The Hopeful Neighborhood Field Guide: Six Sessions on Pursuing the Common Good Right Where You Live

by Tony Cook, Don Everts

Overview

We all live somewhere. And we all want our neighborhoods to flourish. Many of us hope (and even pray) for our neighborhoods' well-being. But how do we actually pursue that? This field guide answers this question by walking you through a simple, powerful process for blessing your own neighborhood. Tony Cook and Don Everts offer six sessions for discovering the gifts of your community, imagining the possibilities, and pursuing the common good. Exercises and assessments provide practical tools for bringing your hopes into concrete reality. Join with others so that together you can increase the well-being of your local neighborhood.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780830847327
Publisher:	InterVarsity Press
Publication date:	03/02/2021
Series:	Lutheran Hour Ministries Resources
Pages:	80
Sales rank:	482,693
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.30(d)

About the Author

Don Everts is a writer for Lutheran Hour Ministries and has served as a pastor and a campus minister. His many books include The Reluctant Witness and The Spiritually Vibrant Home.

Tony Cook is the executive director of The Hopeful Neighborhood Project and has served as vice president of global ministries at Lutheran Hour Ministries. He has also served as associate professor of practical theology at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, and has a PhD in curriculum and instruction from St. Louis University and an MDiv from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis.

Table of Contents

Introduction: You and Your Neighborhood 9

Session 1 Focus on Possibilities 13

Session 2 Share Individual Gifts 21

Session 3 Value Neighborhood Uniqueness 31

Session 4 Long for Neighborhood Well-Being 42

Session 5 Imagine Possibilities Collaboratively 54

Session 6 Create and World a Plan 62

Conclusion: Giving and Receiving 71

Acknowledgments 73

Notes 74

Editorial Reviews

02/08/2021

Everts (The Reluctant Witness) and Cook, writer and vice president of global ministries, respectively, at Lutheran Hour Ministries, deliver a short, practical guide for neighborhood improvement aimed at faith-based community groups. The plan is divided into six sections—focus on possibilities, share individual gifts, value uniqueness, “long for neighborhood well-being,” imagine collaboratively, and create a plan—and instructs readers on the art of pursuing the common good of their neighborhood. The authors posit that “divisive media, partisan politics, and the basic fear of people different from ourselves” are common roadblocks hindering community action, and suggest seeing a neighborhood’s potential through a “well-being window” that frames cultural diversity, civic participation, residential equity, biodiversity, and adequate infrastructure as top priorities. Unfortunately, the authors rely on hollow platitudes (“you are limited by what you can personally see”) and obvious suggestions (such as to talk about the history of one’s neighborhood to process and overcome historical traumas), but never provide real-world examples from their work on neighborhood collaborations to demonstrate these principles in action. This doesn’t have all the answers, but for readers looking to become more locally engaged, it’s is a decent starting point. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly