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

210 THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES

ings (which always flourish most among those who do not
know each other well), and all other sources of irritation were
removed. There grew upon the convention the conviction that
the great task before the Evangelical churches of the Philippine Islands can never be accomplished except by united action.
One of the most significant resolutions passed at this convention was that the churches should undertake a united missionary
campaign among the non-Christian tribes, especially in
Mindanao and Sulu.
Rev. Guerrero, a beautiful Christian, expressed the feeling
of the entire convention when he said in the closing meeting:
"I have been longing down deep in my heart and praying that
I might some day meet you face to face and shake hands with
you, and now that I have met you, I feel like saying with old
Simeon when he saw the child Jesus, 'Now let Thy servant
depart, Lord, according to Thy word in peace, for my eyes
have seen this salvation.' "
A great procession of the united churches on the closing day
stirred the city of Vigan as it has never before been stirred by
Evangelical efforts.
That evening as the conference closed with a song "Blest Be
the Tie That Binds" the three officiating pastors from the
Methodist, Christian and United Brethren Church stood behind
the pulpit with their arms around each other's necks, and then
everybody in the congregation, taking the clue from the pastors,
joined hands and stood thus while one delegate after another
raised the heartfelt prayer that they might all forever be one,
"even as thou Father and I are one." None who attended
that convention will ever be quite the same again.
In the last week of that same memorable January was the
annual meeting of the Evangelical Union in Manila. For the
first time since Filipinos were admitted to the Union they
assumed a leading role. Dean Jorge Bocobo was elected as
its first Filipino President. Mr. Isaac Barza presented a new
plan for the strengthening of the Evangelical Union and for
making it more truly representative of all churches.
Three missions-Presbyterians, United Brethren, and Congregationalists-announced their purpose to form a complete