Pinoy Methodist in the 21st Century

After so much painstaking efforts, I am proud to announce that the Media Center of the United Methodist Church in the Philippines is now up and running!

It was inaugurated on March 25, 2008 at 3:00 in the afternoon. If you have not been to the UMC Headquarters recently, the Media Center is located at the topmost floor of the headquarters. The room is a little nondescript yet because it does not have a marker yet, but once you turn left on the alleyway, it is the first door to your left.

Although there have been initial difficulties in putting up the studio, I praise God that these difficulties have been smoothed over. Truly, God works in amazing ways.

As part of the inauguration of the Studio, a sampler album has been released containing several Filipino hymns arranged and directed by Joy Nilo and sung by Chorus Philippines. Hopefully in my subsequent posts, I will can upload these songs to these blog so you can listen to them.

There are a number of ministry areas that the UMC in the Philippines has not ventured into in the past 100 years of its existence in the Philippines. One of this is its media ministry. Other ministries, particularly the evangelicals and the parachurches have made full use of the New Media to extend their presence online and celebrate the risen Christ.

We still do not have a full-fledged radio program. The high cost of TV broadcasting deter us from embarking on such a project. I do know of some districts and pastors who do have their radio programs but these are on a low scale only. Because perhaps of the lack of resources and technical know-how we are prevented from doing these kinds of projects. Yet, thankfully, through the National Innovative Ministries Partnership Program (NIMPP), some of these areas of ministries are being addressed.

I have the privilege of being the leadperson of the Media Center of the NIMPP. The Studio is the first phase of the project. Within this year, we plan to release a Filipino Methodist Hymnal, containing the hymns that we love--the traditional ones, together with Filipino hymns, and contemporary songs. This is a way of praising God through our own tongue while drawing upon our rich Filipino heritage. Didn't it say in Revelations that "every tongue, every nation, every tribe" will praise God? This is our small offering to fulfill that. When this project comes to fruition, I will be posting the announcement on this blog.

Another area of ministry that we have not yet tapped is the Internet. True, there are already several UMC organizations and churches in the Philippines that have established their websites. The UMYAFP have their own website at www.umyafp.org, the UMYFP have one too at www.umyfp.org. The Migrant Ministry of Manila Episcopal Area, also under the NIMPP, has its website at www.mea-migrantministry.com.

If the UMC in the Philippines would have its website, it would be a great way to connect Methodists all over the Philippines and even all over the world. Together with the people at NIMPP, we are praying for this project to become reality in the next few months.

If we can establish the Methodist website, there would also be a place for netizens, which is a term for individuals hooked to the net, who have been using emails, Voice over Internet Protocol, blogs, Youtube, and other features of the Internet to publish their thoughts, communicate with their friends, and research information online.

As they say, we can progress only with one step at a time. At least by this time, we have established the Studio of the Media Center. Other projects will follow, God willing. Please watch the following slideshow featuring some of the equipment at the Studio.

Let's dream together for our Church and work in turning these dreams to reality.