Director, Doctor of Ministry Program
Professor of Worship and Resistance Liturgics
[email protected]
Ferdi teaches liturgy, history of Christianity, and indigenous peoples’ theologies. He did his studies at the University of Leeds (PhD, 2006), the University of Edinburgh (MTh, 1998), Silliman University (MDiv, 1991), and Union Christian College (BA, 1987).
Some of Ferdi’s works on liturgy, resistance liturgics, and indigenous theology have been published by Regnum, Wiley-Blackwell, ISPCK, Wipf and Stock among others. His research interests include resistance liturgics, indigenization and contemporization of congregational worship, indigenous people’s theologies, popular Christianity, new religious movements, and history of Christianity in the Philippines.
An ordained minister the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, Ferdi pastored churches in North Luzon Amburayan Conference of the UCCP and the Edinburgh Presbytery of the Church of Scotland. He is currently a member of the Faith and Order Commission of the UCCP.
Amihan L. Asi
Theological Librarian
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Amihan L. Asi is a registered librarian, licensed professional teacher, and ordained minister of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP), currently serving in the United Batangas Conference.
She earned her Master of Divinity from Silliman University Divinity School in 2013. As an ATESEA Scholar, she completed her Master of Information and Library Science at Central Philippine University in Jaro, Iloilo, in 2019, equipping her for specialized ministry in theological librarianship. She is currently pursuing the Doctor of Theology (ThD.) program at the Graduate Theological Union Philippines (GTUP), further deepening her engagement in theological scholarship and research.
As a theological librarian, Amihan is committed to advancing theological education through innovative library services, resource development, and research support. Among her notable contributions is the successful development and implementation of the Library Development Project through the CCTEF. Now in its Phase III, the project continues to enhance digital library services, strengthen information access, and expand theological resources in support of teaching, learning, and research.
Eric P. Baldonado
Director, Master of Theology Program
Convener of the Center of Ecumenics, Justice, and Peace
Lecturer of Historical Theology and Denominational Polity
[email protected]
Eric P. Baldonado is Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology, Ecclesiastical History, and
Reformation Studies at Union Theological Seminary. An ordained minister of the United Church
of Christ in the Philippines, he brings three decades of pastoral ministry, including eight years as
Conference Minister of the Upland Cavite Conference, into dialogue with his academic leadership.
He graduated summa cum laude in both Theology and Divinity, and later earned advanced degrees
in Theology, Transformational Leadership, and Church Management. His ecumenical formation
includes study and fellowships in Indonesia, Taiwan, Ukraine, Germany, and the Netherlands.
Currently a Ph.D. candidate at the Theological University of Utrecht, his research focuses on
contextual Reformed theology. Beyond numerous articles, he is the author of From Propaganda
to Mission: Upholding Integrity in Ecumenical Engagements (Ekpyrosis Press, 2026). Through
his integration of faith, history, and culture, he continues to inspire communities and contribute to
the future of theological education.
Wesley Cabansag
Community Chaplain
Convener, Center for Ministries (UGAT)
Lecturer for Worship and Liturgics
[email protected]
Frank J. Hernando
UTS President
Lecturer for Pastoral Care and Counselling
[email protected]
Connie Semy P. Mella
Professor of Biblical Studies
[email protected]
Rev. Dr. Connie Semy Mella is an ordained minister of The United Methodist Church, a biblical scholar, and an educator committed to forming faithful, thoughtful, and compassionate Christian leaders. As a faculty member at Union Theological Seminary, she teaches Biblical Studies, Hermeneutics, the Hebrew Bible, Biblical Languages, and Theological Research, encouraging students to engage Scripture with academic rigor, contextual awareness, and a heart for ministry.
Her scholarship explores biblical hermeneutics in Asian contexts, Old Testament theology, ecological theology, decolonizing education, and leadership formation. Beyond the classroom, Dr. Mella serves as Executive Director of LEADhub Philippines and Southeast Asia of the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry and as Chairperson of the Education and Theological Education Committee of the World Methodist Council, working with churches and educational institutions to strengthen theological education and leadership across the worldwide Methodist community.
Whether teaching, mentoring, or speaking at ecumenical gatherings, Dr. Mella is dedicated to equipping leaders to faithfully integrate biblical wisdom, theological reflection, and transformative service within the Church and society.
Sianne Gabor-Mendoza
Lecturer, Hebrew Bible (On Study Leave)
[email protected]
Sianne is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Biblical Studies (Old Testament) at the Global Institute of Theology, United Graduate School of Theology, Yonsei University in South Korea. Her current advanced research bridges strict textual analysis with contextual hermeneutics, a trajectory highlighted by her recent participation and presentation at the Society of Asian Biblical Studies (SABS) Conference.
She holds a Master of Theology (2019) from Silliman University Divinity School, where she authored the thesis, “A Hermeneutical Examination of Leviticus 20:13 and Isaiah 56:3-5: Relevance to LGBTQI Community.” Sianne’s deep academic work is anchored by over two decades of ministry; she began her journey at 17, earning her Bachelor of Theology in Liturgy and Music (cum laude, 2006) from Silliman University, and was ordained to the ministry on April 16, 2011. An ordained minister of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP), she has served as Administrative Minister across various local churches in the Agusan District Conference, including UCCP congregations in Bangonay, Colorado, Jabonga, Butuan City, Cabadbaran City, and Tungao, prior to joining the faculty at Union.
Seungbum Kim
Assistant Professor of Theology and Ethics
Chaplain, Salakot Ecumenical Church
[email protected]
Rev. Dr. Seungbum Kim is an ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church of Korea (PCK) and serves as Assistant Professor at Union Theological Seminary in the Philippines and Partner In Mission (PIM) with the Council for World Mission. As a transnational theologian working across Africa and Asia, he ministered for over fifteen years in South Africa and Eswatini, engaging in pastoral ministry, theological education, community development, and medical mission among marginalized communities. He also served with the National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK), contributing to ecumenical and public theological witness.
He earned his M.Th and Ph.D from the University of Pretoria in Christian ethics, dogmatics, and liberation theology, and holds a Master of Social Welfare from the University of Seoul. He is a licensed Social Worker (Level 2) in Korea.
His work bridges Black Theology of Liberation and Minjung Theology, advancing a prophetic and decolonial theology that resists neutrality and embodies justice, solidarity, and transformative mission in the Philippines and the broader Global South.
Carleen Nomorosa
Coordinator, Field Education
Convener, Center for Women and Children
Lecturer for Christianity and Culture
[email protected]
Dean, Office of Student Affairs
Convener, Center for Gender and Sexuality
Lecturer, Biblical Studies
[email protected]
Kakay Pamaran serves as the Dean of Student Affairs at Union Theological Seminary. She teaches courses in New Testament Studies and is Convenor of the Seminary’s Center for Gender and Sexuality. She is also Director of the UTS Innovative Theological Education Program.
She serves as Lecturer and Resource Speaker for the National Council of Churches in the Philippines in its Summer Internship Program, its HIV AIDS Education Program, and its Gender Justice Seminars. She also serves as Resource Person for various programs of the Council for World Mission (CWM), the World
Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) and the World Council of Churches (WCC). She is part of the Curriculum Writing Team of the CWM’s Theological Education for an Economy of Life (TEEL) offering.
She has a BS Psychology degree from Silliman University, a Master of Divinity, and a Master of Theology in New Testament Criticism and Historical Jesus Research from Union Theological Seminary, Philippines.
Kakay was a former Pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church Quezon City and is a member of GIN-SSOGIE (Global Interfaith Network for people of all Sexualities, Sexual Orientations, Gender Identity and Expressions).
Jarwen Grason A. Reyes
Director, Theological Education by Extension (TEE)
Lecturer, Christianity and Culture
[email protected]
Rev. Jarwen Grason A. Reyes, J-ar, is an ordained minister of the Iglesia Unida Ekyumenikal, currently pastoring at SPCCC Don Toribio M. Teodoro Memorial Church. A licensed Electronics Engineer, he brings a rare blend of technology-oriented and pastoral-guided depth into his ministry.
He is the Director of the Theological Education by Extension and a faculty member at UTS. He earned his Master of Divinity at Union Theological Seminary, graduating Magna Cum Laude in 2021, and later completed his Master of Theology at the same institution. Rooted deeply in the passion for journeying the call, he embraces a theology of transformative communal learning from below—one that listens before it leads, and walks alongside rather than ahead. For him, ministry is not a position to hold, but a journey shared, shaped in community, and grounded in humility.
Deborrah Ramos Reyes-Anno
Convener, Center for Arts, Liturgy and Music
Associate Professor of Music and Liturgy
[email protected]
Deborrah Ramos Reyes teaches music and liturgy, directs, the Union Theological Seminary Choir and convenes the Center for the Arts, Liturgy and Music. She completed her studies at Philippine Christian University (Ed.D., 2017), Philippine Women’s University (M. Music, 2011); BM in Voice 2002; BM Music Education, 1994) and Union Theological Seminary for her Certificate in Theological Studies, (2005).
Debbie sings soprano and was member Professor Lucrecia Kasilag’s (National Artist for Music) Philippine Women’s University Ensemble. In her capacity as UTS Choir director and faculty member she has organized and co-organized choir tours and performances in various parts of the country and abroad and is currently engaged in research on the indigenization of music in congregational worship among UCCP churches in the upper Abra region.
A diaconal minister of Upland Cavite Conference of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, Debbie is also founding president of the Ecumenical Association of Church Musicians in the Philippines, and a member of the Philippines Choral Director’ Association and the Concerned Artists of the Philippines.
Lecturer for Christian Education (On Study Leave)
[email protected]
Hazel Joyce D. Salatan is the Registrar of Union Theological Seminary. She teaches courses in Christian Education and also serves as Online Education Specialist. She is a licensed professional teacher and an Ordained Elder of the United Methodist Church.
She has a BA in Philosophy and Legal Studies from Saint Louis University, Baguio City and was taking up Law before she decided to take her Master of Divinity at UTS where she graduated Magna Cum Laude in 2019. She completed her Master of Theology degree in 2021, her thesis focused on decolonizing religious education. She also has six certifications in online and distance education.
She served as Administrative Pastor of the Mustard Seed United Methodist Church in Silang, Cavite from 2019 to 2021; was Student Chaplain at the NCCP’s Ecumenical Ministry at the UP Church of the Risen Lord; was Coordinator of the LUMAD Bakwit Iskul at UTS; and was Pastor at Lupang Ramos, an organized farming community working for genuine land reform in Dasmarinas, Cavite.
Lizette Tapia-Raquel
Academic Dean
Associate Professor for Theology and Ethics
[email protected]
Lizette G. Tapia-Raquel, PhD, is an Associate Professor and the current Academic Dean at Union Theological Seminary, Philippines, where she has specialized in Christian Ethics, Feminist Theology, and Christian Theology for nearly two decades.
A dedicated feminist liberation theologian, Dr. Tapia-Raquel is a prominent advocate for human rights, inclusivity, and the empowerment of women and youth. Her academic foundations include a Bachelor of Science from the University of the Philippines, Diliman, followed by a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary and a Master of Theology from the Southeast Asia Graduate School of Theology. She earned her Doctor of Philosophy from the Global Institute of Theology at Yonsei University, South Korea.
Her extensive scholarship focuses on the intersection of gender and faith, with notable works including The Church’s Violence Against Women under Spanish Colonization and The Assumption of Desire: Towards a Feminist Theology of Incarnation.
An ordained deacon of the United Methodist Church, Dr. Tapia-Raquel holds significant leadership roles within the denomination, currently serving on the Committee on Faith and Order and the Study of Ministry Commission, to which she was elected by the Council of Bishops.
Rev. Lilibeth Tauy‑Tendero
Registrar
Lecturer for Christian Education
[email protected]
Rev. Lilibeth Tauy‑Tendero is an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines and serves as Registrar and Faculty member at the United Theological Seminary, where she teaches Christian Education. Deeply rooted in the conviction that learning is a lifelong and transformative journey, she embodies the calling to “never stop learning and growing.”
Rev. Tauy‑Tendero is passionate about walking alongside co‑learners in diverse and inclusive spaces, nurturing, empowering, and contextually grounded learning experiences that inspire faith, growth, and shared wisdom.
Revelation E. Velunta
Professor for New Testament Studies
[email protected]
Revelation Enriquez Velunta is Professor of New Testament and Cultural Studies at Union Theological Seminary, Philippines where he’s taught for 24 years. He also serves as Executive Secretary of the Graduate Theological Union of the Philippines.
He has taught or lectured at the Asian Forum of Theological Movements (AFTM) in Jorhat, India (October 2025) and in Bali, Indonesia (March 2025), at the Council for World Mission School on Intersectional Ecotheology and Ecojustice Witness (SIEEW) in South Africa 2024 and in Zambia 2023, at the World Communion of Reformed Churches’s Global Institute of Theology at Pacific Theological College (Fiji, 2023), at Lutheran Theological Seminary (Hong Kong, 2019), at Yu-Shan Theological College and Seminary (Taiwan, 2018), at Teologiska Hogskolan Stockholm (Sweden, 2006 and 2011), and at Vanderbilt University (USA, 1999-2002).
Velunta did his studies at UTS, Princeton Theological Seminary, and Vanderbilt University. Most of his works are available on Amazon.
Professor Emeritus
Eleazar S. Fernandez
Professor of Theology and Religious Studies
[email protected]
Ely received his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, Master of Theology (ThM) from Princeton Theological Seminary, Master of Divinity (MDiv) from Union Theological Seminary, and Bachelor of Arts (BA) from Philippine Christian University. He also had the privilege of teaching in other educational institutions in the U.S. (United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities in Minnesota, Drew University in New Jersey, Metropolitan State University in Minnesota, and Pacific School of Religion in California) and abroad, such as Myanmar (Lisu Theological Seminary) and Cameroon (Universite Protestante D’Africque Centrale, Faculte De Theologie Protestante De Yaounde).
Dr. Fernandez is an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines. He has a
dual standing with United Church of Christ USA.
He is an author of several books and articles. Among his writings are Teaching for a Multifaith
World (editor, Pickwick, 2017), Teaching for a Culturally Diverse and Racially Just World (Editor,
Cascades, 2013), New Overtures: Asian-North American Theology in the 21st Century (editor,
Sopher Press, 2012), Burning Center, Porous Borders: The Church in a Globalized World (Wipf
and Stock, 2011), Reimagining the Human: Theological Anthropology in Response to Systemic
Evil (Chalice Press, 2004)), Realizing the America of our Hearts: Theological Voices of Asian
Americans (co-editor, Chalice Press, 2003), Hacia Una Teología De La Lucha, Translated by Jesús
Valiente Malla (Estella, Spain: Editorial Verbo Divino, 2002), A Dream Unfinished: Theological
Reflections on America from the Margins (co-editor, Orbis Books, 2000), and Toward a
Theology of Struggle (Orbis Books, 1994).
His areas of teaching and research interest are:
Constructive Theology, Christian Political Ethics, Theological Anthropology, Global Christianities,
Theologies of Religion and Interfaith Engagement, Globalization and Mission, Migration and
Theology, Theologies from the Global South, Theological Method and Hermeneutics, Holistic
Spirituality, and Global Immersion Trips.
Antonio P. Pacudan
Professor of Homiletics and New Testament
[email protected]
Antonio P. Pacudan earned his Bachelor of Arts (A.B. – Cum Laude) degree at Northeastern College, Santiago City, Isabela in 1983; his Master of Divinity (M.Div. with Honors and Preaching Award) degree at Union Theological Seminary in 1987; his Master of Theology (M.Th.) at the Southeast Asia Graduate School of Theology (SEAGST) in 1998; and his Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Religious Studies at Philippine Christian University, Manila, (2012).
He is an ordained minister of The United Methodist Church. He has twenty years of pastoral experience where he served congregations in the provinces of Ifugao, Quirino, and Isabela, prior to his appointment as faculty of Union Theological Seminary in 1998. He also served as secretary of his conference from 1989-1995; Chaplain of Eveland Christian College in San Mateo, Isabela from 1988-1991. He is a member of the Northeast Luzon Philippines Annual Conference (NELPAC).
He is presently the Director of UTS’s Theological Education by Extension (TEE) Program. He also teaches Homiletics, Biblico-Theological Reflection (BTR), and Electives in New Testament studies (Parables of Jesus, Johannine Writings, and Pauline Epistles). In the doctoral program, he teaches Biblical Hermeneutics for Ministry in Asian Setting. He is the adviser of the Interim Student Government (SY 2020-2021).
He is a member of Society of Biblical Literature (SBL), Philippine Christian Educators Association, Philippine Theological Society, and Religious Educators Association of the Philippines (REAP).
He has written a Study Guide for the TEE students entitled, “Jesus in the Gospels: An Introduction to the Life, Works and Teachings of Jesus” (1999). His articles published in the Union Seminary Bulletins and Journals are: “The Greatest Among You Must Be Your Servant” (2002), “Martha’s Discipleship: Feminist Interpretation Based on Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza’s Hermeneutical Model” (2006); “Christology in the Book of Revelation” (2007); “A Comparative Study of Karl Barth and Paul Tillich’s Perspectives on Inter-Faith Dialogue” (2015) and “Biblical Preaching in the Context of Philippine Society” (2019).
