wfn.org | Philippine church mourns death of first woman bishop

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Note #5905 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

19-May-2000
00202

	Philippine church mourns death of first woman bishop 

	"Bishop Ellen" succumbs to a heart attack at 49

	by Sophie Lizares-Bodegon
	Ecumenical News International

MANILA -- An outpouring of affection, admiration, and a sense of great loss
have followed news of the death of Bishop Nelinda Primavera-Briones on May
10, three months before her 50th birthday.

	Also known as "Bishop Ellen" and "Ate Ellen" (older sister Ellen), Bishop
Briones was the first woman bishop of the United Church of Christ in the
Philippines (UCCP).  She died of a heart attack after a long drive from
Manila to Iriga City, about 400 kilometers south of the Philippine capital.

	Banners outside the church where her body lay until her cremation on May 16
expressed the deep and widespread regard felt for her.  "Bishop Ellen did
not lose her life, she offered it to
God and for the Filipino people.  Congratulations!  We salute you!" one
banner declared. Another read: "We honor you," along with a paraphrase of a
biblical verse: "There is no greater love than the love of a person who
offers her life for the transformation of the church and of society."

	"It was a privilege and real joy knowing and working with Ate Ellen," said
Ruth Panganiban-Billena, who also made history as the first female
administrative pastor of the UCCP. Billena and Briones were leaders and
partners in the Women's Ecumenical Center for Cooperative Education (WECCEI)
and Batis, a center for women migrants.

	"She was always calm even during heated discussions," Billena said.  "She
was a pastor through and through. I will always remember with gratitude her
supportive gestures and affirming touch."

	Bishop Briones' leadership as chair of the WECCEI and Batis were
expressions of her commitment to women's participation and the building of
inclusive communities.  She was coordinator for the Program Unit on Women of
the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) from 1992 to
1996, and participated in and led programs of the Decade of Churches in
Solidarity with Women, in the Philippines and elsewhere in Asia.  She was
also deputy to the chairperson of the Dayang Women's Center for Prostituted
Women and treasurer of the Task Force Filipino Comfort Women.

	Briones' path to the ministry of a bishop was often difficult.  At the
start of her 23-year ministry, Briones could not get a local church
placement as intern.  But eventually she rose to the rank of vice-moderator
and then moderator of her church's Greater Manila Conference.  She was
coordinator of the NCCP program for indigenous people until 1998 when she
was elected bishop.  Less than a month later, Bishop Briones told ENI that
"the position [of bishop] is cruel."

	As bishop of South Luzon Jurisdiction, she was responsible for the more
than 400 local churches from Metropolitan Manila to the southernmost tip of
Luzon island, as well as the islands of Mindoro and Palawan.

	"But she didn't spare her body," Everett Mendoza, chairman of the UCCP
general assembly, said in a eulogy for a service commemorating Bishop
Briones' life and work. Reflecting on Romans 12:1, Mendoza said that Briones
had indeed offered her body as a "living sacrifice to God."  Briones had, he
said, "offered all of herself: mind, soul and body.  She knew its
consequences, but for her no consequence, including her safety and health,
was too high or costly in the service of the Lord.  She was willing to pay
the full cost of faithful discipleship.  She was willing to lay down her
life for the Lord's flock."

	Bishop Briones is survived by her mother, Nellie Givera-Primavera, an
active lay church worker; her husband and UCCP minister, Samuel Pascual
Briones; and, their son, Reinan
Thomas.

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