Church History in the Philippines

Overview

The Philippines is unique in Asia: It is the only Christian nation. More than 90% of the population are nominally Christian. The great majority are Roman Catholic, reflecting long years of Spanish rule.

Church history in the Philippine Islands began with the liberation of the country from the Japanese by the American landings on Leyte October 20, 1944, culminating in the fall of Manila in February, 1945. From the outset servicemen's group leaders organized LDS meetings, the first at Tacloban on the coast of Samar, a U.S. Naval installation. These meetings were frequently interrupted by air raids and other exigencies of war. The first LDS conference was conducted by a Mormon chaplain with 50 in attendance. President Joseph Fielding Smith, as part of his Asian tour, dedicated the Philippine Islands for the preaching of the gospel, at Clark Air Base on August 21, 1955. Then, after assurances were obtained from the government that missionaries would be granted visas, Elder Gordon B. Hinckley officially initiated missionary work in the Philippines on May 28, 1961.

In 1969, the Church had spread to eight major islands and had the highest number of baptisms of any area in the Church. The Manila Missionary Training Center was established in 1983. In 1990-91, Church relief efforts helped with the damage caused by major earthquakes, flooding, volcanic eruptions, and governmental conflicts. Membership in 1984 was 76,000 and 237,000 in 1990. Today, membership is approximately 441,000. See below to view a graph of Church membership in the Philippines.

In a sunrise service held in the Philippines on April 28, 1961, a special prayer asking a blessing on missionary work was given and a tiny seed was planted. Now 30 years later, the tiny seed has grown into a "mighty tree" - like the mahogany trees that dot the forests of this island country.
President Gordon B. Hinckley, then a member of the Council of the Twelve, prayed that the people of the land would be friendly and hospitable, and kind and gracious to those who would come to the Philippines. He also prayed, saying "there shall be many thousands who shall receive this message and be blessed."

Thirty years later, members have seen that prayer answered with the Philippines becoming one of the fastest growing areas of the Church with an average of 1,870 convert baptisms a month. Last year 22,556 convert baptisms were recorded.

There are now more than 250,000 members in the Philippines in 42 stakes, 52 districts and 12 missions (three were opened in 1990).

"We are anticipating doubling membership in the next five years," said Elder L. Lionel Kendrick of the Seventy and president of the Philippines/Micronesia Area. "That is just through normal growth, not by expanding our efforts."

In his prayer given at the American Memorial Cemetery in Fort Bonifacio, on the outskirts of Manila, President Hinckley also prayed that many faithful, good, virtuous and true men would join the Church and receive the blessings of the priesthood and grow in leadership.
"The big challenge still remains to train leadership and keep up with increased growth," Elder Kendrick said. "When you get large growth patterns, you find yourself calling bishops and branch presidents that have not been in the Church very long.

"Great emphasis is placed on leadership training to try and keep up with the growth so leaders are not overwhelmed by the mass influx of new members."

Missionaries "are focusing on families and looking for leaders to be baptized so we are sure we've got enough leadership potential coming into the waters of baptism to take care of others being baptized."

Current priesthood leadership also remains strong and provides a great example for new members joining the Church, Elder Kendrick added.

"We are extremely pleased with the caliber of our regional representatives and mission presidents," he said. "They are mature in the gospel. They are great leaders and we rely heavily on them. That's a very encouraging sign in the Philippines."

About 42 percent of the mission presidents, five out of 12, are Filipino members. About 2,000 missionaries currently serve in the Philippines with 67 percent, or two-thirds of the missionary force, being Filipino.

"We feel this is a good mix. We are very encouraged," Elder Kendrick continued.

Church meetings were held in the Philippines as early as 1898, but most meetings were held for soldiers stationed in the area or for the few converts who joined the Church after hearing about the gospel from the soldiers.

The Philippines was dedicated Aug. 21, 1955, at Clark Field by President Joseph Fielding Smith of the Council of the Twelve. But it wasn't until June 5, 1961, that the first missionaries arrived in the Philippines.

Now there are 233 wards and 463 branches in this tropical country. The Philippines also has its own Missionary Training Center, established in 1983, and a temple, dedicated in 1984.

The temple was a great boon to members, who earlier had to travel to Japan, Hawaii or New Zealand to go to the temple. Built on a hilltop, the temple has become a symbol of faith for Filipino members.

"The members are excited and feel extremely pleased with the growth of the Church here," Elder Kendrick remarked.

"Our focus as a presidency is to look at the real growth of the Church, not only convert baptisms and the normal increases with birth, but also what the activity level is and how many we are retaining and how many are reactivated.

And they are seeing the fruits of their work. In the Philippines Naga Mission, for example, there is now a 74 percent retention rate of new converts.

"What we want to do is stay with the basics and do them well. Our feeling is that we need to take the Church to the people. We are trying to construct buildings closer to people to address the real needs of members."

A significant cause of inactivity in the Church is high transportation costs, Elder Kendrick explained. Many members are unable to come to Church meetings and activities on a regular basis because of high costs. For some members, it could cost a day's pay to bring the whole family to a stake conference.
"One way to increase reactivation is to get the units closer to the people so it's not such an expensive process to attend Church. There are rather large families in the Philippines and sometimes only mom and dad or some of their children can afford to come to meetings.

"We hope to be able to cut down the geographic size of stakes and districts and hold divided sessions of conference - one session in one end of the stake and the second session at the other end. We are looking at ways we can take the Church to the people."

Communication challenges must also be overcome, Elder Kendrick remarked. Although most Church meetings are held in English, there are 87 different dialects, with Tagalog being the national language.

As of the first of January this year, Tagalog was added to the languages at the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah. Once the missionaries pick up one dialect, it is easy to master another, he said.

"We are indeed living in a moment in time in the history of the Church in the Philippines that is of the greatest importance," Elder Kendrick declared. "President Hinckley spoke under the inspiration of the Spirit and we have been blessed just 30 years later to see those prophecies come true.

"The Filipino people are some of the greatest people I have ever associated with. They have sweet spirits and deep testimonies. What a joy and blessing it is to serve them and live among them," said Elder Kendrick.