The network of Filipino Ministers in The United Church of Canada invites you to join them for a panel discussion about seeking God in the midst of every-day life.

In the cultures in the Philippines, theologizing is embodied in everyday life; not seen as a separate religious category or exercise. Faith grows out of our life-stories, turning points, crises and celebrations. God is active to shape and focus our everyday decision-making.

We’ve invited three Filipino ministers to reflect on their own faith-journeys, and describe how they have come to talk about God differently with each other, and with the congregations they lead. They’ll talk about how being immigrants to Canada has shaped their understanding of God, and how theologies emerging in the Philippines can enrich their life and work within the Canadian church and culture.

Join us to broaden your theological imagination!

Panelists, Topics, Bios

Kim Vidal: Women in ministry

Arising from exploring and grappling with difficult biblical, theological, doctrinal and spiritual questions concerning women in ministry, Kim found a new era in her faith journey as a member of The UCCan including ordination. She is currently engaging her congregation in a wholistic approach of “walking the talk” using the Mary and Martha paradigm as a living statement of faith.  She is focusing her God-talk on women in ministry.

Kim Vidal is currently serving Bells Corners United Church, now in her 11th year.  Kim was born in the Philippines and was baptized and confirmed in the United Methodist Church. She immigrated to Ottawa, Ontario in 1994 and transferred her membership to Wesley United Church (Ottawa) in 1995. She completed her Bachelor of Theology degree at St. Paul University in Ottawa (1996) and then garnered her Master of Divinity at Queen’s Theological College in Kingston, Ontario (2008). She was ordained at the annual general meeting of the Ottawa-Montreal Conference of the United Church of Canada in 2009.

Ariel Siagan: Christian activism in Filipino diasporic communities

Ariel will engage in God-talk about his journey of Christian activism, from the Philippines to Canada.  His story of immigration situates him simultaneously in two locations.  One in Canada, where he is physically located, and the other in the Philippines, where most of his loved ones are located.  His God-talk tells a story that carries over with him the concerns about his people’s experience of poverty, injustice, and human rights violations that are founded from colonial structures while still stubbornly existing and evolving into new forms.  He will highlight the process of politicizing theological resources that form and mobilize solidarity groups.  In that process, his God-talk includes the notion that politicization intends to reorient theological resources from its automatic drift in justifying new forms of colonialism to its advocacy of various impoverished communities.

Ariel Siagan is a PhD candidate and Sidney Childs Junior fellow at Trinity College of the University of Toronto.  He is the 2024 recipient of Margaret O’Gara Ecumenical Theology Scholarship Award. He is a part of Theology and Inter-Church and Inter-Faith (TICIF) group of The UCCan.  He is one of the commissioners of the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism of the World Council of Churches.  He currently serves as a minister at Asbury and West United Church (Toronto, ON).  Prior to coming to Toronto, he was a staff member of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines where he assisted on programs related to ecumenical and interfaith dialogue and indigenous people’s concerns.  He was originally ordained as a minister with the Evangelical Methodist Church in the Philippine Islands (IEMELIF).

Noel Suministrado: Exploring emerging Filipino theologies

Who are we?  Where are we?  What have we become?  And, where do we belong?  These questions are some of the issues that most migrant Filipinos have come to grips within Canada within and outside of the church.  These questions are filled with stories to tell, and also become sources of God-talk, our theologies.

Noel Suministrado was born in Tayabas, Quezon, Philippines.  He is an ordained minister of United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) and took his theological studies in Union Theological Seminary, Philippines, and the Master of Ecumenical Studies in Bossey Ecumenical Institute and University of Geneva in Switzerland.  Before he came to Canada, he taught Ecumenical Theology in Union Theological Seminary and was the first minister to be assigned in the Mutual Recognition of
Ministry Personnel Agreement program of The UCCan in 2017. He served Broadway Disciples United Church in Winnipeg for four years and is the present pastoral charge at Hamiota UC (Hamiota, MB).  Among his involvements in the United Church are: member of UCCan-Roman Catholic Dialogue and the International Dialogue of the Disciples of Christ -Roman Catholic Church, the Commission of Faith and Witness of the Canadian Council of Churches and is currently member of Theology InterChurch and InterFaith Committee (TICIF) of the United Church of Canada.

Emo Yango   Panel moderator

Emo Yango works for The United Church of Canada as the Growth Coordinator for emerging migrant/diasporic/intercultural communities of faith.  This work includes facilitating an emerging Indigenous-Racialized youth community of faith with another staff and supporting the Ethnocultural Networks in the United Church.  He also coordinates the Racial Justice courses offered in ChurchX.  Emo immigrated to Canada in his early teens.  He graduated from Ontario Bible College (BA Theology), Fuller Theological Seminary (MA Intercultural Studies) and Asia Graduate School of Theology (DMissiology).  He had previously worked in international development among militant Muslim communities, taught interfaith/ecumenical peace-education and coordinated church plant team initiatives in Asia.