A Group Project

In
Religious Studies 112

Introduction
Introduction to our Research
Ah,Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth. God says the same
thing to you as he said to Jeremiah: Be not afraid for I am with you to deliver you (Jer
1:7,8).
Christianity has been around for a long time, Jesus was born to teach us what is it to be sons
and daughters of God. The Catholic Church defines its mission as spreading the message of
Jesus Christ by administering the sacraments and exercising charity. The Church believes itself
to be the continuation of the Christian community founded by Jesus Christ in his consecration of
St. Peter. The Holy Spirit reveals itself through sacred scriptures, sacred tradition, and the
magisterium (teaching authority of the Church).
For several centuries we have learned how important religion is to humankind. In the past
several wars were waged because of religion, one famous war is the great Cruxade, a war with
the Muslims to reclaim the Holy Land- a battle not for Gods glory, but for the selfish deeds of
mans glory. As humanity progressed we learned to deal with problems less physically, although
bloodshed is almost always the last thing mankind will ever think of. The Church most especially
influenced society in various aspects in mans daily activities- art, education, morality, economy,
and power.
As technology progress teenagers seem to be more preoccupied with themselves and how they
can improve their lives with it, ironically it is worsening us. Teenagers are more present oriented
in their daily lives. One of the most important of todays generation is the internet- It is
technology that should serve, not to rule (just like how we should perceive money). The youth of
today is more knowledgeable than the youth of Aristotles time, with quick access to information
anything is possible (even cooking meth), but what we lack today is a compass, something that
guides us to Godly lives. With great sum of information and knowledge an average teenager of
today has probably a high degree of thinking as of wise men in the past- who helped build this
temporary world, and with such distractions and activities compounding a typical teenagers life
he/she has already detached his faith and morality with God. Information is everywhere, and as
a group of typical teenagers we experienced how information is spread and influenced just by a
single click. These kinds of people are dynamic and seek for support persons in their progress
to full adulthood, these support persons can be a famous singer, a game character, or an older
friend, in short the child of today idolizes. In our research we seek to identify and to (possibly
determine) alleviate the disease which hinders the Catholic faith of the teenagers. With the
implication of the teachings of Christ, teenagers of this generation will have a strong foundation
of life principles that will guide them until they are old enough to experience the real world. As to
personify, a teenager is like a fetus, the mature ones survive in the real world, while the
premature fetus wither and die.

Body
The Reason for our project:
Because of the generation today when we go to the church we can observe that most our older
generation. We want to find out three things:
1. What is the meaning of the church to the generation of today?
2. Does the generation of today value the church?
3. What can make the generation of today go to the church?
~RS SURVEY QUESTIONS and ANSWERS~
We have surveyed 20 students randomly from the Ateneo in order for us to see what
relationship that the students of the Ateneo have with the church. In this survey, we made the
name and age optional but we required the respondents to state their course and year. Below
written are the survey questions that were used in surveying the respondents and also the
answers of our respondents to our survey questions:

SURVEY QUESTIONS
Part I. Please choose the letter honestly
1. How often do you listen to mass in a month time?
A. 4 times or more
B. 3 times
C. 2 or 1 time
D. None
2. After u listen to the liturgies in a mass do you?
A. Put them in practice
B. Ignore
C. Spread
3. Why do you go to the church?
A. Feeling required in going
B. Listen heartily to the liturgies shared.

C. Meet your friends

4. Do you feel at home whenever youre in the church?
A. Yes
B. No
Part II. Please answer honestly. Based from your opinion,
5. What is the role of the church in the society?
6. What do you think will happen if church is not present in our society?
7. Why do you think the church exists?
8. How significant is the church in your daily life?
9. Whenever you have problems, do you feel that the church welcomes you in open arms? 10.
What do you think are the programs or events that would motivate you to go to the church?
SURVEY ANSWERS
RESPONDENT #1
BS Nursing II
1. A
2. I go to church to listen to the liturgy
3. Is is a place where the community gathers and renewing their faith to God.
4. Yes!
5. Yes!
6. It is significant because it's where I talked to God about all my feelings and asked for
guidance when I'm down or happy.
7. For me, church exist because it is a holy place that represents our faith to God.
8. Programs that would motivate me to go would be bible sharing.
9. Sometimes because some of the practice are things that i couldn't do or be able to do but
maybe in the future after I succeed with my goals in life.
RESPONDENT #2
BS Nursing II
1. A
2. A
3. A
4. B
5. the church represent as the head of the Lord's teaching.
6. people will not understand about their faith.

7. To continue the work which Jesus spread the word of God.

8. Church teaches me to know more about my faith.
9. Yes I considered that the church opens its door to listen my problems.
10. idk (no answer)

RESPONDENT #3
BS Nursing II
1. A
2. A
3. A
4. A
5. role are to give love & peace and to gather all the God's made.
6. there's no peace on us
7. A Congregational Self-Examination Session 4 - Communicating the Love of Christ Selfexamination is a traditional practice in Lent.
8. it is the practices for as a human or the image of god
9. yes, to prove each others to live in peace & give love
10. to teach us to pray
RESPONDENT #4
BS Psychology II
1. D
2. B
3. A
4. A
5. Identity
6. Morality would be more or less different
7. Order
8. Identity
9. I guess so.
10. Family would go
RESPONDENT #5

BS Accountancy II
1.

D
2. B
3. A

4 since wala sometimes, a nlng

5 a place were we can be one with god as a community
6 nothing
7 remainder
8 less significant
9 yes
10 non
RESPONDENT #6
Econ II
1.) A
2.) B
3.) A
4.) A
5.) The role of the church in out society is to teach us the the teachings if God and apply it to our
lives.
6.) We only live in this world that we don't believe in someone. In short if God didn't teach the
diciples his teachings then no one spread the good news and teachings of God to us.
7.) The church exist t teach us the teachings of God and to spread the good news of God to
everyone.
8.) The church is very important to our lives because we Catholic go church not to play, talk, eat,
date, and etc. We go to church to listen to the world of God and apply it to our lives.
9.) Yes
10.) I always go to church it doesn't matter if the church had events or an ordinary mass. What's
important to me is to attend the mass and listen to the world of God.
RESPONDENT #7
BS Accountancy III
1. a
2. a
3. a

4. a
5. for me a church is a way to gather people to worship God and thank him for everything he's
given us.
6. im not really sure, but i believe that without religion people would be chaotic. every person
looks for a direction in life, and i think religion is one that gives them direction.
7. I think the church exists to satisfy human's need of purpose in life. In life, we try hard to find
meaning why we are alive, and perhaps, the church gives us one.
8. It is significant because it guides us through our life, it teaches us how to live our life morally
and spiritually.
9. Yes.
10. Going to church is an obligation for us Christians, we dont have to have programs to be
motivated. Faith shouldbe enough motivation to go to church

RESPONDENT #8
BS psychology IV
1.D
2. A
3. B
4. A
5. The role of the Church in the society is so that people may congregate or gather in order to
practice and spread the word of God
6. I don't think anything catastrophical would happen. One can worship as an individual. It isn't
that necessary to worship as a group
7. The Church exists so that people following the same religion can have others to share their
opinions and feelings about their religion.
8. It isn't that significant. I would rather worship alone.
9. I would much prefer it that my God welcomes me with open arms regarding my problems.
10. No program or event would be sufficiently helpful to get me to go to church.
RESPONDENT #9
BS Psychology II
1. A
2. B
3. A
4. B)
5. Where people could get together and listen to mass
6. People will lose their Moral Values
7. To spread the words of God

8. Moral Values taught in Church help me with my daily lives

9. Yes
10. Choral
RESPONDENT #10
BS Accountancy III
1. A
2. A
3. A
4. A
5. guiding body aimed to teach, instruct and interpret to the general roman catholic masses the
word of god
6. more or less the catholic society will be ignorant sa bible and that there will be a lot of
confusion with regards to interpretation of the words in the bible due to many interpretations
made from different perspectives from many people.
7 the church exist because there are follower. The church is not the building itself but the people
who follow the faith. it exist in order to bring about peace and prosperity and spread the word of
god.
8. very significant
9. yes, the church is very welcoming in terms of problems through confessions
10. none really, what motivates me is my parents who taught me that it is obligatory to go to
mass on Sunday

RESPONDENT #11
Tecia Rivera
BSED II

1.c
2.a

3.a
4. It actually depends sea atmosphere.. a na lan
5.the role of the church is to spread the good news
6. Then there's no Christianity
7.the church exist because it's the purpose of the Lord
8. It is very much crucial because it dictates my living as a human being.
8. Of course, the church never rejects
9.
10. Outreach programs.. calling for brothers and sisters

RESPONDENT #12
JP Braulio
CSIT III

1. A
2. A
3. B
4. A
5. To spread the word of God.
6. it will be hard to establish faith with God
7. Because Jesus told Peter to build his church
8. It serves the foundation of my faith with God
9. Yes.
10. to spend time with friends and family
RESPONDENT #13

Marilou Fernandez
BSEd II
1.b
2. a and c
3. b
4. a
5. the role of the church in the society is to bring the people closer to God and serve as a gude
to every one.
6. I think we don't know what is the good and bad in the world and we are not in peace.
7. for faith
8. church is already part of my life. It is very important for me because when i am in shurch, my
faith gets stronger and im getting closer to God.
9. Yes
10. I think recollections or retreats
RESPONDENT #14
Roselyn Caban
BSEd II
1.C
2. B
3.A
4. A
5. for people to have a place to go to whenever they feel lonely? or any feeling--its a place
where they can get closer to GOd..(i think)
6. hihina ang faith ng pangkalahatan
7. para maging isa paniniwala natin? (i mean, for us RCatholics, we'll have one orientation of
our faith)
8. This is the place where i release/express my feelings. its a calming place for me 9.yes
10. bible study, problem sharing..

RESPONDENT #15
Chelsea Miguel
BS Biology II

1. c
2. c and a
3. b
4. a
5. The church is there to spread God's word to the people around the world and to be an
instrument of God's good will and unity of men to God. In our RS class, it was said that the
church is a sacrament and a mystery. Sacrament because as I said earlier, it is an instrument
for the unity of the people with God. And it is a mystery, just like our faith, we could not fully
understand or grasp it yet. It lets us know of God's good will and His word.
6. If the church is not present in our society then it would not be possible for us, people, to know
of God's word and God's plans for us and His good will. We will not be awakened and we will
not be spiritually healthy because the church is vital when it comes to our spiritual health and
relationship with the Lord. And it is believed that the Church is God's home, it is. But it is also
us, the people, a community that believes in God and is spreading His good will and word.
Without the church, we would not live in a world as wonderful as what the world is as of now.
7. The church exists so that we may be able to be aware of God's presence and plans for all of
us, and also for His words to be spread among us all. He wants to strengthen our faith and
relationship with Him that is why the church exists.
8. The Church is significant in my life since it plays a vital role in my spiritual health and it helps
me strengthen my faith and relationship with God. Because of the Church, I learned more about
God and all His good will, His word, and His plans for all of us. I became aware.
9.Yes I do, because I feel God's presence whenever I go to church and whenever I pray. By
communicating with God, I feel that He gives me strength and my faith becomes stronger and
also my relationship with Him becomes strengthened, I never forget to thank Him every time,
whether I have problems or not for I entrust my life to Him.
10. Even though there won't be programs, I am still motivated to go to Church. Simply because
God is so important to me and I owe Him so much. He is our Savior and Creator. I just think of
God and all He did not just for me but for the entire human race - it motivates me so much to go
to Church and to be forever thankful to everything that He did and everything that He is doing
for us.
RESPONDENT #16

Koyo Chiong
BSAc III
1. b
2. a
3. b
4.
5. a
6. teach the ways of christ
7. havoc and peaceless
8. bacause of christ as first preacher
9. very
10. yes
11. choir
RESPONDENT #17
BSN1 (16yo)
1.D
2.A
3.B
4.A
5. To spread the teachings and love of God according to the Holy Bible.
6. There would be many who will lost their fate in themselves and to God.
7. It exist because people believes in God. 8. It significe God for me
9. No, Honestly I don't share my problems to others I usually keep it to my own
10. If they put many joyful songs.

RESPONDENT #18

BSAccountancy2 (17 yo)

1.A
2.C
3.A
4.A
5.The answer to most, if not all problems.
6. Hopelessly chaotic
7. Basically because life on earth is temporary.
8.Very?
9. Very much
10. Everyday life.

RESPONDENT #19
BSN1 (17 yo)
1. c
2. a
3. b
4. b
5. to keep reminding people of Gods love and existence
6. people would be believing in other deities as gods
7. to spread the word of Gods love and existence
8. they keep me believing in my own faith
9. what?
10. if God would reveal himself other than that igo to church religiously in my own way.
RESPONDENT #20
#4 BSIT (17yo)

1. C.
2. C.
3. A.
4. A.
5. the role of the church in the society is to explain the true meaning of the teachings of christ
and to prevent confusion among the people in it.
6. if church isn't present in our society, chaos and ruin will continue to exist amongst ourselves.
7.the church exists to provide us examples and on how to apply the teachings of christ into our
lives and set an example to the others.
8. the significance of the church to me is like a set of instructions. you might not read it very
carefully the first time but once you commit some mistakes you tend to read it back again and
make sure you dont commit the same mistake again.
9. the church welcomes in open arms. cause if it does not welcome with open arms then the
citizens of the philippines will PURELY consist of Christians and will reject other religions.
10. The programs of the church does not really have an effect on a person's motivation on going
to the church. it depends on the person in the first place whether he or she wants to go to the
church or not. but i guess it would be much nicer to go to a church that is lively. in terms of
PARTICIPATION. the choir singing out loud. the people responding to the mass, these things
that i mentioned should be enough to motivate a person to go to church

Survey Tally
We separated the Tally into two parts the first is the questions number 1 -4 while the second
one if from 5 10
This is the tally for the first part
The purpose of this survey is for us to be aware or know if people from Ateneo (most especially
Ateneo is a catholic school) still goes to the church, still knows about the church, if they still
share their experiences to God, what they feel about the church, what is their deeper
understanding and definition of the church and what motivate or will motivate them to go and
visit the church more. So after conducting a survey to 20 people from the Ateneo and received
their respond for our survey questions, we tallied their answer and came up with the summary of
the whole survey.

For the first question which is How often do you listen to mass in a month time?, nine (9)
people answered that they go to church 4 times, two (2) people answered that they go to
church 3 times, five (5) people answered that they go to church 2 or less while four (4) people

answered that they do not go to church. In this question, it shows that most people still go to
church.

For the second question which is After u listen to the liturgies in a mass do you? Twelve
(12) people answered that they put the liturgies in practice, five (5) people answered that they
ignore the said liturgies during the mass while three (3) answered that they spread the liturgies.
The answers in this questions shows that our respondents or the people mostly put the liturgies
that they had heard into practice.

For the third question which is Why do you go to the church? twelve (12) people answered
that they feel required to go and eight (8) people answered that they listen heartily during the
mass. In this question, we learned that people goes to church because they feel required but
nevertheless, people still goes to church because they listen to mass heartily.

For the fourth question which is Do you feel at home whenever youre in the church?
seventeen (17) people answered that they really feel at home when theyre in the church while
three (3) people answered that they do not feel at home ( I bet, lol). So we have learned that
most people really feel at home when theyre in the church. After this, we asked some of our
respondents the reason behind their answer and some of them shared that they relate their
experience, tell theirs secret to God. They ask for wisdom in the church. They also ask for
forgiveness and thank God for the blessings that they received.
The second part of the tally
This are the second set of questions in the survey
5. What is the role of the church in the society?
6. What do you think will happen if church is not present in our society?
7. Why do you think the church exists?
8. How significant is the church in your daily life?
9. Whenever you have problems, do you feel that the church welcomes you in open arms?
10. What do you think are the programs or events that would motivate you to go to the church?
Explanation of each questions and its answer
In question number five this were some of the answers that we receive from our survey

The role of the church in out society is to teach us the the teachings if God and apply it
to our lives.

role are to give love & peace and to gather all the God's made.

for me a church is a way to gather people to worship God and thank him for everything
he's given us.

The role of the Church in the society is so that people may congregate or gather in order
to practice and spread the word of God

. Where people could get together and listen to mass

Our question gives us an insight on what people in our generation think of the church. What is
its role? What part does it play in society? You can say that what is the purpose of the church to
us?
Most of the people answered that it is a place to gather to be with other people with the same
beliefs. A place we are taught to be morally good, to treasure and to love good creature, and the
summary of all of Gods teachings is to love your neighbour as you love God. It is a place where
we can freely worship and feel the security of God. A place we can call home.
Question number 6 talks about what if the Church didnt exist. These are some of the answers
that we receive

People will lose their Moral Values

more or less the catholic society will be ignorant sa bible and that there will be a lot of
confusion with regards to interpretation of the words in the bible due to many
interpretations made from different perspectives from many people.

Then there's no Christianity

I think we don't know what is the good and bad in the world and we are not in peace.

for people to have a place to go to whenever they feel lonely? or any feeling--its a place
where they can get closer to GOd..(i think)

Before Christianity came to the Philippines we had a religion of paganism where our ancestors
worship the earth, the moon, the trees and many more deitys. But after the expedition came to
the Philippines Christianity was established. I think that our generation today our values on what
is right and wrong can be link to the practices being thought in Religion. Many answered the
question that we might not know what is good and what is right. That our morals wouldnt be
that well establish. It just shows the influence of the church and its teaching to the everyday life
of the Filipinos.
In question number 7 this are some of the answers given

para maging isa paniniwala natin? (i mean, for us RCatholics, we'll have one orientation
of our faith)

The church exists so that we may be able to be aware of God's presence and plans for
all of us, and also for His words to be spread among us all. He wants to strengthen our
faith and relationship with Him that is why the church exists.

It exist because people believes in God.

to spread the word of Gods love and existence

the church exists to provide us examples and on how to apply the teachings of christ into
our lives and set an example to the others.

In this question we ask why the church exists. Its making people reflect on why the church is
here what purpose. Some answered that its the living proof of our Lord. A place where we can
learn from God and feel his presences. Its a place where we can be united. The church is
individual because of our faith yet universal because we celebrate it as one community.
Number 8 tells us the significance of the Church to our daily lives this are some of the answers
given

the significance of the church to me is like a set of instructions. you might not read it
very carefully the first time but once you commit some mistakes you tend to read it back
again and make sure you dont commit the same mistake again.

they keep me believing in my own faith

It signifies God for me

The Church is significant in my life since it plays a vital role in my spiritual health and it
helps me strengthen my faith and relationship with God. Because of the Church, I
learned more about God and all His good will, His word, and His plans for all of us. I
became aware.

It isn't that significant. I would rather worship alone.

The question of this is why is the church significant this question can be closely link to why the
church exist. Its make people see the value of the church to us. People had answered this
question with unique and different answers. Many say that it is the physical prof of our faith that
it is an instrument to make us see God. The church is different for each human being. For
example for some it is a refuge were people with problems can escape and find peace. Some it
is just a building that we need to go every Sunday. It has different purpose yet it has a meaning
for each and everyone of us.
Second to the last is question 9 here are some of the answers

I would much prefer it that my God welcomes me with open arms regarding my
problems.

yes, the church is very welcoming in terms of problems through confessions

yes

the church welcomes in open arms. cause if it does not welcome with open arms then
the citizens of the philippines will PURELY consist of Christians and will reject other
religions.

No, Honestly I don't share my problems to others I usually keep it to my own

This question can show us how comfortable a person is to go to the church. Because of bullying
and prejudice of this generation people who are close to God are laugh at and tease. So this
show us how each individual who took our survey feels about the church. Is it a home? Many
answered with yes. Our openness in going to the church is tested and verified when we at
anytime can go to the church without any reason but an urge. To just sit there and have a
conversation with God. As a quote once said that a person is closer to God if they have
problems. Because we lean on God for strength.
Lastly question 10 which is a big part of our report this are some of the answer that were given
to us

If they put many joyful songs.

Sometimes because some of the practice are things that i couldn't do or be able to do
but maybe in the future after I succeed with my goals in life.

I always go to church it doesn't matter if the church had events or an ordinary mass.
What's important to me is to attend the mass and listen to the world of God.

Going to church is an obligation for us Christians, we dont have to have programs to be

motivated. Faith shouldbe enough motivation to go to church

No program or event would be sufficiently helpful to get me to go to church.

The last question is one of the high lights of our report. Because many of our generation find
going to mass to be boring and if its not required they do not go. So we ask what can make
them go to church. Many answered that no matter what they wouldnt go to church. While some
answered that because of their upbringing going to church doesnt need a reason. While some
suggested this:

Find any clubs that our related to the church and join
Example: The choir

Going on retreats

Joining groups and organizations

Motivating one and practicing on going every week

In summary
The church has a different meaning for each of us. A different purpose for us yet it is embedded
in us. It is interlinked to each of our upbringing like the morals they teach us. Our judgement on
whats good and whats right it is part of our lives. Questioned if it never existed we would be in
chaos. In our generation now many dont go and celebrate mass yet either way it is important to
us.