About NAFAUM

NAFAUM History, in brief

NAFAUM first came into being as a formal organization in 1984 in San Francisco when it was known as the National Fellowship of Filipino American United Methodists. Among the decisions on its founding year was for it to hold a national convocation every two years, beginning in 1987. Convocations were held in San Diego, 1987; St. Simon’s Island GA, 1989; Seattle, 1991; Honolulu, 1993; Houston, 1995; Los Altos CA, 1997; Claremont CA, 1999; Indianola IA, 2001; Roselle Park NJ, 2003; Las Vegas, 2005; Virginia Beach VA, 2007; Dallas, 2009; Campbell CA, 2011; Redondo Beach CA, 2013; Evanston IL, 2015; Manila RP, 2018; and Honolulu, 2023. There were pauses after 2015 when the association needed an extra year to prepare for an overseas gathering and after 2018 when Covid 19 pandemic occurred. It was in 1989 that it adopted its present name: National Association of Filipino American United Methodists. A better understanding how NAFAUM came into being requires looking into the past and taking a broader view.

The 1960s was a period of social ferment all over the world; the United States was no exception. Racism and civil rights were among the issues that raged then and everybody, including institutions like the churches, was affected. Such for instance was the context of the General Conference of 1968. In addition to formalizing the merger of the two denominations that became The United Methodist Church, the uniting General Conference also addressed the issue of race. It created, among others, the General Commission on Religion and Race “to challenge and help the denomination’s agencies, institutions, annual (regional) conferences and congregations to achieve full and equal participation of its racial and ethnic minority constituencies in the total life and mission of the Church.” One of the products of this endeavor was the National Federation of Asian-American United Methodists (NFAAUM) which was organized in 1970 and among whose constituents were Filipinos. Naturally, in between its plenary sessions, the federation’s various ethnic constituencies were also holding caucuses of their own. It was out of these caucuses, during the convocation of the NFAAUM in 1984, that the National Fellowship of Filipino American United Methodists was born, particularly notable for the unusually large number of Filipinos that attended.

It was also in the 1960s, particularly in 1965, that the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act was enacted. It allowed, among other things, the immigration of people based on family ties. This benefited many Filipinos, and it was after this law was passed that the rate of immigration to the U.S. from the Philippines grew exponentially. Of course, this has added to the ranks of The United Methodist Church since many of these Filipino immigrants were United Methodists. This fact had contributed to making the NAFAUM a logical development.

Without dedicated and visionary leaders, however, even great numbers do not add up to an organization with a purpose. The following are among those whose names are forever etched in NAFAUM history: Artemio R. Guillermo, Melanio Loresco, Arturo Capuli, Salvador Capuli, Benoni Silva-Netto, Aquilino ‘Pong’ Javier, Dani and Norma Aguila, Alex Ramos, Stan de Pano, David Pasamonte, James Misajon, Vivencio Vinluan, Leonard Autajay, Max and Alice Pena, Juan Ancheta, Rodrigo Estrada, Tony Ubalde, Luther Jose, Alex Vergara, Natty Barranda who rendered valuable networking tasks, Natty Ngo, Esperanza del Rosario, Alfredo Agtarap, Leo Constantino, Tony Palaganas, and Leo Tipay Jr.

At the same time there were those who not only rendered valuable service to NAFAUM but also made their mark within the formal structures of The United Methodist Church in the U.S. like those that have at one time or another been appointed as District Superintendents like Stanley De Pano and J. Alan Ocampo of the Pacific-Northwest Conference, Ruth Ocera-Cortez of California-Nevada Conference, replacing her was Benoni Silva-Netto after serving as Assistant General Secretary of the General Council on Ministries (GCOM), Lily Villamin and Adiel De Pano, both of California-Pacific Conference, and Bonifacio Mequi Jr., Marcos Berbano, Emmanuel Tabelisma, and Bernie Colorado, all four from the Iowa Conference; and Julian Miguel in Nebraska. As a member of the Pacific Northwest Conference cabinet, David Valera currently serves as Conference Director of Connectional Ministries.

More on the clergy, our contributions to the general agencies are Liberato Bautista who continues to serve as Assistant General Secretary (AGS) of the General Board of Church and Society (GBCS), with particular focus on the United Nations, and Bener Agtarap as Executive Director of Community Engagement and Church Planting/Path 1 and Director of Connectional Mobilization at the General Board of Discipleship (GBOD). Benoni Silvanetto, as mentioned earlier, served as AGS at GCOM until the agency’s dissolution in 2005. Leo Constantino also served as AGS at the General Board of Pension and Health Benefits (GBPHB) now known as Wespath; David Rodriguez served in an executive position at GBGM. In the California-Pacific Conference, Romy del Rosario, a missionary teacher under appointment with the General Board of Global Ministries, served in Africa, in Jerusalem, Malaysia, the Philippines, and in Cambodia where he served as the superintendent of the United Methodist Church mission.

More recently, the following Filipinos received honors in the denomination. Carlo Rapanut was elected bishop in the Western Jurisdiction, currently assigned to the Desert Southwest Conference and the New Mexico Conference. Lilian Gallo Seagren in Iowa served as District Superintendents. The following District Superintendents are currently doing service: John Mark Galang at the Puget Sound District in the Pacific Northwest, Nizzi Santos Digan at the Commonwealth East District in the New England Conference, and Victor Melad Jr. at the Lake North District in the Northern Illinois Conference.

Among the laity, Manuel Espartero was the first Filipino American to serve as AGS in the General Board of Church and Society. Jusel Moralde was the second Filipino American to serve as AGS in the GBOPHB. Prospero Tumonong of the West Michigan Conference and Aquilino Javier of the Northern Illinois Conference broke additional record in their respective annual conferences for being the first laypersons to serve as annual conference treasurer. Becky Asedillo served as Executive Secretary for Asia/Pacific/Church Relationships at the General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM). Ruth Prudente, one of our association pioneers, served as a

high-ranking staff person at the General Board of Global Ministries’ Woman’s Division, her daughter Karen Prudente also in an executive position in GBGM later. Edwin Francisco served as Associate Treasurer of GBGM. Inday Day was the Executive Director of NFAAUM based in Oakland, CA, until her retirement in 2008. These, and other appointments beyond the local church but too many for this listing, constitute – along with other positive developments relative to our growth in stature and influence, gifts of God to God’s people and for which we all give God the glory.

The Purpose of NAFAUM

The purpose of NAFAUM, enunciated in its Constitution and by-laws, consists of a broad spectrum of issues involving Filipinos in North America. It affirms boldly the resolve to carry out the various ministries of The United Methodist Church among Filipino Americans in cooperation with boards and agencies and local churches across the United States and, in a limited sense, Canada.

To gain a better understanding of NAFAUM, it is important to have some knowledge and appreciation of the objectives that constitute the salient features of its purpose. These include:

Providing an umbrella, a vision of what we are about as a community of faith for existing and emerging congregations across the country and the Philippines and other countries wherever feasible;
Developing appropriate program resources consonant with United Methodist polity relative to the life and experience of Filipino Americans;
Providing a clearinghouse and networking process of relevant information from various connectional boards or agencies in order to impact our community, and vice versa;
Identifying suitable candidates for, and support the appointment and election of, Filipino American clergy and laity to connectional agencies, institutions, the superintendency and episcopacy;
Advocating for significant issues that impact clergy and laity concerns, such as open itineracy for clergy across Conference lines, representing our constituency in national and international meetings, in the connectional boards or agencies and in all levels, as appropriate; engaging in regular evaluation of NAFAUM’s ministries, strategic planning and research for mission and ministry, congregational development and redevelopment, ministerial recruitment and training, lay leadership; and develop venues where our community comes together for celebration, worship, study and dialogue; and
Securing and developing means of supporting NAFAUM’s operations through membership dues, grants from funding agencies, and philanthropic foundations.

Of its purposes and goals, it is the creation of more Filipino American congregations that has attained the most concrete expression. The Paglago Commission has been created for this purpose. NAFAUM also aims to develop a comprehensive program for Filipino American youth and young adults. It strives to promote and support Christmas Institutes around the country.

NAFAUM faces an exciting future as it grows with the denomination. Its participation in the life and struggles of the denomination and its continuing presence in all ministry levels, local, district, regional, and general are stellar. It has proven to be a rich reservoir of talents that The United Methodist Church can tap.

Indeed, NAFAUM has an exciting and rich story to tell the church and the world.

Mabuhay!