Churches in the Philippines pre-empted the official date of celebrating International Women’s Day which is March 8 of every year.

In the morning of 5 March 2010, the Ecumenical Women’s Forum (EWF), a network of Filipino Protestant, Catholic and Muslim women’s organisations, came together for a liturgical celebration of International Women's Day, in one of our parks here in Quezon City. About 150 women and a few men, representing all member churches and organisations, were present - including the Episcopal Church in the Philippines (ECP), represented by Francisca Bawayan, Esperanza Beleo and Zena Caytap. This year’s celebration focused on the theme: ‘EWF Calls for Ecological Justice: Defend Patrimony’. Presentations on the oppression and subordination of women in the Philippines were depicted through biblico-theological reflections, cultural songs and dances and theatrical plays. This year’s programme paid tribute to the struggle of women who have always been in the forefront of struggles and protest against the destruction of our ecological sources of sustenance.Excerpts from a statement released to the various media by EWF, read:

We, women of faith from the Ecumenical Women’s Forum, affirm the biblical imperative to uphold the sacred nature of all life and take great care of the whole of creation. We are called to exercise the profound option of the Christian faith, shared by other religious traditions, for the poor, the oppressed and the marginalized … Therefore, before us lies the difficult, but crucial task of cultivating awareness and building movements advocating and demanding for deep-seated transformations in our economic systems as well as the dismantling of patriarchal idealogues towards a truly eco-just world order. As weavers and defenders of life, we, women from the EWF, cannot but rise up to this challenge. On the occasion of the International Women’s Day, we, women of faith, are called to solidarity with our struggling sisters in the other parts of the world. Together let us defend our patrimony and work unflinchingly for eco-justice.

In the late afternoon of the same day, 5 March, the Church Women United of the Philippines (CWUP) - of which the Episcopal Church in the Philippines (ECP) is a founding member - celebrated the World Day of Prayer 2010, and the theme of the Worship Service was, ‘Let Everything That Has Breath Praise God’. The service was held at the IFI (Iglesia Filipina Independiente) National Cathedral in Manila. About 100 women from the participating women organisations were present, including Francisca Bawayan and Esperanza Beleo for the ECP.

The World Day of Prayer is a worldwide ecumenical movement of informed and prayerful action by Christian women of many traditions who come together to observe a common day of prayer each year, and who, in about 170 countries and regions, have a continuing relationship in prayer and service. This year’s worship service was prepared by the Prayer Committee of Cameroon. Part of the service was a litany of praise for the people of Cameroon who are facing difficult times in their lives, but “as long as one has breath, there is hope … that things will be better”.

The women attending the service joined the Cameroonians in reflecting on Psalm 150 from the perspective of Cameroon and from our own country, the Philippines. The psalms contain “prayers for help and salvation, pleas for forgiveness, songs of thanksgiving for God’s blessings and protection from enemies …” It is in the psalms that we also learn of God’s special concern for the poor and the powerless and of God’s love and call for generosity and justice.

It was such a joyous celebration as the worship service's procession was accompanied by instrumental music as well as joyful women and young people singing altogether such hymns as, To God Be The Glory, and Wonderful Grace of Jesus.

Through this year's WDP, the women participants, together with the multitude of people around the world were in praise and thanksgiving of the fellowship they had. The service ended by clapping to the music of a song about this year's theme ‘Let everything that has breath praise God’.

Article by Ms. Francisca "Fran" C. Bawayan, Episcopal Church in the Philippines (ECP)