciscan Herald Press, 1986, p. 50. Insofar as the matter and the words of the
form of Baptism were correctly utilized by LDS, its Baptism was presumed valid, analogously to the
Baptism of so many other non-Catholic ecclesial communities. On this see LUIS LADARIA, S.J., “The
Question of the Validity of Baptism Conferred in The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints” in
L’Osservatore Romano, Weekly Edition in English, 1 August 2001, p. 4.
94 CDF, “Response to a ‘Dubium’ on the validity of baptism conferred by «The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints», called «Mormons»“ (5 June 2001), in Acta Apostolicae Sedis [AAS] 93 (2001) 476. For the
pastoral and canonical significance of the CDF’s Response, see URBANO NAVARRETE, S.J., Response of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith about the validity of Baptism Conferred in the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-Day Saints, in L’Osservatore Romano, Weekly Edition in English, 1 August 2001, page 5.
95 LUIS LADARIA, S.J., Op, cit., p. 4.
96 Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1256.
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gods who form one divinity. One is different from the other, even though they exist in perfect
harmony.97 The divinity as it were was formed only when the “three gods” decided to unite in
order to bring about human salvation. Such a view of the Godhead clearly departs from the
Christian doctrine of the Trinity, thus when invoked in baptism also hardly renders it valid.
Because of this, LDS is now usually classified as nontrinitarian. Such is Mormon Fundamentalism,
a break-away LDS sect and other small independent LDS denominations which seek to
maintain Mormonism’s original practices and doctrines such as polygamy. There is, however,
an LDS denomination which has also separated from the LDS Movement which consider itself
to be trinitarian. Such is the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the secondlargest LDS denomination which, since 2001, prefers to call itself the Community of Christ. This
break-away LDS denomination does not describe itself as “Mormon”, as it claims to follow a
Trinitarian Christian theology, but remains Restorationist in terms of Latter Day Saint doctrine.
There is, however, little evidence, that its concept of Trinity corresponds to what could be
considered Christian in the traditional sense of the word. Its baptism remains excluded from
lists of valid baptisms prepared by dioceses in the U.S.98
The Iglesia ni Cristo (INC)99 is an independent non-trinitarian sect founded by Felix Y. Manalo in
the Philippines in 1914. It describes itself to be the one true church and the restoration of the
original church founded by Jesus. It also teaches that all other Christian churches are apostates.
INC doctrine cites that the official registration of the church with the government of the
Philippines on July 27, 1914, by Felix Y. Manalo—recognized by its members to be the last
messenger of God—was an act of divine providence and the fulfillment of biblical prophecy
concerning the re-establishment of the original church of Christ in the Far East. As regards
Jesus Christ, the INC believes that he may be the Son of God, the mediator between God the
Father and humanity, and savior/redeemer of humankind by substitution, but he is only a mere
man. INC denies Jesus’ divinity because he was created by God the Father, and only sanctified
by Him to be without sin, and bestowed the title “Lord”. INC also believes in the Holy Spirit as
the power of God, but just like Jesus, he also is not God. God the Father as the creator deity is
the only true God. It is clear from this then that, adopting a version of unitarianism, INC rejects
the traditional Christian belief in the Trinity which it regards as heresy. Strangely though, in
the administration of baptism which is done through immersion and conferred only on adults,
INC uses a trinitarian formula,100 unable as it is to ignore Matthew 28,19 where Jesus summons
his disciples to “Go… and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost.” So close (identical) is the INC baptismal formula to that of the Catholic
JOSEPH F. SMITH, ed., Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith (TPJS), Salt Lake City: Desert Book, 1976, p.
372), as cited by LUIS LADARIA, S.J., Op, cit., p. 4.
98 See for instance the list of Churches and Ecclesial Communities with Valid Baptism of the Diocese of
Honolulu, Hawaii. Cfr. www.cofchrist.org/basic-beliefs.
99 JOSEPH J. KAVANAGH, “ The ‘Iglesia ni Cristo’,” in Philippine Studies, 3/1 (1955), pp. 19-42; FERNANDO G.
ELESTERIO, The Iglesia ni Kristo: Its Christology and Ecclesiology, Cardinal Bea Institute, Loyola School of
Theology, Ateneo de Manila University, 1977; MANUEL PIÑON O.P., “Some Notes on Two Major Sects of
the Philippines,” in Religion & Religions, Dominican House of Studies, Quezon City, 2nd edition, 1982;
ADRIEL OBAR MEIMBAN, “A Historical Analysis of the Iglesia ni Cristo: Cult in the Far East, Philippine
Islands Since 1914,” in The Journal of Sophia Asian Studies, 12 (1994), pp. 98–134.
100 See SABINO VENGCO JR., “The Validity of the Iglesia ni Kristo Baptism”, Loyola Studies, Prefatory Issue
(1965-66), pp. 56ff.
97
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Church and many mainstream Christian Churches that it even made a Catholic theologian think
it enjoyed presumptive validity.101 But considering the fact that INC does not even believe in
original sin, much less believe in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit as two distinct divine persons,
it is difficult to see how an INC minister can administer baptism with the “proper” intention
that would render such baptism valid.
The Members Church of God International (MCGI),102 now also known as Ang Dating Daan, is an
international Christian religious organization with headquarters in the Philippines. It is an
offshoot of the “Iglesia ng Dios kay Kristo Hesus, Haligi at Suhay ng Katotohanan” (Church of God
in Christ Jesus, Pillar and Support of the Truth) which was first led by Nicolas Antiporda Perez in
1928. After Perez’s death in 1975, Levita Gugulan, the secretary-general of the church, succeeded
as presiding minister. Eliseo Soriano, who was a member of the group and the only ordained
minister then, countered the authority of Gugulan. On February 21, 1976, Soriano, together with
16 other members broke away and began a new church organization called “Mga Kaanib Iglesia
ng Dios kay Kristo Hesus, Haligi at Saligan ng Katotohanan sa Bansang Pilipinas” (Members Church
of God in Christ Jesus, Pillar and Ground of Truth in the Philippine Nation) which was officially
registered in 1977. In 2004, the church changed its name to “Members Church of God
International” (MCGI). The church believes in the Almighty God, the Father, the begotten Son,
Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Despite this, however, it is non-trinitarian in orientation,
rejecting as it does the traditional doctrine of Trinity—”one God in three co-equal persons”—
which for them, is against the Bible. Rather, the church believes that the Father, the Son and the
Holy Spirit are not perfectly equal with each other. Thus, it may also teach baptism (through
water immersion) as a key part in its doctrines, but it cannot be conferred through the
invocation of the Trinity in any traditional Christian sense.
The Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KJC),103 officially the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, The Name Above Every
Name, Inc. is a Philippine-based Restorationist church founded by Apollo Quiboloy on
September 1, 1985. Quiboloy was a former member of the United Pentecostal Church of the
Philippines (UPCP), a Oneness Pentecostal denomination. Quiboloy left UPCP on September 1,
1985, the day he started his own denomination. Quiboloy went on an exile to Tamayong
(Calinan District, Davao City, Davao del Sur) for five years and later at Sitio Kitbog at the foot
of Mount Matutum in South Cotabato. Quiboloy claims that revelations from God through his
dreams led him to the foundation of the KJC. Proclaiming a message of repentance as one of
KJC’s principal beliefs, he proclaimed himself to be the “Appointed Son of God”, a title that makes
him equal to Jesus. Having been once a member of UPCP, Quiboloy could not completely
detach himself from Oneness Pentecostalism’s influence in its denial of the Trinity. Oneness
Pentecostal theology affirms that there exists only one God in all the universe. It affirms the
deity of Jesus and the Holy Spirit but strangely it denies the Trinity for it teaches that God is a
single person who was manifested as Father in creation and as the Father of the Son, in the Son
for man’s redemption, and as the Holy Spirit in man’s regeneration. Oneness theology does
teach that baptism is a necessary part of salvation. However, it is administered (through water
immersion) “In Jesus’ name” alone, rather than “In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit”.
ENRIQUE GONZALES, O.M.I., “The Baptismal Rites in Filipino Christian Churches,” p. 168.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Members_Church_of_God_International.
103 http://www.kingdomofjesuschrist.org/kjc_history.php (date accessed: March 19, 2020).
101
102
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Congregational Churches104
In the 2018 list prepared by the ECDF that was presented and proposed at the CBCP Plenary
Assembly (January 2018), the Congregational Church was included among those Churches with
valid baptism.
Unfortunately, this could not be validated because there is in fact no
Congregational Church—named and called as such—that exists as a separate entity (e.g., a
denomination or sect) whose membership extends nationwide, comparable to most
denominations. There may be Congregational Churches (plural form) in the country, but there is
no Congregational Church (singular form) as such that exists as a denomination. Thus, a
“particular” Congregational Church has to be specified to determine its congregational beliefs
and practices, and thereby also ascertain whether or not its baptism is valid. This is better
grasped if the idea of Congregationalism and its congregational way is first properly understood.
Congregationalism, is actually a Christian movement that arose in England in the late 16th and 17th
centuries. It emphasizes the right and responsibility of each properly organized congregation to
determine its own affairs—its own congregational way—without having to submit these
decisions to the judgment of any higher human authority, thus doing away with bishops and
presbyteries. Each individual church is regarded as independent and autonomous.
The origins of Congregationalism lie in 16th-century Separatism in England. Robert Browne has
been regarded as its Founder inasmuch as his beliefs were advanced by the Separatists who
advocated separation from—rather than reform of—the Church of England. The movement
soon attracted a host of other nonconforming Protestants, Puritans, Independents, English
religious groups coming out of the English Civil War, and other English dissenters not satisfied
with the degree to which the Church of England had been reformed. This gave rise to
Congregationalism whose adherents have generally been distrustful of state establishment of
religion and have worked for civil and religious liberty.
In any case, many in the aforementioned separatist groups were severely persecuted under
Elizabeth I, triggering many of them to settle in Holland to escape persecution; some of them
(mainly Pilgrims and Puritans) later set sail for the New World in 1620. This was how
Congregationalism, strongly influenced by Calvinism, made its way into the U.S., thus giving
birth to a number of independent Congregational Churches in many places. By the early 20th
century, efforts began to take shape to federate these Churches. In 1931, some Congregational
Churches participated in a merger that created the General Council of Congregational Christian
Churches (CCC). Sometime in 1945, some churches and ministers, disagreeing with what they
perceived as unacceptable liberal direction being taken by the majority of CCC’s members and
leadership, formed the Conservative Congregational Christian Fellowship (CCCF). In 1948, they
reconstituted themselves as the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference (CCCC).
Meanwhile in 1957, subsequent initiatives within the CCC had it merged with the Evangelical
and Reformed Church to form the United Church of Christ (UCC), a move that was opposed by
former clergy and lay people also within CCC that morphed into the National Association of
Congregational Christian Churches (NACCC) in 1955. Thus, there are at present three bodies
J. WILLIAM T. YOUNGS, The Congregationalists, Denominations in America, student ed., Westport,
Connecticut: Praeger, 1998.
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(associations) of Congregationalist Churches in the U.S., namely, the CCCC, the UCC, and the
NACCC.
Whatever their disagreements were, they share the same beliefs that in general characterize a
Congregational Church. Two of these are worth mentioning here.105 First, a local church
congregation ought to be able to govern itself (self-governance)—this is what gives a local church
congregation its name. No local congregation is subservient to any higher outside authority or
governing body such as most denominations are compliant in such wise. Decisions of doctrine
and practice, therefore, are not imposed on the church from the outside, these must rather
emanate from within. Owing to such congregational autonomy, specific doctrines and practices
can therefore vary widely, from theologically conservative to liberal and Unitarian. Second,
Congregationalists hold to the Bible and belief in Jesus, but individual members have “the full
liberty of conscience in interpreting the Gospel”. Church members are trusted to interpret the Bible
and apply it as they best understand it, and the church embraces differences of interpretation.
Based on these two points alone, it would thus be utterly sweeping to say that the baptism
administered in the Congregational Church—granting it exists in the Philippines—may be
regarded as valid as the ECDF 2018 list would make it appear. Baptism, therefore, that is
administered in any Church that describes itself as Congregational should not be presumed valid
but should rather be subjected to investigation and scrutiny. There may indeed be individual
Congregational Churches in the Philippines that are self-governing, but there is no association
(national or otherwise) comparable to the CCCC, UCC, and the NACCC that could at least give
some indications as to what their nature, polity and systems of beliefs might be. What can be
ascertained though is that the UCC has links with the UCCP and the NACCC with a group
called Christian Mission in the Far East, Inc. (CMFEI) under Rev. Jaime Julian, but such linkages
are nothing more than avenues for outreach rather than one that reflects institutional affiliation.
Non-Protestant Churches and Independent Catholics
By Independent Catholics in this section is meant Churches that call themselves “Catholics” but
which are not in (full) communion with the Roman Catholic Church. The first non-Protestant
Church that deserves mentioning here though is the Greek Orthodox Church. It shares much of
the Catholic faith but is not in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church as a result of
the Great Schism between East and West in 1054. Historians point out that as early as the 1600s,
some Orthodox Christians, particularly Armenians, Greeks and Macedonians, have already settled
in the Philippines.106 Then, early in the 20th century, a small Russian parish of the Iveron Icon of
the Theotokos is said to have been established in Manila to serve Russian émigrés who came to
settle in the country. The presence of this Russian parish, however, ceased to exist after the
Second World War.
See TRACI SCHUMACHER, Five Beliefs That Set Congregational Church Apart From Other Christians
(https://www.newsmax.com/FastFeatures/congregational-church-christians-beliefs/2015/04/02/id/
636039 (date accessed: March 20, 2020).
106 Historians cite a document by Murillo Velarde, a Jesuit historian describing their Order’s missionary
labors in the Philippines, that records the presence of Armenians, some Persians, Tartars, Macedonians,
Turks, and Greek settlers in Manila as early as 1618. See EMMA HELEN BLAIR & JAMES ALEXANDER
ROBERTSON, The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 (Cleveland, Ohio, 1906), Vol. XLIV (1700-1736), p. 27.
105
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It may well be said then that the institutional presence of the Greek Orthodox Church (GOC)107 in
the Philippines derives its origin from a visit of Vincent Escarcha, a Roman Catholic Benedictine
Priest (regarded as an Abbot by followers) from the Island of Masbate, to a Greek Orthodox
Church in the U.S. in 1983. His attendance in the Divine Liturgy (Paschal Vigil) on the eve of
Resurrection Sunday in said church, left a deep mark in him that he continued participating in
the church’s holy services for the next six months. Back in Masbate afterwards, he took to heart
the study of the Orthodox faith so that seven years later, in 1990, he and some companions
agreed to a pastoral visit of Metropolitan Dionysios (Psiahas) of New Zealand and Fr. Sotirios
Trampas, the Bishop of Zela at that time, to his place in Cataingan (Masbate). Subsequently, Fr.
Vincent along with a novice, four nuns and another seven women, were all chrismated
(“confirmed” in Roman Catholic language) at the chapel of the Greek consulate of Manila,
thereby forming the first nucleus of the Orthodox Church in the Philippines.
Another event that spurred the growth of the GOC in the country was the completion of the
construction of the Annunciation Orthodox Cathedral in Sucat (Parañaque City), in 1996. A project
started in 1989 by Alexandros Athos Adamopoulos (appointed Consul General of Greece in 1942),
the Church was consecrated by no less than Bartholomew I, the Ecumenical Patriarch of
Constantinople, on 5 March 2000. In Cataingan itself, a Greek Orthodox monastery was erected,
the Monastery of the Nativity of the Theotokos. Since Escarcha’s conversion, and the inauguration
of the Annunciation Orthodox Cathedral, in Parañaque (Rizal), four other parishes, have been
established: the Theotokos Orthodox Parish, in Cataingan (Masbate); the Holy Trinity Orthodox
Parish, in Los Baños (Laguna); the Holy Resurrection Parish, in Sbù (South Cotabato); and the St.
Isidore of Chios Parish, in Hagónoy (Dávao del Sur).
In 1996, the Orthodox Metropolitanate of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia was created and it now has
three Filipino Orthodox priests caring for their communities in the Philippines that also include
four nuns. In 2007, the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Mission in the Philippines was established
under the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia and New Zealand and in 2008, two Filipino
denominations that included 32 communities and which subsequently formed two vicariates in
Manila and in Davao, were received into the Antiochian church. Then, in 2015, several parishes
were received in mass baptisms into the Moscow Patriarchate. In 2017, the parish of the Iveron
Icon of the Theotokos, established in 1935 but which ceased to exist after World War II, was
reestablished. Finally, in 2019, a Diocese of the Philippines was established within the Russian
Orthodox Patriarchal Exarchate of Southeast Asia, whose priests now serve the Russian mission.
The validity of the Greek Orthodox baptism is beyond doubt. First, because the Doctrine of the
Holy Trinity is central to the Orthodox Faith. The doctrine affirms that there is only One God, in
whom there are three distinct Persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Second, because
The Greek Orthodox Churches are also known as Eastern Orthodox Churches. As a whole, the Orthodox
Church is composed of churches that are either autocephalus (with its own head) or autonomous (selfgoverning) as follows—a) autocephalus: Church of Constantinople (ancient); Church of Alexandria (ancient);
Church of Antioch (ancient); Church of Jerusalem (ancient); Church of Russia (established in 1589); Church of
Serbia (1219); Church of Romania (1925); Church of Bulgaria (927); Church of Georgia (466); Church of Cyprus
(434); Church of Greece (1850); Church of Poland (1924); Church of Albania (1937); Church of Czech and Slovak
lands (1951); and The Orthodox Church in America (1970) / b) autonomous : Church of Sinai; Church of Finland;
Church of Estonia; Church of Japan; Church of China; Church of Ukraine; and Archdiocese of Ohrid.
107
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baptism of adults and infants is by immersion in water (three times) in the name of the Trinity
and is both the initiation into the Church and a sign of forgiveness of sins.108
An ancient Church and an Aramaic-speaking remnant of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic
Church, that it claims to be, and which calls itself the Eastern Catholic Church (ECC),109 also
deserves mentioning here. It traces its birth to the time immediately following the Resurrection
and the Ascension of Jesus Christ and on the Feast of Pentecost. Its spread is attributed to the
missionary efforts of the Apostle Saint Thomas (Mar Toma) and the Apostle Saint Jude Thaddeus
(Mar Addai), who are both credited with having brought the church to the city of Edessa which
is located in the north-west of Mesopotamia and established in Persia in 35 A.D. From here,
through St. Thomas the Apostle, the ECC spread into the Parthian Empire, later the Persian
Empire, and then on to India. For all its claim of Catholicity, it is not under the jurisdiction of
the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, which it calls the Patriarch of the West in Rome.
Instead it claims to be autocephalus (self-governing) to this day. In 1934, the ECC reached the
U.S. and its presence there is now headed by the present Metropolitan, Dr. Mar Mikhael of
Edessa, O.S.J. Of significant importance is the fact that in 2001, an Intercommunion between the
Catholic Chaldean Church under Rome and the ECC was established through a signed agreement
in writing by the Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church and ECC’s Patriarch Mar Dinkha IV,
and approved by Pope John Paul II. More recently, in 2006, a Missionary Diocese of the
Philippines was established under Dr. Mar Mikhael of Edessa as Primate or Chief Hierarch.
One of the two parishes it now administers is the Parish of Our Lady of Sorrows located in San
Isidro, Rodriguez (Rizal).
As for its beliefs, the ECC holds to the doctrines of the First two Ecumenical Councils and its
Creeds, affirms the virgin birth of Jesus Christ, His incarnation, and sacrificial atonement on the
cross, His death, His resurrection, and ascension into heaven, and the Holy Trinity. Among its
sacraments (called Holy Mysteries) are baptism and confirmation (or Chrismation) which to
ECC are inseparable. There can be no doubt that ECC’s baptism is valid, especially given the
fact that intercommunion between it and the Catholic Chaldean Church has been established in
2001.
Not to be confused with the ECC just mentioned is the Eastern Catholic Church Metropolitan See of
the Philippines and All Asia, Inc.,110 which reportedly celebrates the Syrian Chaldean Rite, but
which, however, seems to be of recent vintage. It cannot be associated with the ECC because up
until now, the Philippines under ECC is a missionary diocese under the jurisdiction of Dr. Mar
Mikhael of Edessa, the Primate (supra). There is not much information about it except that its
Chancellor is said to maintain residence at Upper Banlat Road, NGO Compound (Tandang
Sora, Quezon City). Moreover, there is also information that one of its parishes has been
established by a certain Fr. Ericson I. Santos, D.D. in Malumot (Panapaan 7, Bacoor City), a
former Aglipayan priest ordained in 1999, elected as Aglipayan Bishop for southern Tagalog
See A. GREGG ROEBER, “Eastern Orthodoxy,” in Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices, Vol. 1, 2nd
ed., (1914), pp. 223-237.
109 The ECC has also been called by other names such as the Church of the East, the Persian Church, the
Indian Church, the Mar Toma (Thoma) Church, the Mar Thoma Christian Church, the East Syrian Church, the
Holy Apostolic-Catholic Church of the East (Chaldean-Syrian), the Chaldean-Syrian Church of the East, etc. It
bears remembering these names to fully identify the ECC.
110 https://www.facebook.com/ECCMSPA.
108
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diocese in 2008, and appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Zambales in 2009. Since that is only so
much that can be said of the Church, and nothing more about its beliefs and practices, the
validity of its baptism should not be presumed. Much more so because most of its hierarchs
seem to be former Aglipayans, whose affiliation as Aglipayans (after 1961?) cannot be
ascertained.
As early as the 1850s, the term Old Catholic Church111 was already in use to refer to groups,
belonging to the See of Utrecht in the Netherlands, that left the Roman Catholic Church, in their
refusal to recognize any infallible papal authority. That was, of course, long after these groups
had already actually separated from Roman Catholicism in 1724 that created the first Old
Catholic Church in Utrecht. When the First Vatican Council defined the dogma of papal
infallibility in 1870, opposition to it was further galvanized in other parts of Europe, most
especially in Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Switzerland. In the spring of 1871 a convention
was held in Munich that attracted several hundred participants. Here, Johann Joseph Ignaz von
Döllinger (1799–1890), a church historian and an excommunicated Roman Catholic priest, led
the movement that rejected the dogma of papal infallibility and thereby played a role
contributory to the doctrine, growth and development of the Old Catholic Church. In any case,
the convention decided to form the Old Catholic Church to highlight its members’ rejection of
what was seen as the novel teaching of papal infallibility. The new Church gravitated towards
Utrecht to form the Union of Utrecht of the Old Catholic Churches112 (simply abbreviated as UU).
By the early 1900s, the movement included groups in England, Canada, Croatia, France,
Denmark, Italy, United States, the Philippines, China, and Hungary. In England, for instance,
1908, the Old Catholics would gain firm base there in 1908 with the ordination of Arnold Harris
Mathew, as Regionary Bishop for England, whose mission was precisely to establish an Old
Catholic community for Anglicans and Roman Catholics in the country. In 1910, however,
Mathew left the UU over his allegation of its becoming more Protestant and called his church
the Old Roman Catholic Church (later called Old Roman Catholic Church in Europe113 as
distinguished from the Old Roman Catholic Church Latin Rite114 in the U.S.). In the U.S., the Polish
National Catholic Church (PNCC),115 founded by Polish-Americans in Scranton, Pennsylvania in
URS KÜRY, Die Altkatholische Kirche: Ihre Geschichte, ihre Lehre, ihr Anliegen, 3. Auflage, Evangelisches
Verlagswerk, Frankfurt/Main, 1982; GÜNTER EßER, Die Alt-Katholischen Kirchen, Die Kirchen der Gegenwart
5. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen, 2016; HANS-JÜRGEN VAN DER MINDE, Für ein offenes Christentum,
with a contribution from EUGEN DREWERMANN, Kirche der Zukunft – Zukunft der Kirche, Kösel-Verlag,
München, 1994.
112 At present, the Union of Utrecht has six members: Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands (OKKN), the
Catholic Diocese of the Old Catholics in Germany, the Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland, the Old Catholic
Church of Austria, the Old Catholic Church of the Czech Republic, and the Polish Catholic Church in Poland. It is
in full communion with the Anglican Communion through the 1931 Bonn Agreement; and, with the
Philippine Independent Church, the Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church, and the Lusitanian Catholic Apostolic
Evangelical Church through a 1965 extension of the Bonn Agreement. See “History”, utrechter-union.org.
113 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Roman_Catholic_Church_in_Europe.
114 http://www.orcclr.org/?page_id=2
115 See FRANK S. MEAD, “Polish National Catholic Church of America,” in Handbook of Denominations in the
United States, 10th ed., Abingdon Press, 1995. The PNCC (U.S. based) should not be confused with the
Polish-Catholic Church of Republic of Poland (PCCRP) which is based in Poland itself and which remains
within the UU communion up until the present.
111
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1897, also joined and stayed on in the movement between 1907 and 2003, but left it in
opposition to the ordination of women and openness to homosexual unions by other UU
member churches. Briefly during this time, the Philippine Independent Church (PIC) also joined
the UU but not for long because internal conflict was also tearing it apart (supra). At present,
the PIC has links with the UU through its Concordat of Full Communion with the Protestant
Episcopal Church in the USA (PECUSA) that was formalized in 1961.
Another denomination that has been associated with the Old Catholic movement but which has
never been part of it in any official and institutional way, is the Liberal Catholic Church (LCC).116
Such association stems from the fact that one of LCC’s Founders, J. I. Wedgwood, an Anglican
turned Theosophist in 1904 was ordained a priest in the Old Catholic movement in 2013.
Inasmuch as the Old Catholics maintained that their ordinations were valid within the Roman
Catholic tradition, with Wedgwood’s Old Catholic ordination, the LCC thus claims to trace its
apostolic succession back to Rome. LCC’s claim to apostolic succession firmed up when
Wedgwood was ordained bishop in 1916 by Frederick Samuel Willoughby, a bishop of the Old
Catholic Church of Britain (OCCB) that was founded by Arnold Harris Mathew in 1910 (supra). The
subsequent instability within OCCB under Mathew was perhaps one of the reasons that led
Wedgwood, and another Theosophist, Charles Webster Leadbeater of Sydney (Australia), to found
an organization that would later become the LCC and of which Wedgwood became the first
Presiding Bishop. With another Theosophist with him (Leadbeater), Wedgwood maintained
close connections with the Theosophical movement. The Church henceforth spread in other
places, most notably in the U.S.
In 1941, with perceived breaches of canon law and the laws of the State of California by its
Presiding Bishop in the U.S., the LCC was torn apart by schism. From this fissure was born the
Liberal Catholic Church in the U.S. (LCCUS) and Wedgwood’s original LCC became Liberal
Catholic Church, Province of the United States of America (LCCPUSA). While LCCPUSA remained
more Theosophical, LCCUS maintains freedom of belief and does not promote any singular
philosophy or tradition. In 2003, however, LCCUS was further divided into two camps, one
which considers itself “traditional”, while the other “liberal”. Both camps now continue to call
themselves Liberal Catholic Church.
It is worth noting that while the Old Catholic Church and the Protestant Episcopal Church in
the USA have links with the Philippine Independent Church (supra) through the Union of
Utrecht, the Old Roman Catholic Church (both in Europe and in the U.S.) and the Polish
National Catholic Church both do not have any such links in the country to be of any significant
consequence at this time. The Liberal Catholic Church, however, does enjoy some indirect
presence through the Old Catholic Apostolic Church (OCAC)117 in England which has an
institutional link with an evangelical fellowship in the Philippines that is hoping to be OCAC’s
counterpart in the country in the near future.
The present-day OCAC derives its origin from the Liberal Catholic Apostolic Church (LCAC)
which came into being as a result of the union between the Ancient Catholic Church and The
Liberal Rite in March 2008. That same year, LCAC’s Metropolitan was enthroned, and its bishops
116
117
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_Catholic_Church (date accessed: March 4, 2020).
https://www.liberalcatholics.co.uk/
[46]
consecrated, by the Primate-Emeritus of the Apostolic Episcopal Church, the same church whose
1943 mandate had provided the impetus for the establishment of the Catholic Apostolic Church
and thus in turn for the Ancient Catholic Church. OCAC’s heritage includes great Liberal
Catholics like James Ingall Wedgwood, Johannes van Alphen, Eric Sollick Taylor, and Harold Percival
Nicholson. It also has direct influences from Apostolic Evangelists like William Oliver Hutchison
and Anglicans and Methodists. These strands joined to form the LCAC, and became OCAC
since the Old Catholics, in fact, outnumbered the Liberal Catholics.
Consequent to its outreach mission, OCAC has broadened its presence in other countries,
particularly in the Philippines. A group called Catholic Pentecostal Rock Chapel Fellowship
(CPRCF) in Tagum City and led by Pastor Bishop Malachi Galing, is under OCAC’s worldwide
mission. CPRCF is actually a part of an evangelical group, but is now seeking to serve under
OCAC. It is hoped that upon government registration, the fellowship becomes a full pledged
branch of the OCAC in the Philippines. At present though, it is under the spiritual care of the
worldwide Church registered in England and Wales.
Looking at the belief systems of the aforementioned independent Catholic Churches, there is
reason to suppose that their baptisms may be regarded as valid, though some caution should be
taken with regard to the Liberal Catholic Church. For instance, apart from its Ultrajectine
thought that rejects papal infallibility—for according to its belief system only an ecumenical
council enjoys that assurance— Old Catholic theology in general does not depart from many of
the Roman Catholic’s traditional and fundamental beliefs. It even accepts Church Tradition as
a collection of orthodox practices and beliefs, from the earliest of days, which makes Sacred
Tradition, along with Sacred Scriptures, an inerrant source of God’s revelation in matters
essential to faith and Christian life. A very important part of Sacred Tradition is the teaching of
the Ecumenical Councils that defined the true Catholic faith, in the Holy Trinity (die
Dreifaltigkeit) and in Jesus Christ the Son of God made man: God is triune, a single God in three
Persons, Whom the Saviour Himself named as Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Vater, Sohn und
Heiliger Geist). Equally important in Sacred Tradition for Old Catholics are the seven
Sacraments. The Old Catholic Church believes that these Sacraments, which are Baptism and
Eucharist, both of which are particularly attested to in Sacred Scripture; and Confirmation (or
Chrismation), Penance (or Reconciliation), Matrimony, Holy Orders and Unction (or Anointing
of the Sick and dying), are effective signs of the Lord’s continuing presence and action within
His Church and efficacious channels of his Grace.
All member Churches of the Union of Utrecht, including the Old Roman Catholic Church in
Europe, the Old Roman Catholic Church Latin Rite in the U.S., the Polish National Catholic
Church (PNCC), including the Old Catholic Apostolic Church (despite its LCC connection)
share the same beliefs. The LCC though is a little bit something else. As an institution, it
accepts the doctrine of the Trinity. It states that God manifests in His universe as triune, called
in the Christian religion as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, three Persons in one God, co-equal and
co-eternal; the Father the cause of all, the Son the Word who was made flesh and dwelt among
men, the Holy Spirit the life-giver, the inspirer and sanctifier. It also maintains the practice of
administering the seven sacraments—baptism for sure being one of them—but refuses to hedge
sacramental dispensation with creeds, rigid beliefs, confessions, etc. Nonetheless, LCC makes
no demand that anyone should accept any of such institutional beliefs as a condition of
membership or of communion insofar as these should be held with the widest measure of
[47]
intellectual freedom and respect for the individual conscience. What opinions or beliefs an individual
holds is considered ultimately to be his/her own affair. Implicitly, it would not matter whether
a minister administers baptism or an individual seeks to receive it, without necessarily
accepting the doctrine of the Trinity in the strict traditional sense. It is in this sense that while
LCC baptism may appear to be valid, this should not always be presumed as the minister may
dispense the sacrament or an invidual may receive it without the “required” intention of
administering or receiving it according to what the Church “intends”.
The 2018 ECDF list of valid baptisms includes all four Churches mentioned above, i.e., the Old
Catholics, the Old Roman Catholics (both in Europe and the Latin Rite in the U.S.), the Polish
National Catholic Church, and the Liberal Catholic Church (without distinction), but it is silent on
the inclusion of the Old Catholic Apostolic Church.
Less known in the Philippines is the Christian Palmarian Church of the Carmelites of the Holy Face
(Iglesia Cristiana Palmariana de los Carmelitas de la Santa Faz), or simply the Palmarian Catholic
Church (PCC, or Iglesia Católica Palmariana).118 Its origin can be traced back to the alleged Marian
apparitions in El Palmar de Troya in Seville (Spain) that started to occur in 1968. Among the
many seers, Clemente Dominguez, a native of Seville, who also claimed to have witnessed himself
these apparitions of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in 1969, has gained more prominence in the
course of time. One of the messages of the Virgin Mary to Dominguez, it is said, was her
anguished invitation to El Palmar to denounce the heresy and progressivism desolating the
(Roman Catholic) Church. Said apparitions were dismissed by the local bishop of Seville, but
this did not deter Dominguez from holding on to his claims. In 1975, he formed a new religious
order, the Order of Carmelites of the Holy Face, which he claimed was faithful to Pope Paul VI—
the last legitimate Pope of the Roman Catholic Church according to PCC’s beliefs. Received
well by Paul VI when he went to visit the Pontiff in Rome, Dominguez and his followers
considered him as a martyr for whereas the whole of Rome apostatized, this Pope remained
true to the Catholic faith.
Meanwhile, an unsuspecting Vietnamese Archbishop and Papal Legate, Ngô Đình Thục,
persuaded by the authenticity of the apparations, was coaxed into ordaining Dominguez and
other companions in the order as bishops in 1976. The ordination, it turned out, was without
apostolic mandate and Thục, having been thereby excommunicated by Paul VI together with
those he ordained, belatedly felt sorry and reconciled with Rome.119 By then, nobody could stop
Dominguez from pursuing his schemes. When news spread that Paul VI had died on August 6,
1978, Dominguez, who was at that time in Bogota (Colombia) grabbed the occasion to proclaim
that from that moment, by disposition of the Most High, he (Dominguez) was taking possession
of the See of St. Peter with the name Gregory XVII.120 The new Pontiff went back to El Palmar
on August 9, 1978, thereby making El Palmar the new Cathedra of St. Peter, the Apostolic See of
MAGNUS LUNDBERG, A Pope of their Own, El Palmar de Troya and the Palmarian Church, Uppsala Studies
in Church History 1, Uppsala: Uppsala University, Department of Theology, 2017, 247pp.
119 See L’Osservatore Romano, October 7, 1976, p. 5.
120 See ISIDORE MARIA, His Holiness Pope Gregory XVII, Short Biographical Sketch, Palmar de Troya, 1990, p.
1-15, p. 11; IDEM, Habemus Papam! Election and Proclamation of His Holiness Pope Gregory XVII, Palmar de
Troya, 1990, pp. 16-23.
118
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the Church. The PCC is now in many countries—thirty of them according to PCC’s latest
count—under its present Pope, Peter III, who assumed into the PCC papacy in 2016.
In the Philippines,121 the PCC has gained some foothold in San Ramon, Tinambac (Camarines
Sur) in Bicol. Vela Salgado, a former legionary and catechist and resident of the village, is said to
be the person responsible for the entry of PCC here. Salgado used to write letters abroad and it
was in this way that she established correspondence with the leaders of the PCC in Seville. She
eventually invited them to visit San Ramon and establish PCC’s presence here in 1979. The
PCC, however, does not seem to have enough priests, thus the pastors who care for the PCC
San Ramon community would simply come only every now and then, no doubt to administer
the sacraments, foremost of which is baptism for their new members—converts to the PCC. All
these years, the PCC has also attracted followers in Magallanes (Sorsogon) and Legazpi City
(Albay), who congregate in San Ramon whenever a PCC pastor comes.
The main objections122 levelled against the PCC have something to do with its ecclesiology, its
own version of the papacy and apostolic succession.123 There are many more of these
objections, especially those involving changes that were introduced into their system of beliefs
in recent years, but PCC’s belief in God remains Trinitarian.124 It subscribes to the Apostles
Creed, though it refers to itself in this prayer as the Holy, Catholic, Apostolic and Palmarian
Church. Nonetheless, there can be no doubt that baptisms administered in this Church may be
regarded as valid.
A denomination also calling itself Catholic and which is very similar to the Society of St. Pius X
in orientation as far as the Tridentine mass is concerned (infra), is the Roman Catholic Church of
England and Wales Latin Rite (RCCEW).125 RCCEW traces its roots to the Catholic Apostolic Church
of Brazil (CACB, Igreja Católica Apostólica Brasileira) founded by Archbishop Carlos Duarte Costa
on July 5, 1945. Costa was forced to resign as Bishop of Botucatu (Brazil) and later
excommunicated in 1945 by Pius XI because of his opposition to some practices of the Roman
Catholic Church, such for instance was the imposition of mandatory celibacy among its priests.
Costa became the First Patriarch of the Church (CACB) he founded. Upon Costa’s death in 1961,
he was suceeded by Archbishop Luis Fernando Castillo Méndez who was elected President of the
Episcopal Council, and designated as Patriarch of CACB and of the International Church
Communion (ICAN) that gravitated around CACB. Mendez himself, it is said, was also rescued
by Costa from persecution in Venezuela and ended up becoming Costa’s successor. Mendez
tried to reconcile with Rome during the Pontificate of John Paul II, to no avail. While serving as
Patriarch of CACB, Mendez founded the Catholic Church of England & Wales (CCEW) as a sui
iuris Latin Rite Church, becoming thus also its First Patriarch.
On PCC’s presence in the Philippines, see J. ROJAS, “The Preposterous Claims of the Palmarian
Church,” in Vinculum 12/2 (1996), p. 314-323.
122 For a somewhat satirical critique of PCC, see DAMIAN THOMPSON, “Cult classic,” in The Spectator,
October 21, 2017.
123 See ISIDORE MARIA, Dogmatic Definitions and Apostolic Constitution of His Holiness Pope Gregory XVII (July
30, 1982), Palmar de Troya, 1990, pp. 29-42.
124 See Extracts from the Palmarian Catechism Christian Doctrine, p. 1.
125 https://catholicchurchofenglandandwales.com.
121
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When Mendez died on October 29, 2009, the former Secretary of Doctrine & Faith of CACB from
2005 to 2009, Archbishop James Atkinson-Wake was appointed Patriarch of CCEW. Earlier,
Atkinson-Wake was elevated as Archbishop and then as Cardinal by Mendez himself, thus
becoming his true rightful successor. Mendez’s death, however, signalled the souring of
relationship between CACB and CCEW following CCEW’s continued use of the Tridentine Latin
Rite, against which the new leader of CACB disagreed. The break between the two became
inevitable. Meanwhile, Atkinson-Wake also tried to mend CCEW’s relationship with the
Roman Catholic Church during the Pontificate of Benedict XVI from 2008 and 2011, but talks
between him and the Roman See did not prosper because of too many irreconcilable differences.
All hopes then for a reconciliation vanished and the divide between the two Churches all the
more became wider. For one thing, for most of CCEW’s bishops, the Roman Catholic Church
has become schismatic, and by that has become a “new religion” because of Vatican II.
In any case, CCEW mantains official presence in the Philippines, through Noel Ormenita, OSB,
Titular Archbishop of Metro Manila, Philippines. It also has links with a community in Nabua,
Tula-Tula (Sipocot, Camarines Sur) in Bicol, where--it was reported--the Church has set up a
seminary in recent years. Strangely, CCEW recognizes a religious community, the Benedictine
Celestine of the Renewal (OSB), which was founded by two Roman Catholic Prelates (now both
deceased) who were in full communion with Rome, Anselmo Pamintuan, OSB, a Papal Chaplain,
and Camilo Diaz-Gregorio, who used to be the Bishop-Prelate of Batanes, Philippines. Pre- and
anti-Vatican it might be, but CCEW is certainly Trinitarian and traditionally Catholic in its basic
doctrines.
The Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association (CPCA)126 is an organization established by the People’s
Republic of China’s Religious Affairs Bureau in 1957 for the purpose of supervising mainland
China’s Catholics. Created by the communist Chinese government, the CPCA therefore became
independent from the jurisdiction of the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. The obvious
motive for such a move was that the Chinese government wanted no organizations in mainland
China beholden to any foreign influence or authority, as it wanted to have full state control over
such organizations. Meanwhile, Catholics who remained loyal to Rome went underground.
On the other hand, though it is the only officially recognized organizational body of Catholics in
China, CPCA was for many years not recognized by the Holy See. In fact, in his encyclical Ad
Apostolorum principis of 29 July 1958, Pope Pius XII deplored the activities of the CPCA and
declared that the bishops who consented to getting ordained under the auspices of the CPCA
were actually deemed excommunicated. In recent years, however, the Holy See has softened its
stance on CPCA in an attempt to reconcile it with the Roman Catholic Church. Pope Benedict
XVI, during his pontificate, even while acknowledging the suffering experienced by Catholics
under Communist rule, concluded in an open letter directed to Chinese Catholics that it was
time to forgive past wrongdoings and for the underground and state-sponsored Catholic
churches in China to reconcile. He also reassured the Chinese government that the Holy See
offered no political challenge to its authority. In recent years, the Holy See under Pope Francis
moved closer to establish friendly relations with the CPCA and the Chinese government. In
September 2018, a deal was struck between the Holy See and the Chinese government with the
effect of regularizing the appointment of bishops.
126
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Patriotic_Catholic_Association.
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From the point of view of doctrine, though not officially considered as schismatic, CPCA’s
independence from Rome allowed it to proceed freely with respect to some teachings of the
Church. The CPCA, for instance, does not recognize the proclamation of the dogma of the
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary by Pope Pius XII in 1950. There can be no doubt,
however, that it remains faithful to the Creed (in which the Trinity remains central) professed
by all Christians worldwide. There can be no doubt too that CPCA baptism is valid as well.
Though CPCA does not maintain any official presence in the Philippines, it is likely, however,
that some, if not many of its members, may have already migrated into the country as to cause
some concern when they seek the Church’s pastoral attention.
Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches127
The Eastern-Rite Catholics (Churches), are also known with various names such as Eastern Catholic
Churches, Oriental Catholic Churches, Greek Catholic Churches, and in some historical cases Uniate
Churches. Because of their apostolic origin, these Churches from the very beginning were and
still are in full communion with Rome, departing from the Mother Church only in the rites that
they celebrate. There are twenty-four of these particular churches sui iuris which are in full
communion with the Pope in Rome, and form part of the worldwide Catholic Church. Except
for the Patriarchal Chaldean Catholic Church following the East Syrian Rite, which is said to have
expanded its missionary activities in the Philippines, it is very difficult to trace any
involvement, let alone the presence, of the other Eastern-Rite Catholics in the country. It will,
therefore, suffice to enumerate all twenty four particular Churches here for quick reference.
The following is a list of the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches:
Patriarchal Latin Catholic Church (Latin Rite)
Patriarchal Armenian Catholic Church (Armenian Rite)
Patriarchal Coptic Catholic Church (Alexandrian Rite)
Ethiopian Catholic Church (Ge’ez Rite Rite)
Patriarchal Antiochian Syrian Maronite Catholic Church (West Syrian Maronite Rite)
Patriarchal Chaldean Catholic Church (East Syrian Rite)
Syro-Malabar Catholic Church (East Syrian Rite)
Patriarchal Syrian Catholic Church (West Syrian Rite)
Syro-Malankara Catholic Church (West Syrian Rite)
Patriarchal Melkite Catholic Church (Byzantine Rite)
Italo-Albanian Catholic Church (Byzantine Rite)
Ukrainian Catholic Church (Byzantine Rite)
Ruthenian Catholic Church (Byzantine Rite)
Byzantine Catholic Church USA (Rusyn Ruthenian Slovak) (Byzantine Rite)
Romanian Catholic Church (Byzantine Rite)
Greek Catholic Church in Greece (Byzantine Rite)
Greek Catholic Church in former Yugoslavia (Byzantine Rite)
Bulgarian Catholic Church (Byzantine Rite)
KEVIN R. YURKUS. “The Other Catholics: A Short Guide to the Eastern Catholic Churches,” in Crisis
(July/August 2005).
127
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Slovak Catholic Church (Byzantine Rite)
Hungarian Catholic Church (Byzantine)
Russian Catholic Church (Byzantine Rite)
Belarusian Catholic Church (Byzantine Rite)
Albanian Catholic Church (Byzantine Rite)
Georgian Catholic Church (Byzantine Rite)
Being in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church and as integral members of the
Universal Church sharing one and the same faith, the baptisms of these particular churches are
regarded as valid.
Society of Saint Pius X128
Though not considered as a Christian denomination in itself, the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) or
Fraternitas Sacerdotalis Sancti Pii X (FSSPX) deserves mention here if only because its baptism
may also be regarded as valid. SSPX is an international priestly fraternity founded in 1970 by
Marcel Lefebvre, a traditionalist French Archbishop, in response to repeated requests of young
men interested in a traditional priestly formation. For this purpose, Lefebvre founded a
seminary in Écône, Switzerland with the official approval of the local Bishop of Fribourg. It did
not take long for people to take notice of what SSPX was really all about. In the seminary, only
the Tridentine, old Latin, rite of the Mass was permitted by Lefebvre. It was argued that after all
this rite has never been suppressed even if the Novus Ordo Missae had already been introduced.
Named after Pius X, it became clear that the Society was against modernism and all the
innovations that constituted the reforms of Vatican II. Apart from changes in the liturgy, the
Society was also against ecumenism, the idea of collegiality, the creation of episcopal conferences
and the recognition of the individual bishop’s autonomy in his diocese, all of which it saw
limited the power of the Pope as the sole head of the universal Church. Reports on the
seminary and on the Society being non-conformist, prompted the Vatican to subject the
seminary to an apostolic visitation in 1974. For whatever report reached the Holy See, Lefebvre
was summoned to Rome to offer an explanation for his non-conformism. On May 6, 1975, the
new Bishop of Fribourg suddenly suppressed the SSPX, leaving Levebvre with no other choice
but to appeal, yet Fribourg and Rome did not respond. Instead, in 1976, Lefebvre was further
suspended ab ordinum collatione « from ordaining deacons and priests » and later a divinis «from
all sacred functions » — including saying Mass. Amidst all tensions between him and Rome,
the Archbishop went about doing his usual business. In 1988, he consecrated four bishops
without the Apostolic Mandate, resulting in Rome issuing a declaration of excommunication
against Lefebvre, and the bishops involved in the “schismatic act”.129
Despite the suppression and Lefebvre’s death in 1991, SSPX grew, spreading its reach to many
countries in the world, for instance, in Germany, the U.S., Argentina, Australia, and Singapore,
to name but a few. Yet the Society was also not immune to defections. In 1983, nine U.S. SSPX
PETER JOHN VERE, A Canonical History of the Lefebvrite Schism, Faculty of Canon Law, St. Paul University,
Ontario Canada, 1999; M. DAVIES, Apologia Pro Marcel Lefebvre: Part 1 (1905-1976), Kansas City, KS, The
Angelus Press, 1992.
129 F. SCHMIDBERGER, The Episcopal Consecrations of 30 June 1988, London, Society of St. Pius X, 1989, 52 pp.
128
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Priests were forced to leave the Society partly because they were opposed to Lefebvre’s
instructions that Mass be celebrated according to the 1962 Roman Missal. Their defection led to
the founding of the Society of St. Pius V (SSPV),130 which being sedevacantist, remained outside
the fold of Rome. In 1985, another group, following the sedeprivationist131 school of thought left
the Society to form the Istituto Mater Boni Consilii (IMBC, Institute of the Mother of Good
Counsel).132 Another group that feared the Society was moving towards accepting Vatican II
also left, and organized themselves as the Society of St. Pius X Marian Corps (SSPX-MC), or the
L’Union Sacerdotale Marcel Lefebvre (USML).133 Both the IMBC and the SSPX-MC (USML) are not
in full communion with Rome.
Two other groups left the Society but reconciled with Rome. One was the Fraternitas
Sacerdotalis Sancti Petri (FSSP, Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter),134 which was established in 1988
after the Holy See declared that the Écône consecrations constituted a schismatic act and that
those involved were thereby automatically excommunicated. The other was the Institut du BonPasteur (IBP, Institute of the Good Shepherd)135 which was established as a papally-recognised
society of apostolic life on 8 September 2006 for a group of SSPX members who maintained it
was time for the Society to accept reconciliation with Pope Benedict XVI.
While there are no indications that all of the aforementioned groups that defected from the
SSPX maintain any institutional presence in the Philippines, the SSPX, on the contrary, initiated
missionary work in the Philippines in 1992. It all started with the establishment of the Corpus
Christi Catholic Chapel in Quezon City, which relocated to New Manila district in Quezon City
under a new name, the Our Lady of Victories Church (OLVC).136 It also has established its
presence in other provinces in the Philippines: Rizal, Bohol, Cebu, Leyte, Iloilo, and South
Cotabato.137 Their presence in most of these areas is confined to the establishment of chapels
See https://www.truerestoration.org/an-interview-wit…it-with-the-sspx; STEPHEN HEINER, “An
Interview with Fr. Anthony Cekada regarding Archbishop Lefebvre and the 1983 split with the SSPX,” in
The Four Marks (October 2008).
131 Individuals or groups who follow the sedeprivationist school of thought hold that while the current
occupant of the papacy is a duly elected pope, unless he recants the changes brought about by Vatican II,
he lacks authority to either teach or govern.
132 https://www.sodalitiumpianum.com/; https://www.sodalitiumpianum.com/who-we-are/
(date
accessed: March 23, 2020)
133 CLÉMENT LECUYER, “L’Union Sacerdotale Marcel Lefebvre : blanc bonnet et bonnet blanc,” in Actualité
de la tradition, 12 octobre 2014.
134 https://www.fssp.org/en/
135 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institute_of_the_Good_Shepherd
136 For information on SSPX presence in the Philippines, see MANUEL VICTOR J. SAPITULA, “The Formation
and Maintenance of Traditionalist Catholicism, A Preliminary Sociological Appraisal of the Society of St.
Pius X,” in Philippine Social Sciences Review (2010), p. 82-84; IDEM, The Our Lady of Victories Church of the
Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) in New Manila, Quezon City : An Exploratory Study of a Social Organization, M.A.
Thesis, University of the Philippines, 2006, 166pp.; ELDIE BARRIENTOS & KURT ZION PALA, A Report on the
Priestly Society of St. Pius X, Ateneo de Manila University Course on Ecumenism in the Asian Context,
2011, 16pp.
137 Churches and chapels of SSPX include: Sta. Lucia Chapel (Butuan City), Immaculada Concepcion
Church (Bacolod City), St. Joseph Chapel (Bato, Leyte), Chapel of St. James (General Santos City), Chapel
of Our Lady of Consolation and St. Joseph (Iloilo City), St. Michael’s Chapel (Marbel, South Cotabato),
Holy Rosary Chapel (Maasin City), St. Anthony Chapel (Mambusao City, Capiz), St. Pius V Chapel (Cebu
130
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and Mass centers where an SSPX priest occasionally conducts Traditional Latin Mass; however,
they have established residential communities of priests and brothers in Quezon City in Luzon
and Iloilo in the Visayas. With the many numerous chapels and churches that they have
established, one can only presume that the Society administers baptism in these places for their
converts. For all their disagreements with Rome that stem from their rejection of Vatican II
reforms, these baptisms are deemed valid inasmuch as their system of beliefs remains
traditionally Catholic.
Indigenous and/or Autochthonous Cults
In a survey like the present one, any consideration of cults may appear to be a non-issue as they
can easily be dismissed as non-religions and anything associated with them as outright
suspicious if not invalid. Nonetheless, it would be helpful just the same to scrutinize some of
them insofar as they seem to have acquired in the course of time the semblance of a religion
replete with Christian, if not specifically Catholic, influence. Besides, not only have these
groups grown in size, most of them also practice some form of baptism. Though remotely
possible, some of these groups’ members might convert (revert back) to Catholicism or agree
(seek) to marry a Catholic following Catholic wedding rites as to raise problems in the parish
setting. A good example would be the Apostolic Catholic Church (ACC), which has even
managed to gain membership in the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) as
shown above.138
Other examples which have been examined above under different
classifications are the Iglesia ni Cristo,139 the Palmarian Catholic Church,140 and A. Quiboloy’s The
Kingdom of Jesus Christ, The Name above Every Name.141
In this section, however, indigenous groups which do not easily fit into the classification of
churches and denominations adopted so far in this study will be the subject of investigation.
These indigenous groups for one are usually commonly regarded by non-members (at large) as
cults, or by sociologists as socio-folk religious groups. They are, in particular, viewed as such
based on their characterization as saliently personality driven, that is, with somebody at the top
of the group who is an absolute authoritarian leader and becomes an object of reverence, if not of
actual worship. Consequently, whatever the leader says is right is right, whatever the leader says
is wrong is wrong. In this way, the leader arrogates power and full control over his or her
subjects. Moreover, the group has a process of indoctrination through which the leader gains
undue influence to manipulate followers and uses that influence to exploit them for personal
benefit.
City), St. Michael’s Chapel (San Miguel, Bohol), San Isidro Labrador Chapel (Tacloban City), Our Lady
Guardian of the Faith Chapel (Tagbilaran City), and St. Philomena Chapel (Tanay, Rizsal). SSPX also
maintains two Missions: St. Anthony Mission (Trinidad, Benguet) and St. Therese of the Child Jesus
Mission (Lingayen, Dagupan). Their formation house is in Iloilo (St. Bernard Noviciate).
138 See p. 18.
139 See p. 39.
140 See p. 48.
141 See p. 40.
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To many observers, the Rizalists (or Rizalistas),142 some sectors of them to say the least, fit very
well into such a description. The Rizalists started as a single homogeneous group of believers
that has forked into several independent and autonomous sub-groups, numbering about thirty
of them around Mt. Banahaw as will be shown shortly. Some of these groups are also believed
to be autochthonous, that is, they did not come from anywhere but rather originated right where
they are found. Believed to be the original Rizalist sect is the Iglesia Watawat ng Lahi, Inc.143
(IWLI or the Church of the Banner of the Race) which was established on December 25, 1936 by
Rev. Fr. Luis Fabrigar, the sect’s first Supreme Bishop, and Jose Valincunoza, the first president of
the organization. The sect’s main headquarters is based on Lecheria Hill in Calamba (Laguna)
and is well known for its belief in the divinity of José Rizal (thus the label Rizalistas), the
country’s national hero martyred by the Spanish in 1896.
The IWLI’s doctrines are said to have been derived from Roman Catholic teachings, coupled with
Philippine nationalism as exemplified through the literary works of Rizal. Combining Catholic
rituals, images, and organization with pre-Spanish Malay and Filipino animism and mystical
nationalism, the Rizalist belief system is actually syncretist—a mixture of sorts. It attracts
followers with its millenarian messages meant to give hope to the poor and the oppressed.
Centered on the life and person of Rizal, the sect’s fundamental doctrine is anything but
traditionally Catholic. According to the sect’s reconstruction of history, Rizal as a baby was
found (thus only adopted) by Francisco Mercado and Teodora Alonzo. The couple wanted him
baptized as Jove Rex Al,144 but such a name, it is said, was not accepted by the officiating
Catholic priest owing to its supposed closeness to the name of Christ. He was then baptized as
Jose Rizal. The sect radically departs from Catholic teaching in regard to the Trinity. While it
affirms the Trinitarian doctrine, the IWLI distorts it by making Rizal an integral part of the
Trinitarian perichoresis by implication. Quite confusingly, it asserts that Rizal is the incarnation
of the Holy Spirit145 and yet it also believes that Jesus Christ is embodied in Rizal , thus making
him at once a god and a man at the same time.146 It is not stated explicitly, but one can deduce
from these assertions that Rizal is the personification of both the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ.
MARCELINO FORONDA JR., Cults Honoring Rizal, Manila: R.P. Garcia Pub. Co., 1961, 79 pp.; PROSPERO R.
COVAR, “General Characterization of Contemporary Religious Movements in the Philippines,” in Asian
Studies, pp. 79-92; JOAQUIN L. GONZALEZ III, “Transnationalization of Faith: The Americanization of
Christianity in the Philippines and the Filipinization of Christianity in the United States”, in Asia Pacific
Perspectives, Vol. II, No. 1 (February 2002), p. 13; GREGG ALFONSO G. ABBANG, PORTIA GEMA C. ACUNA, et
al., Pamumuwesto at Mount Banahaw, Term Paper, College of Social Science and Philisophy, University of
the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City, 2016, pp. 1-60, pp. 11-13; JOHN N. SCHUMACHER, S.J., “Recent
Perspectives on the Revolution,” in Philippine Studies 30/4 (1982), pp. 445–492.
143 MARCELINO FORONDA JR., Cults Honoring Rizal, Manila: R.P. Garcia Pub. Co., 1961, pp. 62-76; PROSPERO
R. COVAR, The Iglesia Watawat ng Lahi - A Sociological Study of a Social Movement, unpublished M.A. Thesis,
Department ·of Sociology, University of the Philippines, 1961;
144 PROSPERO R. COVAR, Pagtanggap ng Samahang Milinaryan kay Gat. Dr. José P. Rizal, in MICHAEL
CHARLESTON B. CHUA, ed., KasPil 1 Readings, De La Salle University-Manila, pp. 1-20, p. 4; PALMO R. IYA,
“Jove Rex Al: The Making of Filipino Christ”, in Official Conference Proceedings 2012, The Asian Conference
on Ethics, Religion & Philosophy (Osaka, Japan, 2012), Nagoya, Aichi, Japan: The International Academic
Forum, 2012, pp. 107-119.
145 See “Worshipping Jose Rizal as God,” in Manila Bulletin (18 June 2012).
146 MARCELINO FORONDA JR., Cults Honoring Rizal, Manila: R.P. Garcia Pub. Co., 1961, pp. 62-76.
142
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In any case, having been able to establish several chapters throughout the country, the IWLI’s
number of converts reached its peak in the 1980s (the highest in its history) before the
organization experienced a schism, with at least three groups seceding from it in 1987.147 The
original IWLI, retaining the role of bishops and priests in its leadership, is now referred to as
Iglesia Watawat ng Lahi Malvarosa Faction, Inc. (IWLMFI), with Bonifacio Relleta at its helm. It
continues to hold on to the belief that Rizal is “God” or “Christ” Himself, the “Alpha and the
Omega”, the Jove Rex Al (God, King of All). Two other break-away factions continue to share
this belief, the Iglesia ng Lipi ni Gat Dr. Jose P. Rizal, Inc. headed by Ramir Larino and Pilipinas
Iglesia Watawat ng Lahi, about which very little is written. The fourth schismatic faction,
however, which is now known as Samahan ng Watawat ng Lahi Presiding Elders and headed by
Luis Parabuac Sr., not only did away with the role of the bishops and priests in the organization,
but it also changed its view on Rizal as a deity.
It seemed the schism all began when the IWLI leadership preached that the end of the world
would occur in the year 2000. When this did not happen, members of the sect started
abandoning its belief that Rizal was divine.148 But there may be other reasons why belief in the
divinity of Rizal within the sect gradually waned. Re-examination of Rizal´s two novels — Noli
me tangere and El Filibusterismo —showed that Rizal himself admitted that God was beyond
human comprehension, an insight that sounded like a confession of inferiority. Thus, this raised
the question among some members of why Rizal should be enthroned as God if he who has
been considered as God for years would admit one’s inadequacy of comprehension. Doubts
such as this, coupled with the disappointment following the 2000 prediction fiasco, could have
been the reasons why some members separated from the original sect. Such was the Samahan ng
Watawat ng Lahi Presiding Elders (SWLPE), which was founded and registered with the Securities
and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a religious group in 1987. Not only did SWLPE abandon
its belief in the divinity of Rizal and considered him simply as a guide for leading a morally upright
life, it also has become open to adopting lessons and philosophies not only from Catholics and
Protestants but also from Buddhists, that in recent times the organization no longer professes a
distinct identity for the Supreme Being it considers God but simply refer to him as the origin of all
things or a god of ultimate love who would not permit his people to be exposed to tragedies and
calamities without protection.
Given IWLMFI’s understanding of the Trinity and its non-traditional baptismal formula—
however Trinitarian this might sound—and SWLPE’s evolving doctrine on God, it would be
difficult to presume their baptisms149 as valid. It would thus be better to proceed on the side of
caution than to make a presumption in favor of validity.
Founded almost at the same time as the IWLI (now IWLMFI), that is, in 1936, was another
Rizalist sect called Samahan ng Tatlong Persona Solo Dios.150 It was the rebel-fugitive turned
See PALMO R. IYA, “Jove Rex Al,” p. 8.
“Cult Ceases Worship of National Hero Jose Rizal,”in UCA News, 24 January 2005.
149 Membership in Iglesia Watawat ng Lahi is effected by one (of legal age, 16) taking an oath of allegiance
and not it seems, by implication, through baptism. See PROSPERO COVAR, “Congregation as a Social
Process in the Watawat ng Lahi,” in Philippine Sociological Review, Vol. 8, No. 3/4 (July-October 1960), pp.
1-16, p. 3.
150 On this see VICENTE MARASIGAN, “Tatlong Persona Solo Dios,” in Philippine Studies, Vol. 30, no. 4
(1982), pp. 552–562; VICENTE MARASIGAN, A Banahaw Guru, Symbolic Deeds of Agapito Illustrisimo, Quezon
147
148
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pacifist, Agapito Illustrisimo,151 of Limutan (Cebu), who founded the sect near a spring on the
slopes of Mt. Banahaw. Said to have fought in the Pulahan (the Red Ones) peasant revolt against
the newly-installed American regime in the Visayas region in the early 1920s, Amang Ellustre, as
he is also fondly called, claimed to have followed the command of Santong Voces (Holy Voice) to
found a new sect in the mountain. Also said to have been endowed with miraculous powers of
healing, he attracted a good number of followers.
Registered on August 27, 1936 by its president then, Thomas Martinez, the organization was at
first named Adoracion Por La Libertad Patria, Inc.,152 with its headquarters based in a place that
eventually came to be known as Kinabuhayan (meaning Resurrection), in Dolores, Quezon. It
seems though that the organization changed its name twice, first into Pambansang Kapatiran
Panalangin Ukol sa Kalayaan ng Bayan, Inc.153 (National Prayer for Freedom for the Country) in 1938,
then into Samahan ng Tatlong Persona Solo Dios on August 16, 1956.154 From the very beginning,
Amang Ellustre spelled out what his purpose was in founding the organization, one that must
have caused a stir when it was first publicly known as it was unusual, that is, “to help win
Philippine independence from the Americans by means of prayer.”155
Though such purpose sounded more like civic-minded and patriotic, members of the sect
consider their Samahan as their religion. They even insist that the Samahan ought never to be
compared to other Rizalists, neither to the Catholic Church, nor to any other group or sect
around Mt. Banahaw because they believe that Rizal might indeed be a hero yet he was one who
remained a human being, recognized for his great contribution to the liberation and development
of the Philippines. Whether they like it or not, however, their system of belief has adopted
Catholic teachings on some key points, the most fundamental of which was their affirmation of
the existence of God revealed in Sacred Scriptures as the Blessed Trinity. Such is obvious, for
instance, as it is explicit, in the very name they chose to call their organization, the Samahan ng
Tatlong Persona Solo Dios. Moreover, belief in the Trinity, in the traditional sense, all the more
becomes clearer in a prayer members of the sect recite everyday, the Amang Makapangyarihan.156
First, God the Father (Ama) is recognized in this prayer as makapangyarihan (powerful), walang
pinagmulan (infinite), and kabanal-banalan (most holy). Symbolizing peace, the Holy Spirit is also
City Metro Manila: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1985, esp. pp. 7-8; PETER KNECHT, Book Review of
A Banahaw Guru. Symbolic Deeds of Agapito Illustrisimo by Vicente Marasigan, in Asian Folklore Studies, Vol.
46, No. 2 (1987), pp. 312-314.
151 Agapito Illustrisimo was variably called Agapito Illustre (Ellustre), Amang Ellustre or Amang Illustrisimo.
Details surrounding his life were gathered in Mga Dakilang Kasaysayan ng Amang Illustrisimo — a text said
to have been composed by the Labindalawahan (The Twelve), who were the elders of the sect, after they
were allegedly told by the Voice to gather all the anecdotes (mostly stories of miraculous deeds) as
recalled by the surviving contemporaries of Illustrisimo”. See VICENTE MARASIGAN, A Banahaw Guru, p. 4.
Cfr. PETER KNECHT, Book Review of A Banahaw Guru, p. 313.
152 MARY ANTOINETTE LARAZE, PRINCESS MARIA FREKING, JOSEPH ALFONSO, et al., Ang Samahan ng Tatlong
Persona Solo Dios, UST Report 2HST2 Students 2016-2017 (see https://edoc.pub/ang-samahan-ng-tatlongtatlong-persona-solo-dios--pdf-free.html.—date accessed: May 28, 2020), 15 pages.
153 See TERESITA OBUSAN, “The Mt. Banahaw Prayer: Amang Makapangyarihan,” in Philippine Studies Vol.
37, no. 1 (1989), pp. 71–80, p. 72.
154 See https://sois.psa.gov.ph/sect/samahan-ng-tatlong-persona-solo-dios-inc.
155 See “Bearded Delegation Calls on Quezon at Malacañang,” in The Tribune, 21 July 1938 (see TERESITA
OBUSAN, “The Mt. Banahaw Prayer,” p. 72).
156 See TERESITA OBUSAN, “The Mt. Banahaw Prayer,” pp. 75-76.
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invoked. Finally, reference is made to a God who saved the people from their deaths, an
obvious reference to Christ, the second person of the Trinity, who became man to save the world.
Such an invocation of the Trinity is a clear reference to the three distinct persons (Tres Personas),
recognized nonetheless as One God (Solo Dios). That such belief sounds pristine is further
bolstered by the fact that the Samahan, unlike other Rizalist sects, does not regard Rizal as a god.
To the Samahan, Rizal is only similar to Christ insofar as like him, who died for mankind, Rizal
also died for the Filipino nation. Thus, Rizal may be a saint, like the Blessed Virgin Mary whom
the Samahan also deeply reveres and honors, but he is no god to be worshipped. So close then is
the Samahan’s belief in the Trinity to Catholic faith that T. Obusan, in her analysis of the
Samahan’s prayer, the Amang Makapangyarihan, recognized such belief as orthodox Christian.157
Yet the lack of theological explanation (or the imprecision of language) for its Trinitarian belief
and the variability of the way this belief is expressed among the sect’s members is reason
enough not to immediately presume the validity of its baptism.
Another Rizalist group which is presumably the largest of the thirty cults or so that inhabit
around Mt. Banahaw in terms of membership is the so-called Suprema de la Iglesia del(a) Ciudad
Mistica de Dios (Supreme Church of the Mystical City of God), or simply Ciudad Mistica de Dios
(CMD).158 Founded by Maria Bernarda Balitaan, possibly in 1873 but registered only in 1952,159
with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), CMD is another group of religious people
that believes in Jose Rizal as a divine being. Maria Bernarda is said to have been a Benedictine
nun who left the convent to establish the religious movement. She is also believed to have been
sent by Christ in preparation for his second coming.160 Since Maria Bernarda’s death, CMD has
always been led by women. Seen at the foot of the sacred Mt. Banahaw, the group uses the
Bible and Christian prayers as the basis of their rituals.
According to CMD’s belief system, history begins with the Fall and culminates in Redemption,
thus, a movement from alienation from to reunion with God. In this movement, the work of Jesus
serves only as a necessary stage towards the realization of the Divine Plan and not as a
fulfillment thereof. This will come to pass rather through a Filipino saviour -- a woman -- and Mt.
Banahaw will be the setting where the final saving event will take place. Christ’s work is thus
an unfinished business that needs to be continued by Dr. Jose Rizal and by the Filipino heroes of
the 19th century nationalist movement. Their collaborative work, in turn, would be brought to
fulfillment by a woman, Maria Bernarda, CMD’s Foundress. Coming from the same Divine
Source, Rizal’s and Balitaan’s labors will bring history to a close – only then will humanity be
reunited with the Creator.
TERESITA OBUSAN, “The Mt. Banahaw Prayer,” p. 80.
The main reference for this section is FLORO C. QUIBUYEN, “’And Woman Will Prevail Over Man’:
Symbolic Sexual Inversion and Counter-Hegemonic Discourse in Mt. Banahaw, The Case of the Ciudad
Mistica de Dios,” in Philippine Studies Occasional Paper No. 10, Center for Philippine Studies School of
Kawadan, Asian and Pacific Studies, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1991, esp. pp. 10-13.
159 RENE D. SOMERA, “Pamumuwesto of Mt. Banahaw,” in Philippine Studies, Vol. 34, no. 4 (1986) pp. 436–
451, p. 437, n. 4; GREGG ALFONSO G. ABBANG, PORTIA GEMA C. ACUNA, et al., Pamumuwesto at Mount
Banahaw, section on CMD, no page number.
160 GREGG ALFONSO G. ABBANG, PORTIA GEMA C. ACUNA, et al., Pamumuwesto at Mount Banahaw, section on
CMD, no page number.
157
158
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While the CMD shares many elements of the Catholic liturgy in its celebration of the
sacraments, its observance, however, particularly of the sacrament of baptism, is hardly anything
but valid from the point of view of traditional Christianity. Matriarchal in its familial and
organizational hierarchy, CMD’s idea of the Trinity is constituted by the Sagrada Familia (Holy
Family) of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Mother (in place of the Holy Spirit), who
became incarnate in Maria Bernarda.
Apart from the IWLI, the STPSD, and the CMD, there is still a host of other Rizalist sects that
clutter the Mt. Banahaw area, some founded many years back, others only fairly recently, while
others have become extinct.161 It would suffice to simply mention here some of the existing ones
since many, if not most, of them resemble the IWLI and the CMD in their beliefs and
sacramental practice.
Among the older ones, the following might be mentioned:162
a) The first of these is Bathalismo (Inang Mahiwaga), which was founded by Venancio Wagan,
supposedly at the inauguration of the Philippine Republic in 1898 (registered in 1948).
For this particular sect, Rizal is the reincarnation of Jesus Christ.
b) Another similar sect is the so-called Adarnista or the Iglesiang Pilipina (Bangar, La Union)
whose founder was Candida Balantac but the date of establishment of which could not be
ascertained (1901?). Candida is also variably called Inang Adarna or Espiritu Santo.
Instead of the Trinity, the Adarnista sect teaches that there are four persons in God, the
Father, the Son, the Holy Ghost, and the Mother (the Blessed Virgin Mary). It also
teaches that Rizal, the god of the Filipinos, is true god and true man.
c) A third sect bears a rather lengthy name, the Iglesia Sagrada Filifina (sic) ng Sinco Vucales y
Virtudes Tierra Santa de Jerusalem (ISF for short), founded by Purificacion and Severo
Aviela in Candelaria (Quezon) in 1926. Like the Adarnista, the ISF teaches that there are
four persons in God, the Father, the Son, the Holy Ghost, and the God the Mother,
Blessed Virgin Mary of heaven, which is not to be confused with the Virgin Mary born
on earth (thus, two Blessed Virgins!). For this cult, Rizal is also a god, the second Christ.
Among the more recent ones, the following may also be mentioned, apart from the schismatic
groups that separated from the Iglesia Watawat ng Lahi of yore already cited earlier:
a) The Universal One Faith House of Prayer for all Nations and Humanity, Inc. is a relatively
new sect which was founded by Artemio Espiritu Ugali in Barangay Sta. Lucia on June
2007. The members of this group worship Rizal as the personification of the God UA
(“UA” is the first cry of every baby upon birth). The sect also refers to God as Bathala,
the supreme being and the omnipotent creator of the universe and is represented in their
iconography as a woman who symbolizes the Divine Mother Nature.
b) Spiritual Filipino Catholic Church (SFCC - El Bethel Israel), said to have beeen founded by
Winceslao Santoyo in 1952 as an organization, was registered with the SEC only on
September 4, 2007. This group worships Rizal as a Christ. He is worshipped as such for
his apparent parallelism with Jesus Christ.
161
162
Examples of these would be the Cofradia de San Jose (1841) and the Samahang Rizal (1918).
See MARCELINO FORONDA JR., Cults Honoring Rizal, pp. 51-62.
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c) Jerosalem ng Alpha at Omega based in Balon Silangan, Lecheria Hills.
d) Jerosalem Religious Group of the Philippines has different versions of Rizal’s birth and
divinity. One version calls Rizal “Diyos Rizal” and as such is one of the four Supreme
Kings in Heaven. The other three are the Diyos Ama (God the Father), Diyos Anak (God
the Son), and Diyos Espiritu Santo (God the Holy Spirit). Yet they are regarded as only
One God, thus, the idea of Quadro Personas.163
e) Pampara or Pambansang Makabayang Pananampalataya Para kay Dr. Jose Rizal.
f) Iglesia Sagrada Familia based in Sitio Rongot, Calamba. The group believes in the Trinity:
Apo Asyong is God the Father, Rizal is God the Son, and Inang Adarna is God the
Mother.164
g) Mariang Sinukuan in Arayat, Pampanga, holds that Rizal is a higher divinity than Jesus
Christ. Cult members even believe that Jesus Christ never existed.
h) Amang Kaamaamahat at Inang Kainainahan, Inc., based in Bongabon, Nueva Ecija.
These are only some of the thirty (or even more, including the so-called colorums165) Rizalist
groups now scattered throughout the archipelago, although most of them are based in Calamba
(Laguna). The few sampling mentioned here already indicates that each sect has its own belief
system. Generally, however, their views about God is always related to the person of Rizal. To
some, Rizal is God the Father Himself, or Jesus Christ, or the Holy Spirit, or a higher divinity than
all three. To others, he is the Alpha and the Omega, the Kristong Kayumanggi, the Kristong
Pilipino,166 the Tagalog Christ, The Jove Rex Al (God King of All), the King of Kings, the Savior of the
Philippines, the New Jerusalem, etc. Rizalists even differ in their beliefs even if they belong to the
same Rizalist sect. This is quite understandable as there is no theology in the strict sense, not
even strict dogma that serves as a norm of faith. There may be a belief in the Trinity, but one
can never be sure if such a belief corresponds to the Trinitarian doctrine of Christianity. For this
reason, there can be no basis for any consideration that the Rizalist baptism may be valid.
Finally, there is one other religious group which might also be considered as a Rizalist sect, but
one that is unique on its own by virtue of its provenance, the Philippine Benevolent Missionary
Association (PBMA).167 It is Rizalist alright, but the object of its reverence is its founder, Ruben E.
Ecleo Sr. Considering itself as a non-sectarian and non-profit charitable religious fraternal
organization,168 PBMA was founded by Ruben Sr. in 1965 with its headquarters located in San
See DENNIS VILLEGAS, The Second Coming of Jose Rizal (cf. http://myrizal150.com/2011/05/the-secondcoming-of-jose-rizal).
164 See BELLA CARIASO, Rizal, Dapat bang Ituring na Dios (see https://bandera.inquirer.net/9005/rizaldapat-bang-ituring-na-diyos).
165 An example of this is Sakay ng Barko: Colorum sa Surigao. Other smaller groups include: Lapiang
Malaya, Infinito Solo Dios, Banal na Iglesia ng Bathalang Buhay Gobierno Espiritwal, Sagrada Pamilya,
Katipunang Gat Rizal, Kapatirang Rizal Incorporada, Perfecto Govierno Spiritual (Leyte), Rizalian
(Capiz), Iglesia ni Jehova Moncado Alpha and Omega World Crusader’s Mission, Inc. (North Cotabato),
and New Jerusalem, Inc. (Zamboanga del Norte).
166 See https://vdocuments.mx/kristong-pilipino.html (LORAINE T. CHULIPA, Buod ng Kristong Pilipino:
Pananampalataya kay Jose Rizal).
167 See VINA VIÑAS, Rizalista, A Closer Look (at http//www.everythingrizal.wix.com).
168 See https://pbma.wordpress.com/about; cf. https://themiracleofthesouth.wordpress.com/booki/philippines-benevolent-missionaries-association-inc/ Cf. 1989 Primer on The Philippine Benevolent
Missionaries Association.
163
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Jose, on Dinagat Island. PBMA followers view Ecleo Sr. as a Christ-like figure, and call him
Divine Master, who could accomplish anything by reciting the Mantra (sacred prayer). Like
Christ, Ruben Sr. was also able to bring the dead back to life and is believed to have healing
powers directly come from God the Father. Testimonies of healing miracles attributed to Ruben
Sr. abound and they are the main reason why PBMA has gained a large following not only in
Dinagat Islands but also elsewhere in the country, mainly in Mindanao. Following Ruben Sr.’s
death in 1987, his son Ruben Jr. took over the sect’s leadership and has since been referred to as
Supreme Master. The group’s followers vehemently deny theirs is a cult and insist that they
simply are a fraternity.
PBMA teachings are said to be a mixture of Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Judaic and Akashic
doctrines. While members are not forced to abandon their religion, they are asked to take the
Divine Master’s teachings as source of spiritual learning, nourishment and enlightenment.
Catholics, for instance, are still allowed to attend Sunday masses and Muslim members are able
to observe their traditional Muslim religious practices. Yet PBMA’s belief, for instance, that
Ruben Sr. possessed the qualities of a god, makes PBMA vulnerable to being labelled as a
pseudo-Christian cult. With no clear teaching on the Trinity, and with very little information, in
fact, regarding PBMA’s doctrines and sacramental practices, there is grave reason not to
consider its baptism as valid.
The New 2020 List of Valid Baptisms
Based on the survey above, a new list of valid baptisms of Christian denominations and
Churches in the Philippines may now be drawn. This list shall be supplemented by another list
of churches with invalid baptisms.
It could be that a church may surface in the pastoral setting, but whose name may not appear in
either list. Such a church would then require scrutiny and investigation (see guidelines below).
One of the reasons why a church may not appear in either list is that it may not yet be that well
known as it does not belong to any of the other popular denominations. It could also be that
said church may not have been established yet in the Philippines, or it may not have links with
churches with local missions in the country.
BAPTISMS THAT MAY BE RECOGNIZED AS VALID
BY THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE PHILIPPINES
Adventists:
Adventists
(or Second Adventists from the original Millerites)
Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA)
Grace Communion International
(formerly Worldwide Church of God)
[61]
Anabaptists:
Integrated Mennonite Churches, Inc. (IMC)
Integrated Mennonite Conference of the Philippines, Inc. (IMCP)
Church of the Brethren (Jesus Our Firm Foundation Brethren Church)
Baptists: Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches (CPBC)
(some common names of Baptist churches or congregations)
Bethany Bible Baptist Church
Bible Baptist Church
Christian Bible Baptist Church
Good Samaritan Baptist Church
Harvesters Bible Baptist Church
Lighthouse Bible Baptist Church
Maranatha Internation Baptist Church
Metropolitan Bible Baptist Ekklesia
Parkway Baptist Church
Trinity Bible Baptist Church
Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches
in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church
Patriarchal Latin Catholic Church (Latin Rite: Tridentine, Mozarabic & Ambrosian)
Patriarchal Armenian Catholic Church (Armenian Rite)
Patriarchal Coptic Catholic Church (Alexandrian Rite))
Ethiopian Catholic Church (Ge’ez Rite)
Patriarchal Antiochian Syrian Maronite Catholic Church (West Syrian Maronite Rite)
Patriarchal Chaldean Catholic Church (East Syrian Rite)
Syro-Malabar Catholic Church (East Syrian Rite)
Patriarchal Syrian Catholic Church (West Syrian Rite)
Syro-Malankara Catholic Church (West Syrian Rite)
Patriarchal Melkite Catholic Church (Byzantine Rite)
Italo-Albanian Catholic Church (Byzantine Rite)
Ukrainian Catholic Church (Byzantine Rite)
Ruthenian Catholic Church (Byzantine Rite)
Byzantine Catholic Church USA (Rusyn Ruthenian Slovak) (Byzantine Rite)
Romanian Catholic Church (Byzantine Rite)
Greek Catholic Church in Greece (Byzantine Rite)
Greek Catholic Church in former Yugoslavia (Byzantine Rite)
Bulgarian Catholic Church (Byzantine Rite)
Slovak Catholic Church (Byzantine Rite)
Hungarian Catholic Church (Byzantine Rite)
Russian Catholic Church (Byzantine Rite)
Belarusian Catholic Church (Byzantine Rite)
Albanian Catholic Church (Byzantine Rite)
Georgian Catholic Church (Byzantine Rite)
[62]
Episcopalians and Anglicans:
Episcopal Church in the Philippines (ECP)
(or Philippine Episcopal Church, PEC)
Anglican Church in the Philippines (Traditional) Inc. (ACPT)
ecumenically associated with:
Anglican Community Church
ACPT in Northern Luzon and the NCR
Misyon Anglikano ng Pilipinas (MAP)
Convergence Church Philippines(CCP New)
Traditional Anglican Mission International (TAMI)
Greek Orthodox Church or Eastern Orthodox
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Mission in the Philippines169
Exarchate of the Philippines170
Patriarchate of Moscow:
Diocese of the Philippines and Vietnam171
Philippine Mission of the Russian Orthodox Church outside Russia172
Independent Catholics:
Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association (CPCA)
(or Chinese Patriotic Catholic Church)
Eastern Catholic Church173
Old Catholic Churches (members of the Union of Utrect)
Old Roman Catholic Church of Europe (ORCC Europe)
Old Roman Catholic Church Latin Rite (ORCC U.S.)
Palmarian Catholic Church (PCC)
Polish National Catholic Church (PNCC)
Roman Catholic Church of England & Wales (RCCEW)
Inter-Denominational Churches:
United Evangelical Church of Christ (UECC) or Unida Church
(Iglesia Evangelica Unida de Cristo)
Under the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines of the
Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East.
170 Under the Orthodox Metropolitanate of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of
Constantinople.
171 Under the Patriarchal Exarchate in Southeast Asia.
172 Under the semiautonomous Russian Orthodox Church outside Russia.
173 Also known as: the Church of the East, the Persian Church, the Indian Church, the Mar Toma (Thoma)
Church, the Mar Thoma Christian Church, the East Syrian Church, the Holy Apostolic-Catholic Church of the
East (Chaldean-Syrian), the Chaldean-Syrian Church of the East, etc.
169
[63]
Constituent members:
Iglesia Christiana Trinitaria
Iglesia Evangelica de Atlag
Iglesia Evangelica de los Christianos Filipinos
Iglesia Evangelica Metodista Reformada
La Iglesia de Dios
La Iglesia de Jesu-Cristo, “Jerusalem Nueva”
separated from Unida Church:
Iglesia Unida Ecumenical
United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP)
(Ang Nagkaisang Iglesia ni Cristo sa Pilipinas)
Constituent members:
United Evangelical Church
Evangelical United Brethren Churches174
Philippine Methodist Church
Iglesia Evangelica Unida de Cristo
Convention of the Churches of Christ
(Disciples of Christ of Northern Luzon)
Iglesia Evangelica Nacional
Iglesia Evangelica Metodista En Las Islas Filipinas (IEMELIF)
(Evangelical Church of the Philippines or Evangelical Union)175
Lutherans:
Lutheran Church in the Philippines (LCP)
Various Lutheran Congregations
Mega Non-Denominational Churches:
Bread of Life Ministries International (BOLMI)
Cathedral of Praise (COP)
Christ’s Commission Fellowship (CCF)
Day by Day Jesus Ministries (DBD)
Greenhills Christian Fellowship (GCF)
Jesus Is Lord Church Worldwide (JILCW)
The Evangelical United Brethren (EUB) appears as a separate denomination in the 2018 ECDF list of
valid baptisms. Its forerunner was the United Brethren of Christ (UBC), some of whose congregations did
not join the EUB but formed part of the Evangelical Church of the Philippines that was eventually absorbed
by the Iglesia Evangelica Metodista En Las Islas Filipinas (IEMELIF).
175 The Evangelical Church of the Philippines or Evangelical Union is no longer existent as such. When it was
organized in 1901, the following denominations formed part of the Union: Methodist Episcopal Church,
United Brethren in Christ (UBC), Northern Baptist Church, Christian and Missionary Alliance, Free Methodist
Church, and Presbyterian Church.
174
[64]
Victory Christian Fellowship of the Philippines, Inc. (VCF)
Word of Hope Christian Church (WHCC)
Methodists, Wesleyans and Holiness Movement:
Evangelical Methodist Church in the Philippine Islands
(Iglesia Evangelica Metodista en las Islas Filipinas—IEMELIF)
I am Redeemer and Master Evangelical Church (IRMEC)
(formerly: IEMELIF Reform Movement [IRM] that separated from IEMELIF)
United Methodist Church in the Philippines (UMCP)
(Philippines Central Conference)
Ang Iglesia Metodista sa Pilipinas ( AIM Pilipinas)
(The Methodist Church in the Philippines)
Wesleyan Church of the Philippines
(Wesleyan Church Philippine General Conference)
African Methodist Episcopal Church (AMEC)
Church of the Nazarene (CN)
separated from CN:
Holiness Church of the Nazarene
(merged with Church of the Bible Covenant)
Pentecostal Churches (Trinitarian):
Church of God (COG)
Assembly of God (AOG)
or World Assemblies of God Fellowship (WAGF)
First Christian Pentecostal Church
First Pentecostal Church of God
Pentecostal Church of God Asian Missions, Inc.
Philippine Pentecostal Holiness Church
Universal Pentecostal Church, Inc.
Four Square Church (Church of the Foursquare Gospel)
branched into:
Evangelical Full-Gospel Church (EFGC)
Apostolic Church (AC, Pentecostal Movement of Welsh origin)
Equippers Church (of AC influence)
New Apostolic Church (New Apostolic Church International)
(non-Pentecostal)
[65]
Presbyterians176 - Council of Presbyterian Churches in the Philippines (CPCP):
Presbyterian Church of the Philippines
Reformed Presbyterian Church of the Philippines
Daeshin Presbyterian Church in the Philippines
Independent Presbyterian Congregations/Churches
Philippine Independent Church (after 1961)
(Iglesia Filipina Independiente)
branched into:
Holy Catholic Apostolic Christian Church (HCAC)
(separated from PIC or IFI in 1966)
Reformed Churches:
Christian Reformed Church of the Philippines
among many others:
CRC (Bacolod City)
CRC-BF Homes (Parañaque)
CRC (Las Piñas)
CRC (Calamba)
True Vine CRC (Quezon City)
Reformed Church in the Philippines (Lucban)
Protestant Reformed Church of the Philippines:
Berean Protestant Reformed Church (Antipolo)
First Reformed Church (Bulacan)
All of Grace Protestant Reformed Fellowship (Gabaldon)
Christian Faith Ministry (Batasan Hills)
Maranatha Church (Valenzuela)
United Reformed Churches:
Pasig Covenant Reformed Church (now located in Cainta, Rizal)
Trinity Covenant Reformed Church (Imus, Cavite)
United Covenant Reformed Churches in the Philippines
(Las Piñas, Rizal; San Carlos, Pangasinan; and San Pablo, Laguna)
Davao Covenant Reformed Church (Davao City)
Aside from immersion and effusion (pouring), Presbyterians also practice baptism by aspersion
(sprinkling). Care must, therefore, be taken to investigate how aspersion is done to ensure that water
indeed touches the skin of the baptized. In this case, validity must not be immediately presumed for
indeed when the water does not clearly touch the skin of the person being baptized, that would render
baptism invalid.
176
[66]
Society of St. Pius X (SSPX)
___________________
INVALID BAPTISMS
Adventists:
Christadelphians or Brethren in Christ
Church of God (Seventh Day)
Church of God (Philippines)
Aglipayan Churches:
(of the original PIC/IFI provenance)
Bishop’s Church (BC), founded by J. Pasion in 1951
Christ Jesus’ Holy Church (CJHC)
Church of God (CG), headed by F. Yagaya
Filipino Christian Church (FCC), founded by C. de las Llagas in 1926
Iglesia Catolica Apostolica Nacional (ICAN), organized by D. Ramiro in 1930
Iglesia Cismatica Filipina Nacional (ICFN) founded by C. Diel in 1940
Iglesia de la Libertad (IL), organized by B. Aguinaldo in 1904
Iglesia Nacional de Filipinas (INF), headed by S. Elegado in 2000
Iglesia Filipina Reformada (IF’R), founded by A.F. Mata
Iglesia Filipina Evangelica Independiente (IFEI), founded by D. Pascual in 1924
Independent Church of Filipino Christians (ICFC)
Philippine Liberal Church (PLC), organized by Bishop Ramirez in 1930
Philippine Unitarian Church (PUC)
Apostolic Catholic Church (ACC)
Christian and Missionary Alliance Churches (Philippines)
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS)
separated from LDS
Community of Christ
Iglesia ng Dios kay Kristo Hesus Haligi at Suhay ng Katotohanan
(Church of God in Christ Jesus the Pillar and Support of the Truth)
Iglesia ni Cristo
Indigenous and/or Autochthonous Cults
Rizalist Sects:
Iglesia Watawat ng Lahi, Inc. (IWL-Malvarosa Faction)
[67]
Samahan ng Watawat ng Lahi Presiding Elders
Iglesia ng Lipi ni Gat Dr. Jose P. Rizal, Inc.
Pilipinas Iglesia Watawat ng Lahi
Suprema Iglesia del Ciudad Mistica de Dios (CMD)
Spiritual Filipino Catholic Church (SFCC)
Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association (PBMA)
Jehova’s Witnesses
Jesus Miracle Crusade International Ministry (JMCIM)
Kingdom of Jesus Christ, The Name Above Every Name, Inc.
Members Church of God International (also known as Ang Dating Daan [ADD])
(formerly: Mga Kaanib Iglesia ng Dios kay Kristo Hesus,
Haligi at Saligan ng Katotohanan sa Bansang Pilipinas)
separated from ADD:
Members Church of God in Jesus Christ Worldwide (MCGJCW)
Oneness Pentecostal Churches (Nontrinitarians/Unitarians)177
Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ (ACJC, 1967)
Apostolic Faith Church (AFC, 1947/1974)
Assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ (ALJC, 1956)
Christ Apostolic Ministries Phil. (CAM, 2000)
Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ (COLJC, 1989)
Faith in Christ Jesus Church (FCJC, 1984)
Gospel of Christ (GOC, 1974)
Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ (GLJC, 1993)
Jesus People Apostolic. Pentecostal Oneness Phil. (JPAP, 1983)
Revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ (RLJC, 1995)
United Pentecostal Church (Phil’s) Inc. (UPCP, 1960)
People’s Church of Chicago
_____________________
* Christian Scientists (or First Church of Christ, Scientist)
(does not practice Baptism, thus no question of validity)
* Congregational Churches
(e.g., Christian Mission in the Far East, Inc., [CMFEI] not to be immediately presumed as valid)
177
For a more complete list of Oneness Pentecostal Churches in the Philippines, see Appendix 3, pp. 80-
81.
[68]
* Eastern Catholic Church Metropolitan See of the Philippines and All Asia, Inc.
(doubtful)
* Evangelical Friends Church (Branch of Quakerism)
(validity of baptism not to be immediately presumed)
* Liberal Catholic Church
(Trinitarian but not to be immediately presumed as valid)
* Quakers (Religious Society of Friends or Friends Church)
(nearly all branches of Quakerism, save one, do not practice Baptism, thus no question of validity)
* Salvation Army
(Trinitarian but does not practice Baptism, thus no question of validity)
* Samahan ng Tatlong Persona Solo Dios (STPSD)
(Trinitarian but doubtful, not to be immediately presumed as valid)
_______________________
Determining the Validity of Baptism
If there is anything this survey must have already shown, it is the fact that the list of Christian
sects and denominations is extremely extensive that attempting to cover and scrutinize each
and every one of them is likely doomed to failure. Their number has simply exponentially
grown that it has become doubly hard, if not impossible to trace each and every church or
denomination. During their 2019 ad limina visit, the Filipino Bishops asked the Prefect of the
CDF, Luis Cardinal Ladaria-Ferrer, if his office had a comprehensive list of all baptisms that the
Holy See recognized as valid. Ladaria-Ferrer replied that given the sheer number of Christian
sects and denominations worldwide, it was not just possible to prepare such a list. Every
country, he said, will have to prepare its own list. All the CDF could do to assist episcopal
conferences on this subject is to answer questions regarding validity when a dubium is sent to it
for resolution. But then again, the Prefect continued, although the CDF will conduct its own
scrutiny, the source of the dubium will have to conduct its own careful investigation as to the
nature of the sect or denomination, its beliefs and practices, to determine if conditions for the
valid conferral of the sacrament could possibly be fulfilled. It is based on the data that is sent to
the CDF that the resolution of the dubium could be made.
Even if it were possible to prepare an approximate list, as was done here, there is always a need
for constant updating since sects, denominations and churches do not cease to split and
multiply into schismatic groups. Defections and divisions have become a common occurrence
among them, generating splinter groups, even as new ones out of nowhere come into existence.
Judging from history, most splits occurred due to questions of leadership than it is concerning
doctrinal teachings. Nonetheless, there may have been theological shifts in some ecclesial
communities that involve change in doctrines, beliefs and practices that may indeed affect
validity. Bishops and pastors, and those who assist them in this regard, should therefore not be
too dependent on lists but must have a way of resolving “extraordinary” and “unusual” cases,
should doubts arise based on the guidelines that the Magisterium has already outlined in the
past. It would be helpful to detail what these quidelines are once again.
[69]
The general norm is expressed in CIC Canon 869 on the question of conditional baptism. Canon
869 §2, in particular, states that
Those baptized in a non-Catholic ecclesial community must not be baptized conditionally unless,
after an examination of the matter and the form of the words used in the conferral of baptism and
a consideration of the intention of the baptized adult and the minister of the baptism, a serious
reason exists to doubt the validity of the baptism.
One must, therefore examine four elements on which validity is grounded: a) matter, b) form or
formula, c) intent of the minister, and d) intent/consent of the baptized (required as it is
presupposed when the recipient is an adult).178
a) On the Matter of Baptism
First of all, baptism is to be conferred with water either by pouring (effusion) or immersion. When
it is administered through sprinkling179 there is often uncertainty regarding whether or not the
water actually touched the skin of the person being baptized. The practice then requires further
investigation and validity must not be immediately presumed for indeed when the water does
not clearly touch the skin of the person being baptized, that would render baptism invalid.
b) The Form of Baptism
The form or formula must invoke the Trinity, understood in the traditional Christian sense.180
In effect, the minister must declare that the person is being baptized “in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”—that is, referring to the the one triune God, eternally existing
in three Persons, all three co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory.
Inserting additional words or deliberately modifying the Trinitarian formula may invalidate the
baptism. The names, for instance, of the three persons of the Blessed Trinity must not be
substituted by other names or titles, even if these clearly refer to the three divine persons. Such
is the use of the word Creator for the Father, the Redeemer for the Son, or the Sanctifier for the
Holy Spirit.181
On the conditions for validity of baptism, see (apart from CIC Canon 869): Catechism of the Catholic
Church, nn. 1239-1240, 1256, 1278, Manila: Word & Life Publications, 1994, p. 305; PONTIFICAL COUNCIL
FOR THE PROMOTION OF CHRISTIAN UNITY (PCPCU), Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms on
Ecumenism, Vatican, 1993, n. 93; JOHN M. HUELS, O.S.M., The Pastoral Companion, p. 49-51; PHILIP-MICHAEL
TANGORRA, Sacramental Validity Guide, p. 1-4; ANTONIO MIRALLES, A New Response of the Congregation for
the Doctrine of the Faith on the Validity of Baptism, Vatican, 2001; CCCB (Canadian Conference of Catholic
Bishops), Episcopal Commission for Doctrine, Guidelines for Recognition of Baptism, October, 2015, p. 1-6.
179 The 1983 CIC (§854) makes clear that sprinkling is not to be used by Catholics (cf. CCEO 675-§1).
180 Although errors of a doctrinal nature are not sufficient to question the validity of the sacrament of
Baptism, there is a need to ensure the integrity of the form to ensure the integrity of the intention of the
minister. On this see CDF, “Response to a ‘Dubium’,” in AAS 93 (2001) 476.
181 See ANTONIO MIRALLES, op.cit.; CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH, Responses to Questions
Proposed on the validity of Baptism conferred with the formulas «I baptize you in the name of the Creator, and of the
Redeemer, and of the Sanctifier» and «I baptize you in the name of the Creator, and of the Liberator, and of the
Sustainer», Vatican, 2008.
178
[70]
So sacrosanct is the formula that the Holy See, only very recently, has had to declare once again
that any arbitrary modification to it would render baptism invalid. When asked the question
whether or not the baptism conferred with the formula «We baptize you in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit» was valid, the CDF’s response was negative. When further
queried as to whether or not those persons for whom baptism was celebrated with such a
formula ought to be baptized in forma absoluta, its response was in the affirmative.182
In a doctrinal note appended to such a declaration, the CDF surmised that those who
deliberately modified the formula in such wise may have wanted to emphasize the
communitarian significance of baptism. Such, for instance, is expressed by the following more
expanded formula: “In the name of the father and of the mother, of the godfather and of the godmother,
of the grandparents, of the family members, of the friends, in the name of the community we baptize you
in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”.
The CDF argued that one need not expand the formula this way since the baptismal ritual in its
entirety already expresses such a communitarian dimension: “In reality, a careful analysis of the
Rite of Baptism of Children [already] shows that in the celebration the parents, godparents and the entire
community are called to play an active role, a true liturgical office.”183 On the other hand, the
pronoun “I” ought to be strictly kept since, as the CDF—citing Vatican II—further explained,
“when a man baptizes it is really Christ Himself [as represented by the minister] who baptizes”.184
c) The Intent of the Minister of Baptism
The minister of baptism must have the intent to do what the Church does. Proof of this is the
use of the proper formula that invokes the Trinity understood in the traditional Christian sense.
Any other understanding of the Trinity does not only nullify the form, but puts into question
the real intent of the minister. Moreover, the minister of baptism who pronounces the formula
must be the same person who administers water on the person being baptized.
From the negative response given by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to a
“dubium” regarding the validity of baptism conferred in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints, one other condition has been implicitly enunciated, namely, that included in the
intention of the minister is to administer the sacrament for the remission of original sin.
According to the Catholic Church, Baptism cancels not only personal sins but also original sin, to
the point that even infants are baptized because of such an intent.185 Such intention is assured if
the ecclesial community believes in the existence of original sin.
CDF, Responses to Questions Proposed on the validity of Baptism conferred with the formula
«We baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit» , Vatican City, June 24,
2020.
183 See footnote n. 1, CDF, loc. cit. (cf. Rituale Romanum ex Decreto Sacrosancti Oecumenici Concilii Vaticani
II instauratum auctoritate Pauli PP. VI promulgatum, Ordo Baptismi Parvulorum, Praenotanda, nn. 4-7).
Insertion added.
184 CDF, loc. cit. (insertion supplied). Cf. Vatican II Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium, n. 7.
185 COUNCIL OF TRENT, DH 1513-1515, as cited in CDF, “Response to a ‘Dubium’, AAS 93 (2001) 476.
182
[71]
d) The Recipient of Baptism
In case of an adult, he/she must have the right intent/consent to receive the sacrament. If such
is wanting, the lack of it invalidates baptism. Such an intent presupposes that the recipient
intends to receive the sacrament in accord with the intent of the conferring minister.
In speaking of baptism as constituting the sacramental bond of unity existing among all who
through it are reborn and that recognizing a common baptism is a way towards communion in
life among them, the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity recommends that
ecclesial Communities “arrive as closely as possible at an agreement about its significance and
valid celebration.”186 It is, therefore, recommended that the Catholic Church in the Philippines
enter into such an agreement with Christian Churches open to ecumenism so as to ensure, in
particular, the preservation of the required form and the fulfillment of the other conditions for
the valid administration of the sacrament.
Conclusion
Given the conditions required for valid baptism, there are several findings in this survey that
must now be highlighted. First, while most churches and denominations administer water
baptism, there are those that practice water sprinkling. When this is the practice, validity should
not immediately be presumed. Second, belief in the Trinity is not an automatic guarantee of
validity because a particular denomination’s understanding of the Trinity could in fact be
distorted and should therefore be scrutinized. Any distortion or misconception renders
baptism invalid. There are members of the NCCP and the PCEC which fall into this error.
Thus, membership in these organizations ought not be considered as indicating the legitimacy
of presuming validity.
Third, a sect’s understanding of the Trinitarian doctrine may be
orthodox, and baptism may be administered by invoking the Trinity, yet one needs to make sure
that this is done for the right intention, both on the part of the minister and the recipient (if
he/she is an adult). Fourth, there are sects that may hold the (traditionally) Christian doctrine of
the Trinity but do not practice baptism, thus for these sects validity is a non-issue.
On account of all these, it must be borne in mind that the list of valid baptisms generated from
this survey is simply a guide and not a definitive solution-finder to all the difficulties and
doubts that may arise regarding the question of sacramental validity. It should be noted that
most of the Christian sects and denominations that are now preponderant or have just set foot
in the country trace their origin to North America. Thus, it may be helpful that the present list
be compared with similar lists in that part of the world. The Canadian Conference of Catholic
Bishops (CCCB),187 for instance, has prepared not only such a list but also a detailed discussion
of the conditions for validity. No such list appears to have been prepared by the U.S. Conference
of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), nonetheless, many individual dioceses in the U.S. (and Canada)
have posted similar lists on their websites. The most extensive among these appears to be that
186
187
PCPCU, Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism, nn. 92-93
See CCCB, Episcopal Commission for Doctrine, Guidelines for Recognition of Baptism, October, 2015, p. 1-
6.
[72]
of the Diocese of Honolulu which includes indigenous Churches that trace their origin to the
Philippines.188
Still, to reiterate, lists are simple enumerations that do not detail the full circumstances in which
baptism is administered. One must not, therefore, rely too much or solely on them. Ultimately,
it will be the task and responsibility of bishops, pastors, and of ecclesiastical tribunals to offer
competent guidance to pastoral workers who deal with this issue from day to day in the parish
setting. Many times, when serious doubts arise, there may be a need to make a direct inquiry
from competent authorities of the church or ecclesial community concerned as regards its
beliefs and practices that may shed light into the question of validity.

 J. ROJAS
CBCP ECDF Chairman
25 March 2020/9 August 2020
Other dioceses which might be mentioned here are: the Archdiocese of Baltimore (Maryland), the
Dioceses of Columbus (Ohio), Springfield (Illinois) and Prince George (Northern British Columbia).
188
[73]
Appendix 1
PREVIOUS LISTINGS OF VALID CHRISTIAN BAPTISMS
A. 1995 OLD LIST AND 2018 LIST
prepared by
Episcopal Commission on Doctrine of the Faith (ECDF)
[74]
B. 2019 INTEGRATED LIST
prepared by
Episcopal Commission on Doctrine of the Faith (ECDF)
Episcopal Commision on Ecumenical Affairs (ECEA)
Episcopal Commission on Canon Law (ECCL)
1. VALID BAPTISMS
1. Lutheran Church in the Philippines
(LCP)
2. Philippine Episcopal Church (PEC)
3. United Church of Christ in the
Philippines (UCCP)
4. Iglesia Evangelica Metodista en las
Islas Filipinas (IEMELIF)
5. United Methodist Church in the
Philippines (UMCP)
6. Convention of Philippine Baptist
Churches (CPBC)
7. Presbyterian Church
8. Seventh-Day Adventist Church
9. All Eastern non-Catholics (Orthodox)
10. Adventists
11. African Methodist Episcopal
12. Amish
13. Anglican
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
Assembly of God
Baptists
Evangelical United Brethren
Church of the Brethren
Church of God
Congregational Church
Disciples of Christ
Episcopalians
Evangelical Churches
Methodists
Lutherans
Liberal Catholic Church
Old Catholics
Old Roman Catholics
Church of the Nazarene
Polish National Church
Reformer Churches
United Church of Christ
2. INVALID BAPTISMS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Apostolic Church189
Bohemian Free Thinkers
Christian and Missionary Alliances190
Christian Scientists
Church of Divine Science
People’s Church of Chicago
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
Salvation Army
Pentecostal Churches
Christadelphians
Jehovah’s Witnesses
Unitarians
The survey showed that the Church bearing this name and a church with a similar-sounding name, the
New Apostolic Church both administer valid baptism. See p. 19 above.
190 The Christian and Missionary Alliances (CMA) was originally part of the Evangelical Union that
constituted the UCCP, but some of its individual churches are now members of the PCEC (see Appendix
2, pp. 76-79.
189
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Appendix 2
PHILIPPINE COUNCIL OF EVANGELICAL CHURCHES
I. MEMBERSHIP AS OF NOVEMBER 2016
A. Denominations
Abundant Grace Ministry
Alliance of Bible Christian Communities of the Phil.
Asia-Pacific Resource Center
Baptist Conference of the Philippines, Inc.
Charismatic Full Gospel Ministries
Christ Faith Fellowship, Philippines (OHM Int’l.), Inc.
Christ Jesus Our Life Church
Christ, The Living Stone Fellowship, Inc.
Christ to the Philippines, Inc.
Christian Bible Church Outreach Conference, Inc.
Christian Evangelical Mission Foundation, Inc.
Christian Reformed Church of the Philippines
Church of God in Christ (COGIC)
Church of God World Missions of the Philippines, Inc.
Church of the Foursquare Gospel in the Philippines, Inc.
Church of the Nazarene Philippines (Philippine Field
Office)-Micronesia Field Office
Conservative Baptist Association of the Philippines
Don Stewart Ministry (MLFI)
Evangelical Free Church of the Philippines Inc.
F.R.E.E. Mission Philippines, Inc.
Filipino Assemblies of the First Born
First Christian Pentecostal Church
First Pentecostal Church of God
Free Believers in Christ Fellowship, Inc.
Free Will Baptist Church
General Baptist Church of the Philippines
Glad Tidings Foundation
Grace Brethren Churches of the Philippines
Grace Evangelical Mission, Inc. (GEM)
I am Redeemer And Master Evangelical Church, Inc.
Independent Baptist Churches in the Philippines
Jesus Christ Saves Global Outreach Int’l. Inc.
Jesus Loves You Ministries, Inc.
Jesus Philippines Holiness Church
Jesus Reigns Ministries
Jesus the Living Gospel International, Inc.
Jireh Evangel Church Planting Phils., Inc.
Kalahan Cooperative Parish
Lift Jesus Higher Fellowship
Light Of The World, Worldwide Ministries, Inc.
Lord Jesus Our Redeemer Church Foundation Int’l., Inc.
Lord of the Nations, Inc.
Luzon Convention of Southern Baptist Churches, Inc.
Masbate Council of Evangelical Churches, Inc.
National Council of Christian Community Churches, Inc.
Pangasinan Church of Christ
Pentecostal Church of God Asian Missions, Inc.
PHILCAM Alliance Church, Inc.
Philippine Advent Christian Churches, Inc.
Philippine Bible Church of God (Church of God of
Prophecy), Inc
Philippine Christian Alliance Missions
Philippine Evangelical Holiness Church, Inc.
Philippine General Conference of the Free Methodist
Church, Inc.
Philippine Missionary Fellowship, Inc.
Philippine Pentecostal Holiness Church
Philippine Reformed & Renewal Movement
Philippines General Council of the Assemblies of God
The River of God, Inc.
The Christian and Missionary Allliance Churches of the
Philippines, Inc.
The General Assembly of Presbyterian Churches of the
Philippines
The Joint Heirs with the Lord
The Joshua Generation
The Living Epistle Christian Family Church, Inc.
The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod
The Salvation Army (Trinitarian but no baptism)
The Wesleyan Church of the Philippines, Inc.
Triumphant Church Ministries Int. of Quezon City
Universal Pentecostal Church, Inc.
Victory Christian Fellowship
Word for the World Christian Fellowship, Inc.
Word International Ministries, Inc. (Philippines and
Pacific Islands)
World Missionary Evangelism
Worldwide Church of God (Grace Communion Int’l.)
Zion Christian Community Church
Nota bene: Not all of these denominations and churches necessarily administer valid baptism (e.g.,
Salvation Army, Quakers or Friends Churches [infra], Alliance Churches, etc.)
Source: https://pcecph.home.blog/members/
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B. Local Churches
(Local Churches are congregations of believers that regularly gather for worship in places all over the nation.)
A Blessed Church Club 8586, Inc.
All Nation Christian Ministries, Inc.
Alliance Fellowship Church
Asia Pacific Mission Church and Chang Shin, Inc.
Asian Christian Charismatic Fellowship
Bagong Ilog Christian Fellowship, Inc.
Banaba House Ministries, Inc.
Banga Evangelical Church
Beautiful Temple International
Bethany Church of Philippines
Bethany Evangelical Missionary Church
Bethany Fellowship Philippines, Inc.
Bethel Christian Fellowship Philippines, Inc.
Bible Baptist Church
Bible Centered Fellowship
Bible Centered Fellowship
Bishop of El Gibbor Community Church
Blessed Hope Christian Community Church Inc.
Bread From Heaven Christian Fellowship
Bride of Christ Church, Inc.
Buong Mundo Simbahan ng Kapangyarihan ng Diyos
Cabanatuan Baptist Church
Caloocan Bible Church
Caloocan Christian Church, Inc
Caloocan Evangelical Church, Inc.
Calvary Chapel Olongapo
Calvary Temple Ministry of Angeles City
Camarines Norte Christian Center
Campo Uno Foursquare Gospel Church
Canaan Presbyterian Church
Capital City Alliance Church
Cebu Bethel Temple Church, Inc.
Cebu Bible Church
Celebration International Church Network, Inc.
Central Gospel Church
Chosen Disciple of Jesus Fellowship, International, Inc.
Christ Alone Redeems Eternally (CARE) Inc.
Christ Assembly in the Kingdom of God Church, Inc.
Christ Centered Fellowship
Christ Controlled Mission, Philippines, Inc.
Christ In You Faith International Ministry
Christ Invites You Charismatic Ministries
Christ People Christian Church, Inc.
Christ The Living Gospel, Inc.
Christ to the World Christian Church
Christian Bible Church of the Phils.
Christian First Loving Gospel Church
Christ’s Commission Fellowship
Christus Victor Church, Inc.
Classis Southern Luzon of the CRCP
Come to Jesus Fellowship
Community Bible Church of La Carlota City, Inc.
Community Church of the Risen Lord, Inc.
Community of the Resurrected Christ Int’l., Inc.
Cordero nin Dios Christian Fellowship
Covenant Children Fellowship, Inc.
Crusade Bible Church
Doulos for Christ World Harvest, Inc.
Eternal Lord of Hope International Ministries
Evangel Tabernacle of Iloilo, Inc.
Evangelical Christian Church
Evangelical Christian Church of Libya
Evangelical Church of Christ
Faith Baptist Church
Faith Evangelical Church of the Phils., Inc.
Faith Tabernacle
Faithwalkers Community Church
First Baptist Church
First Church of the Nazarene-Angeles
First Free Methodist Church of Manila
Free Gospel Church
Fullness in Christ Fellowship Groups
Gerizim Evangelical Church
God is Alive Christian Ministries, Inc.
Gospel Church of Manila, Inc.
Gospel Remnant Church
Grace Chrisitan Fellowship
Grace Church of Christ
Grace Evangelical Church
Grace of the Savior
Grace Testament Church
Greater Heights Christian Worship Center, Inc.
Hacienda Georgina Open Bible Church
Harvesters Christian Fellowhip
High Acres Cross Bible Baptist Church
His Life Ministries, Inc.
Hope Christian Fellowship
Hope of Glory Community Church, Inc.
Hope of Life Christian Ministries
House of Praise Church
Iglesia “Ang Bayan Ng Dios”
Integrated Mennonite Churches, Inc.
International Baptist Church of Manila
International Charismatic Service
International Evangelical Church of Alabang
International Faith Bible Chapel
Iraga Christian Church
Jeremiah Christian Center
Jesus Christ Cares Fellowship
Jesus Christ Mission to the World Church, Inc.
Jesus Christ Our Banner Church Mission, Inc.
Jesus Christ World Mission Church, Inc.
Jesus Daystar Ministries
Jesus Eternal Savior Church Worlwide Ministries, Inc.
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Jesus is Lord Charismatic Center
Jesus’ New Covenant International Ministry, Inc.
Jesus our Life Christian Church
Jesus Sanctuary Christian Church
Jesus The Good Shepherd Church of Muntinlupa
Jesus The Living Word Int’l. Christian Minitries, Inc.
Jesus The Redeemer Christian Fellowship
Jesus The True Kinsman-Redeemer Christ’n Church, Inc.
Kalimbas Evangelical Church
Kamuning Bible Christian Fellowship, Inc.
Kanlaon Baptist Church
Korean Union Church of Manila, Inc.
Life Renewal Christian Ministries, Inc. (Life Church)
Life Gospel Church
Life In Christ Ministries, Inc.
Lifefield Church, Inc
Lifestream International Fellowship and Evangelism
Ministries, Inc.
Lighthouse Christian Community Ministries Found. Inc.
Living Faith Fellowship World Harvest & Outreach, Inc.
Living Water Fellowship
Lord Jesus Fellowship of Pilar Bataan
Love China Fellowship, Inc.
Makati Gospel Church
Mandarin Evangelical Church, Inc.
Manila Pyungkang Presbyterian Church Inc.
Manila To The World Presbyterian Church
Mansilingan First Baptist Church
Maranatha Bible Study Groups, Inc.
Marikina Christian Fellowship
Marikina Evangelical Friends Church
Marikina Grace Brethren Church
Mindanao Jesus First Church, Inc.
Ministries of the Living Body of Christ International
Mount Carmel Bible Presbyterian Church
Mountain Tribes Ministries International, Inc.
MSU-Christian Group Ministries, Inc.
Mt. Olives Christian Church
National Baptist Church
Navotas Gospel Church, Inc.
New Life in Christ Fellowship
New Life Mission Church, Inc.
New Life Tondo Christ’n Center (Bp of Xt to the World)
One In Christ Jesus Our Lord
Paco Baptist Church
Pasay City Alliance Church
People of Grace Fellowship, Inc.
Philadelphia Christcentered Fellowship
Philippine Central Faith Hope Love Church, Inc.
Philippine Evangelical Friends Int’l. Ministries
Philippine Frontline Ministries, Inc
Philippine Good News International Inc.
Philippine Jesus Family, Inc.
Philippine Life Word Mission Church, Inc.
Philippine Mission of New Harvest Int’l. Min., Inc.
(Taytay Harvest Christian Fellowship)
Philippine One Light Mission Church, Inc.
Philippine Sung Rak Church, Inc.
Polo Obando Gospel Church
Praise Cathedral Incorporated
The Presbyterian Baguio Lord’s Church
Proclaim His Name Christian Fellowship, Inc.
Promised Land Baptist Church
Quest Community Fellowship Cebu, Inc.
Rainbow Mission Church
Restoration of the Holy Spirit, Inc.
Revelation City Church Fellowship, Inc.
Saint Stephen Parish
Salcedo Bansud Mission Center, Inc.
Sambahan ng Pamilyang Cristiano sa Caloocan
Sambahan Sa Kaunlaran (PMF)
Sambahan sa Nayon
Sambahang Kristiano sa Canumay
Sambahang Kristiano sa Marulas
Sampaguita Christian Church
Sampaloc Bible Christian Community, Inc
Saved By Grace Christian Community Church
Se Han Evangelical Holiness Church
Seoul Presbyterian Church (Reformed), Inc.
Simbahang Ebangheliko ng Pateros
Singalong Evangelical Church
Social Brethren Church, Phils.
Taiwan Friends Ministries and Missions in the Phils.
Tent of Praise Ministries Church
The Blessed Word International Church
The Church That Dreams Come True
The Father’s Manila Vineyard
The First Presbyterian Church of Pasig, Inc.
The Gen. Assembly of the Phil. Ref. Presbyterian
Churches Int’l., Inc.
The Good Shepherd’s Fold Baptist Church
The Jesus Faith Assembly of God Ministries Inc.
The Living Streams Ministries Foundation
The Lord Cometh
The Lord’s Temple Ministries, Inc.
The Lord’s Vineyard Community Church
The Messiah Community Church
The Potter’s Chosen Vessel Christian Min.
The Presbyterian Church (Reformed) in the Phils.
The Redeemed Christian Church of God
The Rock Church Global Impact Ministries, Inc.
The Word People Church Ministries, Philippines, Inc.
Tuliao Baptist Church
Union of Evangelical Church of Christ in the Philippines
United Church of Christ in the Phil., Baguio City Church
United Evangelical Church of the Philippines
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United Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Inc.
Valley Ministries in Chirst
Victorious in Christ Christian Baptist Church
Victory Church Int’l. Christian Ministries, Inc
Victory in Jesus Christ Congregation
Victory Outreach Ministries Int’l
Volunteers of Christ Philippine Charter, Inc.
Walang Imposible Sa Diyos Outreach Ministry Church
Well of Blessing (The Well of Beth. Christian Fellowship)
Word Community Church, Inc.
Word of Grace Fellowship, Inc.
World Mission Church
II. STATEMENT OF FAITH
The PCEC believes, among other equally Biblical truths, in the following:
A. The Bible, the Word of God, its divine, verbal, plenary inspiration and its inerrancy and infallibility
as originally written; and its supreme and final authority in faith and life (2 Tim.3,16; 2 Pet.1,20-21);
B. One God eternally existing in three distinct Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Deut. 6,4, Mt.
28,19, 2 Cor. 13,14);
C. The Lord Jesus Christ:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
His essential, absolute and eternal Deity (Phil,2,6; John 1,1,14: Heb. 1,8)
His true and sinless humanity (1,Pet. 2,22; 1 John 3,5)
His Virgin Birth (Isa. 7,14; Matt. 1,20)
His substitutionary, propitiatory death (Matt. 20,28; Mark 10,45, 1Tim 2,16)
His bodily resurrection (Acts 1,11)
His ascension to the right hand of the Father (Mark 16,19; Acts 1,20)
His coming again with the power and great glory (Titus 2,13; Rev. 10,11-16)
D. The Holy Spirit who shows the redeeming purpose of God the world by convicting the world of
sin, of righteousness and judgment and by regenerating, uniting to Christ, indwelling,
sanctifying, illuminating and empowering for service all who place complete faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ (Heb. 9,14, John 14,26, 1 Cor. 2,10-11, 1 Cor. 12,11);
E. The total depravity of Man because of the Fall (Gen. 3,10-24);
F. Salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ apart from works (Eph. 2,8);
G. The everlasting bliss of the saved and the eternal suffering of the lost (Dan. 12,2; John 5,24; Rev.
20,14; Luke 16,24-26);
H. The real spiritual unity in Christ of all redeemed by His precious Blood (1 Cor. 12,13; Eph. 1,4-6;
4,11-15, 5,25,26); and
I.
The necessity of maintaining, according to the Word of God, the purity of the Church in doctrine
and life (1 Cor. 6,19,20; 1 Thess. 4.3).
Source: https://pcecph.home.blog/2019/09/01/statement-of-faith/
[79]
Appendix 3
ONENESS PENTECOSTAL CHURCHES IN THE PHILIPPINES191
Abbreviation
ALJC (1)
UPCP
PMA
ACJC
ALJC (2)
BAC
PAJC
FTJC
JC
AMF
Name of Organization
Assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ, Inc.
United Pentecostal Church Philippines
Philippine Ministerial Association
Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ
Assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ, Inc.
(Ammended)
Bible Apostolic Church
Philippine Apostolics of Jesus Christ, Inc.
Family Tabernacle of Jesus Christ
Jesus Church, The
Apostolic Ministers Fellowship
Philippines
AFC
Apostolic Faith Church
GOC (1)
Gospel of Christ
Gospel of Christ Phils Apostolic Doctrine
Pentecostal Oneness
Jesus Miracle Crusade International
Ministry
Apostolic Independent Missions (aka
Church of the Lord Jesus Christ)
True Jesus Church (China)
Faith in Christ Jesus Church, Inc.
Oasis Pentecostal International Fellowship
Worldwide Pentecostal Church of Christ
Apostolic Pentecostal Assembly
God’s Love Apostolic Pentecostal
Ministries
Jesus Christ to God be the Glory
International, Inc.
Pentecostal Bible Apostolic Holiness
Church, Inc.
Lighthouse Apostolic Ministry of
Pentecost
Lighthouse Apostolic Fellowship
Jesus Christ Hope of the World Christian
Fellowship
Spirit & Truth Evangelistic Ministry
GOC (2)
JMCIM
AIM
TJC
FCJC
OPIF
WPCC
APA
GLAPM
JCTGBTG
PBAHC
LAMP
LAF
JCHW
STEM
Name of Founder
Diamond Noble
Carlos Grant
Eugene Garrett
Carlos Grant
Foundation
1956
1957
1959
1967
Pedro Siao
1968
James D. Childs
Geneva Bailey
Antonio Gallemit Sr.
Lew Ambler
1969
1970
1971
1971
Johnny Willhoite
1972
William Han Sr.
Raymundo Jalandoni
Zebedia Aguilar Senin
1974
1974
Zebedia Aguilar Senin
1974
Wilde Estrada Almeda
1975
Donald Lance Sr.
Steve Hancock
1982
Ben Tayao
Allan Rios
John Ayudtud
Samson Cordova
1983
1984
1984
1984
1985
Edmundo Celes
1985
Louie Santos
1985
James D. Childs
1985
Isaias Dela Cruz Jr.
1986
Leonardo Magno
1987
Zaldy Perez
1988
Bing Ocampo
1988
Source: JOHNNY LOYE KING, Spirit and Schism: A History of Oneness Pentecostalism in the Philippines, doct.
diss., School of Philosophy, Theology and Religion, College of Arts and Law, University of Birmingham
(Birmingham, UK: April 2016), pp. 295-296.
191
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JCFC
AJNC
JCOKF
CACJC
GLJC
BBF
PAMI
AMC
RLJC
ALJC (3)
HAMP
CAM
ACC
ALJCAF
CWCG
JFAM
JCM
JNTF
RTP
UACM
IOACJC
GMZINC
NLACi
WPFP
MACLJC
AHFJC
UCJC
CCCF
ACJCII
RCKGM
Jesus Christ Followers Church
Apostolic Jesus Name Church
Jesus Christ Our King Forever Apostolic
Ministry
Convention Apostolic Churches of Jesus
Christ, Inc.
Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ
Bible Believer’s Fellowship
Philippine Apostolic Mission, Inc.
Apostolic Ministries for Christ
Revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ
Assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ
Philippines, Inc.
Hebron Apostolic Ministries Philippines
Christ Apostolic Ministries Phil.
Apostolic Christian Church (now with
ALJC)
Assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ
Apostolic Faith
Church of the Word of God Phil, Inc
Jesus Flock Apostolic Ministry, Inc.
Jesus Church Ministry, The
Jesus Name Tabernacle of Faith
Rainbow Tabernacle of Praise Global
Christian Ministry, Inc.
United Apostolic Christian Ministries, Inc.
International Oneness Apostolic Churches
of Jesus Christ
Global Ministerios Zion, Inc.
Northern Light Apostolic Church Int.
Worldwide Pentecostal Fellowship
Philippines
Members Apostolic Church of the Lord
Jesus Christ
Apostolic Holiness Fellowship of Jesus
United Church Jesus Christ (Oneness), Inc.
Crossroads Christian Central Fellowship
Apostolic Church of the Lord Jesus Christ
International Phil. Inc.
Reign of Christ’s Kingdom Global
Ministry
Fernando Caudor Sr.
Efren Dela Cruz
1990
1991
Franc Mendoza III
1991
James Carr Federico
1993
Rey Landingen
Danilo Yulatic
Ziegfred S. Lake
Anonilon Pontillano
Larry De Guzman
1993
1994
1994
1995
1995
Edgardo Camalon
1997
Ricaredo Dela Cruz
Roy Dulnuan
1997
2000
Zaldy Wasquin
2001
2001
Alberto G. Esplago
Roberto Linco
Brenda de los Santos
Artemio B. Cana
2001
2001
2002
2003
Roger Abo-abo
2005
Glen Aupe
2005
Edgardo Camalon
2007
Joshua Beria
Rey Sangueza
2008
2008
Johnny King
2008
Bernie Mendoza
2009
Christ Eliezer Maxilom
Romeo Concepcion
Edsel Omandam
2010
2010
2011
Enrique A. Zaragoza
2012
Mitchell Loayon
2012
* All of these churches are non-trinitarian, whose baptisms are administered solely “in the name
of Jesus”, and are therefore not valid.
[81]