SePUM and SCMM Ordain 5 Pastors to the Gospel Ministry

Five gospel workers were thoroughly reviewed for months and ultimately ordained during the Ministerial Ordination Ceremony at Kidapawan City Central Adventist Church on July 7. The ceremony was attended by administrators and officers of South Central Mindanao Mission (SCMM) and its supervising entity, the Southeastern Philippine Union Mission (SePUM), as well as fellow pastors, church members, and their immediate families.

SCMM is a new mission created by bifurcation from Southern Mindanao Mission and is operated barely six months after its creation. This ordination will expand the strength of the ministerial department and its attached ministries in serving the cities of Cotabato, Kidapawan, and Tacurong and the provinces of Maguindanao, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat (except the towns of Kalamansig, Lebak, and Palimbang; and the Bai Saripinang, Busok, and Knayao barangays of Bagumbayan).

Pr. Danielo Palomares, President of SePUM, with Pr. Edwin Magdadaro, SePUM Executive Secretary, and Ma’am Jill Palomares, Children’s Ministries Director and Ministerial Spouses Association President of SEPUM, officiated the ordination. The administrators, officers, staff, and field workers of SCMM, headed by their President, Pastor Welnie Q. Miado, fully supported the solemn ceremony.

The Ministry Magazine, published by the worldwide governing office of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, in its January 1955 issue concerning “Qualifications for the Ordination of Ministers,” says: “The spiritual growth of God’s people, their development in the virtues of Christ, as well as their relationship to one another as members of His body, are all closely bound up with and in many respects dependent upon the spirituality, efficiency, and consecration of those who minister in Christ’s stead.”

In its actual state, the church’s ministerial designation and staffing pattern are so well-organized that every worker who assumes territorial jurisdiction over God’s people should feel the rare opportunity so valuable as a priceless gift from God.

The reference we previously mentioned continued to enumerate qualifications by so saying, “Before hands of ordination are laid upon a worker, he should have given proof of experience in various types of ministerial responsibility; definite call to the ministry as a life work; entire consecration of body, soul, and spirit; spiritual stability; social maturity; a clear understanding of the Word of God; aptness as a teacher of truth; ability to lead souls from sin into holiness; fruitage in souls won to Christ; cooperative attitude and confidence in the organization and functioning of the church; a life of consistent, exemplary Christian conduct, and; an exemplary family.”

The ordinand workers who were ordained to answer the theme: “Serving God, Serving People Get Involved, I Will Go” are the following:

Pr. Lilio C. Bornales is the son of Noel Sr. (deceased) and Lolita Bornales and was born on September 13, 1981, in New Iloilo, Tantangan, South Cotabato. He was baptized to Adventism on October 14, 1994, at New Panay, Sto. Nińo, South Cotabato. He finished elementary at our church school, Banga SDA Elementary School. He graduated from Panay National High School high school and finished AB Theology at South Philippine Adventist College (SPAC) in 2006. His missionary experiences were serving the districts of Esperanza, Antipas, and Bagumbayan as district leaders, and he recently served Kidapawan Central Adventist Church as Church Pastor. He has conducted 20 evangelistic campaigns, became instrumental in baptizing 1,430 souls and established five churches. He married Ma’am Dezzy Ann Ranes-Bornales and had three sons, Czyrhil Fritz, Czyrhil Jhay, and Czyrhil Czar. Present during his ordination was his older brother, Pr. David Bornales, Executive Secretary of the Davao Mission of Seventh-day Adventists.

Pr. Danilo B. Mocoy is the son of Juan and Editha Mocoy. He married Ma’am Melody Pedaleńa-Mocoy, and they have three children and one grandchild. He was born on April 17, 1972, at Casunugan, Bato, Mati, Davao Oriental, and accepted Jesus through baptism on June 26, 2996, at Mati. He finished his early education at Casunogan Elementary School and Buso National High School and obtained his AB Theology degree at SPAC in 2006. He previously served Kidapawan Central Adventist Church and Sto. Nińo District. His present assignment is as District Pastor at Antipas, Cotabato. Along with our brethren, he conducted 25 evangelistic meetings, which brought 4,071 souls to the feet of Jesus and built five new churches for God’s glory.

Pr. Walter S. Padronia is thankful to his parents, Mr. & Mrs. Absalon and Esterlita Padronia, who molded him through prayers and obedience to God. He was born on June 30, 1974, at Kitob, Ba-o, Alamada, Cotabato, and was baptized to the faith on February 5, 1985, at Poblacion 6, Midsayap, Cotabato. He finished all levels of education at our Adventist schools, Katinggawan SDA Elementary School, Katinggawan Adventist Academy, and SPAC. After gaining his AB Theology diploma, he served Kalamansig District, Upi North and South District, Malandag, and Columbia Districts. He went back to his birthplace in Alamada to serve as district pastor. He organized and preached eight evangelistic meetings and initiated 884 baptisms and four church plantings. He is happily married to Ma’am Helen Fernandez-Padronia and they are blessed with two children.

A minister who followed in his father’s footsteps was the subsequent ordinance, Pr. Michael G. Tamayo, son of retired Pr. Efren and Mrs. Nerima Tamayo were born in the pineapple-abundant town of Polomolok, South Cotabato, on June 13, 1983. He was baptized in January 1996 at Polomolok West Central Adventist Church. He studied at Polomolok Central Elementary School, Matutum View Academy, an Adventist school at Acmonan, Tupi, and then graduated at SPAC in 2004 with a degree in Theology. His pastoral ministry evolved around the Tupi, Malungon, and Cotabato City districts. He organized and staged 22 evangelistic series, resulting in conversions of 1,200 newly baptized members and four church planting efforts to widen God’s ministry. He married Mrs. Lyn Osano-Tamayo, who helps him full-time.

From the diverse cultural communities of Sultan Kudarat came Pr. Justin Mar Calasagsag is one of the five ordinands. He is the son of Mr. Julito and Mrs. Marilyn Calasagsag and was born on November 18, 1995, at Isulan, Sultan Kudarat, and baptized at Isulan SDA Central Church on October 22, 2011. He finished elementary and high school at an Adventist-affiliated school named King’s College and finished Theology at Mountain View College in 2018. He worked as hospital chaplain of Gingoog Sanitarium and Hospital before moving to Bagumbayan, Sultan Kudarat, as district pastor. He did seven evangelistic meetings and had a baptism of 278 souls. He is married to Ma’am Ricka Janezza Paboreal-Calasagsag.

Our ministers are not looked up to by their accomplishments, education, and skills but by their dedication and faithfulness to their calling, for they are “a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God” (Rom. 1:1).

“The first office of one ordained to the ministry is that he should be with God. Only then is he qualified to go forth to men to preach the Word of God. One who is thus, consecrated and who enjoys constant communion with his Lord will join in the privilege of rendering complete service, refusing to be entangled in business for personal gain and other things of this world, that he may, by the grace of God, give complete devotion to the cause he loves.” Ministry Magazine, January 1955.

“A man can have no greater honor than to be accepted by God as an able minister of the gospel.”—Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles, p. 328. (SePUM Communication)