Resignificación de la Praxis Pastoral: Sistematización de una Experiencia de Liderazgo e Innovación en la Dirección de Evangelización y Cultura de la Universidad Santo Tomás, Seccional Bucaramanga (2025-2026)

Abstract

The systematization of experiences presented here analyzes the intervention carried out from 2025 to 2026 by the Directorate of Evangelization and Culture at the Santo Tomás University, Bucaramanga Campus. This process arose from the need to strengthen university pastoral practice through innovative, participatory strategies that are tailored to the dynamics of the student community. The main goal is to critically interpret the leadership and innovation experience developed by the Directorate of Evangelization and Culture at Santo Tomás University, Bucaramanga Campus, during the 2025-2026 period, in order to understand its contributions to rethinking university pastoral practice, enhancing holistic education, and building community based on Thomistic Christian humanism. Methodologically, a qualitative approach with a participatory character was adopted, using techniques such as participant observation, document review, semi-structured interviews, and collective reflection exercises with key actors in the process. This approach allows for reconstructing the experience from multiple perspectives, fostering a comprehensive understanding of it. Preliminary progress shows an increase in student participation, as well as a strengthening of institutional identity and subjective well-being. However, challenges are identified related to the continuity of strategies and the methodological adoption by some institutional actors. In this sense, it is noted that Evangelization in higher education contexts requires experiential, dialogical, and culturally relevant approaches that integrate communicative innovation and promote practices focused on care the sense of community and well-rounded development.