I live in a house in a Melbourne suburb with my wife and three children. We have lived in this suburb for nearly eight years. We know a lot of locals through the primary school our children attend. I am the minister of a local church and I often shop in local shops. We know by name the people who live in the seven houses near us because we have had a couple of social gatherings at Christmas and Easter. It takes a long time to get a sense of belonging

to a neighbourhood but I think we are getting there.

Simon Carey Holt thinks that many people underestimate their local neighbourhood as a place where God is pre- sent and where mission happens. His book is a gentle reminder that God is at work on your door step and round the corner. Mission doesn’t happen elsewhere: it happens everywhere.

In section one he asks two questions: what are neighbourhoods of today really like? And what are the most signifi- cant challenges to our neighbourhoods as places of community? In trying to answer these questions he analyses three forces that affect how we experience our neighbourhoods: urbanisation, suburbia and mobility.

One conclusion he comes to is that neighbourhood is not so much about “place” as about “networks.”  “Networks are the new community” (p.31) and “when it comes to community, we’ll draw on a network of relationships from multiple places”(p.29). As we are all so mobile and so connected we might have more interactions with someone interstate than the people living next door. The places where we live can subtly become devalued with the result that people “grieve a growing psychological distance” with their neighbours. People just don’t know one another let alone know how to care for one another.

In section two Holt argues that Christians individually and the church corporately need to see its local neighbour- hood as the place where God has called us to be on mission.  How can we love our next door neighbour if we don’t even know them? “The neighbourhood is one of the most obvious and immediate contexts for Christian mission” (p.60).

This is a great encouragement to members of any local churches trying to do mission in your immediate context. It should encourage you to keep being involved in your local community, praying for neighbours, inviting them to basic Christianity courses, guest events and seeker-type services. It is an encouragement to all those involved in church-based outreach ministries like play groups, kids clubs, holiday programs, youth groups, and carols-in-the- park etc etc. It is encouragement to those involved in welfare and social action groups in the local neighbourhood.

Holt’s argument is based on a good grounding in the Bible and church history. His strongest theological motif is the incarnation: “The Incarnation is about much more than God revealed in human experience, but God revealed and encountered in place” (p.83). He argues that the incarnation reminds us that the greatest “impact in Christian mission comes through the discipline of presence. After all, the commitment to neighbourhood requires a commitment

to being at home” (p.89).

I suspect some evangelicals will feel a little uncomfortable with Holt’s emphasis on the incarnation. I personally would like to have seen a little more on the neighbourhood as somewhere that needs to be redeemed as much as to be lived in. Nevertheless, Holt’s challenge is to be God’s people on mission in the very place he has put you. How you do that as individuals and as church is the focus of part three.

Before moving on Holt’s analysis raises for me a tension that is not easily answered. If community is more about networks than place how does the church respond? At our church for example, people come from about thirty postcodes. We are in fact another “network” in Holt’s language. Where is our local community when so many of our people don’t live in the immediate suburb where our church building happens to be?  Our mission field is more dis-

persed and geographically spread than our redundant parish boundaries suggest. I hold on to the concentric circle imagery of Acts 1:8 and see our church as having a mission field right here  (ie our “Jerusalem”) and spreading quite literally through the mobility of our members and the overseas mission work we support, to the “ends of the earth.”

Part three is Holt’s attempt to give some practical suggestions of what to do. It may be in this section that you or your church will find a good idea to try out or to adapt for your situation. Holt suggests we might follow four processes or disciplines to engage with our local neighbourhoods. He calls these disciplines naming, celebrating, nurturing and inviting.  These chapters include suggestions like: doing an “exegetical walk” looking for signs in your neighbourhood of life, hope, despair, community, alienation, beauty and neglect neighbourhood parties and neighbourhood liturgies use your front garden or verandah if you have one as a place to meet neighbours walking prayers neighbourhood “church”

Many of the suggestions and indeed much of the book is described through stories of real people which give the book an immediacy and warmth.

Jesus’ summary of the Law and the story of the Good Samaritan emphasise that “loving one’s neighbour” is high on God’s agenda. Holt’s thesis is built on the sensible premise that you need to know your neighbour and your neighbourhood to be able to obey this command. He quite rightly points out that the great commission (“make disciples”) and the great commandment (“love your neighbour”) go together as we show concern for our neighbour’s material and spiritual needs.

It is only 165 pages with footnotes and a short bibliography. It is written by an Australian living in Melbourne who has also lived in other countries.  I would recommend this as a good read for any ministers who have forgotten about local mission or lost heart; for church boards and vestries to refresh and reinvigorate their commitment to local mission and to returned missionaries who may feel they did their best mission work somewhere else.