REASONS FOR RAPID GROWTH

What were the reasons for such rapid growth? Mention has already been made of the outstanding Filipino leadership. This was especially important because of the intense feeling of nationalism. The Filipino people had revolted not only against Spain, but also against Spain's re- ligion; the reason in part, was because the Roman Church continued to be dominated by foreign leadership Qualified Filipino priests could find no place of real leadership in their own Church. Great patriots like Rizal had made the people aware, not only of the Roman Church's foreign domination, but also of Catholicism's inner decay and the superstition that abounded in the Church at the turn of the century. In Protestantism, however, Filipinos were able to find a higher means of expressing their religious impulses. This was not another religion, but simply a purified, more ethical manifestation of Christianity; they felt that it could be their own religion, led by their own people.

At the same time one cannot deny that another major reason for the rapid growth of the Church was that Protestantism was the religion of the colonial power. Most of the colonial administrators and businessmen were Protestants, as were those thousands of American public school teachers, the "Thomasites," so named because the first of them arrived on the S.S. Thomas. Even though there were strong feelings for independence, America made a great impression because her rule was so much more humane than the later years of Spanish rule had been. Thus there was a tendency for many to follow the example of the Americans, not only politically but religiously, as well.

Added to these overall factors that held true for all of Protestantism, Methodism possessed a particular vigor that contributed to its being the most rapidly growing of the Protestant denominations in the Philippines, even as it had been in America. Methodism emphasized a simple heart-felt religion. Not dogma, but experience, was at the center of her preaching. In addition, the converts were systematically nurtured in their new faith, so that there was a steady growth of their loyalty to the Church and to the Christian religion. Self-support was stressed, as were the moral life and lay witnessing. These various factors were then cemented together through the effective organizational structure that John Wesley had fashioned out of the experience of his own ministry. Although Methodists have often paid too much homage to their organizational ability (and in so doing, tended to neglect the religious life which is after all the primary factor with which the Church should concern itself), we should nonetheless give credit, where credit is due, and appreciate what this aspect of the Wesleyan heritage has accomplished time and again.

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