Covenant Discipleship groups have finally arrived in the Philippines; the first two-day training seminar was held at the United Methodist Tagaytay Camp, March 1-2, 2002. This was followed by another seminar at Atimonan in Quezon Province and a one-day orientation session at Baguio City United Methodist Church, Baguio Episcopal Area. There were 96 participants in Tagaytay, 25 in Atimonan, and 23 in Baguio, consisting of clergy and lay leaders from the Manila, Baguio, and Davao Episcopal areas.

The seminars were initiated by the Philippines Annual Conference East (PACE) Board of Laity, with the assistance of the General Board of Discipleship. The Rev. Steven W. Manskar, Director of Accountable Discipleship for the General Board of Discipleship, conducted the seminars.

PACE Lay Leader, Ka Emil Cruz, aptly summarized why Covenant Discipleship is relevant in developing disciples and church leaders: "We have too many committees and committee members. Too few are committed. We don't need committee members who don't attend meetings. What we need are committed disciples. With Covenant Discipleship we expect more commitment from our leaders in the local churches and all the way to the top." After attending the seminars he is convinced that we have finally found a way to focus on making disciples while developing leadership skills.

In the Philippines, we have many small-membership churches. The partnership between the clergy and the laity is still in its infancy. The laity have left ministry completely to the clergy. They are doing nearly all the nurture, evangelism, and witness for the churches. The laity are mostly involved in administrative tasks. In many churches, pastors lead in Bible studies, Sunday school, visitations, prayer meetings, and so on.

We need members who are not only able but also available. We need warmed hearts, not cold Christians. Without discipleship formation and spiritual growth, leadership skills training for lay speaking ministry, church administration, or conducting effective meetings is inadequate. Covenant Discipleship training and formation of groups in every church will address spirituality, first in PACE, then in the Manila, Baguio and Davao Episcopal areas.

We need Covenant Discipleship groups. Our churches have small-group ministries such as Bible studies, praise and worship, choirs, and other lay organizations. Cell groups or class meetings are not widely practiced in Filipino United Methodist churches.

During the Christmas Institute of the MYF in the Quezon-Laguna Missionary District, after a three-hour orientation lecture on Covenant Discipleship groups, the young people realized that praise and worship are only a part of discipleship. In addition, there are acts of compassion, justice, and devotion that Christians need to practice.

On the national scene, the three Episcopal areas are focused on Christian spiritual formation and growth. With the timely introduction of Covenant Discipleship by the Rev. Steve Manskar, we are sure that the three Episcopal Areas will finally adopt Covenant Discipleship as one of its tools in making disciples in the Philippines.

When we equip the local leaders with Covenant Discipleship we also empower the local church and the laity to be disciples "to witness to Jesus in the world to follow his teachings through acts of compassion, justice, worship, and devotion with the guidance of the Holy Spirit." United in love, mutual accountability, and support for Christian discipleship, Covenant Discipleship will draw us closer together as sisters and brothers in the household of God.

Romulo R. Sison is Associate Lay Leader, Philippines Annual Conference East, The United Methodist Church.