There is a call in Heritage Studies to democratize heritage practices and place local communities at the forefront; heritage plays an important role in identity formation, and therefore in social inclusion and exclusion. Public participation is often presented as the primary means to prioritize communities. However, studies focusing on public participation are typically descriptive in nature and lack a strong analytical framework that enables us to understand participation. The essays in this volume apply Public Administration theory to collaborative governance and thus contribute to a better understanding of public participation in the heritage sector.

This 20th anniversary edition introduces the unique approach of Listening Hearts to the spiritual practice of discernment for a new generation. Written to make the often elusive and usally clergy-centered spiritual practice of discernment accessible to all people, Listening Hearts features simple reflections and exercises drawn from scripture and from Quaker and Ignatian traditions. The seminal work in the Listening Hearts Series, this book has been a beloved resource for tens of thousands of individual reaeders, retreat participants, small groups and church leaders, listening for and responding to God's call in their lives.

The concept of community development is often misunderstood, holding different meanings across different academic disciplines. Moreover, the concept of community development has been historically abstracted, not only in the way the concept has been conceptualized in academic studies, but also by the way in which practitioners use the term in the vernacular. Departing from traditional definitions of community development, this volume applies the New Public Service (NPS) perspective of Public Administration to community development to illustrate how public administrators and public managers can engage in community development planning and implementation that results in more equitable and sustainable long-term outcomes. This book will be of interest to practitioners and researchers in public administration/management, public administration theory, community development, economic development, urban sociology, urban politics, and urban planning.

The church is at its best when it pursues the biblical value of unity in diversity. Pastor and theologian Irwyn Ince boldly unpacks the reasons for our divisions while gently guiding us toward our true hope for wholeness and reconciliation. To heal our fractured humanity, we must cultivate spiritual practices that help us pursue beautiful community.

A powerful call to action to bring reconciliation and restoration to broken communities.

Crossing the Threshold; Embracing the Call: Conceptualizing, Co-Creating and Building Community Through Rites of Passage is an important and seminal work that guides a new generation of educators, counselors, cultural custodians, life coaches, and Rites of Passage facilitators through timeless pillars, concepts, and frameworks on coming of age rituals for boys of African and Indigenous ancestry. The book contextualizes transformational initiation experiences that have occurred in their personal lives and provides the tools for designing passages for future generations. It also provides the foundation for harvesting affirmative identity, sacred gifts, and the actualization of one's Divine purpose by restoring sacred and timeless African rituals for optimal levels of community building. Crossing the Threshold represents a lifelong journey of Kamau Ptah's passages, coupled with thirty years of professional experiences conceptualizing, designing, implementing, co-creating, and facilitating rites of passage in every community he has served worldwide.

Fear—it’s something we all experience. Fears about the future, an illness, or what others might think about us can rule our hearts and steal our joy. Did you know, though, that the Bible commands Christians to fear? Believers are to fear the Lord. But what does that mean? In A Holy Fear, Christina Fox unpacks what the “fear of the Lord” means and what it looks like in our lives. By giving examples of such fear in the Bible, exploring the fruits of that fear in our lives, and uncovering God’s promises to those who fear Him, this book will help you disarm your lesser fears, applying what you learn to your heart and turning to a fear of the Lord. Table of Contents: 1. A Fear-Filled Life 2. Fear the Lord 3. Fear the Lord for Who He Is 4. Fear the Lord for What He Has Done 5. Growing in the Fear of the Lord 6. The Fruit of Holy Fear 7. From Fear to Fear 8. God’s Promises to the Fearful Conclusion: A Life of Holy Fear

US cities are faced with the joint challenge of our climate crisis and the lack of housing that is affordable and healthy. Our housing stock contributes significantly to the changing climate, with residential buildings accounting for 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. US housing is not only unhealthy for the planet, it is putting the physical and financial health of residents at risk. Our housing system means that a renter working 40 hours a week and earning minimum wage cannot afford a two-bedroom apartment in any US county. In Gray to Green Communities, green affordable housing expert Dana Bourland argues that we need to move away from a gray housing model to a green model, which considers the health and well-being of residents, their communities, and the planet. She demonstrates that we do not have to choose between protecting our planet and providing housing affordable to all. Bourland draws from her experience leading the Green Communities Program at Enterprise Community Partners, a national community development intermediary. Her work resulted in the first standard for green affordable housing which was designed to deliver measurable health, economic, and environmental benefits. The book opens with the potential of green affordable housing, followed by the problems that it is helping to solve, challenges in the approach that need to be overcome, and recommendations for the future of green affordable housing. Gray to Green Communities brings together the stories of those who benefit from living in green affordable housing and examples of Green Communities’ developments from across the country. Bourland posits that over the next decade we can deliver on the human right to housing while reaching a level of carbon emissions reductions agreed upon by scientists and demanded by youth. Gray to Green Communities will empower and inspire anyone interested in the future of housing and our planet.

What do a Jewish woman from the Bronx, a Canadian-born multiculturalist, and a minister'sson from Minnesota all have in common? They, along with six other colleagues, all met ona November day in Southern California to begin forming what would eventually become theDiversity Community Exchange - DiCE. The DiCE group is a group of Diversity professionalsfrom various sectors of the industry (independent consultants, corporate Diversity officers, and academia) who came together for the purposes of strengthening each other's skills andcommitment to Diversity principles, and explore ways to make the Diversity message moreunderstandable, visible, and accepted. Along the way, they discovered the tremendousunifying power of stories to help effect these goals. The Diversity Calling - BuildingCommunity One Story at a Time shares the stories of each of the nine DiCE members: Sonny, Juan, Santalynda, Simma, Sidalia, Nadia, Tommy, Joe-Joe, and Marvin as they made theirindividual journeys and choices to perform Diversity work. Reading their stories may causeyou to laugh, cry, and hope as you get to know them better, and in all likelihood will inspireyou to share a few stories of your own!

Collection of articles about the history of missions from an African-American perspective.