Union Theological Seminary (Philippines)

History

When various Protestant denominations from America came to the Philippines in the early 1900s, the missionaries started teaching Filipinos about the Bible and basic doctrines. These trained workers have played an active role in the evangelization throughout the islands. Bible study courses had been conducted in churches and homes until Protestant churches started to make their own theological institutions. On August 25, 1903, the Manila Bible Institute was initiated and has become an annual event to train church workers within a course of one month. Numerous pastors from Manila and Dagupan attended the training. Since then, various Bible schools were established and theological education among Protestants in the Philippines has become more institutionalized not only in Manila, but in other provinces as well.

Ellinwood Bible School

With the help of James B. Rodgers and other missionaries, the Presbyterian Mission has established churches in Manila and nearby provinces. One of the most prominent churches is the Ellinwood Malate Church, which was named after Francis F. Ellinwood, the Secretary General of the Presbyterian Mission Board during that time. Rodgers envisioned to establish a school in Manila. After a few years, the church founded a school in 1905. It was called Ellinwood Bible School, which was also named after him. The school taught basic instructions about the Bible, preaching, health and good manners. The Bible school had separated classes for boys and girls. In 1906, the buildings were erected for the Bible school: one for young men and the other one is for young women. Dormitories were also built as part of the expansion under the direction of George W. Wright.

Florence B. Nicholson Seminary

The Methodist Episcopal Mission instituted the Florence B. Nicholson Bible Seminary on October 11, 1905 in Manila. The president of the seminary was Harry Farmer. In 1906, a seminary was established in Dagupan, Pangasinan. The following year, the classes in Dagupan were transferred to Manila after acquiring a property in Caloocan (which was then part of Rizal). Students from the provinces transferred and continued their studies in Manila. On December 4, 1908, the first batch of students graduated from a three-year course.

The Union

Because of the vision of uniting various Protestant traditions, the Presbyterian and the Methodist Missions have combined efforts to hold Bible classes for workers in 1905. Under the direction of Wright and Farmer, the sessions have been proven to be a success and made it as a regular event. Earlier in 1907, the leadership of the Ellinwood Bible School and the Florence Nicholson Seminary came up with an idea of a possible establishment of a united theological institution that would jointly train church workers from these two Protestant traditions.

After a conference was held, this vision came to reality and gave birth to the Union Bible Seminary. Its first classes join institutions started in June 1907 in Ellinwood building in Malate. The following years, classes were also held in Caloocan. The division of classes into two different locations were found to be inconvenient, so they just decided to hold the sessions in Ellinwood buildings and the Central Methodist Church. The said “union” was first considered to be a mutual cooperation. The established bond was so strong that almost everything from the faculty to properties had been mutually shared. In the succeeding years, more denominations decided to join the union and started sending their students to seminary. The United Brethren joined the cooperative effort in 1911, the Disciples of Christ in 1916, and the Congregationalists in 1919. In 1920, the name Union Theological Seminary was adopted as official name of the institution. A year after, the corporation was formed having its own Constitution and By-Laws. In its earlier years, the newly incorporated seminary did not have facilities of its own until a new building was erected at the corner of Taft Avenue and Herran Street (now Pedro Gil). It was dedicated in 1926. During World War II, the seminary temporarily suspended classes and resumed after the war had ended. In the bombing of Manila in 1945, the city was severely devastated. Many of the historic buildings and landmarks were ruined, but UTS building remained intact and stays firm even until today. From 1926 to 1962, the seminary stood on Taft Avenue, Manila.

During the special meeting of the Board of Trustees on June 2, 1961 held at Baguio City, it was approved that the seminary be assigned to a new location. The Board of Founders of the Nanking Theological Seminary provided the funds needed to buy a property. There were two options at that time. First was to acquire the 5-hectare property at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, which would substantiate the seminary’s relationship with the university (which was also founded by the Presbyterians).The second option was to purchase a property in a nearby province south of Manila. The latter choice was more appealing, because the site would be great to establish the new UTS community and it would create an opportunity for expansion for its ministries in the rural areas. In June 1962, the seminary moved to Dasmariñas, Cavite. The 97-hectare property had started to be developed even before the transfer. The buildings for dormitories, classrooms, library and refectory was already in progress at that time. Housing projects for the faculty was also initiated. The seminary continues to stay in this vicinity until today.

While the seminary was still in its original location, a Union High School was established in Manila by the Evangelical Union in 1919. Later on, the Union Christian College in San Fernando, La Union, was founded in 1936 with elementary and college departments. The seminary began offering college courses in Manila, which eventually led to the birth of Manila Union University in 1947. This institution has become the Philippine Christian College. These schools were all initiated by the seminary leadership to serve the educational needs of pastors, their families and the surrounding communities. For many years, the seminary and the colleges existed independently and cooperatively under separate boards. Most of the facilities in Manila had been shared with the Philippine Christian College until the seminary moved to its new location in Dasmariñas, Cavite. Since then, the seminary just occupied a small portion of the building along Taft Avenue, mostly for administrative and academic functions for post-graduate studies. The Philippine Christian College attained its university status in 1976. The College of Agriculture was then offered in its Dasmariñas, where the Union Theological Seminary was situated. In 1978, Union Theological Seminary merged with Philippine Christian University to create Philippine Christian Center of Learning.

This seminary has been involved in various movements for the protection of human rights. Upon the request of the bishops of the UCCP and United Methodist Church in the Philippines in early 2001, the institution willingly accepted and granted shelter to several families of Mangyans from Mindoro who had left their homes due to massive military operations in their localities. The seminary has proclaimed its vicinity as a kanlungan (“refuge” in Filipino) and served as a sanctuary to the victims of forced displacement and oppression.

The Critical Asian Principle

Since 1972, the Union Theological Seminary in partnership with member seminaries and divinity schools of the ATESEA, has adopted the Critical Asian Principle as the basis of perspective for implementing the operation of various theological programs of the member schools. The CAP celebrates and emphasizes the Asian experience as theological education’s situational, hermeneutical, missiological and pedagogical principle. These four key principles were conceptualized to empower Asian churches develop theologies of their own that are fully liberated from the culturally extraneous framework and evolve values that privilege Asian thought, reflection, and action in their actual theologies.

It includes the following concerns:

The Centennial Curriculum

Considering recommendations from the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and adopting the Revised Critical Asian Principle, the seminary has devised the Centennial Curriculum to make the education contextual, holistic and responsive to current challenges and experiences of the people to become more relevant in the Philippine situation. The primary language used in the instruction is Filipino, but English is alternatively used to facilitate communication with international students.

Degrees

UTS confers various types of programs: (1) residential program: B.Th.graduate (M.Div.) and undergraduate (B.Th.); (2) Theological education by extension: Master of Ministry (M. Min.) and Bachelor of Ministry (B. Min.) and Doctorate in ministry (D. Min.);and, (3) graduate programs: M. Theol. and D. Theol. (being offered in cooperation with the ATESEA Theological Union). Currently, there are six centers for theological studies:

1. Center for Peace and Justice
2. Center for Arts, Liturgy and Music
3. Center for Geocentric Applied Theology
4. Center for Pastoral and Spiritual Formation
5. Center for Ecumenics and Mission
6. Center for Women, Youth, and Children.

Notable Alumni

Among the best people who have attended Union Theological Seminary are the following: