Witnessing, saving, serving? A relational approach to community development in the suburbs of a global city

This paper considers the community development practice of The Salvation Army in a public housing estate in Sydney, Australia. Drawing on interviews with community members, officers, staff, and volunteers from The Salvation Army, we explore the transformative potential of relational, rather than tra...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of religion & spirituality in social work 2020-01, Vol.39 (1), p.90-110
Main Authors: Howitt, Richard, McLachlan, Kath, Tofa, Matalena, Barkat, Iqbal, Misra, Garima, Moulds, Nathan, Susanto, Johana, Osborne, Philip, Grenot, Dominic, Rajan, Nitin, Yates, Joanne
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
advocacy
Charities
Community development
community organizing
engaged witnessing
imago Dei
Public housing
relational community development
Religion
Religious beliefs
Social work
The Salvation Army
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This paper considers the community development practice of The Salvation Army in a public housing estate in Sydney, Australia. Drawing on interviews with community members, officers, staff, and volunteers from The Salvation Army, we explore the transformative potential of relational, rather than transactional, community development practices. In accepting the theological principle of imago Dei as the foundation for its practice, The Salvation Army prioritized listening, witnessing and simply loving people and place, and generated a profound sense of belonging and connectedness. This relational approach to community development offers valuable lessons for faith-based communities of social work practice.
ISSN:1542-6432
1542-6440
DOI:10.1080/15426432.2019.1700870