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

342 THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES

Warren says: 'What are the facts? Of 1,821I college graduates
in I theological schools of six leading denominations, I,I04
are from Christian colleges.' Even more essential is a Christian college here where the tides are against evangelical Christianity." It looked as though the college were a certainty
until the arrival of Bishop W. P. Eveland of the Methodist
Church in I912. The new bishop felt strongly that there ought
to be no competition of any nature with public institutions,
and flatly opposed the college project, with the result that all
the plans which had been made for it fell to the ground, for the
time being.
Each year the logic of stubborn facts made it more clear
that the theory of a seminary without preparatory courses was
wrong. In I9I9 the trustees gave up the theory and established
a high school. The next year they began a junior college.
From that time there have been practically four schools in
one-the Seminary, the College, the Bible School, and the
High School. The instant popularity of the higher courses
was a surprise to the most sanguine missionaries. Every pastor
in the Islands, whether young or old, cast covetous eyes upon
the Bachelor of Divinity degree at the end of the graduate
year. The calling of the ministry is becoming popular. More
than two hundred students enrolled in union schools in I923
and more than one hundred of these were candidates for the
ministry, double the number five years before. Not only ministerial students from mission churches, but also a considerable
number from the independent denominations are attending.3
The schools receive a limited number of students who are not
candidates for the ministry, or who are uncertain about their
future, in the hope that some of them will hear the call during
their course. Several strong men have made their decisions
for the ministry after entering the Seminary-stony is the
heart which can resist the tireless campaign waged by the
Student Volunteers!
To one who has followed the soldiers of the cross in the
Philippines, the list of alumni of Union Seminary is filled with
3 In I923 there were two students for the ministry in attendance from the
Independent Philippine Church (Aglipay), three from the Evangelical Methodist
Church (Zamora) and three from the Iglesia de Dios.