One of the key by-words immediately before, during and immediately after Vatican Council II was “reading the signs of the times”. This expression though somewhat of a cliche right now, characterizes the spirit of the post-Vatican II Church and its deep longing to respond to the “joys and hope, the grief and anxieties of the men of this age, especially those who are poor or in a any way afflicted.” A very significant off-shoot of the realization that evangelization must take as its starting point the concrete realities of the world in which we live–which is basically what the “signs of the times” refers to–is the notion of “Integral Evangelization Evangelii Nuntiandi and adopted by the Theology Division of the Ateneo de Davao University as the basic framework of our teaching and research. This article is an attempt to summarize and integrate the more significant elements in the masteral theses done by four of our Graduate Students during the past 5 years in connection with Integral Evangelization.
Three of the theses are concerned with various aspects of Integral Evangelization in the context religious formation in specific Catholic schools and the fourth attempts to evaluate a Church-based formation program from the same perspective. In choosing a school context, the researchers expressed similar motives for for that choice. The most immediate motivating factor was that they are all involved in religious education in one of other of the schools under study. They therefore expressed the hope that the fruits of their studies would provide a concrete basis for evaluating and improving the efforts of their various institutions to foster Integral Evangelization in their school communities. They attempted to justify this concern on several grounds, the most basic of which was the challenge of Pope Paul VI, already mentioned above, and the general directives of the Congregation for Catholic Education for Catholic Schools which make it clear that effective religious formation must have as one of its main concerns the need to prepare those being formed to live a meaningful and relevant Christian life in the midst of the concrete realities of the world of today. The urgency of taking these directives seriously was heightened for them by the result of several general surveys, conducted by various groups, that showed a basic gap between the content of many religious education programs and the daily lives of those who had been exposed to them. This in addition to the often heard criticism of Catholic schools as being contributors to rather than providers of solutions to the dehumanizing socio-economic and political realities of most Christian Third World countries, has admittedly made them aware if the need to make a more conscious effort to promote Integral Evangilization in the schools they studied.
In addition to the factors already mentioned above as contributory to the choice Integral Evangelization as the basis for these studies, another closely related issue is the widespread influence of the so-called “Theology of Liberation” that has made such a profound impact on theological reflection in Third World countries like the Philippines. As noted especially by Sr. Florencia Isidor, P.M., in her thesis, the complexities of this theological approach and the confusion that it has caused make it imperative that any attempt to apply the principles of Integral Evangelization follow closely the basic guidelines given by Pope Paul VI in Evangelii Nuntiandi. Her study is more directly involved with this aspect of the question than the other three.
PERCEPTION OF EVANGELIZATION
The thesis of Sr. Florencia, entitled “A Theological Analysis of the Perception of Evangelization Among the Faculty and Staff of Two Presentation of Mary Schools”, was an attempt to determine the basic theological orientation of the Faculty and Staff of St. Peter’s College (SPC) of Toril and Holy Cross College of Calinan (HCCC), both in Davao City. (Her reason for focusing on the Faculty and Staff, rather than on the students, in her belief that the agents of Christian Formation are crucial to an effective program of education.) The basic instrument for the study was a questionnaire made up of 30 statements which reflected three different orientations, namely, a more traditional (i.e., pre-Vatican II) orientation; an Integral Evangelization orientation; and a secularist (i.e., an irreligious) orientation.
Before discussing the results of the study, it might be of help to look at one attempt to identify the distinguishing characteristics of the first two orientations mentioned above. The third orientation simply means either denying or ignoring any religious or theological dimensions to the task of responding actively to the socio-political and economic problems with which Integral Evangelization is concerned. In an article written to clarify some of the issues raised by Pope Paul VI’s discussion of Integral Evangelization approaches or orientations. The first distinction made by Fr. Arevalo focused on the basic definition of evangelization itself as characteristically understood by each orientation. Thus, the tradition orientation would stress the word aspect while the Integral Evangelization approach would stress more the witness aspect of evangelization. The main elements in each approach would look something like this:
Word Witness
explicit preaching of the living out in one’s
kerygma, catechesis, the own life one’s under-
formation of the Church standing of the Gospel
community, the sacramental in diakonia (ser-
apostolate, pastoral vice to the world in
activity, (explicitly) its own structures and
Christian and ecclesial activities), incarna-
presence and action. ting the meanings and values of the Gospel in secular tasks and in temporal areas.
With regard to the content of evangelization, Fr. Arevalo once again suggests a few characteristic differences in the matter of focus or stress more or less distinctive of each of the two approaches under discussion:
Traditional Integral
– salvation, mission, “divinization” -development, liberation,
humanization
-the Church, institution, – the “direct action”
ministry, structures,magis- of the Holy Spirit in
terium, “from above” ele- of the Holy Spirit in
ments the Church; them charismatic, “from below” elements
-the “Christological” elements – the “pneumatological”
(papacy, episcopacy, apostolic elements (grace, cha-
succession) risms, the “vertical”)
-focus on salvation history and – focus on the world and
the Church on “what is going on
-universal Church; leadership – local Church; creat
of Rome, pole of university vity in communities
and unity the “periphery”; pole
of plurality, diversity
-the tasks of holiness; inner – the tasks of justice
life of faith in the world
As noted by Sr. Florencia, the samples of divergence in stress given above could be extended indefinitely. But it should be noted that the above distinctions are not meant to imply that those who stress one aspect deny the other. It is just a matter of priority. However, the choice of point of departure or area of focus is of no small importance. To avoid falling into “exclusivism” in carrying out our evangelizing responsibility, it is helpful to note the profound links between evangelization and human development stressed by Pope Paul IV in the apostolic exhortation mentioned above, namely the a) anthropological links, b) theological links, and c) evangelical links.
The anthropological links arise because of the fact that the Gospel is preached to men in their concrete situations and are subject to socio-economic and cultural questions.
The theological links arise because of the intimate connection between the mysteries of creation and redemption. They are inseparable and the full development and liberation of created realities can only be achieved ultimately through the mystery of the redemption. They are inseparable and the full development and liberation of created realities can only be achieved ultimately through the mystery of the redemptive Incarnation of Christ. A theology of terrestrial realities must open out to a theology of redemption, and political theology has no ultimate significance if it excludes the eschatological finality of mankind and his struggles.
The evangelical links, which are those of charity, touch the very concrete situations of injustice to be combatted and of justice to be restored. There is no love of God without love of neighbor and no love of God without love of neighbor and no love of neighbor which does not include justice, equality, truth and peace. Consequently, it would be impossible to truly preach the Gospel without concern for the full liberation and development of man and his world.
Integral Evangelization, therefore, is evangelization which is not restricted only to the religious field (traditional approach) but also includes the promotion of human development and liberation as an integral But it in contrast to the secularistic approach to the latter it seeks their ultimate fulfillment and meaning in the transcendent and eschatological realities of faith. As for the results of Sr. Florencia’s study, she observed that there was a high degree of “Uncertainty” or ambiguity manifested by both Faculty and Staff of both schools with regard to the majority ( each ) of, the traditional and secularist statements whereas the perception of nine of the Integral Evangelization statements proved to be “Positive”. The tenth was rated “Highly Positive”. She attributed the uncertainty or ambiguity of the perceptions regarding the traditional and secularistic statements to several factors, namely:
1. The ambiguity of some of the statements, especially in the secularistic group.
2. The complicated reality of the perception of evangelization due, in part, to the complexity of Integral Evangelization itself.
3 The existing theological confusion which besets the Church today due, again in part, to the fact that the theological thrusts in the different interpretations of these documents, depending on one’s basic theological orientation and type involvement in the world, add up to further confusion.
4. Inconsistency between the content of lectures, in-service training sessions, readings in the theological books and journals etc. and the orientation of the parishes where one lives and worships also accounts for some degree of uncertainty in perceiving the true nature of evangelization.
With regard to the data gathered in relation to the Integral Evangelization statements, Sr. Florencia concluded that, for the mod 9% part, it could be said that the perception of evangelization among both the Faculty and Staff of the two schools studied is fundamental consistent with the norms explicitated by Pope Paul VI in Evangelii Nuntiandi. She attributes this fact to the conscious efforts made over the past few years to foster this perception in their various Faculty and Staff development programs and activities,
On the basis of the findings and conclusions arrived at in her study, Sr. Isidor offered the following recommendation:
1. That a follow-up study be undertaken to explore the respondents integral perception of evangelization by examining the actions and community involvement.
2. That the perception of evangelization of the students be likewise ascertained as another follow-up of her study.
3 That research be done along similar lines of study, using wider population and involving more schools.
4. That, in. order – to clear out the “Uncertainties” of the respondents, the administrators of the two schools studied envision a Faculty and Staff Development Program that will continue t° promote even more effectively Integral Evangelization.
5. That future users of her questionnaire revise the ambiguous statements so that there will be clearer distinctions between tits’ traditional, integral and secularistic statements.
AN EVALUATION OP A SCHOOL PROGRAM
The second school-based thesis to be discussed in this report is that of Sr. Ma Edna O. Cueva, O.P. entitled “An Evaluation of the Program of St. Vincent High School of Maragusan in Promoting Integral Evangelization”. The school evaluated is one of the twenty-two parochial by the Dominican Sisters of owned by the Diocese of Tagurn but is n-`1,,, rs of the Trinity. It is a sectarian, co-education
secondary school located at Maragusan, San Mariano, Davao del Norte. Its basic geographical setting is rural and the students studying there come from a wide variety of elementary schools located in neighboring poblacions, nearby sitios, and remote barrios of San Mariano. The basic goal of the study was to determine the degree to which the religious instruction program and other secular courses and activities contribute to the integral formation of the students. The instrument used was a complex questionnaire consisting of 18 statements reflecting the various elements in the overall educational program of the school and formulated in such a way as to reflect the Integral Evangelization attitudes or patterns of thought that the study sought to measure. Each statement called for a weighted response of either Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Not Sure, Agree, or Strongly Agree t some statements were also followed by specific items of a more concrete or practical nature which called for a simple check or some degree of ranking. Fifty students, chosen randomly from each year level, made up the respondents.
As reported by Sr. Cueva in the “Summary and Conclusion section of her thesis, the data gathered in her study showed that St. Vincent High School, through its religious instruction program, promotes spiritual growth among the students by inculcating in the minds of the respondents that: a) God loves them and so they must love Him in return by hearing Mass, obeying the Commandments and helping their neighbor; b) God’s closeness to man is experienced individual and group prayer; c) man needs to pray continuously; d) Jesus has come to initiate the Kingdom of God in the world, and the risk of continuing His work is left to all members of the Church; e) the
Christ lives and works among us through the sacraments, reception of the Holy Eucharist is important; f) weekly Bible reading is important for every Christian; g) Mary is the Mother of Jesus, the Mother of God, the Mother of the Church and their Mother; h) properly participating in the responses and singing at Mass is a way of following their oneness with the Eucharistic Sacrifice of Jesus; and i) the Mass is both a sacrifice and a sacred meal.
With regard to the other courses in the curriculum, the survey data showed that they promote social growth among the students by giving stress to the following: a) one’s obligation as a Christian to give praise and thanksgiving to God and to obey His Commandments; b) sharing with those in need to fulfill God’s Commandment; c) improving one’s relationships with others in order to have many friends,tit, e snow one’s love for God, and to be a real child of God; d) the realization of one’s s God-given talents and abilities which helped them learn to respect people who earn their living through physical labor, the value of working with others, and the value of productive activity; e) the discovery of the wonders and beauty of God’s creation and the need to show their gratitude to God by using all that God has made for the advantage of all men and by respecting the unique reality of all creatures; f) becoming better Filipinos by developing in them a greater interest in knowing more about their culture and traditions, respect for their fellow Filipinos, and appreciation of the value of having a national language of their own; g) the responsibilities of being a Filipino citizen: loving one’s country next to God, respecting the flag, obeying the fundamental laws of the land and defending their country against its enemies; h) becoming better members of society by sharing one’s talents and abilities with the community, working for the common good and by cultivating a spirit of good sportsmanship; i) encouraging participation in parish activities and organizations such as: Sunday Masses, Wednesday Novenas, KSP, Holy Hour, charismatic prayer meetings, GKK, Legion of Mary, parish choir, and catechetical apostolate activities.
The conclusions drawn from the above data were the following:
1. The religious instruction at St. Vincent High School promotes spiritual growth among the students by emphasizing doctrines, prayers, devotions, and sacraments. It has thus stressed the liturgical and obediential dimensions of religious formation more than the communal, social and service-oriented dimensions.
2. The instructions presented in the other academic courses promote social growth among the students by stressing specific topics such as: respect for God, people, and country and participation in parish activities. and organizations. However, the relationship be-tween the specifically religious and the social and communal is relatively weak.
3. St. Vincent High School of Maragusan is on its way to promoting Integral Evangelization but still has a lot of room for improvement.
Among her “Recommendations for Action Planning” Sr. Edna included the following:
1. Opportunities to practice active evangelization should be fostered to remedy the weak relationship between the religious aspect -of formation and the students’ social and communal response. This weakness could be remedied by active involvement in extra-curricular activities fostering Integral Evangelization.
2. The classroom subject teachers should be motivated to deepen the students’ values by relating their subject matter to the practical concerns of living and by helping them strengthen and integrate their religious and social values.
3. The Christian Living Program should integrate in its teaching process a practical application of what is learned in the classroom because the concrete practice of what is learned there now is found to be weak.
4. The activities of the different courses should give appropriate training for the students to participate in activities and organizations in the wider community.
By way of “Recommendations for Future Research” Sr. Cueva suggests that, since there is a common pastoral program in the Diocese of Tagum, a study should be conducted to compare the program of St. Vincent High School of Maragusan with the programs of other Catholic Schools in the Diocese to see how widespread and effective the efforts to promote Integral Evangelization in the educational apostolate of the Diocese really are. She also suggests that since her study was conducted in a secondary school in a rural setting, future studies should also be conducted in secondary schools in an urban setting as well as in both rural and urban elementary and tertiary schools.
A THEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF PERCEIVED NEEDS
Sr. Agueda Pahang, 0.P.’s thesis, entitled “A Theological Study of the Perceived Needs of the San Pedro College Community Regarding Christian Formation”, provides the basis for the third part of this report. As is clear from the title, the purpose of the study analyzed in this thesis was to determine the perceived sectoral and communitarian needs of the Students, Faculty and Staff of San Pedro College, a Catholic school run by the Dominican Sisters of the Trinity in the heart of Davao City. The respondents in the study consisted of 217 students randomly chosen from among 500 students, 30 faculty members and 31 staff members or all those who responded to the invitation extended to the whole Faculty and Staff. The instrument used Consisted of five pages of dosed and open-ended questions, the former appearing in the form of two sets of statements geared towards determining latter used to further clarify and expand the data gotten from the the two main forms of perception being studied and the closed statements. For the sake of statistical analysis, the respondents were asked to check one of five spaces at the end of each statement depending on whether they perceived the meeting of the particular need as Not Existing, Very Inadequate, Inadequate, Adequate or Very Adequate. Each response was given a properly weighted value for determining statiscally the significance of that response for determining the level of perceived need for that particular item.
It should be noted that, although the expression . “Integral Evangelization” rarely if ever appears in the course of the study, the general framework of the study reflects the integral approach to evangelization that we are concerned with here. As will be noted by consulting the questionnaire used, the various perceptions being measured were grouped according to three main categories which reflect the three main dimensions of evangelization: Word /Doctrine or the more conceptual or cognitive aspect; Worship/Memory or the more devotional or affective aspect; and Witness/Morals or the more value-oriented or behavioural aspect!’ The latter would include the more solo-political, economic and cultural concerns most distinctive of the specifically “integral” dimension of evangelization.
The data collected and analyzed in this study revealed that the type of need the Faculty, Staff and Students all perceived as “Most Urgent” or “Least Adequately” met in their own lives was Worship/ Memory. With regard to the other two types of needs, Witness/ Morals and Word/Doctrine, the perception of all three sectors was that they are “Adequately” and “Very Adequately” met, respectively, by the school’s programs, at least on the personal or sectoral level. During the interviews, respondents admitted that the signs of the times: escalating economic crisis, the peace and order situation and other insecurities are what led them to perceive Worship/Memory as their greatest personal perceived need. They feel the need to build up firm trust and confidence in God’s saving action. They are hopeful, however, that the Lord will liberate them from their present difficulties. Apparently, closer union with the Lord in the Liturgy and other forms of commemorating His sacrifice deeds are called for to strengthen them.
With regard to perceived community needs, however, all three sectors differed in their perceptions. For the Staff it was Worship/ Memory, for the Faculty it was Witness/Morals and for the Students it was Word/Doctrine. Thus, only the Staff had the same perception as to personal and communal needs. In her interpretation of the above data, Sr. Pahang observed that the Faculty, as the older and, hopefully, more mature and aware sector of the community, were expectedly also the most sensitive to the serious socio-political and economic problems in the wider community and to the Christian responsibility all share to bring their faith to bear on finding solutions and removing the causes of these basically moral issues. The Staff, however, seems to be least aware of these issues as their greatest perceived community need is Worship/Memory and their least urgent perceived community need is Witness/Morals. Perhaps this is related to the fact that, as shown in the discussion of one of the Sub-Problems in the study, there is a definite correlation between years of formal religious education and perception of need in the area of Witness/Morals. Perhaps, also, their concrete situation is such that they feel more sharply the hard economic and other realities of life than the other sectors and therefore feel a greater need for Worship/Memory. As far as the Student sector is concerned, their perception of the greatest community need is Word/ Doctrine even though this is ranked third as a personal need. Perhaps this can be interpreted as a sign that for them religion or religious formation is primarily intellectual and they have not yet been helped sufficiently to recognize the need for participation in seeking solutions to the concrete problems of the community by rendering service in compassionate response to the less fortunate. They seem rather to have been reared in very over-protective environments that deprived them of their being exposed to the situation where the evils of society are happening. In addition to the main problem of determining the various perceptions of the Students, Faculty and Staff of SPC with regard to the three main components of Religious Formation, an attempt was made to determine the degree of correlation, if any, between perceptions of needs and such variables as sex, age, and number of years of formal religious instruction. This further study revealed that there is no correlation between sex and perception of needs in the three specified areas, whereas age influences one’s perceptions in all three areas and the number of years of formal religious education has an effect only on one’s perceptions of Word/Doctrine, regarding need for Word/Doctrine and Witness/Morals. By way of recommendations, Sr. Pahang suggested
1. In overall planning, formulation of policies, creation of pro-grams/curricula, and other similar activities, a balance or integration Worship/Memory, and Witness/Morals be given due consideration while attending to the present individual needs of the different sectors of the community. In the light of the above findings, it is clear that there is a need to intensify the program on religious activities with the active participation of the Campus Ministry team members and other resource persons.
2. The Administration start the faculty development program right from the hiring stage and continue it through on-going formation programs, with continuous evaluation for promotion. In the selection of faculty, their philosophy of life and philosophy of education should be looked into, making sure it is in consonance with that of the school. Regular participation in faculty on-going formation must also be required of them.
3. In response to the Faculty’s perception of a general need in the community for better formation in the area of Witness/Morals, they, as the formal educators in the community, should be given the opportunity to continue their own formation with regard to content and pedagogy in this area and be continually evaluated by all sectors on their performance.
4. The perceived needs of the Staff with regard to Worship/ Memory must also be met by planning, organizing and implementing appropriate activities by the Campus Ministry staff in collaboration with representatives of the general Staff sector.
5. While responding to the perception of the Students that the greatest community need is in the area of Word/Doctrine, and keeping in mind their perception that on the sectoral level this is the least of their perceived needs, formulation of curricula and syllable should be carried out in such a way that the danger of dwelling too much on the doctrinal aspect and neglecting practice be avoided. To do this, due recognition must be given to all three of the basic dimensions of Christian Formation: Word, Worship and Witness. Right from the start, the students should be trained to be more service oriented. It would be most helpful to this end to utilize the social teaching of the Church and effective exposure programs. The idealism characteristic of their age should be tapped.
6. A systematic kind of program, comprehensive enough to meet everyone’s need to live a full Christian life, should be initiated by the Administration and participated in by all sectors in such a way that each member of the SPC community will become more aware of and responsive to the basic needs of its own community and of society as well. The program must integrate Word, Witness and Worship in such a way that it will not only seek to meet immediate problems but, foster the on-going Christian formation of both the individual and the community.
Additional recommendations were made to promote further research, namely,
1. A study of the role which religious education plays in the formation of positive attitudes and values among students and in carrying out the present general educational objectives under PD 6-A Educational Act of 1972.
2. A study of the practices and accomplishments of meaningful and relevant to students.
3. A study of conditions favorable for instructors in integrating the religious dimension in their secular subjects.
AN EVALUATION OF THE EVANGELIZATION SEMINAR
The fourth, and final, thesis to be included in this report is that of Dolores G. Gabisan and is entitled “An Evaluation of the Evangelization Seminar in the Archdiocese of Davao”.9 The fundamental ecclesiastical framework in which this seminar is conducted is that of the Basic Christian /Ecclesial Community (BCC /BEC) which by its very nature and orientation is geared towards the promotion of “Integral Evangelization”. This framework has its roots in the Third World context of Latin America where “Liberation Theology” was also born in Hence, it is fitting that such a study be undertaken in order to monitor the level of effectiveness of the concrete evangelization program of the Archdiocese of Davao, which, as part of the Third World, is formally committed to the building of DEC’s through its various pastoral programs.
As was true of the three theses already discussed, the basic document used in the process of evaluation was Pope Paul VI’s Evangelii Nuntiandi. .The evaluation itself focused on three main aspects of the program: the Rollos or the content of the various input sessions, the rollistas or facilitators of the learning sessions and the participants themselves. The first part of the evaluation was conducted merely by analyzing the content of the individual rollos in the light of the Holy Father’s guidelines as explicited in Evangelii Nuntiandi with the help of the Core Group 1 rollistas (22 participants of earlier seminars now facilitating subsequent seminars). The second and, third parts were carried out by analyzing the responses of the 46 facilitators of the actual seminar being evaluated (Core Group 2 ) and of the . 93 participants of that seminar to a series of fictional situations designed to reflect one or other of the 14 criteria for Integral Evangelization. As is usually the case in statistical studies like this one, responses consisted of checking one’s reaction to each of the situations presented according to five basic possibilities: Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Uncertain, Agree or Strongly Agree, with each response being given the proper weighting for statistical use.
Without going into details here, the result of the first part of the evaluation led to the conclusion-that each of the rollos contained one or more of the specific elements proper to an integral approach to evangelization, at least implicitly. In some cases, the integral orientation was quite dear, in others less dear; but in all cases both the researcher and the Core Group 1 respondents recognized its presence to some degree,though the latter manifested some uncertainty about the orientation of rollos 4, 5 and 6. Thus the content of the seminar seems to be substantially reflective of the basic orientation of Integral Evangelization, even though it is dear that there is definitely room for improvement.
Before going into the specific results of the survey of responses of facilitators and participants in the particular seminar being evaluated, it might be of help to note some of the profile data of about the 93 participant respondents. The first thing to note is that they were randomly chosen from among eligible respondents coming from five different parishes, each representing one or other of the five pastoral zones of the Archdiocese of Davao: Toril, Sasa, Sta. Ana, Penaplata, and San Pedro. The five parishes randomly chosen from these zones were Sto. Rosario, St. Joseph the Worker, San Antonio, Virgen Dolorosa and San Pedro parishes respectively. Other significant data would include the following: 68 percent were females and only 32 percent were males; 59 percent were youth and 41 percent were adults; 44 percent were employees while- 30 percent were housewives and 12 percent were students; the rest (14 percent) were made up of teachers, businessmen, farmers and-drivers. It is also interesting to note that for 93 percent of the participants, this was the first church-based seminar they had ever attended.
The “background data of the facilitators is also very enlightening. On the basis of the information provided in their profiles, the following facts came to light 72 percent of the rollistas were males; 60 percent came from the adult age group; 74 percent were married; as far as their occupations were concerned, 24 percent were teachers, 20 percent were employees, 17 percent were businessmen, and the rest were either farmers or housewives or drivers or students or fishermen. All in all, this shows the extent to which a cross-section of the local Church has gottei, involved in the work of evangelization In general, the data gathered from the survey showed that both the youth and the adults manifested a significant difference in their understanding of Integral Evangelization as a result of the Evangelization Seminar. The data further showed that the adults scored higher than the youth though the latter changed more than the former; that the males scored higher than the females though the latter changed more; that the married scored higher than the single participants and also grew more; that the professionals scored higher and changed more than the non-professionals.
With regard to the Core Group 2 Rollistas, they also manifested a significant level of understanding of the Integral Evangelization orientation, as was surely expected or at least hoped. The really significant discovery, he gever, was that the participants and the facilitators revealed the same level of understanding after the seminar. This can be taken as a measure of the effectiveness of the facilitators in their performance during the seminar.
In addition to the analysis of the Pre-Test and Post-Test data as a means of evaluating the effectiveness of the seminar on the participants from the perspective of content, the study also included observations as to the level of involvement of facilitators in the life of the parish and community as a factor in explaining their’ effectiveness as facilitators and the increased involvement of the participants them-selves in both parish And community after the seminar as a concrete proof of the success of the seminar in bringing about real changes in people’s lives.
The following recommendations were made in the light of the results of the study:
1. While nine of the twelve rollos of the Evangelization Seminar Phase I reflected dearly the basic orientation of Integral Evangelization, there is still a need to re-evaluate and broaden the context of their content so that they become even more relevant and- effective in empowering future seminarists- to respond to the concrete needs of our times.
2. The seminar should not be too rigidly structured but should allow for more processing on the part of the participants.
3. The Evangelization Seminar Phase I should be followed up by a Phase II Seminar that will further reinforce the essence of Integral Evangelization with maybe fewer rollos and more processing.
4. The Evangelization Seminar Phase I should be understood as basic to another seminars and therefore must be given priority in all the parishes of the Archdiocese.
5. Integral Evangelization should not only be the concern of the parishes alone but also integrated into school programs.
6. Core-group Rollistas should undergo a more intensive in-service training and exposure program to be more effective in lecturing and sharing their experiences with the participants in the seminar. They should also be helped to produce effective audio-visual aid materials and to devise more effective strategies to ensure continuing interest until the end of the week-long seminar.
7. Other researchers can undertake studies on other types of religious seminars being conducted in the Archdiocese that will help. to build up and strengthen Christian communities.
CONCLUSION
In the light of these four studies on Integral Evangelization in both a school and a parish setting, we have grown in our conviction that this orientation in the Philippine Church’s on-going response to its basic mission of evangelization is not only critical and difficult but, what is more important, also possible. We have discovered that much is being done but that much more still needs to be done. It would seem that to a greater or lesser degree, the integral evangelization approach has “infiltrated” many aspects of the local Church’s efforts at Christian formation, in the sense that it seems to be more implicit than explicit in the formation programs studied. What we hope will happen as a result of these studies is that Integral Evangelization will become more and more explicitly accepted as one, if not the most, viable and effective approach to the formation of mature, knowledgeable, responsive and committed men and women who really understand and believe that we cannot preach the Good News to our world today in a truly meaningful and effective way if we do not see the intrinsic relationship between the an Faith. pursuit of Justice and the promotion of the Christian Faith.