Earlier this week, we received the news of Rev. Dr. Afrie Songo Joye’s passing. Rev. Dr. Joye was a retired elder in the California-Pacific Conference. Bishop Escobedo-Frank shared that “Rev. Dr. Afrie Songo Joye is one of the saints who paved the way for justice and transformation in the church and the world. We receive her legacy and promise to carry on with the work she so diligently fought for.” As we mourn this loss, several clergy in our conference shared the following remembrances of Rev. Dr. Joye:
A beloved colleague and friend, the Reverend Doctor Afrie Songco Joye has died. I give thanks for her life and ministry among us. During our long struggle as a denomination to affirm our LGBTQ friends and colleagues, Afrie was a supportive witness to God’s inclusive love. For two years, she worked alongside Rev. Ignacio Castuera, serving the Hollywood United Methodist congregation, and when she learned that I was to be appointed there in 1996, she let me know that she celebrated the news and thought I was just the right person for providing pastoral ministry in that setting. I felt her encouraging support. Throughout my years of service, Afrie treasured coming back to HUMC in the summers to preach. Along with her social witness, people appreciated Afrie’s empathy and pastoral care. She was a gift to us. Her absence from the body is a loss. Thank you, Afrie, for serving among us.
– Rev. Ed Hansen, pastor emeritus, Hollywood UMC
A champion of justice has joined the great cloud of witnesses cheering us on who remain in the struggle. The Rev. Dr. Afrie Songco Joye, a prophetic force, was my Christian Education professor at Union Theological Seminary, Philippines. She was a United Methodist Deaconess and Elder. A fierce ally of the LGBTQ+ community, Dr. Afrie was a Reconciling United Methodist and provided scholarship support to LGBTQ+ seminarians. She was a justice-seeker in the classroom and the streets. As a dog lover, I most fondly remember her adopting and caring for all the stray dogs on our seminary campus. She was a loud voice for the inclusion of all and a joyful storyteller that inspired those who listened and walked with her. With a grieving and crying heart, I mourn the loss of a beloved professor and friend. But she is now in glory! Dr. Afrie, will miss you dearly.
– Rev. Dr. Israel I. Alvaran, D.Min., Director of United Methodist Connections, Reconciling Ministries Network
My heart broke when my friends Joel Bengbeng and Levi C Bautista at our GBCS Board meeting let me know that our Ate Afrie Songco Joye had passed. She indeed was a champion for justice, but she also held a special place in my heart. I have always called her Nanay (mother), ever since she invited me to stay at her home on campus at Union Theological Seminary in the Philippines after our fact-finding and medical mission in Mindinao. Over the years and even until recently, we would send texts back and forth and give each other great big hugs when we were united at annual conferences. I shall miss my crazy, funny, sharp as a whip Nanay Afrie and so will many. Rest in Power, dear one.
– Rev. Allison Mark, Senior Pastor of Faith UMC of Torrance
I was blessed to know Ate (“older sister) Afrie both while serving appointments in Cal-Pac and while serving on the staff of GBHEM. In my own ministry in Cal-Pac, Afrie was a source of inspiration because of her commitment to justice and inclusion and a source of personal encouragement and support as a mentor and friend. But it was when I visited her at her home in the Philippines during a GBHEM visit to Union Theological Seminary that I understood the full impact of her ministry. I remember her joy in welcoming me to her beloved UTS, where her teaching and leadership reflected academic excellence and a commitment to peace and justice. I learned of her love of animals as she drove me around her neighborhood to help her feed the dogs in the community. And I heard countless stories from others of her faithful activism for the poor in the Philippines. Afrie’s commitment to living out her faith in solidarity with the marginalized, her deep compassion, her boundless energy, and her joyful smile were an embodied witness to the Gospel and are an enduring legacy.
– Rev. Dr. Shannon Conklin-Miller, Chief Connectional Relations Officer, General Board of Higher Education and Ministry
It was with profound grief that I received the news that we had lost Rev. Dr. Afrie Songco Joye this week. Rev. Dr. Afrie served our congregation faithfully as the first woman and first Asian pastor in the lead role at Hollywood UMC, sharing the work during her tenure with the Rev. Dr. Ignacio Caustera. As the third woman to serve in that role, I have been so grateful for the encouragement she has offered to me, always filled with wit and wisdom. We were looking forward to having her visit and preach for us in the pulpit of Hollywood UMC this summer, but will console ourselves with the knowledge that she will be remembered well and spoken of with honor in the story of our community.
– Rev. Hannah Adair Bonner, Senior Pastor, Hollywood United Methodist Church
We will share more information as it is available.
