The Philippine Mission and The Restoration Movement: A History

By Richard J. Cherok

When the Spanish-American War ended in 1898, Herman P. Williams (1872-1958), a U.S. military chaplain from the Restoration Movement who was stationed in the Philippines during the war, recognized the opportunity for evangelism that the U.S. occupation of the Philippine Islands offered. His request that the Foreign Christian Missionary Society (FCMS) recruit missionaries to serve in the Philippines brought about the beginning of the Philippine mission in 1901, when the families of William H. Hanna (1872-1948) and Williams himself, after completing his military duties, went to the Philippines as missionaries. Among those who also agreed to serve in the Philippines were Leslie Wolfe (1876-1945) and his wife Carrie (1880-1966). 

The Work of Leslie and Carrie Wolfe 

Leslie Wolfe’s initial desire to become a schoolteacher led him to study at Vincennes University and Illinois State Normal University. In 1896, however, when he became convinced that God was calling him into ministry, he pursued additional studies at Eureka College and Drake University, from where he graduated with a master’s degree in 1906. Along the way, Wolfe married Carrie Austin in 1903 and served as a minister to churches in Minnesota and Iowa. 

In 1904, Leslie informed Carrie that he had been reading about the need for missionaries in Africa and expressed an interest in going to the mission field. With an abundance of concern for the safety of their newborn daughter (Edith), however, Carrie agreed to join her husband on the mission field so long as they go to “some place under the [American] flag.” Soon afterward, Christian Standard published an appeal for missionaries to serve in the Philippines, which was an American territory at the time. When Leslie told his wife he’d like to respond to the appeal for missionaries in the Philippines, Carrie upheld her promise to join her husband in that field. After a meeting with Archibald McLean (1849-1920), the director of the FCMS, the Wolfes set sail for the Philippines and landed in Manilla on October 29, 1907. 

Leslie initially worked as an evangelist among Americans in the Philippines while learning the Tagalog language, and eventually acquired the new language well enough to serve as the chairman of a committee to revise the Tagalog Bible. Wolfe went on to establish the first printing press among his fellow Philippine missionaries and, with the assistance of Dr. Juan Baronia (1896-1953) and J. Willis Hale (1902-1991), founded the Manila Bible Seminary in 1926 to train Filipino workers for ministry. The Wolfes and their accompanying missionaries went on to plant dozens of churches and bring thousands of Filipinos to the faith. 

A New Direction in Missions 

After the 1920 consolidation of the Disciples of Christ missionary associations into one large organization known as the United Christian Missionary Society (UCMS), the Wolfes’ sending society, the FCMS, came under the control of the new organization. The years that followed grew contentious for the Wolfes as the UCMS accepted missionary practices that the Wolfes believed to be contrary to both the Bible and the traditional views of the Restoration Movement. In addition to allowing their missionaries to support open membership (the acceptance of the unimmersed into full church membership) the UCMS missionaries promoted comity agreements that divided the mission field into denominational districts upon which other faith groups were prohibited from working. The Wolfes and their more liberal colleagues clashed upon these practices and others, resulting in the UCMS, with promptings from their more liberal missionaries, informing the Wolfes in March 1926 that they were being permanently recalled to the U.S. 

When the Wolfes refused to conclude their Philippine ministry and return to the U.S., the UCMS withdrew all financial support for their ministry on April 30, 1926. While the Wolfes were uncertain about the future of their ministry, several Filipino church leaders begged them to continue their ministry despite their lost income. On one occasion, a group of elders from the churches in Manilla approached the Wolfes to explain that they had been praying all night and “have decided that we will all share our incomes and our living with you sufficient to keep you, if you will only stay with us.” To their surprise, however, Wolfe told them that their generosity would not be needed as he had just received word that the Christian Restoration Association and Christian Standard were advancing him a year’s salary to continue his ministry. These events launched the Philippine Mission Churches of Christ (PMCC) as the direct-support mission through which the Wolfes and many others would work to evangelize the Philippines. Moreover, David Filbeck, in his book The First Fifty Years: A History of the Direct-Support Missionary Movement, wrote, “we count the beginning of Direct-Support missions with the dismissal of Leslie Wolfe from the United Christian Missionary Society.” 

In an effort to explain his problems with the UCMS, Leslie and two Filipino colleagues were brought to the U.S. in the summer and fall of 1926 to share their story at the International Convention of the Disciples of Christ in Memphis, Tennessee. The leadership of the convention, however, only afforded Wolfe a few minutes to speak and the UCMS leadership refused to acknowledge his claims. James DeForest Murch (1892-1973) reported that those who spoke in support of Wolfe were “insulted and made to appear as fools,” and Edwin R. Errett (1891-1944) described the event in Christian Standard as “A Convention in Bad Faith.” The outcomes of the International Convention’s rejection of Wolfe’s claims led to the creation of the North American Christian Convention in 1927 as an alternative to the more liberal Disciple convention, a push to send finances to direct-support missionaries rather than to the UCMS, and the advancement of an already-growing fissure between the more liberal Disciples of Christ and an emerging conservative fellowship that would eventually be identified as the Christian Churches/Churches of Christ. 

In the Midst of War 

As the Wolfes and the other missionaries of the PMCC continued their service in the Philippines amid the decades that followed the events of the Memphis convention, they were confronted with the onset of World War II and the Japanese invasion of the islands in 1941. Under Japanese directives, the Wolfes and their colleagues (including H.G. Cassel, Vernon and Mona Newland, J. Willis and Velma Hale, Edith Shimmel, Ray and Imogene Carlson, and Ethel Jones) were placed under house arrest from April 1942 to July 1944. After their house arrest, their detainment continued at the infamous Los Baños prison until they were liberated by American forces on February 23, 1945. The physical toll of the imprisonment, including periods of starvation and harsh treatment, were too much for Leslie. He died on March 26, 1945, just over a month after his liberation and a few weeks before his 69^th birthday. Carrie, however, continued her service in the Philippines for several additional years, eventually dying in 1962 at the age of 84. 

The decades that followed the conclusion of World War II saw a new wave of direct-support missionary families answer the call to serve with PMCC in the Philippines. As the work spread beyond the primary area of service in Manilla, additional churches were planted, new schools were established, children’s homes were created, and a variety of other ministries (including aviation and radio ministries) were employed to continue the spread of the gospel among the people of the Philippines. While several of these missionaries contributed 10, 20, and 30 or more years of ministry service in the Philippines, PMCC is somewhat unique for having a number of missionaries (J. Willis and Velma Hale, Ray and Imogene Carlson, Charles and Roberta Selby, and others) who served with them for at least 50 years. Special mention must also be made of C. Jeannie Hoffman for 60 years with PMCC (including 24 years as president of Manila Bible Seminary). 

100 Years Later 

By 2001, when Filipino Christians celebrated the centennial anniversary of the Christian Churches/Churches of Christ on their island, the successful accomplishments of PMCC were readily observable. In addition to planting multiple churches and schools around the island, and bringing thousands to a saving relationship with Christ, PMCC trained a vast array of Philippine nationals to minister among their own people and beyond. A significant number of Filipino Christians have taken their faith into Muslim Middle Eastern countries, where some of them have been deported for refusing to remain silent about their commitment to Christ. 

James McElroy, the current Executive Director of PMCC and the son of longtime PMCC missionaries Barton and Betty McElroy, illustrates the dedication and accomplishments of the Filipino evangelists with the story of an encounter he had with Artemia Barriata. On the occasion of his graduation from Manilla Bible Seminary, Barriata was directed by Barton McElroy to do evangelistic work on the island of Mindoro. For 50 years, Barriata worked to evangelize the island, planting a church during each year of his ministry. At an advanced age, and several years after Barton McElroy’s passing, Barriata approached James McElroy and asked, “Brother Mac, will you release me from the assignment your father gave me? I want to return to my village for the final years that the Lord gives me.” Moreover, James notes, “There are many stories just like this.” 

Thriving Today 

The ministry of PMCC, which began with the Wolfes’ dismissal from the UCMS in 1926 and was carried forward by many additional faithful missionaries, was ultimately released into the hands of the Filipino Christian leaders in 2012, with Manila Bible Seminary being turned over in 2017. While a few American missionaries may continue to assist in some areas where they can make meaningful contributions, today’s Philippine church functions under the oversight of their own national leaders. “Today,” according to James McElroy, “the mission [PMCC] focuses on financial assistance for facility improvements and resources.” Nevertheless, he notes, they will send interns to gain intercultural ministry experience in the Philippines and would likely send additional missionaries if an obvious need were to arise. 

The story of the Philippine Mission Churches of Christ is one of faithfulness to God’s Word, endurance amid overwhelming trials and challenges, and persistent commitment to the cause through many, many years. The result is that hundreds of thousands have come to know Jesus and an indigenous fellowship of churches is now alive and well in the Philippine Islands. 

Richard J. Cherok serves as Managing Editor of Christian Standard, Executive Director of Celtic Christian Mission, and Director of Men’s Services at Kentucky Christian University.