Activity: Identifying Community Assets and Disparities

This activity is designed to deepen your understanding of the urban context by examining a specific community's strengths (assets) and challenges (disparities). By engaging with this exercise, you'll develop a more nuanced view of urban environments, crucial for effective urban church planting.

Instructions

1. Select a Community: Choose an urban community you are familiar with. This could be your current neighborhood, a place where you have worked, or an area you are considering for church planting.
2. Identify 5 Assets:  List and briefly describe five assets of the selected community. Assets are positive qualities or resources that can be leveraged for the benefit of the community. Look for:
1. Physical assets (parks, community centers)
2. Institutional assets (schools, businesses)
3. Human assets (community leaders, volunteers)
3. Identify 5 Disparities: List and briefly describe five disparities within the same community. Disparities are significant differences within the community that can lead to or highlight challenges. These might relate to:
1. Economic inequality (wealth gaps, unemployment)
2. Access to resources (healthcare, education)
3. Social issues (homelessness, crime rates)
4. Reflection: After identifying the assets and disparities, reflect on how an urban church plant could leverage the assets to address the disparities. Write a short paragraph summarizing your thoughts.
5. Compile and submit your findings and reflections into a document and upload it using the option below.