Description
This community-development guide helps congregations and organizations mobilize local strengths by teaching practical methods for identifying the gifts, skills, and assets already present among neighbors.The guide is rooted in Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD), which emphasizes starting with what is strong rather than what is wrong; it affirms that communities grow in power when residents name their gifts and act together. This resource provides ministry leaders with frameworks, cautions, and step-by-step tools for facilitating asset-mapping conversations that build resident power, shift deficit-based narratives, and strengthen community partnerships.
Features
- Overview of asset-based community development
- Explanation of the harm of needs-based approaches
- Framework for “ starting with what’s strong”
- Types of assets (individual, associations, institutions, etc.)
- Four asset-mapping methods
- Tips and cautions for facilitators
- Additional resources
Practical Applications
- Identify individual gifts and skills within your congregation by adapting the guide’s first asset-mapping method, allowing members to recognize their own capacity for ministry.
- Map local associations and informal groups in your neighborhood to uncover existing networks your congregation can partner with for community initiatives.
