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Structured agency among Protestant full-time church workers in the Northern Philippines: A phenomenological inquiry


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Jay Emmanuel L. Asuncion
Cagayan State University, Tuguegarao City, Philippines
e-mail: buds12238@yahoo.com


AGATHOS, Volume 15, Issue 2 (29): 105-123, DOI 10.5281/zenodo.13948921
© www.agathos-international-review.com CC BY NC 2024


Abstract: The full-time workers of a Protestant church in the Northern Philippines have significantly altered people’s lives in the locality. However, scant studies have unraveled their significant role in transforming their local church and community. The phenomenological method was used to unravel the lived experiences of the ten (10) church full-time workers. Moreover, the role of structure and agency that influenced them have been explored. An in-depth interview was conducted among the study participants. Their narratives were transcribed verbatim. Clark Moustakas’ phenomenological analysis was employed to deduce the themes and to elicit the essence of their lived- experiences. This phenomenological study was anchored to descriptive phenomenology and Giddens’ structuration theory. Results showed that their life of poverty, the church’s doctrine, the spiritual guidance of the missionaries, and spiritual formation have both constraining and enabling power that shaped them to become effective church workers. They also experienced many challenges in serving their local church. However, they exercise their agency to go beyond constraints. Further, they passionately preached the gospel, serving their communities through relief giving and medical missions for spiritual and social transformation.


Keywords: lived experience, structuration theory, phenomenology, agency


Introduction

Social institutions emerge from the interplay of structure and agency, as articulated by Giddens (1984) and further explored by Lamsal (2012). These institutions are shaped by habitual interactions that embody this duality, particularly evident in religious institutions. The dynamics between structural frameworks and social actors contribute to the formation of norms and practices within these religious contexts. This ongoing interaction not only establishes a rich tradition and historicity but also embeds codes and values that are germane for social transformation (Kafid 2014; Erasmus 2015).

 Love, joy, and hope are but a few of the needs of an individual that religion tends to fill up. These exact words best describe the essence and function of religion. Religion is a vital social institution. The Latin word “religare” is the origin of religion, which means to tie or to bind. Some notable anthropologists and sociologists have described it as having diverse potential functions and playing a vital role in our society. While using the structural functionalist view, Radcliffe Brown emphasized religion’s cohesive function, which gives solidarity among people, especially during a crisis. It gives people a sense of shared identity and destiny (Eller 2009, 241). Durkheim (2001), in his study of Elementary Forms of Religious Life, pointed out that Religion is a social phenomenon with a social function as it gives social cohesion through a common belief. Affirming Emile Durkheim’s position, Turner used the term “communitas”. It refers to an intense community togetherness, integrated and bonded with a common spirit, a feeling of great social solidarity– to elaborate Durkheim’s idea of “effervescence,” which stressed the collective emotional intensity generated by worship. For Malinowski, it would give us the feeling of relief in times of fear and despair. Weber (2003) emphasized the role of religion in social mobility. Religion helps people to have a purposeful and meaningful life. However, the prevailing secularism in the contemporary period threatens the role of religion, which is brought about by newer structures in the post-modern period (Menhas et al. 2015, 27). These functions of religion are challenged because of the continuously evolving society.

 According to Davies (1976), the social problems of social conflict, violence, and revolution became new themes or pressing concerns of Christians due to the political awakening of the masses that were once acquiescent to the power structure, which now demands an equal distribution of power and wealth, even to the point of violent revolution. This instance necessitates a theological reflection in looking at the church as a spiritual entity and an agent of social transformation and how it would address the burdens of the marginalized and the oppressed. Religion should be relevant in providing solutions to society's present problems. Although Marx (1976) deliberately disregarded the importance of religion. He considered religion as the opium of the masses; Weber, on the contrary, thought that it was an instrument for social mobility.

 Interestingly, despite these religious issues, a religious institution has tremendously shaped people’s lives in the community in Northern Philippines. Missionary Kim Ja Sun and Missionary Kang Jeong In spearheaded the integral evangelization of the Reformed Protestant churches in Cagayan. They significantly influenced the life course of the whole province in the Northern Philippines, specifically among the full-time church workers. The full-time church workers have been trained through a rigorous spiritual discipline that made them significant actors in the province’s integral evangelization, which resulted in 36 established churches. The full-time church workers have been actively engaged in evangelizing missions, medical missions, and relief giving to disadvantaged people like prisoners and people with mental health conditions (Asuncion 2021, 48). However, there are few documented studies to unravel their lived experiences. There is also a dearth of studies integrating a theoretical analysis and phenomenological method in exploring the lived experiences of full-time workers of a Protestant church in Northern Philippines. Notably, there is a lack of study addressing how particular structures shaped the full-time workers and how they exercised their agency in becoming at the forefront of carrying and communicating the vision and mission of their local church.

 Given the preceding gaps, the study was conceptualized. This research generally aimed to describe the role of structuration and agency in the lived experiences of Protestant full-time church workers in Northern Philippines and explore how different factors influenced them in becoming full-time church workers. Particularly, this study sought to determine the following:

 a. Determine what different structures shaped the lived experiences of full-time church workers.

 b. Describe how different structures shaped the lived experiences of full-time church workers.

 Identify the different challenges and difficulties the full-time church workers encounter.

 Ascertain the role of agency in overcoming the different challenges and constraints they encounter.


Methodology

This phenomenological study used Husserl’s descriptive phenomenology as a methodology and a frame for understanding the life world of the protestant full-time church workers in the Northern Philippines. The researcher has purposively selected ten study participants for in-depth interviews.

 According to Husserl (1982), the phenomenological method has three steps. First is the epoche or bracketing or suspension of judgment. Detachment from one’s “natural attitude” is significant in this step. The “natural attitude” comprises one’s biases and prejudices to certain phenomenon. To elicit a thorough understanding of the lived experiences, one must bracket or suspend one’s judgment. The second step for him is the eidetic reduction. The phenomenon must be reduced to its essence. It is, though, reflective means that one can unravel the essence of a phenomenon. The transcendental reduction, which culminates all steps of Husserl’s phenomenological method, is the last step. In this step, the lived experiences are understood by both the actor and the one, and the experience is directed in a dialectical manner. A conscious perceiver also understands the intended experience in which the actor is conscious. The process completes the Husserlian phenomenological method. Welman and Kruger (1999) state that phenomenology emphasizes comprehending psycho-social phenomena from the perspectives of the people involved. It is concerned with the “lived experiences” of the individual. In phenomenology, the primary objective is to describe the phenomenon precisely and deduce its essence (Groenewald 2004; Greene 1997).


Data analysis

The researcher adapted Moustakas’ (1994) phenomenological mode of analysis, which has the following steps:

 Horizonalization: The first step in the phenomenological analysis, wherein every statement is recognized as having equal value (Ibid.). Only statements related to the lived experience of study participants were included. Overlapping and repetitive statements were deleted.

 Textual Description (First Reflection): The researcher assigned a code for the meaning units. It could be a word, phrase, or sentence. Also, the researcher used open coding that resulted in the formulation of textual themes.

 Structural Themes (second reflection): Based on the themes drawn from the first reflection, the researcher looked for patterns that have emerged from the themes. The researcher applied imaginative variation to identify how the different themes were influenced by context and setting. It resulted in the identification of structural themes or second reflection.

 Eidetic Insight (third reflection) The researcher reflected profoundly on basic norms, concepts, and principles underlying the textual and structural themes of lived experiences of the church full-time workers to articulate essential insights/postulates. The synthesis of which will constitute the Eidetic Insight. Finally, this resulted in the eidos or essence of the lived experience of full-time church workers. Dr. Ramirez (2007) posits this as the perceived ”nucleus of truth” of the phenomenon unveiled in narratives.


Results and discussion

These are the structural descriptions that came from the textual description of the co-researchers. Structure and agency were the two main themes of the study being framed from Giddens’ theoretical lens. Along with structure, five themes emerged. While for the agency, there were three themes, and four sub-themes were culled. The first five themes deal with the different contexts or settings that made them full-time workers. On the other hand, the succeeding themes would describe how their lives were transformed. Their narratives in overcoming the different challenges and difficulties in the mission field were also presented.


Structures

Hardship and poverty during childhood

The study participants or co-researchers experienced life of poverty, and being in troubled families. This is a common experience among them during childhood. Almost all of them belong to low-income families and come from remote areas. One of them would recall the hardship he encountered studying since his family had meager resources to support him. He would recount how hard studying was with insufficient finances. Another study participant also experienced the same circumstance. She would always use photocopies of textbooks since she could not buy new ones. She wrote promissory letters when she could not pay her tuition fee on time. She watched movies at her neighbor’s house, for which she was ridiculed. She recalled, “I was always ridiculed in my school since I could not pay my tuition fee on time, and even my neighbors despised me since I wanted to visit their place in order to watch television.” Another narrated that there were times when they did not have any money to buy food. So, they just eat what can be found in their kitchen and backyard. Usually, they eat camote (sweet potato) and rice mixed with oil and salt. He said, “We barely have enough to eat. We often eat camote or oil mixed with rice to fill us up.”

 Aside from poverty, they also narrated the many troubles they encountered while growing up. One of them witnessed how her mother became a battered wife. In order to save their lives, she, her siblings, and her mother jumped from the second-floor window of their house without hesitation. She said, “When I heard my father shouting Save your lives, and holding his bolo, I, my mother, and siblings hastily jumped from the window of our house’ second floor.” One of the pastors narrated how he witnessed the constant violence in their home; his parents constantly fought. He recalled, “Almost every day, my father and mother are fighting together. It is part of my daily life.”


Belief in predestination

All of the study participants believe in the doctrine of predestination as one of the teachings of Presbyterian. The doctrine states that God had already chosen those who would be saved before creating the world. The belief that they were chosen for God’s purpose has been one of the fundamental factors they could do well in their studies and finish college degrees. As chosen by God, they need to do better compared to others. One mentioned, “Before I became a church member and a Christian, I was lazy in my studies. When I learned that God had chosen me and believed in Jesus, I studied well and did better in school. I want people to see that there is something different from me compared to non-believers.”

 Since almost all of them belonged to low-income families, they were motivated to study hard and finish their respective degrees to help their families in the future. They believe that it is through education that they can alleviate their lives of misery and poverty. Although they struggled financially, this did not impede them from studying, learning, and acquiring knowledge in school. Moreover, they have tried their best to work and study hard ever since becoming a church member and believe that God has chosen them. It must be noted that all of them are professionals in their secular careers. They graduated from good schools in the country, and two of the pastors even got remarkable results in their professional licensure exam.

 Volunteering in their church for the mission work has been difficult for them. This means they need to give up their secular careers, and there is a possibility that they cannot be compensated well. However, they believe that God has called them for a greater purpose. This probed them into letting go of their desires to get rich, to have a high monthly income, and to accumulate wealth and resources for themselves and their family. One mentioned, “If I did not become a pastor, I might enjoy material wealth, worldly pleasures. There were a lot of opportunities for me to go and look for a secular job. However, I believe God has called me his servant.” God’s calling for them is very essential in not giving up and staying in the mission field. Without God’s call for them, it is impossible to withstand the challenges and hardships in the mission field. To work for the church manifests that God has called them and chosen them to give him glory. Their concept of God calling them is intertwined with God’s election for them as his chosen people before the creation of the world.


Influenced by the missionaries

The study participants heard about the gospel through the evangelism of Missionary Kim Ja Sun and Kang Jeong In, who went even to the far-flung areas in Cagayan. They believe that only by sharing the gospel can the people in the Northern Philippines be freed from superstition, vices, and corruption. They influenced the lives of the study participants greatly. The two missionaries spread the Word of God from place to place and led bible studies almost every day. Depending on schedule, they preached the Word every Sunday in two to three churches. Through the fervent sharing of the Word with the study participants, they were able to believe in Jesus, and from then, the gospel captured their hearts. Through the preaching of both missionaries, they were given hope that their lives would be changed someday. God would change their lives and even alleviate their poverty. Moreover, the missionaries have shared love, kindness, and generosity; they taught them to pray and even give anything in kind to those in need to express God’s mercy and grace through those compassionate acts.

 Since the missionaries have evangelized them, their lives have been significantly transformed. The missionaries have always been a significant figure in their faith journey. Missionary Kim starts the day by leading the early or dawn prayer at five in the morning. After delivering the Word, she would pray for every church member individually. Her life can be described as life of prayer.

 On the one hand, Missionary Kang is in charge of the church’s administrative role, such as taking care of the church’s finances aside from leading churches. She often prepares food for the church’s members and especially for the church’s workers. It is also good to note that she knows what members like and dislike, just like their food preferences. They take care of the members spiritually and even their physical needs. Often, they treat them in restaurants for fellowship. This is time for them to talk to members and full-time workers. If somebody is sick or in trouble, the missionaries will visit them. They will pray for the sick and troubled and sometimes give financial aid. They never stop serving the church and its members, especially the church workers.

 Essentially, the missionaries have devoted themselves to spiritual life. This encouraged them to live a pious and zealous life, sharing the gospel and teaching members the value of spiritual discipline. It was Missionary Kim’s spiritual devotion to have monthly fasting. The congregation members also followed her lead to have monthly fasting in the church. Moreover, she preaches every dawn prayer diligently despite her busy schedule. Every Sunday, both missionaries lead worship services in the remote areas in Cagayan. Their lives of passion and dedication have inspired the full-time workers and every church member.

  There were also some occasions when the missionaries would discipline congregation members. Rebukes are done publicly, like calling members’ attention in the congregation or private conversations with them most often. This action is to ensure the order and discipline of the church. Because of this, sometimes they are mistakenly identified as strict. However, the corrections and rebukes are done with good intentions to train members to be genuine disciples of Jesus. Everyone in the church admits the love and sacrifice of both missionaries. All are grateful that it is through the missionaries that they heard the good news about Jesus. Through the prayers and sacrifices of the missionaries, they have been encouraged to journey with their spiritual lives.


Significance of spiritual discipline

Admittedly, through prayer and by constantly reading and meditating on the words of God, the co-researchers became full-time church workers and overcame the difficulties and challenges in the mission field. It is through being rooted in the words of God that they remain steadfast in their faith. It is through prayer that their inner being commune with God. Prayer and the Words of God have been a regular habit among the study participants. Every day, they need to wake at five in the morning for the dawn prayer. Missionary Kim would often preach the Word. They will pray in one voice after the preaching. During the prayer, in one voice, roaring sounds and cries can be heard from them. The faithful full-time workers pour an intense emotional release in their prayer lives to commune with God. It will take an hour or more for them to pray. Aside from this, they have allotted personal time to read the bible.

 One of the most challenging trainings mentioned by the study participants is fasting. They needed to abstain from eating for three or more days. The church fasting is done every first week of the month. This spiritual habit helps them to deny themselves and live spiritually. Although fasting is challenging for them, it has been an enlightening experience for them to humble themselves to Almighty God. This spiritual act has also been helpful for them to discern the will of God.


Challenges and difficulties in the mission field

The study participant mentioned and described the mission field as a narrow road filled with a lot of challenges. One of the difficulties is being persecuted by their family. One of them narrated that since he became an active church member and later decided to become a full-time worker, he was ignored by his family. His family expected him to earn a lot of money in the secular world. since he decided to become full-time, he can only have enough means. At the same time, other challenges are due to some constraints in the church and danger in the mission field.

 Some of the study participants’ active membership caused the displeasure of their parents. This situation did not become easy for them. They narrated, “Our parents beat some of us because they would not allow us to attend the church.” One of them mentioned that all of his parents scolded him and asked him to leave their house and transfer to the church. Most of the co-researchers were persecuted by their families for being members of the church. This event tested their faith. Some of their families did not welcome their decision to be full-time workers because they did not have a high income in the church. However, they have always hoped and prayed that God would open the minds and hearts of their families. Indeed, God answered their prayers. Later, all of their family members became members and leaders of the church.

 Having multiple roles is a common burden among full-time workers. Having 36 churches and still growing, the lack of workers in the mission field is evident. This is the reason that all of them have multiple designations. Pastors are assigned to multiple churches and outreach Bible studies. This situation gives them limited time to do their role. Missionaries and Pastors each would have to lead three or more churches every Sunday. Some of them are also in charge of the administrative part of the mission. It makes them physically exhausted and vulnerable to diseases.

 Being in the mission field is being accompanied by a lot of dangers. In terms of traveling to reach their respective serving church, the pastors and missionaries needed to walk for long miles, cross rivers, and hike to mountains. There were times when their boat almost sank, and they almost drowned. There were times that they fell from their horses. There were also moments when aggressive people attacked them. However, this did not hinder them from proclaiming the gospel and serving their local church.


Agency: Transformed life

Search for meaning and purpose

The study participants confessed that they felt lost and asked the question of the purpose of life. After graduation and being employed in secular careers, something was lacking in them. This situation made them contemplate and decide to stay in the church to work full-time. All of them confessed that they were not satisfied with their jobs. What has given them a sense of purpose is in the church, doing the will of God, which they believed. One stated, “Working full-time in God’s vineyard has filled my emptiness.” Working in the mission field has been tiring for them, but it has given them a reason to wake up early in the morning and find joy in it. It has given them a sense of direction and purpose in life. It has made life more meaningful. Serving God and glorifying Him by forming Christian communities through evangelizing missions and building churches have been the purpose and meaning of life for them. Another study participant mentioned, “Working in the church made my life more meaningful. There is inner joy and peace in my life.”


Born again

One of the most common confessions among the co-researchers is how their hearts, minds, and actions were changed. Since they became church members and later full-time workers, their ways have changed. Before they think that material and worldly success is the most important in life. Before, some of them lived with pleasure and vices. Eventually, they have given up their worldly minds and self-seeking pleasure to follow Jesus. One of them confessed, “I learned and realized that I am sinful. All my ways and thinking are corrupt. Therefore, I repented on my sins and asked Jesus to save me. Little by little, my heart, and my thinking have been changed. It seems that I am a new person. I have been living a new life. Since then, I have given up all my vices and started following Jesus.”

 Before, they also dreamt of acquiring a lot of wealth and becoming rich. However, this was changed. They realized the value of being contented and trusting the providence of God in their lives. They learned to depend and put their trust in God for their daily bread. A male pastor mentioned, “I have a lot of opportunities to become rich. I gave that up in order to follow Christ. I made it a point to serve my church with my all.” Since they heard of the gospel, they started to follow Jesus, and they learned to give up their vices, they have given up their secular work, and they have devoted their lives to their ministry. Their lives mirror the power of the gospel to change the hearts and minds of people.


Overcoming Challenges

Despair to Hope

The study participants come from underprivileged families. Most of them are from the rural areas in the province. Their families are also problematic and troubled. Most of them grew up in an unhealthy troubled environment. Almost all of them did not have the means to study. They felt empty and hopeless at specific points in their lives, and they would like to give up in life. One thing that kept them going was the hope that they had received through the Lord Jesus. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one can come unto the Father except through me.” All of them have heard this during their younger days. They heard this gospel message. Despite all the difficulties and pressing challenges, even failures they had encountered, they learned to move forward with hope. This hope allowed them to stay committed and dedicated to their church.

 This hope is also the hope that ignites their passion for evangelizing, building churches, and giving hope to those weary and oppressed. This hope is the same hope that the missionaries have received to dedicate their lives to serving the mission field. Even though their bodies became weak and tired, even in sickness and to the point of death, they continued and persisted in declaring the gospel. Indeed they became hopeful that through the grace of our Lord Jesus, their lives have been transformed, in hope and prayer that people in the community can receive the same hope. That the poor, marginalized, and disadvantaged people can also receive the hope that they have.


A vision

It is also apparent that the full-time workers have developed a more excellent vision for themselves and their community. One has stated, “I learned to dream that my life will become better. Someday I could also be of help to the poor and needy, to be a channel of blessing to them.” This dream is one of the reasons the co-researchers became full-time workers. It is a dream that God has put in their hearts.

 The co-researchers vision is first to be personally transformed in order to influence changes in the institutions. To be the light and salt of this world is an essential part of their dream. In a darkened generation, they need to be a light. In a world filled with deceitfulness, they need to be men and women of integrity. They need not conform to the patterns of this world. Moreover, they need to be men and women of vision - a vision that someday this world will bow unto the Lordship of Jesus. Through the evangelizing mission, be it in sharing the Word in the church, in the education ministry, or in medical mission, Christ would be known. As it is written, “The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever” (Rev. 11:15). This verse contains their eternal vision and yearning.


Service to the community

The full-time workers were entirely devoted to carrying out the evangelizing mission in the whole province. Every Sunday, they lead three churches, and during the midweek, they lead prayer meetings in several churches. They serve their community spiritually in this way. They also take part in teaching little children through summer bible school every year. It has also been the tradition of their local church to give relief to mental hospital patients and prisoners. During Christmas, they give gifts to the widows, and senior citizens in their churches. Twice a year, they also take an active role in medical missions that their local church leaders. The medical missions cater to all people in the province. When there were disasters like floorings and disease outbreaks, the full-time workers were actively engaged in giving relief goods to the church members and even non-members who were affected. Non-profit-oriented schools were built to assist Christian education, especially in the rural areas of the province. Hence, full-time workers serve their local church and community spiritually and socially, hoping for a spiritual and social revival.


Eidetic insight

The eidetic insight or the essence of the study can be summed up with this statement: The structuration process and agency paved the way to the important formation and transformation of the Protestant full-time church workers in the Northern Philippines which propelled them to be agents of change in their community and wider society.


Discussion

Giddens particularly emphasized the duality of structure - the structures forming the actors simultaneously, the actors making new structures or transforming the structures in the exercise of their agency. In the contemporary period, Gidden’s (1984) theory became vital in analyzing the social system, emphasizing the dynamic role of structure and agency. Structuration refers to the “rules and resources that are drawn upon in the production and reproduction of social action, which are simultaneously the means of the system of reproduction.” Giddens (1984; 1993) asserts that structures are constraining and enabling, which underscores the duality of structure, referring to the interplay of the structure and agency for the transformation of social systems (Bryant & Jary 2001). This statement means that structures are both medium and outcome. Knowledgeable agents enact them towards the perpetuation of social practices. Structures and agents are not contradictory but presuppose one another (Seawell 1992). Lamsal (2012) affirmed the duality of structure. Moreover, he specified the agency of individuals in creating their environment, just like engagement in volunteer work. At the same time, Giddens also reacted to this structuralism of Durkheim. From the Themes culled, a lucid analysis of the lived experiences of full-time church workers concerning the role of structuration and agency espoused by Giddens will be discussed.

 The results revealed that structures like poverty, the doctrine of predestination, the leadership of the missionaries, and spiritual discipline formed the full-time workers of the church. The structures are at work in making them effective full-time workers of the church. These structures shaped and significantly influenced the full-time workers and had either constraining or enabling effects on them. Life of poverty, havoc, and troubles in their family paved the way to look for a refuge and a Saviour. Desperate and hopeful experiences have shaped them.

 The doctrine of predestination and their belief in the “chosen” enabled them to live differently. The study participants finished their studies despite the problematic circumstances they found themselves in, such as the situation of poverty. The same doctrine also propelled the full-time workers to be committed to the evangelizing mission. The rules, rituals, fasting, and dawn prayer served as the spiritual formation for the full-time church workers in the mission field and their ministry. They have also undergone a lot of difficulties and challenges. However, beating the odds, they do their tasks in the agency as free actors to improve the institution and become active participants in the evangelizing mission. Thus, they become agents of authentic transformation.

 To be elucidated in the context of the lives of the full-time workers, the different challenges they experience while remaining committed in the mission field can be realized through Giddens’ (1984) “duality of structure”, making Durkheim’s structuralism as an entry point. The structures act with external and constraining power which is socially motivated, affirming Hadden (1997) and Ritzer (1992). Emile Durkheim (2001), in his book, Elementary Forms of Religious Life, emphasized that religion binds people together through a common belief. Durkheim emphasizes his functionalist view on religion. It is related to his central concept of social facts that there is something outside and constraining the individual, which showcases his structuralist outlook. Hadden (1997) and Ritzer (1992) noted that for Durkheim, social facts are external and coercive to the individual. Therefore, they do not emanate from the individual but are from social forces external to the individual. A deeper understanding of social facts would be significant in understanding the role of structures in this study. Essentially, Durkheim’s conviction is that the day-to-day lives and actions of people are not primarily individually motivated. Instead, there is something in society that triggers an individual to act. It may come in the form of norms, laws, traditions, and practices that are integral in constraining an individual.

  Using Durkheim’s structuralism, people act primarily because of the externality and compelling factors. A group forms a collective consciousness to adhere to them. With this, the institution perpetuates itself and functions effectively through structured rules, policies, and sanctions. The workers of institutions are being trained and socialized, adhering to the external and constraining forces beyond the individual. On the one hand, Giddens’ “duality of structure” presents a deeper analysis of how actors exercise freedom with their agency as actors to go beyond the structure and become possible agents of transforming the structure of their local church.

 In this present study, in the lived experiences of full-time church workers, there is a social force that pushes them to act. These external and compelling forces have been part of the structure of the local church as an institution. Workers are compelled to abide by the prescribed rules of the church. However, in the study, structures are not just constraining the full-time workers but also enabling them to be effective church workers. Without those structures, the full-time workers should not have been as effective church workers as they are. Hence, the findings both affirmed Durkheim’s structuralism. However, it negates it in terms of the agency of the full-time church workers.

 Gidden explicitly reacted to this emphasizing the neglect of actors’ agency and their intentionality for social action, which must be considered. Using the lens of Giddens, the exercise of their agency (free actors), which could be present within the structures, enables them to transform the institution. Giddens’ structuration theory particularly noted the importance of actors as free agents perpetuating and perpetuating social life. Along with this line, it is necessary to note that a religious institution has institutionalized rules and policies in which the structuration process occurs. It yields the “production and reproduction of the system” (Giddens 1984). In a deliberate analysis, one could surmise that the full-time workers have been part of the social network as a whole. If not compelled, they function within the bounds of existing rules and resources. It is also within their capacity to consciously reflect and try to mediate and transform the rules in making a new production of social practices.

 In this case, the full-time workers are actors. They are free to act; they can either refrain or intervene in the institution’s production or reproduction of structures. Giddens suggests the importance of agency where the actions perpetrated by the full-time workers are not just mandated but could also be intentional. It is within the bounds of the discursive consciousness of the actors that they always know what they are doing. Although they experience difficulties imposed by the structure, like physical exhaustion, and their lives being in danger because of the mission field, they choose to stay in the mission field as an exercise of their agency. Being a full-time worker and committing their lives to their local church is their conscious choice. Moreover, they overcame the constraints imposed by structure by being committed to having a higher degree of participation to contribute efficiently to the local church and the community. By doing so, they become primary agents in the continuation or transformation to which they willingly committed themselves. In the context of the present study, it affirmed Lamsal (2012) on the role of agency depicted how the full-time church workers overcame the difficulties and challenges and consciously engaged in the different community activities of their local church for spiritual and societal transformation. The changed life of the study participants and their engagement to the integral evangelization, and social and spiritual transformation of their church and the community has made a great impact in the Northern Philippines.

 This is in consonant with the essential roles of religion and its undeniable function in the broader society. This is affirmed by several studies on the role of Religion in social transformation. Nur Kafid (2014), explicated how religion plays a vital role in changing individuals and society. Erasmus (2005) conducted a case study in South Africa. His study is consonant with the positive role of religion in social transformation. Both studies emphasized the impact of religion on individuals and society. The life of transformation among the study participants is parallel with the study, “’Anawim’ Faith-Life Community toward Renewal and Transformation: A Phenomenological Study” (2017). The author immersed himself in the rituals and practices of his local church, the “Anawim.” He mainly observed how the study participants translated faith into action. He described their lives as transformed life. The same conclusion was given by Esmeralda Sanchez in her study of El Shaddai. The study was an attempt to understand the Filipino Religious Movement by reflecting, describing, and analyzing the lived experiences of her six co-researchers. Results revealed the total dependence of the study participants on God. Each co-researcher and key informant also spoke of his/her struggle as an opportunity to be deeply related to God, an essential character of a spiritual journey. Reynaldo Romero’s (2006) study concluded that the spiritual experiences of pastoral workers resulted in profound personal transformation, which led to social change. Romero further discussed that social transformation manifested itself through the active participation of the pastoral workers in their respective communities. The studies show how religious beliefs and different religious structures, like their rituals and manner of worship, shape people. Fundamentally, it is the individual agency through the reflexivity of church workers in the context of this study that propelled actors to find meaning and purpose in their lives and be agents in giving hope to the people, especially those who are poor, disadvantaged, and marginalized.


Conclusion and practical implications

The study unraveled the role of structure and agency in the lives of full-time workers of a Protestant Church in the Northern part of the Philippines. The life journey of the full-time church workers revealed how their life of poverty, the doctrine of predestination, spiritual guidance of the missionaries, spiritual formation, and even the difficulties in the mission field have been significant to their lives of transformation. These structures are both constraining and enabling to them which molded them to become actively engaged, committed workers of their local church. Despite the difficulties and struggles they encountered in the mission field, they exercised their agency to overcome these struggles as full-time church workers. They become actively engaged in preaching the gospel and serving people, especially the poor and marginalized. Today, they become agents of transformation in their local church and community. Both structure and agency are significant factors in shaping the study participants and in carrying out the function of the church as a social institution. The findings of the study underscore that religion is germane to social transformation, particularly in addressing the burdens of the marginalized and the disadvantaged. Some salient points could be suggested to maintain the spirit of the Protestant full-time church workers in the Northern Philippines:

 1. The problem of scarce workers should be addressed. More workers should be added in order to solve the problem of multiple designation, and overwork.

 2. The physical well-being and health care should be taken into account. Hence, more health benefits should also be given, particularly to those workers who are in the future are retiring.

 3. It must also be noted that the full-time workers have been trained through rigid immersion in the mission field. Thus, if more workers would be hired, they must not come from the outside who have little knowledge and experience of the mission field.

 4. Since the members’ knowledge is advancing and developing along with their status in their local church, the full-time workers should undergo rigid advanced training in theology and ministry.

 5. Spiritual disciplines like dawn prayer and fasting should always be highlighted as a primordial part of the formation of full-time workers.

 6. The grassroots orientation of the local church should be despite the changes in members’ status. The church should always prioritize the poor, needy, and disadvantaged in society. They must be the evangelizing mission priority.


Acknowledgements: The author earnestly would like to thank his spiritual teachers who significantly influenced his religious views, his family, and the study participants’ voluntary engagement, and Cagayan State University. Without them, this study cannot be completed.


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