SELF-SUPPORT

Yet the work did survive, and remarkably so. A striking example of this is found in the self-support al- most immediately assumed by the new churches. Thus, even though Methodism was a young movement and many of its members came from the working classes, it was able to advance in the building of churches and the extension of its work. This occurred in a country whose religious tradition had inculcated the habit of fees for the services of the church – baptisms, weddings, masses for the dead – but had not stressed voluntary giving to the church. The success of Methodism here stands out all the more clearly, when it is compared with what happened in the Philippine Independent Church. The Aglipayans swept the country like wildfire at the turn of the century and even today comprise numerically perhaps the largest non-Roman Church in Asia. Yet church giving is the factor that almost dealt it a death blow, at its beginning. At first, as whole villages and even the village priests went over to Aglipay, they took over the local Roman Catholic churches for their own, on the legitimate grounds that the churches had been built by the labor and money of the people themselves. However, all of these churches eventually went back to the Roman Catholic Church due to a ruling of the Supreme Court in 1906. When this happened, the Philippine Independent Church could not build all the churches it needed, since its people had not been taught to give voluntarily. As a result, even today the local Aglipayan churches are most often in sad repair and are woefully inadequate structures. The picture is happily beginning to change for the better, but only after this near-fatal weakness stayed with it for almost half a century.

As soon as Methodism started work in a barrio and got a few converts, it taught stewardship of possessions as one of the essential duties of the Christian life. At first the meetings would be held in the open air or in the home of one of the members. But then, just as soon as possible, the new members would be encouraged to build their own chapel. At first it would only be of bamboo and nipa. Later it would be expanded and then eventually a more durable wooden structure would be erected, with the ultimate goal being a permanent stone or brick building that could withstand the annay, the baguios and fire.

In 1912 J. F. Cottingham wrote from Nueva Ecija:

We have worked and prayed much over the support of the pastors. We are glad to report that many of our people not only believe in tithing but practice it. Everyone of our circuits has promised something for the support of pastors next year. None have promised less than three pesos a month and some have promised as much as fifteen pesos a month. Two places have promised entire self-support. Taken in all there has been an increase in the support of the pastors of more than 110 per cent over last year while the promises for the next year are 360 per cent more than the year before. The people have constructed and are now building seven new chapels this year. Only one of these has received any help from the mission.⁴⁵

The example of tithing was set for the members by the church workers themselves, as the following Journal entry of 1915 shows:

Tithing bands have been a great factor in the attaining of self support in various circuits. A. Filipino missionary to the Negritos has been supported through the year by the tithe of preachers and deaconesses of the district. At our District Conference ...twenty-seven of thirty workers pledged to tithe themselves, and to teach their people to tithe.⁴⁶

Self-support thus spread throughout the work, until 1918 when the Mission began withdrawing all subsidies from the individual churches in the entire field of work. By 1919 self-support had been reached on the local level, although the newer and weaker congregations were allowed to receive a maximum of three years' support from the older churches.⁴⁷

The achievement of self-support on the local level has continued to the present, although there has remained a strong dependence on overseas help for institutional and administrative costs. Self-support, therefore, remains as an important goal of Philippine Methodism.

Go to Next Section: Two Great Churches of Philippine Methodism:
Central and Knox

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