Globally, Communities and Their Perceptions
Communities are pivotal to bring different individuals who share a common point of interest. They share a sense of place situated in a specific geographical location such as country, village or virtual place through communication platforms (The Indianapolis Foundation, 2015, p.2). Communities have different perceptions depending on the perspectives that make its members come together. For instance, a church community will involve members who come along with a similar core interest of spreading the word of God as well as sharing various biblical ideologies. Over the years, my Basilica Catholic Church community has been involved in multiple activities to disseminate the canonical gospel amongst its members and the public. Concerning the career I am pursuing, the Basilica Church Community interests me in multiple ways. First, it helps me to comprehend and judge the society I live in through the social activities it offers. For instance, through events such as bible study, I can interact with different individuals and learn their personalities. Secondly, through the undertakings, it makes it easier to adopt new cultures, trends, values among others. As a result, it becomes easier to interact with new places and people, which is an important aspect of life. Lastly, the Basilica Church Community has helped me to diagnose some social problem and develop certain ideologies to overcome them with ease.
The Impact of Basilica Church Community
On the other hand, the Basilica Catholic Church community has impacted significantly on its members and the larger society. Most importantly, the church has helped the members of the community to have a better understanding of the gospel through Bible study sessions. As a result, it has contributed immensely to people living peacefully. Moreover, through the social activities that the church offers, people have learned different cultures, thus, integrating easily with other communities. As a result, it has reduced hatred amongst members of the society, and to some extent intensified peace which is evident for the intermarriages amongst different communities. On the other side, the Basilica Church Community has impacted significantly on the lives of individuals. Most importantly, the church collaborates with the rehabilitation centres to reform members of the society who have different problems such as mental, drug addicts, criminal offenders among others. Moreover, the church conducts Bible study and prayer session where individuals can diagnose various attributes that can lead them to do malicious activities, hence, shaping them in the right direction of life. This paper examines the Basilica Catholic Church society regarding community mapping, need assessment and its goals.
Community Mapping
The Basilica Church Community has its roots and background based on the Catholic denomination. The history of the Catholic community started with Jesus Christ and is still practised in the present world by Christian faith (Kreeft, 2001, p.5). The basilica church community practices the teachings of Christ, especially on the Eucharist as the body and blood of Lord Jesus Christ (Kreeft, 2001, p.19). More so, the community has been on the forefront to spread the Roman gospel to its members and the society at large. The Basilica Church Community conducts prayers for the dead during certain members of the society send-off, following the Roman Catholic Church doctrines (Kreeft, 2001, p.23). Lastly, the community has been conducting marriage unions between members of the society to observe the Roman union on marriage (Hobson, 2007, p.1). Through the activities that the church community undertakes in the society, individuals have integrated and learn different trends and values from other cultures. However, despite the church conducting various activities in the society, it experiences different challenges in the process. First, the Basilica Church encounters some difficulties while spreading the gospel, since some of the society members are biblical illiterates; thus, they are not conversant with the bible.
Challenges Faced by the Basilica Church Community
To some extent, they tend to confuse quotes with biblical verses. For instance, a survey conducted in the United States showed that 82 percent of Americans thought that "God helps those who help themselves," was a bible verse (McCracken, 2016). Secondly, the Basilica Church Community faces some criticism from other nearby church dominions on its mode of conducting activities and norms. For instance, members of other congregation criticize the Basilica Church Community for the fact that they do not allow women to participate in the priesthood to impart gender equality in the society. Statistical data show that for over 2000 years the Christian ministry tradition has been excluding women from pursuing priesthood (Ruether, 2011, p.63). Lastly, the church community lacks enough resources to run most of its activities mainly in the widespread of the gospel.
Need Assessment
Despite the challenges faced by the church community, it has been conducting most of its social activities to change the lives of various individuals and the society with hostility. However, The Basilica Church Community requires multiple assistance and fundamentals to overcome the challenges. First, to resolve the issue of Bible illiteracy, the church community needs some sponsorship from different government and non-government organizations that can aid in the production of adequate bibles and biblical pamphlets. The Scriptures can be disseminated by members of the church communities to the public during congregations and seminar that aid in the gospel widespread. More so, the scriptures will be issued at no cost to the members and a schedule created on various days that the members will be guided through on reading the bible.
On the other hand, the community can overcome criticism from other dominions by clearly conducting several seminar and campaigns that involve the women and imparting the Christian doctrines on the reasons as to why women cannot pursue the priesthood. Notably, the workshops can be conducted by nuns which will make it easier for other dominion members to comprehend the fact with ease. Lastly, the Basilica Church Community will require some sponsorship from the non-government organizations that will aid in the widespread of the gospel and continuity of the congregation.
Community Goals
The Basilica Church Community intends to ensure that the majority of its members are bible literates. The church anticipates at using the pamphlets and the bible that will be donated by the various organizations to spread the gospel. It will involve holding congregations where individuals can have the room to read the scripture together and receive some interpretation of multiple verses by the church leaders. Through the activities, the majority of the members will become conversant with the scripture, and to some extent, they will enjoy reading it on their own. Research shows that individuals who study the Bible often they have a better understanding of the Bible verses (Friends of Sabeel, 2011, p.3). Moreover, the church community intends to hold seminars and campaigns particularly involving members of other dominions with the aim of imparting knowledge on the reasons that women cannot be allowed in the priesthood career. From an insider perspective, women are not allowed to pursue priesthood since they are rendered unclean while on their menses. Lastly, The Basilica Church intends to use the resources that will be conducted by well-wishers and organizations in the proliferation of the gospel as well as running various church foundations such as rehabilitating members of the community. As a result, the deeds will help the society embrace the biblical culture since members of the society will impact the knowledge onto their descendants.
Conclusion
The Basilica Church Community has been pivotal in the dissemination of the gospel to its members and the public. As a result, members of the public have to comprehend the doctrine vividly and living peacefully amongst themselves. Moreover, the church community has been conducting some social activities that have foreseen the understanding of different cultures and values. Lastly, the church has been collaborating with the rehabilitation centres to help members of the community with various problems such as drug addiction. The Basilica Church Community should seek financial assistance from the government and various organizations to aid in the running of specific programs such as gospel widespread. More so, the church should conduct bible challenges to ensure that members of the community are becoming conversant with the biblical content and verses. Lastly, the church should hold some charity events and campaigns that can aid raise sufficient money to uplift the standards of the church community.
Perspective on Principles of Theology
From my perspective, I believe that learning certain principles of theology can aid the community to achieve its goals. Acquiring the knowledge will help me create some form of guidance when teaching other members of the society about certain biblical teachings and interpretations. As a result, the community can save on some of the resources since I can volunteer during my free time. More so, being equipped with practical communication skills can aid me to help the church to save on time, since I can easily communicate efficiently with the affected members of the community and diagnose their problems with ease.
References
Friends of Sabeel, 2011. Reading the Bible. Friends of Sabeel Theology Group, pp. 1-15.
Hobson, M., 2007. Separation of Church and State: The Marriage Exception, Michigan: Michigan State University College of Law.
Kreeft, P., 2001. The Holy Catholic Church. New Haven: Knights of Columbus Supreme Council.
McCracken, B., 2016. 21 challenges facing the 21st-century church. [Online]
Available at: <https://www.brettmccracken.com/blog/blog/2016/10/27/21-challenges-facing-the-21st-century-church>[Accessed 4 10 2018].
Ruether, R. R., 2011. Should Women Want Women Priests or Women-Church?. Feminist Theology, 20(1), pp. 63-72.
The Indianapolis Foundation, 2015. The Importance of Community, Indianapolis: The Indianapolis Foundation.
