When EDSA DOS erupted, our two local TV titans were right away at the scene covering all angles of the event. Some were at EDSA Shrine, some at or outside Malacañang Palace, some at Mendiola Bridge, some were with then vice-president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Each reporter covered his/her own beat, and in the end, after the vice-president was installed by Chief Justice Hilarion Davide as the 14^th president of the Philippines, all of the separate segments were pieced together to tell the complete story of this historic event.

Likewise but more tragic, the dastardly act of setting off sophisticated bombs in strategic public places also made history, albeit of the very painful sort. But as with EDSA II, we had the capability of writing and recording history accurately and fully. The difference between the two events was that the first one was more of an eye-witness, day-by-day recording, whereas the second was a post-event, investigative type of history writing, dependent on victims, by-standers, police officers or circumstantial evidence as sources of information.

The Philippine Chinese churches are likewise in the process of reaching a significant milestone. The first Chinese congregation in the Philippines, St. Stephen’s Parish, was founded in 1903. Within two years our history will hit the 100^th year mark. Throughout this century, we have made many moments in history, but unfortunately, we have not been writing our history properly or completely. Making history but not writing it is the most lamentable thing that could ever happen to the evangelical Chinese community.

It is not too late to do something about this, although there are many obstacles along the path. One of the biggest obstacles is our general apathy to and lack of a sense of history. Sometimes we get so absorbed with the present that we neglect the past. We are so busy with church events that after one takes place, we hastily move on to prepare for the next. We do make the right moves when we take pictures or jot down the events in one part of the church’s regular publication, but we don’t really do it conscientiously or correctly or systematically.

Just take for example the use of camera to record the event. We take rolls and rolls of pictures but afterwards we set them aside and pretty soon the piles of pictures get a niche somewhere in a dark storeroom. Then, when we reach an important year, say 25^th, 50^th, 75^th or 90^th anniversary, we quickly search and sort out the pictures, and reconstruct the events that had taken place over a period of time. If a church has regular publications (annual, bi-annual, or quarterly), then it makes the job easier for the records are in a very accessible form. But some churches don't even have an annual publication, and their record management is almost non-existent. Let’s face it, not many of us are really interested in history, both as a subject that had to be taken in school, nor as a task that is essentially a part of the growth of every church!

As a teacher of history I feel the need for campaigning for all the Chinese churches to wake up and write their own history more consistently and carefully. Let me outline several steps that can and must be taken, not just by the pastor or church leaders, but also by the church as a whole.

First of all, we need to have an eye and a burden for history. Since pastors come and go, this has to be sustained by the church leaders or members. Just one dedicated person who jots down and keeps a record of every church event would be enough. I remember one elder who actually did this. While I was growing up in my church, I always saw him writing something down during every meeting. I found out later that he was the secretary in the church council. But even after he was no longer a functioning member of the church council, he was still doing the same thing. It was only when he was no longer mentally or physically able that he stopped. Unfortunately, no one took his place, and the church was not able to keep all of his records properly.

The pastor, though, should already have a sense of history, for everyone training for ministry is taught at least a course called Church History, the purpose of which is to help him understand the significance of the development of the Christian church. He has already come into contact with the heritage of global Christendom, and can see the handiwork of God among His people down through the centuries. Yet history is not to be appreciated on a grand scale alone. It should be the concern of every serious Christian to trace the handiwork of God in his or her own congregation, no matter how young or how old its existence or how small its size. The pastor’s task, then, is to instill a desire for a faithful account of God’s workings amongst the members of his congregation. This seed must be planted deeply, so that if the pastor should ever leave the congregation, the lay leaders and members themselves can still carry on the torch as generations pass by.

Not only should there be a vision and burden for writing history, there should be a persistent and systematic method of keeping historically related materials and records. In writing history in a general way, the sources that can be useful are:

Every church should preserve its own archive of records and other sources. The original sites of church buildings or meeting places, if not physically, should be preserved in pictures or other lasting format, as part of the church’s historical archive. So also with other large artifacts like commemorative plaques or stone structures. Items that were used during the earliest stage of the church’s history should be collected and put in a mini-museum, not boxed or kept in some dark storeroom and left to rot and decay. Paper materials, video tapes, and photographs should be well preserved and systematically catalogued and filed. Distinctive practices should be investigated as to its original significance and this has to be perpetuated throughout the present and future generations.

To do all these, it is required of the church board or council to always maintain a back-ward-looking as well as a forward-looking perspective. They need to regularly take inventory of what stage of history their church has reached, and to look forward to preserve that history for posterity. They should not wait until a 50^th anniversary comes up to start doing something along this line. In their publications, they should flash back and highlight a point in their past which is worth remembering, some event which shows God's hand at work in their church.