Pinoy Methodist in the 21st Century

I am proud to present you the Filipino Methodist Hymnal, Vol. 1 collection. This is the first album ever produced by the Media Center of the National Innovative Ministries Partnership Program (NIMPP) of the United Methodist Church in the Philippines.

This is a way for us to affirm our rich heritage of hymn-writing in our own languages! Philippians 2:11 proclaim that "every tongue confess" about Jesus Christ as Lord. "Every tongue" means that the different languages in the Philippines also proclaim the goodness of God through the hymns that we sing.

Most of the hymns we sing have been handed out to us from the first generation of Christians. Charles Wesley also contributed thousands of hymns to our collection. Methodists and other Christians all over the world sing the hymns written by Charles Wesley, brother of John Wesley. Hymns have been translated from English to Filipino, Ilocano, Bisaya, Ybanag, and to other Filipino languages. This is important so that Filipinos from different regions would easily understand the message of these hymns.

We should not stop, however, at translation. We have a number of excellent hymn-writers and composers in the United Methodist Church in the Philippines. As such, we should encourage hymn-writers to write more, gather these hymns and promote their use in our local churches.

The Filipino Methodist Hymnal Project has started and as Joy Nilo said, "we are on the right track after all". We still have a long way to go but I am amazed at the way that God has led to people who are willing to commit and help with this project. I ask you to please pray for the Media Center and for the Filipino Methodist Hymnal Project. With God's help, we can make this happen.

The Filipino Methodist Hymnal, Vol. 1 features 11 songs from Filipino Composers and writers. Here's the list of tracks: