Virginia Episcopalian Magazine Summer 2014 Issue | Page 16

Mission and Growth in Midst of Crisis
Emily Cherry

Just over a week after the bishop of the newest Episcopal
diocese in the Philippines was consecrated on Nov. 23,
2012, Super Typhoon Bopha hit, killing over 1,000 people
and destroying homes and land. Almost 12 months later, in
November 2013, came Super Typhoon Haiyan, killing as many
as 10,000 people, making it the one of the deadliest storms in
the Philippines to date. As the Rt. Rev. Jonathan L. Casimina,
bishop, put it, “We began our diocese with a typhoon, and we
ended our first year with a typhoon.”

In between those environmentally catastrophic bookends
came plenty of struggles for the Diocese of Davao in the
Episcopal Church of the Philippines, which today is a year
and a half old. While facing the usual start-up challenges of
staffing, finances and vision-building, the diocese also had to
look outward to its community, and quickly determine what
role disaster response would play in its ministry. But it’s those
struggles that have helped form the new diocese, according
to the bishop. “Even in crisis, there’s always an opportunity
for mission,” said Casimina. “And that’s where our church is
actually being defined.”
In March 2014, staff from the Diocese of Virginia visited the
Episcopal Church of the Philippines, where Young Adult
Service Corps volunteer Ashley Cameron of St. James’s,

Leesburg, is stationed (see sidebar). “Our goal in making this
trip was to learn how the Episcopal Church of the Philippines
approaches its ministries,” said Buck Blanchard, director for
mission and outreach. “It’s important for us to make those
personal connections with our brothers and sisters in the
Anglican Communion to see what unites us,” he added.

During their visit, the Virginia team members toured
several dioceses in the north to learn about their ministries
and development projects, in addition to a trip to the Diocese
of Davao. The Episcopal Diocese of Davao is located on the
island of Mindanao, in the southern Philippines. When Haiyan
– or Yolanda, as it is known locally – hit, it targeted victims
a bit farther north. As a group that had previous experience
responding to natural disaster with Typhoon Bopha, the
Diocese of Davao started to mobilize. Within one week, the
diocesan youth and the Episcopal Church Women group had
hosted a “Dinner for a Cause” to raise funds to support the
typhoon victims. High-school students had gone door-to-door
to collect over $2,000 to donate to diocesan relief efforts.

The diocese identified in the tragedy an opportunity
for ministry – an opportunity to claim an identity in the face
of disaster. Casimina looked at the situation like this: “If we
make ministry