Youth of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente

NATIONAL YOUTH EXECUTIVE COUNCIL

1500 Taft Avenue, Ermita, Manila, Philippines
facebook: yifi national / website: www.yifinational.com

Rationale
The Bible in Context (BIC) Seminar originated from a group of ecumenical people led by the
clergy, church workers and lay people in the 1980s through the Institute of Religion and Culture
(IRC) The BIC was originally a two-week seminar intentional for the formation of Ecumenical
Church leaders who were active in the peace and justice work in the Philippines.
The Kalipunan ng Kristiyanong Kabataan sa Pilipinas and the National Council of Churches in the
Philippines though the Program Unit on Ecumenical Education and Nurture saw the relevance of
the Bible in Context Seminar and pursued the program starting in 2010. The program was
designed for young people people to revisit and re read the Bible from the perspective of the
margins, of women, young people and children who were most of the time rendered nameless
and unaccounted for in Biblical narratives. This also seeks to open the eyes of our young people
by engaging them in biblical history, giving them an overall background on the books of the Bible
and how it came to being. This gave them a deeper and more critical understanding about the
good book and uses it more practically more than literally, as they make the word of God
relevant in their daily lives as young people.
From the perspective of the ecumenical youth movement, this BIC seminar offers young people
some level of understanding of the Bible in ways and means useful for the reign of God to come.
They are given in-depth discussions on Social Analysis of socio-political and even cultural
exploration on the Biblical times as it is today. This would deepen their critical thinking not to
simply read the Bible unquestioningly. It is in this creative process that the young people are
continually engaging in the text, as they also seek and affirm life-giving narratives, especially as
they work for Justice and Peace. 1
BIC in the Perspective of the YIFI
One nature of the YIFI is to strive and work not to be held captive by supervision, mysticism,
religious fundamentalism and fanaticism; to be identified with the nurturing and developing of
potentials, skills and capacity of our Youth; to always be critical and remain with the
conventional that hampers growth and maturity; and readying our Youth leaders to become
respectable, committed and responsible servants of God and the people that is to be
progressive (YIFI Orientation Paper). In times when our Christian faith is challenged by the sociopolitical, cultural, and economic realities of life, we find ourselves asking the relevance of the
Bible and what does it say about our present context. The bible as a fundamental book for us
Christians must speak of our own context, our situation, and our own experiences as leaders of
our church not only of tomorrow but of today. Moreover, the Bible must free us from any form of
oppression and must be a life-giving book.
Still in line with the YIFIs annual theme Defend Gods Creation, Speak out for Eco-Justice!
(cf. Gen. 2:15), BIC is learning the Scripture through contextualization of the teachings of
Christ to our present social context and actual experiences in relation to the teachings of the IFI
1

Based from the REPORT of Ms. Johanna May dela Cruz , Assistant Program Secretary for Youth, to the
General Board of Church and Society

Faith. This activity specifically aims to reflect deeply on the role of the young people in the
church and in our biblical narratives as Christian Community by appreciating and upholding life
giving stories, and stories of hope that comes from the Holy Book. It also aims to equip the
young people with the socio-political tools of analysis by engaging these narratives at the
present context of the world today, especially on working around preserving Gods creation.
The activity also seeks to raise awareness and consciousness on the Biblical affirmations on
Peace, and later on engage and develop them in the work of Eco-Justice. We believe that the
Holy Bible speaks to us through stories of lives of people whom God have touched throughout
History, and Gods Message of hope and love continues until today through the lives of our young
people and through their vision and collective action.
With this, the YIFI alumni of this seminar wish to spread out and share the wisdom, the learning
and realizations that they learned. The BIC is one way of empowering the youth in analyzing the
status quo and what does God say about all the things that is happening in our society. This will
enable us to be keen in reading and interpreting the Bible amidst the attempt to hamper our
growth and development through misconstrued teachings and fundamentalist ideas. This will
pave a way to shaping new faces of the youth that could read the Bible the way God wants us to
do.

Suggested Program Flow

TIME

DAY 1
THURSDAY

DAY 2
FRIDAY

DAY 3
SATURDAY

6:00
AM

Creative Morning
Devotion

Creative Morning
Devotion

7:00
AM
8:00
AM

Breakfast

Breakfast

Topic 1:
BIBLICAL
INTERPRETATION
a. Why interpret the
Bible
b. Factors causing
problems in Biblical
Interpretation
c. Elements of Biblical
Interpretation
Topic 2:
Panoramic Survey of
the Bible

10:00
AM

12:00
NN
1:00
PM

LUNCH

3:00

5:00
PM
6:30
PM

ARRIVAL
Registration/Billeting
Dinner

LUNCH

Insights: Motorcycle
Diary

EXPOSURE TO THE
COMMUNITY
(Back at 3pm for the
reflection and
preparation for the
group sharing)

LUNCH
EXPOSURE TO THE
COMMUNITY

Topic 4:
Literary Forms in the
Bible

EXPOSURE TO THE
COMMUNITY

Dinner

Breakfast
Celebration of the Holy
Eucharist

Exposure Orientation
Travel to the Exposure
Area

Topic 3:
NATIONAL SITUATION

Topic 5:
THE BIBLICAL
WRITERS

DAY 4
SUNDAY

PROCESSING AND
SHARING OF
EXPERIENCES
Topic 6:
YOUTH IN THE BIBLE
Dinner

WORKSHOP:
YIFI: RESPONDING TO
THE CHALLENGES OF
THE SCRIPTURE
(planning and
programmatic
expressions of the
organization)
LUNCH
AYCC MEETING/AREA
UPDATES

CLOSING RITES

Dinner

7:30
PM

OPENING WORSHIP
and BiblicoTeological
Reflection
Welcome remarks
Rationale/Program
Orientation
Self-Introduction &
expectation check

FILM VIEWING
MOTORCYCLE DIARY
Evening Prayer

Solidarity Night
(Group Presentation)

Evening Prayer
10:00
PM

Bedtime

TOPIC 7:
Biblical
Interpretation of the
Bible and Todays
Challenge in
Protecting Gods
Creation: a dialogue

Bedtime

Evening Prayer
Bedtime

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