QUEZON CITY, Philippines—The NCCP Ecumenical Ministry-UP Church of the Risen Lord (UPCRL) welcomed Reverend Emmanuel Bart Michael Kimwell of the Iglesia Evangelica Metodista en las Islas Filipinas (IEMELIF) as their new Chaplain and Senior Pastor on June 14, 2026.
Reverend Jon Dave Angeles, an IEMELIF pastor and the Vice-Chairperson for Youth of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP), administered the installation ceremony. He was joined by Bishop Noel Abiog, General Superintendent of the IEMELIF, the sending church of Rev. Kimwell.
Also at the ceremony was Ms. Sheila Ureta-Espiritu, Chairperson of the UPCRL Council. She presented Rev. Kimwell as the new Chaplain and Senior Pastor after he was chosen through their selection process.
Ms. Jennifer Ferrariza-Meneses was also there on behalf of the NCCP. She is the Executive Director of the Board of Women’s Work of the United Methodist Church, and the Vice-Chairperson for Women of the NCCP.
Reverend Elben Rodriguez, IEMELIF General Secretary, conveyed the greetings on behalf of their church. He said that Rev. Kimwell’s appointment as the new chaplain gladdened and encouraged their congregation, describing the role as both a privilege and a sacred responsibility.
“[A chaplain is] a person who can provide spiritual guidance, offer encouragement in times of difficulty, and serve as a living witness to the love and grace of God,” said Rev. Rodriguez.
The former architect now serving in ministry is expected to continue the NCCP’s decades-long grassroots ecumenical movement on campus.
Rev. Kimwell has been involved in the life and ministry of the UPCRL since February 2025. Prior to his appointment, he served as UPCRL’s youth director, organizing student worship services and bible studies. He also led midweek and evening services, occasionally covering for outgoing Reverend Callum Tabada of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, who served for six years.
During his first sermon as newly installed Chaplain and Senior Pastor, Rev. Kimwell reminded the congregation of the ‘gargantuan’ task that the followers of Jesus still have to accomplish, emphasizing that it goes beyond proclaiming the Good News just to win converts.
“Christ’s instructions focused more on becoming a presence of the kingdom of heaven to a world that thirsts and hungers for God’s love and grace,” said Rev. Kimwell. The Scripture reading that day was taken from Matthew 9:35-10:23, focusing on God’s plentiful harvest.
Each effort, he noted, is crucial in bringing God’s shalom on earth, explaining that God uses all kinds of people regardless of who they were and are. One does not need to be a pastor, a church worker, or a missionary to be a valuable worker in the eyes of God, because He equips with talents and skills those He has called.
Rev. Kimwell said: “If you are willing to be a witness for God—caring for, showing love to, helping, making relationships with and healing the harassed and helpless who come your way, being a bringer of Shalom to them—then you are a valuable worker in God’s harvest.”
The Church of the Risen Lord is an ecumenical chaplaincy ministry of the NCCP to the Diliman Campus of the University of the Philippines and its immediate community. It was established in the 1950s after the UP Christian Youth Movement (UPCYM), a group of Protestant UP students, led a movement in 1947 aiming to build a Christian presence on campus.
The UPCRL is a chaplaincy with an ecumenical congregation that runs the campus ministry in its evangelization and outreach to the UP Diliman community. As such, it does not belong to any one singular Protestant denomination but a coming together of Christians from the Trinitarian tradition of the Christian faith. #
