Program Ministries

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PROGRAMME MINISTRIES

Program ministries are expressions of the Church’s commitment to Christ’s mission, which are primarily expressed in the local churches. Goal areas include:

•  the strengthening of the faith community
• enriching the life-work of communities where local churches are located
• deepening the impact of its collective response to societal issues

In the National Secretariat, the Program Ministries Team facilitates/coordinates the development, implementation and integration of established programs and priorities, with focus on the thrusts for each quadrennium. Initiatives are undertaken in cooperation with the jurisdictions, conferences, local churches, ministerial formation centers, church-related institutions and organizations. Also, in coordination with and the support of partner churches, ecumenical institutions, organizations, and groups that share the same vision.

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION AND NURTURE

Christian Education and Nurture is the foundational component of our life and work as a Church. Programmatic work focuses on the deepening, strengthening and nurturing of the faith foundation of members; equipping individuals to enable them to undertake different aspects of the education ministry; production of graded curriculum materials, appropriate tools and resources; and strengthening a network of Christian education workers, ECE teachers and administrators for fellowship, mutual learning, and greater cooperation and coordination.

EVANGELISM AND CHURCH DEVELOPMENT

Our evangelism program aims, basically, to promote the proclamation of the gospel to all God’s people through continuing process of reflection on the biblical mandate, aggressive promotion of Biblical concepts, empowerment of local churches towards discipleship and evangelistic pursuits, and the strengthening of a network of local evangelists.

On the whole, it can be said that evangelism is alive in the UCCP – reflected in the number of people participating in evangelism activities and in the increase in the number of new members, outreach programs, worshipping congregations and newly recognized local churches.

COMMUNITY MINISTRIES

Generally, the program on Community Ministries is intended to deepen the biblico-theological understanding of mission and the imperatives for Filipino Christians today. It is designed to enable local churches to provide witness and service to the communities surrounding them.

Today, there 272 pilot communities at varying levels of organizations and development. The communities are engaged in various types of issues and concerns, mainly along these areas:

• Agricultural Development
• Youth, Women and Children
• Health and Healing
• Indigenous People
• Wealth and Poverty/Economic Justice
• Care of Creation/Environment
• Justice, Peace and Human Rights
• Disaster Response/Rehabilitation Management

Various activities were undertaken in the different jurisdictional areas to support these ministries – with notable increase as the years progressed. At the national level, the staff had provided technical support to initiatives undertaken at different levels, particularly in the pilot communities. Initiatives undertaken include:

1. preparation of a conceptual framework/programmatic framework;
2. conduct of orientation seminars and workshops;
3. capability-building on the various aspects of community work
4. materials/resource conceptualization and development
5. planning, monitoring and evaluation; documentation and report writin
6. installation of management systems
7. partnership and ecumenical linkages – study/exposure programs, ecumenical visits, immersion/integration of mission co-workers in identified pilot communities
8. resource generation

HEALTH, ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

The program is designed to help deepen understanding of, and commitment to the biblical perspective and imperative on the healing ministry, care/stewardship of creation, and the fullness of life for all God’s people; develop and strengthen the capability of local churches to undertake programs and projects related to health, environment and socio-economic development; and strengthen coordination and cooperation among the various judicatories of the church as well as with institutions, people’s organizations and groups to enhance initiatives of local churches in the areas of health and healing, environment and socio economic development.

DISASTER RESPONSE AND MANAGEMENT

The Magnitude of the damage humans have inflicted on the environment has profound implications for the life, work and witness of the church.

Mainly owing to the experiences in our relief work, efforts are now geared not only in providing relief assistance but more to support initiatives towards rehabilitation.

We need to bring our social practice to the ethical values of love, justice and care for the earth.

JUSTICE, PEACE AND HUMAN RIGHTS

The program on Justice, Peace and Human Rights is designed; basically, to help deepen the biblico-theological understanding of persons as created in the image of God and Jesus’ promise of abundant life for all among the constituency, thereby develop commitment to the promotion of justice and promotion of human rights and human dignity. This involves empowering our local churches to do prophetic witness by engaging in advocacy work on human rights issues and concerns.

PARTNERSHIP AND ECUMENICAL RELATIONS

It is our aim to foster/deepen the understanding of partnership and ecumenical relations as an expression of the UCCP’s being part of the universal church and the global faith community; strengthen the various components of partnership and ecumenical relations at all levels; strengthen the structures and organizational mechanisms of the church to ensure meaningful, effective and efficient implementation of the program. It is guided by the Policy Document on Partnership and the approved Conceptual Framework.

At the jurisdiction levels, there are existing partnerships, which are sustained through exchange visits, communication exchange, mission co-workers, participation in assemblies and gatherings, joint programs and support of specific projects.

STEWARDSHIP AND RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

The Stewardship and Resource Development program aims to deepen the biblico-theological understanding of stewardship among the UCCP constituency; strengthen the stewardship program of the church; build the capability of local churches and other judicatories towards eventual self-reliance; and strengthen the organizational structure and the various judicatories of the church for greater efficiency and effectiveness in the implementation of the stewardship program of the church.

The areas covered by the program on Stewardship and Resource Development provide considerable potential in enabling UCCP to operate and run programs with relative self-reliance. There are three (3) major area of focus, mainly to assist in developing stewardship consciousness among the constituency; generating resources; and assisting the jurisdictions in property development conceptualization and planning.

1. Continuing theological reflection on responsible stewardship, integrated in each seminar and workshop conducted;
2. Skills training on various aspects of stewardship – survey of properties and resources, titling and documentation, project development, feasibility studies, finance management system, monitoring, evaluation, reporting
3. Widespread stewardship campaigns to instill the spirit of sharing – of material and human resources – towards common stewardship goals
4. Compilation of policies and guidelines on stewardship
5. Technical assistance/consultancy on stewardship-related concerns – feasibility studies, project conceptualization, resourcing
6. The installation of management system in local churches and conferences;
7. Planning, monitoring and evaluation processes
8. Continuing documentation and titling properties
9. Resource generation