Effective use of Church land in St. John's Cathedral - Kabarole, Diocese of Ruwenzori, 2020-2025

Abstract

In the last decades, the church as an institution worldwide has used its land as centers of mission and evangelism to the world and developing to high economic heights. This accomplishes God's intended purpose following the biblical view that God is the creator and the ultimate owner of land, although man was given the responsibility to manage, steward and care of it on behalf of God. Moreover, the concept of Land is then aligned to the spiritual and universal inheritance through the life and works of Jesus Christ. This shapes the church's understanding in taking a more comprehensive and conclusive approach in using its land. The church is to steward its land responsibility, while watchfully preparing for God's kingdom. This study was focused on examining the Effective use of church land in St. John’s Cathedral parish – Kabarole, Ruwenzori diocese, 2020-2025. The pilot study was taken and the outcomes were used to create research instruments which were employed to collect data from the field. The objectives were; to analyze the Biblical perspective on land, to examine the impact of Land use on the Mission of St. John’s Cathedral parish - Kabarole, and identifying the possible ways for effective land use for St. John’s Cathedral parish - Kabarole. A mixed-methods approach which combined both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection and analysis was employed. The population with a total of 30 respondents were selected for this study including the clergy, church leaders, lay readers, estates manager within and around St. John's Cathedral parish - Kabarole as well as other selected members of the congregation, using purposive sampling and simple random. Data was collected using researcher-administered questionnaires from the proprietor, in-depth interviews and document analysis. Findings from the study indicated that God is the creator and ultimate owner of land. As stewards of land, St. John’s cathedral parish – Kabarole is effectively using its land to achieve its mission through fostering spiritual and social transformation. The study also found out that the majority of respondents acknowledged that the parish is ensuring that land is used to fulfill of holistic mission. Drawing from the biblical perspective and theological scholarship on land, it was acknowledged that using land effectively fulfills man's role as a faithful steward. The researcher concluded that land is a big factor in achieving the church's mission. Effective use of church land aligns to the biblical perspective of stewardship following God's rule. It was recommended that the Churches should be assisted to achieve the full potential of land in fulfilling God's purpose and mission on earth. The research uniquely contributes to the land policy, and land management in the church by providing further evidence on the effective use of church land. The findings support the biblical perspective (Genesis 1:28-29) which teaches that through man’s dominion over the earth, he is responsible for productivity and sustainability of land as a steward.