Bishop Dionisio Deista Alejandro: First Indigenous Filipino Bishop

Dionisio Deista Alejandro was the first native Filipino elected a bishop of the Methodist Church in the Philippines.  In his lifetime of ministry, he served as an editor and educator and was well known as a gifted evangelist and leader.

The first American Methodist missionaries arrived in Manila in 1898.  As a young boy, Dionisio became an interpreter for American missionaries in his hometown of San Isidro, Nueva Ecija. His contact with the missionaries ignited an early passion for the church. He was baptized at the age of 13 and became an active member of the Methodist youth group. It was also in his hometown where he encountered Rev. Cirilo Kasiguran, the first Filipino evangelist in Nueva Ecija, whose profound effect on him led him to become an evangelist himself. 

In the summer of 1911 at age 18, Alejandro arrived at Asbury College in Wilmore, Kentucky to pursue a degree in philosophy and prepare himself for the ministry. In his final year, he felt an assurance of his salvation similar to John Wesley’s Aldersgate experience. Alejandro wrote in his diary about his “Canaan Land” experience, “For some time I had walked in faith concerning my sanctification, but I had not the witness of the Spirit. This morning I went before Him in prayer, seeking to know His will concerning me. There was a deep consciousness that I was fully cleansed and that my poor heart was flooded with joy unspeakable, and full of glory. Amen! Glory to His name! Praise the Lord! I am sanctified!”

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