#TodayinHistory in 1875, the 1st ordained Filipino #Protestant pastor, & founder of the 1st indigenous Protestant church in #PH (@IEMELIF), Nicolás Zamora, was born in #Binondo #Manila #PH. His father was nephew to Fr. Jacinto Zamora (1 of the #GOMBURZA). THREAD. #PH #history
The unjust execution of the #GOMBURZA in 1872 opened the eyes of Filipinos to the rampant abuse & corruption of the Spanish colonial regime against Filipinos. Fr. Jacinto Zamora, the youngest of the 3, lost his mind prior to being executed.
Jacinto's nephew, Paulino, harbored resentment vs. the oppression. Discontented w/ the religion of the friars, he began to smuggle Spanish Bibles w/c were forbidden at the time. During #PH Revolution in 1896, he was arrested & exiled to Chafarinas Islands in the Mediterranean.
Meanwhile, Paulino's son, Nicolas Zamora, grew under his father's guidance. Prior to his father's arrest, Nicolas was sent to #Manila under the tutelage of Fr. Pablo Zamora, a curate in the Manila Cathedral, & later studied in @ateneodemanilau (Ateneo Municipal at the time).
Nicolas aggrieved at his father's arrest, while he witnessed the abuses, joined the #PH Revolution, & became an officer under Gen. Gregorio del Pilar's army, being promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in 1898. The American colonial regime freed his father from exile.
W/ freedom to worship under the new dispensation, the father & son associated themselves w/ the missionary pursuits of the United Methodist Church. While Paulino became affiliated w/ the Presbyterians, Nicolas stayed w/ the Methodists, entering the seminary to become a pastor.
Nicolas Zamora's pulpit thundered as he gained a following in his church at Plaza Goiti #Manila. By 1902, he was ordained as Elder, & by 1903, was assigned a church at Avenida Rizal (Knox UMC Manila). However, racism was rampant in the American-dominated clergy.
One American pastor noted, "For all their veneer [Filipinos are still] primitive & childlike.” On 28 Feb 1909, at St. Paul’s Methodist Church in #Tondo, Zamora announced that he will be leaving the UMC to form the @IEMELIF. There were 25 of the 121 local preachers who joined him.
Nicolas Zamora: “It is the will of God for the Filipino nation that the Evangelical Church in the Philippines be established which will proclaim the Holy Scriptures through the leadership of our countrymen.” #QOTD
Although he died of Cholera in 1914 at the age of 39, his legacy lives on in the #Protestant expression of #Filipino spirituality today.
Read more: tmblr.co/ZtGCUx2lmEuw9
*Photos from the Filipino Methodist History Facebook Page.
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