The people of the Philippines, their religious progress and preparation for spiritual leadership in the Far East,

152 THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES
bers, has no church building whatever. Still more startling
is the fact that the Aglipay churches have but one seat for
every eight members, whereas the Roman Catholic churches
have one seat for every 2.6 members, and the Protestant
churches have more seats than members. Yet the Aglipay
churches are almost empty save on special church holidays,
and are seldom crowded even then.
Some of the hindrances to cooperation between the Independent church and Protestant missionaries have diminished,
while others seem to be on the increase. Any fear Protestants
may have had that the Aglipayan movement might develop
into a political revolution has long since vanished. The
Aglipay leaders seem hospitable to any advances from the
missionaries and express themselves as eager for all possible
cooperation.
The influence of Protestantism upon the ritual of the church
has been profound. There is what Le Roy calls "something
of an approach to congregational government." Lay participation is a fundamental doctrine. The bishops are elected.
The priesthood may marry. The government schools are
praised. Whether the service in any particular congregation
shall be Roman or shall more nearly resemble Protestant services depends largely upon the "apostle" in charge. (The
pastor or priest is called by the name Apostle.) In several
cases Protestants and Aglipayans have held united evangelistic
services. On the other hand there are apostles who are in
thorough sympathy with the Catholic Church, who enjoy the
friendship of the friars, and who even seem to be trying to
lead their congregations back into the Roman fold. There are
what the Anglicans would call "high church" and "low church"
tendencies which are as far apart as they could well be.
The chief hindrance to cooperation between the Independent
movement and the orthodox Evangelical churches is its growing tendency toward something like Unitarianism. To this
position it has been led by Sr. Isabelo de Los Reyes, whose
daring and lonely search for truth must excite both pity and
admiration in any fair-minded man. One wishes that a mind