A major challenge for religious communities today lies in harnessing the commitment and energy of religious people to address larger societal issues. Key to such efforts are people willing to live and learn "at the boundaries" where secular meets religious, public meets private, and subcultures meet each other. "A way of life on the boundaries, lived in community and faith, finds a broad menu of possibilities," says Gunderson. "In the most practical terms, boundary people see the full range of opportunities, usually in advance of those trying to defend old ways or live inside the core culture. Leaders (who are also members) are finding new economic, social, and political arrangements amid turbulent changes...."Writing for clergy and lay people and other community groups, Gary Gunderson employs his expertise from years of leading and coordinating such efforts at the Carter Center, in the health community, and in African relief efforts to map the skills necessary for leadership in improving the quality of life in local communities. Summarizing the training program that the Carter Center has pioneered in seven pilot sites (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Dallas, Atlanta, Memphis, and in S. Carolina), Boundary People captures the personal characteristics needed for such engagement. It details how religious people can "lead, learn, and belong" in helpful ways today. And it details the five important traits such leaders must cultivate, centered around knowledge, commitment, integrity, relationship, and the future. For anyone who has ever felt the need to do more yet despairs at what to do next, Boundary People can open new horizons of social engagement.
Author Bio:Gary R. Gunderson is Director of the Interfaith Health Program at the Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta. A leading figure in the religion-and-health movement, Gunderson is responsible for a national program mobilizing faith groups-Christian and not-around a broad range of health issues, including violence, substance abuse, hunger, and public health. He is author of Deeply Woven Roots: Improving the Quality of Life in Your Community (Fortress Press, 1997). THE WORD MADE PLAIN: THE POWER AND PROMISE OF PREACHING
