PAKIGLAMBIGIT (ENGAGEMENT): A SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY OF YOUTH MINISTRY ENGAGEMENT AMONG BATAN-ONG KATOLIKO IN BUKIDNON

Abstract

Batan-ong Katoliko (young Catholics) in Bukidnon live out their faith within intersecting social, cultural, economic, and religious contexts that both nurture and constrain their participation in Church life. While studies of youth ministry in the Philippines often rely on theological and developmental frameworks, sociological analyses that examine how young Catholics are positioned within institutional and relational fields remain limited, particularly in regional contexts. Guided by Bourdieu’s theoretical orientation, this study approaches youth ministry as a social field structured by access to social capital, cultural legitimacy, economic resources, and symbolic recognition. Using a mixed-methods design, the research draws on survey data (n=215) and in-depth interviews (n=12), which were analyzed thematically. Findings show that batan-ong Katoliko are shaped by overlapping social, cultural, economic, and religious realities: family and peer support draw many into ministry, cultural engagement ranges from integration to distancing, economic precarity constrains but does not prevent participation, and faith is consistently affirmed as a daily compass rooted in prayer, sacraments, and family modeling. In this study, we foreground the Bisayan concept of pakiglambigit (engagement) as a locally grounded analytic that captures how young Catholics relationally enter, sustain, and shape their involvement in ministry. From this conceptual grounding in pakiglambigit, three anchors of youth ministry engagement emerge: Pagpahimutang sa Presensya (Positions of Presence), Pamatasan sa Paglahutay (Practices of Persistence), and Pamaagi sa Pagsalmot (Pathways of Participation), which illustrate how youth are positioned, sustain involvement, and create spaces of belonging within an unevenly accessible Church field. Building on these anchors, the study proposes a framework of Catholic Youth Ministry Dimensions that links youth engagement with structural and relational conditions within parish life. The study contributes a sociological perspective to Philippine youth ministry scholarship while offering practical insights for diocesan youth ministry planning grounded in the lived realities of young Catholics.