The Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches (CPBC) (Hiligaynon: Kasapulanan sang Bautista nga Pilipinhon) is a Baptist Christian denomination in the Philippines. It is affiliated with the Baptist World Alliance and is headquartered in Jaro, Iloilo City. CPBC was founded in 1900 as the oldest and first organized union of Baptist churches in the Philippines. This occurred after the country opened to Protestant American missions in 1898, following Spain's transfer of the Philippine islands to the United States.
CPBC is associated with the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society (now International Ministries) and played a key role in establishing the Jaro Evangelical Church, which was the first Baptist in the Philippines (first Protestant church outside Manila). CPBC also has affiliations with various institutions, including Central Philippine University, which was the first Baptist and second Protestant and American university in the country. Furthermore, CPBC is affiliated with the CPU College of Theology, the first Baptist Theological Seminary in the Philippines; Filamer Christian University, the first Baptist school in the country; and Capiz Emmanuel Hospital, the first Baptist hospital in the Philippines.
In the 1930s, CPBC also became affiliated with the Iloilo Mission Hospital. Initially founded by Protestant Presbyterians, it was later transferred to the Baptists (CPBC). The Iloilo Mission Hospital was the first American and Protestant hospital in the Philippines.
History
The Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches has its origins in a foreign mission of the American Baptist Missionary Union on the island of Panay in February 1900, when the Philippines islands was opened to the Protestant missions after it was ceded to the United States administration.
Eric Lund, a Swedish Baptist minister working under the auspices of the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society and one of the founding fathers of the Jaro Evangelical Church, translated the entire Bible into Hiligaynon, and the New Testament into two other dialects. In 1905, the Bible School and Jaro Industrial School were established through a grant given by the American Baptist, business magnate and philanthropist, John D. Rockefeller. The two schools later merged and became Central Philippine University, the first Baptist and second American university in the Philippines and Asia.
In 1935 the formal formation of Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches was established. The Convention has allowed ordination of women to the ministry since 1980.
According to a denomination census released in 2023, it claimed 1,079 churches and 600,000 members.
Core Mission Principles
Being grounded in the Biblical tradition
Engagement in prophetic and priestly functions
Building a community that heals and restores broken ties
Developing of strong and responsible leaders
Achieving stability through full support of member churches and organizations
Building of a deeper and stronger relationship with other mission partners
Deep and genuine concern for the lost, the poor, the weak and the needy
Faithfulness to the Baptist legacy of missionary service
A dynamic, relevant and responsive servant organization
Deep commitment to the implementation of a holistic and comprehensive ministry
Full use of appropriate technology to enhance programs and ministries
Beliefs
The Convention has a Baptist confession of faith in Protestant theology. It is a member of the Baptist World Alliance and maintains ties with the American Baptist Churches USA.
Education
Baptist missionaries founded many schools and universities in the Philippines. Most notable of these is Central Philippine University (CPU), the first Baptist and second American university in the Philippines and in Asia (after Silliman University in Dumaguete), while Filamer Christian University is the first Baptist school in the Philippines.
CPU's earliest forerunner, the Central Philippine University College of Theology which was established four months earlier than the university's second precursor, the Jaro Industrial School, is the first Baptist theological seminary in the Philippines.
The CPU College of Nursing, an academic institution for nurses founded in 1906 as Union Mission Hospital Training School for Nurses by the Presbyterian Protestant American missionaries through the present day Iloilo Mission Hospital, is the first Nursing School in the Philippines. The Central Philippine University College of Nursing is also one of the leading nursing schools in the Philippines.