Objetivo de la Evaluación

129 4.7.3.5 STRUCTURE

The Theme which stays at the centre point of the triangle also has the structural dimension to it. In the structural dimension are derived two basic elements, namely: mode and media. The mode is the form in which the communication takes place e.g., writing, speech, body movements and the media are the channels through which they are communicated, e.g., language, voice call, texting and emailing. This has become essential in view of the modern electronic means of communication in which communication methods like Facebook are made possible.

4.8 THE SEARCH FOR A NEW MODEL OF CHURCH COMMUNICATION

130 The Pope is seen as the one connecting all the participants. Now, should he remain in the same level with others? How will it function, if he were to remain in the same level with others? The way it is, it wouldn’t achieve its goal of a communion church to do away with the hierarchical structure of the church. Infact, it would do more damage than good to contemplate such, because this same model, inspite of its shortcomings, has actually helped to preserve the unity of the church to the level it is, and it would only be a disservice to the universal church to contemplate its removal. So, in a nutshell, the new model for the church should not just be an existential paradigm shift from a participating leadership to a participation of all participants, but rather a participating leadership within the context of the participation of all participants.

4.8.1 THE TRIANGLE WITHIN TWO SPHERES

Deriving from Ruth Cohn’s TCI model clearly explained in the triangle within the square, is a further point to be inserted which I have described the “triangle within 2 spheres”. Ruth Cohn in her summary of the triangle within the square describes the situation in which the “I” as the individual person, imbedded with the group, the “We” collectively takes up a task or theme, the “It”, all taking place with the environment, the “Globe”.

The clarification of what this “Globe” means, was not explicitly explained by Cohn. To explain the Globe in general, may be confusing because the Globe may mean different things to different people, in different cultures, at different times, in different places. In other words, the Globe is always and will always remain contextualised. Thus, the Auchi person’s understanding of the Globe may not be on the same plain as a German or Chinese may conceive it. The understanding of the Globe, for the Auchi person is tied strongly to his religious belief in God.

For example, taking the simple statement: “I am happy in the World”, the following could be likely interpretations based on the different cultural contexts:

Auchi: I feel good because God loves me and I know the future will be good.

German/European: I am ok. I have all I need; good job with good income, I can visit lovely places around the world and I feel safe.

For the Auchi person, the Globe means first and foremost, that he believes God who created the world and the creatures in it. He believes that although, things are not as perfect as they ought to be, God loves him and more importantly, he is hopeful that God will make the world

131 a better place and that his future will definitely be better than the present. That the future will be better than today implies for him also that the situation of life as he sees it is not the good and perfect life he wants and that with God’s help, that dream will eventually materialise.

On the hand, the German is not placing so much emphasis on God in the same weight as the Auchi person. For him, he has a good job and all the basic necessities of life. He is able to visit all the nice places of the world, places he has always dreamt of visiting. And importantly, he is not feeling threatened either from economic uncertainties or violence from terrorists.

Now, the Globe would change again for an Auchi man, if he is either a Christian, Muslim or traditional believer. For example, a Christian Auchi person is more likely to talk of a Globe where human rights are respected, where fundamental natural freedoms are upheld, where the God-given resources are equally shared, where one is free to worship God the way he likes. A Muslim Auchi person may talk about a Globe where rights are upheld but not equally for men and woman (again what is the concept of the sexes in Islam and Christianity, for example). He may be interested in ensuring that adherents to the Islamic faith remain so. A traditional believer would see the globe as one created by God in which everyone must live according to the role assigned by the gods and society which ought to guarantee peaceful cohabitation by all. These, amongst others, demonstrate the varied ways in which the globe can be understood by different peoples. It is within this understanding, it becomes clearer to talk about a triangle, retaining the “I”, “We” and “It” coordinate points but now within two spheres, in which case, the inner sphere represents the immediate globe of the participants while the outer sphere represents the wider globe that embraces others.

Every TCI model, therefore, begins from the experiences of the individual participants (the inner globe), in their different experiences and into the wider Globe (outer globe). Even when the participants come from different cultural backgrounds, the first attempt is always made to understand the individual Global perception before launching into the theme or task of the group. As an example, a specific theme which arose as the result of the specific context of the human condition of the Africa person, namely the Latin American-inspired liberation theology would be considered. This can be represented in the diagram below.

132 I

We It

Illustration 7: Triangle within 2 spheres TCI model