Faith amid Recession
By Henni Espinosa, North America News Bureau | 01/12/2009 3:10 PM
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San Francisco, CA. - “Give and ye shall receive” is a creed practiced by the Filipino faithful all over the world. But in the US, the tough economic times have made it harder for many churchgoers to part with money offerings.
Carmelito Santo Tomas, a parishioner at Saint Augustine’s Church in South San Francisco admits, “sa hirap ng buhay, nahihirapan din kaming magbigay sa simbahan. Siyempre kailangan ka din gumastos sa bahay. Binibigay na lang naming kung ano’ng makakaya namin.” (“Because of the hard times, we’re having difficulty giving to the church. Of course, we also have to spend for household expenses. We only give what we can afford to part with.”)
The Daly City United Methodist Church says it has lost 20 per cent in collections and donations in 2008. Pastor Wilson De Ocera says they operated almost on a deficit. “We barely broke even last year and we’re thankful we did. We had to sacrifice a lot. We cut back on our Christian educational materials. We missed our annual picnic last year.”
For the first time in ten years, Pastor De Ocera admits his church could not fully commit to their global mission, which includes helping struggling churches in the Philippines. “We have to take care of our church first. How can we help other struggling churches when we ourselves are struggling?” laments De Ocero.
At the Fil-Am United Church of Christ in Fremont, California, belt-tightening has become a way of life that even the pastor asked for a pay cut. Pastor Dennis Duhaylungsod says, “This is the only way we can save our projects.” “We lost 30 per cent of our collections and donations last year, we have no money to renovate our church, we even struggle with our monthly mortgage payments,” Duhaylungsod adds.
But there’s a silver lining amid all the hardships. Pastor Duhaylungsod sees more and more people turning to faith in dealing with the economic crisis. “My parishioners are scared and worried about what the future holds. But it is in the church where they find comfort, where they find renewed strength,” he says. And to those who find it hard to give to the church in these tough times, Duhaylungsod says being dedicated to the church means more than just contributing financially. Elias Pasion has been volunteering at the Fil-Am United Methodist Church for the last 15 years. He does so because he says, “I love my church and I want the church to survive.”
Every sermon now seems to be about hope. And in a time of economic uncertainty, it is in their faith where many Filipinos find clarity and the will to survive whatever challenge comes their way.
