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

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.)