Shalom Makers

It began over two years ago with a small group of people who had the vision of linking practitioners of holistic justice (shalom-makers) to address three expressed needs: mutual encouragement, education, and improvement. These three common needs were those most often identified by a significant number of urban-dwelling shalom-makers, spanning across several denominations, faith traditions, and community-based organizations.

A thread that runs through these shalom-makers is their steadfast desire and work in transitioning away from — not to abandon — acts of charity (doing for others) and toward acts of justice (working with others to help community residents do for themselves with resources found mostly in their local communities). Shalom-makers apply community organizing and Asset Based Community Development principles, techniques, and strategies in relationships with community residents to insure that there is equity in the physical, social, economic, political, and spiritual systems within their communities.  

And now, in mid-2010, the vision that began formation in 2008 among a small group of shalom-makers in Southern California is emerging — enlarging the circle of community — as the Shalom-Makers Network offers mutual encouragement, education, and improvement for the shalom (well-being) of the places where we live, work, learn, play and worship.  

Are you a shalom-maker?

The training @ Communities of Shalom in Ocean Grove, NJ was rich and wonderful.

The session that I led on the analysis of power (physical, social, economic, individual, political, and symbolic) sparked great conversation. We applied power analysis in community organizing (5 types from another of my sessions) and power systems mapping in terms of Asset Based Community Development.

I drew from my own research and a variety of resources that include Robert C. Linthicum’s Building a People of Power,  Kristina Smock’s Democracy in Action, F. Ellen Netting and Mary K. O’Connor’s 4 paradigms in Organization Practice, and the Asset Based Community Development Institute.

Dave