Inside INC

The death of INC leader Eraño Manalo, reminds me of my experience in becoming a “kapatid”, 13 years ago. Baptism in Iglesia ni Cristo can’t be achieved in a silver platter. A rigorous but interesting 4 months (if I’m not mistaken) awaits everyone. The first step is to attend the “Doktrina” officiated by one of their “ministro”. The doctrine is composed of 25 chapters (again, if I’m not mistaken), 3 were devoted to understand Jesus’ true “form”, God or Human. I remember during this sharing where I literally ask questions about anything that comes out of his mouth. To my surprise, he answered back without batting an eyelash and I felt satisfied about his explanations. I’m the most aggressive among the participants, understandably since I’m the only Catholic in the group. Aside from attending the doctrine, you are also required to attend the worship or “pagsamba” every Thursday and Sunday. I’m attending the doctrine in local of Pasig so if I will go to different local, I need to obtain a copy of “Katibayan ng Pagsamba” as a proof of attending the worship. If my memory serves me right, you need to complete a certain number of “pagsamba” for you to pass this stage. After finishing the doctrine and completing the required number of “pagsamba”, you will be briefed on what to do during the baptism day itself. I experienced to be submerged into cold water in their mini pool which is the culmination of the whole process. It was such a great experience which also opened my mind to a lot of things. Their practice is great to emulate. As a whole, I deeply admire their discipline. There’s no member of INC who doesn’t know their customs and their beliefs. They will have to go through the same process I’ve mentioned earlier so you can expect that every member of INC knew the reason of their existence. During “pagsamba”, they separate men from the ladies to avoid any distractions. Members who failed to attend the “pagsamba” for consecutive times will be visited by the “ministro” assigned on their places. There’s no written reprimand they’ll just want to know the reason why you’re not attending the “pagsamba”. I learned to wear polo and slacks and come on time or else I can’t enter the church. The controversial offering where other sectors claimed that inside INC you are forcibly charge to give a certain amount is not true. But what I’ve noticed is that most of them save a certain amount of money to be given on the month of December, thus the so called “ikapu”.

I will forever treasure my experience becoming one of them. Although I was eradicated (tiniwalag) from the Iglesia after my failed relationship with my ex-girlfriend, which, by the way was the reason why INC was introduced to me, their kindness will forever be remembered. “Opo, Siyanga po”.