Capitol City Baptist Church (West Avenue, Quezon City)

CCBC (West Avenue, Quezon City)
Capitol City Baptist Church (West Avenue, Quezon City)

Facade of CCBC
Country Philippines
Denomination Baptist
Website http://ccbc-ph.org
History
Founded 1959
Clergy
Senior pastor(s) Rev. Jorge De Ramos

Coordinates: 14°39′4.1″N 121°1′43.5″E / 14.651139°N 121.028750°E / 14.651139; 121.028750 Capitol City Baptist Church (CCBC) is a baptist church located at 111 West Avenue, Quezon City, Philippines. It is one of two baptist churches found along West Avenue, the other being Faith Baptist Church. In 2009, the church made history as it reached 50 years of existence.[1]

Organization

Faith and Purpose

CCBC believes in the Bible as the ultimate source for all its teachings and practices. Specifically, the church believes in the trinity, and that Jesus died for the sins of man so that all who place their faith in him are saved from damnation.[2] CCBC places very strong emphasis[3][4] on evangelism as is evident in its mission and purpose statements; its mission statement is "In the heart of the nation, with the nations at heart," while its purpose statement is "Strategically Engaged in Nations’ Discipleship through Christ-centered Community Transformation Birthing and Building up Churches (SEND CCBC)."[5]

Leadership

CCBC is led by the senior pastor, Dr. Reynaldo R. Avante, under the guidance of a church board headed by Jewellord P. Peralta.[6] Consisting of not more than 15 members, the church board is composed of the senior pastor, two other pastors, and congregation members who are mostly recognized as elders as described in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. The board has several duties such as providing spiritual leadership, drafting annual plans and budgets, and overseeing all church-related affairs.[7]

Bishop Fred M. Magbanua, Jr. is credited as the first Filipino pastor of CCBC.[8]

Services and Attendance

CCBC accommodates four Sunday worship services:

CCBC Sunday Worship Services[9]
Service Start Time (PHT) End Time (PHT)
First Service 07:30 08:45
Second Service 09:15 10:30
Third Service 11:15 12:30
Fourth Service 18:00 19:15

The church performs the Holy Communion during the services of the first Sunday of every month.

The second service provides for a sign language interpretation for deaf attendees, who average around 100 in number per service.

In addition to the Sunday services, the church also holds a Wednesday service called the Midweek Encounter with God (MEG), which starts at 19:00 and ends at 20:30. As of 2012, attendance for this service averaged about 35 attendees per week.[10]

Prior to 2012, the church employed the following schedule:

CCBC Sunday Worship Services[11]
Service Start Time (PHT) End Time (PHT) Average Number of Attendees
First Service 07:30 09:00 200
Second Service 10:30 12:00 500
Third Service 18:00 19:30 100

Since 2012, the church has opted not to disclose information about the number of attendees for its services.

Physical Structure

Stage of the church when viewed from the main (ground) floor. Shown here is a selection of the worship ministry performing during the 52nd anniversary celebration held on July 31, 2011.

The auditorium has a floor area of about 400 square-meters. Two balconies (left and front, when facing the audience from the stage) exist, each with a seating capacity of close to 150 people. The main (ground) floor can be occupied by around 400 people, yielding a total seating capacity of approximately 700 people for the whole auditorium.

Surrounding the auditorium are several rooms used for various meetings.

The church also houses an indoor parking lot covering an area of about 200 square-meters.

Expansion

During the 50th anniversary celebration of the church, plans to construct a new building on the indoor parking lot were unveiled. In 2011, after two years of silence, discussions on the building expansion resumed. As a prelude to the work to be done, the Book of Nehemiah was covered in the sermons during the fourth quarter of 2011. Preliminary calculations estimate the total expansion cost to amount to ₱70 million.[12][13][14]

In 2012, the estimated total cost was reduced to ₱25 million, and fund raising was initiated.[15]

Finance

Church operations are funded by the tithes and offerings collected during the worship services. As of 2009, a monthly target of 1.77 million Pesos was set to finance the organization's ministries, capital expenditures, staff wages, and various administrative costs.[11] In 2012, this target was raised to 1.88 million Pesos.[16]

In a statement released in July 2011, CCBC disclosed that from January to May 2011, it averaged a monthly income of about ₱1,200,000±200,000. Expenses averaged approximately the same amount of ₱1,200,000±100,000 for the period reported.[17]

Affiliations

CCBC is a member of the Conservative Baptist Association of the Philippines (CBAP). In 2011, Dr. Reynaldo Avante was elected as president of CBAP for a term of two years.[14]

The church has been in partnership with Evangelism Explosion since the early 1990s.[16]

Ministries and Missions

Evangelism

Philippines

CCBC regularly conducts evangelism seminars to equip its members on the task of spreading the gospel. Among the trainings provided are evangelism explosion and Kairos courses.[18]

In 2010, CCBC launched "24/7 Missions Prayer Chain," a ministry which aims to provide a continuous, round-the-clock prayer system for the salvation of unreached people groups around the world. In the system, each registered member is assigned a 30-minute slot during a designated time of the day of the week, to pray for specific groups of people.[19][20]

CCBC has planted several local daughter churches, some of which include:[21]

Hong Kong

CCBC's evangelistic efforts reach out to Hong Kong to especially minister to the needs of Filipino women working as domestic helpers there. The overseas endeavor is spearheaded by Pastor Jorge De Ramos, and as of 2011, administers to the needs of over 100 overseas filipino workers through a ministry that has been called the Jubilee International Filipino Fellowship. The fellowship conducts its worship services at an auditorium located at the Pui Ching Academy, which is capable of seating a total of 400 attendees.[22][23][24]

Cambodia

CCBC partners with Ethnos Asia Ministries to conduct trainings in Cambodia. Trainings are designed to equip Cambodian church workers with methods on worship, Bible study, evangelism, teaching and medical assistance.[25] In addition, CCBC members may be sent to this country for exposure trips with the purpose of acclimatizing prospective missionaries prior to actual engagement.[4]

CoC's

Circle of Care (CoC) groups are cell groups where members engage in several activities which may include enjoying fellowship, conducting Bible studies, and praying together. Often composed of fewer than 10 members, a CoC group focuses on the personalized needs of its members through regular (usually weekly) meetings where members share, counsel and pray for their individual life concerns.

As of 2009, there are about 60 registered CoC groups. A group is often formed based on certain commonalities among its members. Such similarities may be rooted based on age, gender, residential proximity, occupation or artistic inclination.

All-Men Fellowship

The all-men fellowship is composed of about 6 CoC’s whose members are all of the male gender and of adult age. Members in this fellowship meet about once a month to establish and maintain friendships, worship as a group, and receive spiritual guidance for the direction of the corresponding CoC groups.[26]

All-Women Fellowship

Golden Ladies Fellowship

The Golden Ladies Fellowship is an alliance of church women who are at least 50 years of age. The group was founded in 1994.[12][13]

Children Ministry

The children ministry, more popularly called “Kids@111” in reference to the address of CCBC, is a service that nurtures the children of the church ranging from 2 years to 12 years of age. Specifically, the ministry aims to impart the word of God to children so that they become knowledgeable in and obedient to the faith by the time they reach adolescence. The ministry further believes in the value of every child, recognizes the need to develop their talents, and envisions them as future leaders. To fulfill its mission and vision, the ministry engages in several activities aimed to develop children. Among these are Sunday school classes, vacation bible classes, arts and crafts, environmental awareness programs, and parent-child interactions.[27]

At the start of 2011, the children ministry opened a Sunday school class that runs in parallel with the evening service. The class was set up in order to minister to children whose guardians can only attend the evening service, as well as to minimize distractions caused by children who misbehave during the evening service.[10]

As of 2012, the children ministry was in active collaboration with the Sto. Cristo Elementary School.[28]

Youth Ministry

The Youth Ministry of CCBC, more popularly known as Youth@111 in reference to the address of the church, is a group that caters to the distinctive needs of teenagers. Directed by Pastor Randolph Velasquez and registered under the National Youth Commission,[29] the ministry helps primarily high school and college students face the transitional phase of adolescence.

In 2010, Youth@111 celebrated its first 10 years of existence.[30]

As of 2012, the ministry was in active collaboration with the following schools:

San Francisco High School

Youth@111 extends its ministry to the San Francisco High School due to the school's proximal distance from the church, and Pastor Randolph Velasquez's affiliation as a community volunteer worker in the school. CCBC workers and volunteers regularly conduct values education classes with the students of the school, often gathering students in the same class sections to common groups to foster openness and sharing in discussions.[29]

Music Ministry

The music ministry caters to the musical needs of the church and is most prominent in its role of leading the congregational praise and worship portion of the worship service. The ministry uses mostly contemporary Christian music in performing its function, though occasionally traditional hymns are utilized. Songs are often in the English language although songs in Tagalog or other Filipino dialects are also employed.

Also referred to as the praise and worship ministry, the music group is regarded as one of the more physically demanding departments of the church, as members commit to extended hours of practices and performances without any monetary benefit.[12][13]

Social Concern Ministry

The social concern ministry works on projects that mostly benefit individuals and groups that are beyond the confines and direct responsibility of the church. Some of the projects in 2010 involved blood donations,[7] donations for children afflicted with cancer,[31] and training on reaching out to individuals sick with HIV/AIDS.[30]

Culture and Demographics

Languages

Services are often conducted in the English language though Tagalog is also used albeit to a lesser degree. The first service, however, tends to utilize the Tagalog language more extensively. In addition, sign language interpretation is made available during the second service to minister to the needs of deaf attendees.

Literature

The church publishes two weekly literature types that are distributed to attendees as they enter the auditorium during the Sunday services. The first type serves as a programme but is verbally referred to as the 'bulletin.' It contains a message from the senior pastor, and a financial report on the tithes and offerings received from the previous week's services. Moreover, the programme includes a listing of the church activities from the various ministries for the current Sunday as well as for the days ahead. Such activities are collectively referred to as 'Kingdom Opportunities,' and their publication in the bulletin is meant to attract participants or volunteers for the corresponding events.[4]

In 2012, the bulletin was revised to include a discussion guide section for CoC groups.[16] Prior to this change, this section was occupied by devotional material extracted from various sources.[8]

The second type of literature is a weekly prayer guide and is entitled "Golden Bowls" in allusion to the prayer of the saints from the context of Revelations 5:8. The guide functions as a suggested prayer list which includes the praises and requests of church workers, members and attendees, and families. Furthermore, the literature also reports on the current statuses and aspirations of the different projects and ministries of the church.[32]

December

Similar to Philippine culture, CCBC usually conducts several parties one after the other during the month of December to celebrate the Christmas season. Parties are often separated according to the different fellowships and ministries of the church. Also during this month, the church practices an event called “Everybody’s Birthday,” whereby a big box is placed on stage to which congregation members place monetary offerings into. Members walk to the stage to drop their offerings as the month of their birthdates are called out, while the band repeatedly plays the song, “Happy Birthday to You", which is later modified to "Happy Birthday, Jesus." Donations received through this tradition are then used to fund the various activities of the church.[31]

Misyon: Samba

Once in a while, the church engages in a practice called "Misyon: Samba," which in English translates to "Mission: Worship." The practice features the use of relatively indigenous music in the worship service, and may be accompanied by a sermon that focuses on the importance of missions.[8]

Families

CCBC is not spared from national issues and trends that affect family health and relationships. For instance, though no formal studies have been conducted yet, it is generally acknowledged within the church that the rising number of parents who work as overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) places significant stress in the maintenance of relationships among members within families.[33] Moreover, the growing number of parents who labor as call center agents also adds to the difficulty in raising families, as call center agents often have to work in night schedules thereby decreasing the amount of time of being with their respective families.[34][35][36]

Marriages

The church highly discourages its members from marrying unbelievers in strict adherence to the biblical teaching found in 2 Corinthians 6:14. In contrast, members are actually encouraged to marry each other, though the church has nothing against its members marrying fellow believers from other churches of the same creed.[37]

Socioeconomic Differences

As significant socioeconomic differences admittedly do exist within the church, members are strongly exhorted to transcend such barriers and unify as a group in fulfilling God's purposes. In 2011, members of the Golden Ladies Fellowship were commended for their ability to harmoniously relate with each other despite the substantial heterogeneity in social classes.[12][13]

History

1960-1969

Rev. Arthur R. Beals served as pastor from 1962 to 1965.[8]

1980-1989

1986

On July 1986, Pastor Cesar C. Castro of the Deaf Evangelistic Alliance Foundation (DEAF), Rina Dimaculangan, and CCBC Pastor Rev. Reynaldo I. Atienza established the Deaf Ministry.[38]

1990-1999

1994

The Golden Ladies Fellowship was founded during this year.[12][13]

1997

CCBC Caloocan was founded during this year.[10]

2000-2009

2007

Dr. Reynaldo R. Avante was endorsed by the Board of Trustees and affirmed by the congregation to serve as Senior Pastor.[8]

2009

On July 26, 2009, CCBC celebrated its 50th anniversary at the Henry Lee Iwrin Theater of the Ateneo de Manila University. During the event, commemorative plaques were awarded to pastors, missionaries and workers in recognition of their contributions to the church.[1]

2010-2019

2010

2011

References

  1. 1 2 "CCBC on its 50th Year" (PDF). CCBC. 2009-08-01. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-25. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
  2. ↑ "Statement of Faith". CCBC. Archived from the original on 2011-07-25. Retrieved 2010-10-31.
  3. ↑ "CCBC Bulletin Information (May 30, 2010)" (PDF). CCBC. 2010-05-30. Retrieved 2011-06-05.
  4. 1 2 3 "CCBC Bulletin Information (September 25, 2011)". CCBC. 2011-09-25. Retrieved 2011-10-23.
  5. ↑ "About Us: Mission, Purpose/Vision". CCBC. Archived from the original on 2011-07-25. Retrieved 2010-10-31.
  6. ↑ "CCBC Leadership". CCBC. Archived from the original on 2011-07-25. Retrieved 2009-09-18.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "CCBC Bulletin Information (October 3, 2010)" (PDF). CCBC. 2010-10-03. Retrieved 2010-12-24.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 "CCBC Bulletin Information (July 22, 2007)". CCBC. 2007-07-22. Retrieved 2011-12-30.
  9. ↑ "CCBC Bulletin Information (June 3, 2012)". CCBC. 2012-06-03. Retrieved 2012-11-03.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "CCBC Bulletin Information (December 12, 2010)". CCBC. 2010-12-12. Retrieved 2011-06-05.
  11. 1 2 "August 23, 2009 Worship Service Statistics". CCBC. 2009-08-30. Retrieved 2009-10-04.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 Avante, Reynaldo (2011-09-11). Sermon (Speech). CCBC Worship Service (6:00 PM). 111 West Avenue, Quezon City. Retrieved 2011-09-25.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 "Rough transcription on the sermon delivered by Dr. Reynaldo Avante on September 11, 2011 (6:00 PM)". 2011-09-11. Retrieved 2011-09-25.
  14. 1 2 3 4 "CCBC Bulletin Information (December 4, 2011)". CCBC. 2011-12-04. Retrieved 2011-12-31.
  15. ↑ "CCBC Bulletin Information (August 26, 2012)". CCBC. 2012-08-26. Retrieved 2012-11-03.
  16. 1 2 3 "CCBC Bulletin Information (July 15, 2012)". CCBC. 2012-07-15. Retrieved 2012-11-03.
  17. ↑ "Statement of Support Received and Expenses for the Period January - May 2011". CCBC. 2011-07-03. Retrieved 2011-07-03.
  18. 1 2 "CCBC Bulletin Information (June 19, 2011)". CCBC. 2010-06-19. Retrieved 2011-06-20.
  19. 1 2 Efren Quejada (2010). "2010 Milestones in missions" (PDF). Beyond Imagination: Witnessing God's Work in Missions. 1 (2): 1–2. Retrieved 2011-12-31.
  20. ↑ "24/7 Missions Prayer Chain (December 6-18, 2011)". CCBC. 2011-12-06. Retrieved 2011-12-31.
  21. ↑ "List of CCBC Daughter Churches". CCBC. Archived from the original on 2011-07-25. Retrieved 2009-09-19.
  22. ↑ De Ramos, Jorge (2011-04-10). Sermon (Speech). CCBC Worship Service (10:30 AM). 111 West Avenue, Quezon City.
  23. ↑ Bolen and Jorge De Ramos (2011-02-08). "News from Jubilee". Retrieved 2011-04-10.
  24. ↑ Jorge De Ramos (2010-11-20). "Prayer requests from JIFF Jubilee International Filipino Fellowship". Retrieved 2011-04-10.
  25. ↑ CCBC (2010). "Cambodia: The land of wonders (A report on the Church Empowerment Program of Ethnos Asia in partnership with CCBC)". CCBC. Retrieved 2011-04-24.
  26. ↑ "All-Men Christmas Party" (PDF). CCBC. 2010-12-17. Retrieved 2010-12-24.
  27. ↑ "CCBC Children Ministry: Kids@111" (PDF). CCBC. 2010-09-01. Retrieved 2010-12-24.
  28. 1 2 "CCBC Weekly Prayer Guide (July 2-7, 2012)". CCBC. 2012-07-02. Retrieved 2012-11-03.
  29. 1 2 3 "Youth@111 Newsletter (Volume 2, Issue 8)" (PDF). CCBC. 2009-09-01. Retrieved 2009-09-19.
  30. 1 2 3 "CCBC Bulletin Information (November 14, 2010)" (PDF). CCBC. 2010-11-14. Retrieved 2010-12-24.
  31. 1 2 3 "CCBC Bulletin Information (December 5, 2010)" (PDF). CCBC. 2010-12-05. Retrieved 2010-12-24.
  32. ↑ "CCBC Weekly Prayer Guide (September 25, 2011)". CCBC. 2011-09-25. Retrieved 2011-10-23.
  33. ↑ Uy, Veronica (5 March 2007). "Family abandonment cases among OFWs on the rise". INQUIRER.net. Manila. Archived from the original on 2012-09-15.
  34. ↑ Macaraig, Mynardo (6 December 2010). "PH overtakes India as call center capital". INQUIRER.net. Manila. Archived from the original on 2010-12-09.
  35. ↑ Cantera, Angelo (29 June 2009). "Call center hangover". The Manila Times. Manila. Archived from the original on 2011-08-11.
  36. ↑ Avante, Reynaldo (2011-06-19). Sermon (Speech). CCBC Worship Service (6:00 PM). 111 West Avenue, Quezon City.
  37. ↑ Avante, Reynaldo (2011-06-05). Sermon (Speech). CCBC Worship Service (10:30 AM). 111 West Avenue, Quezon City.
  38. ↑ "History - CCBC Deaf Ministry". CCBC Deaf Ministry. Retrieved 2009-09-18.
  39. ↑ Tolentino, Aimee (April–May 2011). "I am peace". Youth Summer Report. Quezon City. CCBC.

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