Community Assessment

Articles, Excerpts, Tips & More
An Introduction to ABCD for Church Leaders: This 11-page article will help church leaders understand the basics of the asset-based community development model.
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A Historical and Spiritual Map of San Jose: This short article offers one church’s example of documenting the “spiritual climate” of their city. It serves as a useful example of how other churches could go about researching/documenting a “spiritual map” for their own cities.
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Summary of Building a People of Power: Equipping Churches to Transform Their Communities: Summary of Building a People of Power: This 3-page essay offers a thorough overview of this important book by community-organizing guru Robert Linthicum.
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Tutorial on Using the Census 2000 Website to Obtain Local Data: This step-by-step tutorial helps practitioners navigate the wealth of neighborhood-level data within the Census website efficiently, getting quickly to the information most needed and relevant.
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Market of Skills: This is a game for community groups to play in order to discover what gifts and skills they have and how those could be put to use in group projects to serve their city.
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Ideas for Strengthening Community Connections: This tip sheet offers suggestions for moving beyond outreach and service projects to building bridges with neighbors.
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Community Study: A Guide to Understanding Your Church’s Context for Ministry: A manual guiding church leaders through community assessment – why, what, and how.
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Recommended Books
Foundations of Urban Ministry: This excerpt from the online book, Transforming the City, explains why Christians should be involved in caring about the city, what the Bible says about cities, and what information is necessary to serve in urban ministry.
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Asset-Based Strategies for Faith Communities:  A workbook on how to use the Asset-Based Community Development concepts in a faith-based organization.
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Building a People of Power: This 27-session DVD series on empowering God’s people covers in-depth the Biblical principles and practical how-to’s of church-based community organizing and transformation.
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The Citizens Handbook: This online book is accessible, easily adaptable to any group, and packed with helpful ideas, tools and resources.
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Through God’s Eyes, With God’s Heart: A workbook guiding church leaders through the initial steps of community needs and assets assessments.
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Recommended Links
Christians Supporting Community Organizing: This ministry seeks to enlist local evangelical, Holiness, Pentecostal, and related congregations in the growing congregation-based community-organizing movement to work on behalf of the poor, marginalized, and those who have suffered as a result of racial discrimination.
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Partners in Urban Transformation: Partners in Urban Transformation equips urban churches and organizations to transform their communities using Biblical principles for community organizing.
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