Whether you’re a follower of Jesus, a local church, or a Christian organization, we can all go further in loving our neighbours.
As a community of practise, in2neighbourhoods provides the opportunity to learn from each other and others, about how to engage our neighbours and communities using creative and Holy Spirit directed strategies. And, when as the church we begin to bridge the gap with our local communities, we can believe God for even greater things for our towns, cities, and nations … until the restoration of all things!
Below you will find In2Neighbourhoods’ main resource portals. As a learning conversation, I hope you will want to add to them with your comments, stories, and experiences.
To help you find the content that best suits your interests, I’ve organized the site into 3 main portals:
As followers of Jesus we have been given both the ministry and word of reconciliation.  This means that as believers our daily work is to represent the interests of Father God and His kingdom. God calls us to live out and declare the good news that He has reached out to us in friendship through Jesus.
We now know the truth about God’s love for us and that a divine exchange has happened:  Jesus was made sin for us and we became the very righteousness of God Himself.  The implications of this exchange initiated by God, when accepted, is really staggering!
But how do we in practical terms bring this good news to others? May I suggest that it happens when we follow God’s method of being missional and incarnational.  *
In the portals below you will find some featured resources to inspire and equip you in representing God’s interests – loving others for life!
The transformation of a community needs to begin with passionate followers of Jesus who with renewed minds, healed hearts, and serving hands, release the Kingdom of God in their sphere of influence.
Our calling as believers is to focus on the restorative work of the Kingdom in which every aspect of human life — beginning with one’s relationship with God, self, each other, and the environment — comes into alignment with our Creator God and through whom we find our true identity.
“[Transformation] is a lifelong journey and everyone is on it,” states Dr. Bryant Myers, professor of Transformational Development. “It is about finding and enjoying life as it should be, as it was intended to be.”
In the portals below you will find some practical community development resources for working towards neighbourhood transformation and engagement in the restorative work of the Kingdom.
If the concept of innovation (in the social realm) is new to you, you are not alone. It is only recently as a result of my job that I’ve been getting a first-hand introduction into this field.  When I talk about social innovation, I’m speaking of both a process and an outcome.
As a process, innovation often involves a  change lab(s) – a one off or series of structured conversations between diverse voices who have come together around a complex issue or problem.
The group of diverse stakeholders explore together the systemic issues of the given system, come up with promising alternatives, and through prototyping and piloting test for broad impact. At the end a product, service, or idea is launched.
As an outcome, social innovation often results in:
  • common and shared better understanding of a given issue by a wider group of local stakeholders
  • communities’ capacity building
  • citizen resilience
  • new alliances
  • team building
  • wider engagement locally.
In the portals below you will find creative thinking and current practises for unpacking the world of faith-based innovation.

Faith Prompts Blog

The Faith Prompts Blog is where you’ll find encouraging stories, useful resources, and how-to tips on bridging the gap with your neighbours and local community. With easy-to-understand principles and practices, we hope you’ll be prompted into love and action, as Kingdom agents of change!

The faith-based ‘honeycomb’ that is building stronger, more resilient families: Episode #010

#010 —  Inside the world of a bee’s nest, are a mass of hexagonal wax cells that together make up a honeycomb. The honeycomb acts both as a home for bees ...
Read More ›
0 Podcast By |

Indwell: A story of hope and belonging through affordable supportive housing, with Jeff Neven: Episode #009

#009 – In a recent Waterloo Regional Record article titled, “Affordable Housing Gives Vulnerable People an Opportunity to Thrive”, author Leah Conner shares about her lived experience and the trauma of ...
Read More ›
0 Podcast By |

Organized Kaos: apprenticing youth in life and the trades, with Shawn Stuart: Episode #008

#008 – ‘HELP US BUILD ONTARIO’ – that’s a banner headline from a recent full-page advertisement in the Toronto Star newspaper, by the Carpenters’ District Council of Ontario. It points to ...
Read More ›
0 Podcast By |

The UK church in action: tackling the social consequences of the pandemic for vulnerable people, with Pastor Tom Jackson, MBE: Episode #007

#007 – As the pandemic has swept across the world, governments, NGOs, faith communities, local citizens and many others have been engaged in supporting vulnerable populations effected by COVID-19.  In the ...
Read More ›
0 Podcast By |