About Ekklesion

Ekklesion is something of a portal, directory or just quick reference of different Christian churches, chapels, parishes, and other places of worship in the Philippines under the jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Church. Information that I had included are addresses, contact numbers, and schedules of services. The management of this website is a one-person operation with some help from my immediate circle of friends, relatives, and acquaintances.

What kind of churches are included in Ekklesion?

Roman Catholic places of worships that are in the Philippines and open for public.

Open for public means anyone can just go in and attend the ongoing service or inquire for scheduling in the church office. Parishes, as well as the chapels under their jurisdictions, are examples of churches that are open to the public. Churches that might not be open for public include those that are within retreat houses and retreat centers (you can attend services only when you're having retreat there) and those that are inside Catholic school campuses that require you to undergo procedures such as showing your ID to the guard or scanning it (students and employees) or leaving your ID to get a gate pass (for visitors).

For example, you can attend the services of St. Vincent de Paul Parish without having to go through the guards of Adamson University since it is along the main road and can be accessed separately from Adamson. Thus, St. Vincent de Paul counts as open for public. On the other hand, the Pearl of Great Price Chapel is situated in the "deepest" part of De La Salle University campus far from Taft Ave. You have to be a student, employee or visitor (must leave your ID to the guard in exchange of gate pass) of De La Salle University before you can attend the services of Pearl of Great Price. Thus, Pearl of Great Price is NOT open to the public.

On the other hand, churches situated within gated communities will still count as open for the public since the basis for whether you should show an ID or not to the security guards is residency and not employment or being a student. Moreover, you can tell the guard that going to that specific church within the gated community is the reason for your visit and they will let you in.

I started this website with a specific plan of including only Roman Catholic churches. While there is a possibility that I will include churches of other Christian sects (it is something that I contemplate from time to time), I could not really tell when or if that time will ever come. Moreover, I'm not familiar how the churches of other sects operate. Can I just barge in there and take pictures? Can I ask anyone about the schedule of services without rising suspicion? I don't know. For now, it's best that I limit myself to Roman Catholic churches.

I'm also limiting the entries in this website to churches found in the Philippines. I'm not really that much of a traveler and thus, I cannot visit the churches outside the Philippines to get pictures and to verify information about them. If I force myself to include churches outside the Philippines, this website might turn into something I cannot manage.

To what extent can you guarantee the information provided in this website?

Information about the churches listed here in Ekklesion was obtained mostly from my personal visit to the churches and browsing their bulletin boards or schedules of services. I can also obtain information from friends that are connected to these churches, from the church official website if they have any, and from the website of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila.

While I'm doing my best to provide the correct and up-to-date information, I could not always monitor these sources. It is very much possible that the information I included in this website is correct at the time of their writing but has changed since then e.g., the pastor of the parish has been replaced recently. Moreover, the website of Archdiocese of Manila and most of the official websites of these churches are not frequently updated e.g., the former parish priest of a certain church is still listed as its parish priest more than two months after the said priest was moved to another parish.

Who operates Ekklesion?

Ekklesion was created, managed and updated by yours truly, Greten Estella. I have a degree in Physics from De La Salle University. My educational background was entirely provided by Catholic institutions: Saint Anthony School for my grade school and high school and De La Salle University in my college.