Goals

The Vincentian Centre for Church and Society is a centre that operates to connect the Church and the local community, teaching them about the life, times and teachings of St. Vincent de Paul. It expounds on the Vincentian way to the people within its reach. It also opens the door to research on core societal issues such as poverty, social justice, and the bridge between science and religion.

To achieve the overarching goal of connecting the University, community and the church, The Vincentian Center for Church and Society have highlighted specific goals. They therefore aim;

• To encourage social and theological discussions on issues pertaining to both the Church and the University;
• To facilitate the study of the causes of poverty and means of alleviation; promoting interdisciplinary research and educational programs;
• To develop and sponsor educational events and programs on management, evangelisation, and other subjects necessary for strengthening Church organisations and personnel;
• To organise and sponsor academic activities and cultural events which focus on promoting human values, human rights and study the interrelationship between religion and science;
• To initiate forums, roundtables, think-tanks and conferences aimed at educating and encouraging the Church, the academic community, service providers and local community leaders;
• To sponsor events geared towards analysing public policy and advocacy; collecting, maintaining and publishing information on the University and its contributions towards the greater good of the community and facilitating the operations of the Service Opportunities Council;
• To maintain the inventories of the University's resources in areas related to poverty, advocacy, religion and science, social justice, and other related disciplines;
• To stimulate interest and enthusiasm for the Vincentian way, spirit and tradition within the University;
• To produce and distribute materials on social justice, poverty, and Vincentianism;
• To accomplish the mission and goals of the Centre by engaging in the specific activities of;
• Motivating expertise, promoting experiences and developing materials to bring the Vincentian way, spirit and vision within the University.
• Housing the Vincentian Chair of Social Justice.
• Supporting the Institute for Poverty Studies while also sponsoring the dialogue on Religion and Science.
• Offering academic programs and cultural events for the public and the University and developing educational programs for Church personnel in evangelisation, management, advocacy, and marketing.
• Encouraging and facilitating research and reflection on the interrelationship between Catholic Social Teaching, poverty, social justice, the relationship between religion and science and advocacy.
• To provide educational services to different organisations of the Church. The Centre provides access to necessary resources needed by the organizations in carrying out their functions. The Centre also works with other Christian organisations with similar goals of serving and helping the community members.

In over seventy years, the Vincentian Centre for Church and Society has made strides in connecting the metropolitan Gold Coast community members with the Church of Gold Coast and to the John's University of Gold Coast. They continue to gear up to achieve even more extraordinary feats and more success in our outreach endeavours in the years to come.