Several Reformed churches in the Philippines celebrated Reformation weekend 2026 with a conference on October 31 and joint worship services on November 1.
The Reformation conference theme was “Recovering Our Reformed Heritage in the Philippines.” Rev. Nollie Malabuyo, pastor of Big Springs Community Church (URCNA) in Montague, California, and Rev. Dennis Yam, pastor of Calvary Reformed Evangelical Church in Pasig City, Philippines, were the guest lecturers.
Rev. Malabuyo briefly traced the historical roots and core principles of the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation, emphasizing the five solas and John Calvin’s ministries in Geneva and Strasbourg; as well as his development of Reformed doctrine, worship, and life, and his many writings. He then discussed the Dutch Reformation and subsequent migration that brought Reformed theology to America. In 1995, as the Christian Reformed Church (CRCNA) descended into non-confessionalism and liberalism, faithful Reformed congregations that left the CRCNA established the United Reformed Churches in North America (URCNA).
Presbyterian history in the Philippines began with American missionary efforts in 1899, when they established churches, schools, and hospitals. Reformed churches were started in the early 1960s through the CRCNA.
Both the early Presbyterian and Reformed churches in the Philippines, however, declined into non-confessional, mainstream evangelicalism. Both were also influenced by liberalism, Pentecostalism, and prosperity gospel teachings.
In 1998, as a missionary of Wycliffe Bible Translators, Rev. Malabuyo started a Reformed Bible study in Davao City, which eventually became Davao Covenant Reformed Church in 2001. In 2005, after his graduation from Westminster Seminary California (WSCAL), he helped three Christian Reformed Church in the Philippines (CRCP) congregations form a new classis called United Covenant Reformed Churches in the Philippines, which later became Pearl of the Orient Covenant Reformed Church. In 2008, as a URCNA church planter, Rev. Malabuyo started Pasig Covenant Reformed Church (now Cainta Heritage Reformed Church). In 2011 he started another church, now called Zion Covenant Reformed Church, in Imus, Cavite Province.
In 2010 Dr. Michael Horton was the guest lecturer at the first-ever Reformed conference in the Philippines. This began a series of Reformed conferences in the Philippines, with WSCAL professors and URCNA pastors as guest lecturers.
In 2022 seven congregations of the Unida Evangelical Church left the denomination to form a Reformed association. Three of the seven congregations left, however, because they wanted to keep their former denomination’s hierarchical government. These three congregations are now two organized churches: Cavite Reformed Community Church (Kawit, Cavite) and Christ Reformed Community Church (Naic, Cavite). Together with Zion Covenant Reformed Church, these three congregations are now a federation called the United Reformed Churches of the Philippines (URCP). Four other congregations are now considering joining URCP.
Today, Reformed churches in all three main island groups in the Philippines have miraculously sprouted “out of nowhere,” probably spreading through social media, word of mouth, and the labor of other pastors who have become Reformed through self-study.
God has greatly blessed the work of faithful Reformed men in the Philippines. But expansion comes with growing pains. Competing influences from different seminaries and foreign Reformed and Presbyterian churches have led to various denominations and federations. Several splits have occurred, resulting in various associations with as few as two churches. Discussions about unity have been painfully slow. There is even jealousy and competition among some groups.
But progress has been made with the establishment of the Philippine Presbyterian and Reformed Council (PPARC), with the URCP as the founding member. Today, PPARC encourages all Presbyterians and Reformed in the Philippines to join the Council. PPARC is organizing the 2026 Reformed conference.
On November 1, 2026, the URCP and visitors from three other prospective churches, together with many other individual visitors, held joint morning and evening worship services. Three hundred voices from all over the Philippines joined in singing psalms and hymns, confessed their sins together, and read and listened to the Scriptures preached. The lunch fellowship was one of the most joyful times the Reformed community has ever witnessed. “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” Praise the Lord for his grace and mercy!
©R. Scott Clark. All Rights Reserved.
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Nollie Malabuyo
Rev. Nollie Malabuyo is currently serving as the Minister of Big Springs Community Church (URCNA) in Montague, California. He received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 1973, and an M.Div. from Westminster Seminary in California in 2005. Previously, he was a missionary of Wycliffe Bible Translators from 1995–2007. He also served as a church planter in the Philippines under the oversight of the URCNA from 2008–14. He has taught in Reformed schools in the Philippines and in Latvia. He lives with Evelyn, his wife of 49 years, in Montague, CA. God has blessed them with 4 children and soon to be 10 grandchildren.
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