Does religion build social capital in a neighborhood?
Some neighborhoods have a strong sense of themselves and high levels of communication and cooperation. When they have those assets, have religious organizations or people of faith helped to create and sustain them? • How do congregations fit into a neighborhoods infrastructure? Every neighborhood has a particular combination of government agencies, businesses, schools, non-profit organizations, and congregations; the organizations through which people act together to shape their lives. What role do congregations play in this interaction and, as in the first question, how different is this role from place to place? The researchers provided a wealth of ideas and analysis in answer to these questions, not all of which could possibly be recounted here. But some major themes emerged that are important enough to share. 1. Each urban neighborhood is unique. At first this observation seems a truism. Of course each neighborhood is unique. Each has different people, different houses, and differe
