Simon Carey Holt, a post-modern lecturer in spirituality, has listened to the experiences of numerous people of faith living in a variety of urban and suburban neighbourhood contexts across many nations, including his city of domicile, Melbourne, Australia. He has developed transformational conversations with these people that illuminate for the reader the endless possibilities for spiritual encounter in our own neighbourhoods, if we will seek God's presence in our neighbourhood, and take time to interact with the communities we live in.

In the opening chapter the author reviews the three views that sociologists have held of urbanisation through the 1900s. The first view was that urbanisation deal a fatal blow to any possibility of genuine communal experience; the second that pockets of neighbourhood thrive in an otherwise alien environment; the third view that urbanisation actually spawns new ways of being a community. These three responses can be defined as community lost, community found and community liberated.

In the second and third chapters Simon challenges the suburban state of mind, and the mobility and cohesion of suburban neighbourhoods.

The biblical mandate, the call of God, and urban mission are the focus of the next two chapters. Influenced by men who advocate alternative urban church structures such as Robert Banks, Simon searches through New Testament and early church history to show how the early Christians maximised their neighbourllness to evangelise Mediterranean communities. Focusing on his past and present urban environment, Simon explores the relationship between discipleship, evangelism, cross-cultural mission and the emerging multicultural suburbia through the fascinating stories Simon narrates throughout the entire book.

Towards the second half of the book the author deals with the sad dichotomy many suburban Christians face between church life and suburban life. They choose the safely of church life because it facilitates relationships with people of like mind and like interests. Over their years of church life they lose the conversation needed to encounter their neighbours, often travelling considerable distances across the city to join their church community, ignoring the local community. This behaviour negates the possibility of any meaningful engagement in local community activities. The author proposes community service as one of the spiritual disciplines of the neighbourhood. He states that God's presence is in our neighbourhood, and it has been associated with our roots, making the church an 'embedded' community. These ideas start to develop a theology of land and community leadership.

It seemed appropriate to this reviewer that this Baptist affiliated author could have explored the origins of the word 'diakanos' and how Greek society had deacons for cities and suburbs who gathered in forums (diakonos) as city leaders to care for the needs of the urbanites. The author does develop the idea that city and suburban leadership arises out of service to one's neighbours in fulfilment of Jesus' second command, 'to love your neighbour as yourself.

The author often refers to dichotomies in 'Western' Christian thinking that do not exist for Christians who come from holistic tribal cultures. Jesus had an holistic worldview and this enabled him to bypass the religious communal segregation of his day. Simon rightly concludes that an holistic urban faith calls us to a high level of inclusivity as was demonstated in the call of Jesus ministry (Isaiah 61:1-3) to people of every social strata., every despised group in his society, and every race with which he had contact.

Engagement and identification with the neighbourhood are topics discussed in chapters 6 and 7. A parallel is drawn with the incamational presence of Christ on earth, in the life of the believer by the power of the Holy Spirit, and in the serving believer as God's representative in the neighbourhood.

The writer states at the end of the book that his purpose in writing will be served if readers re-look at their neighbourhood as an important place for spirituality and mission. The thought provoking concepts adequately illustrated with relevant and captivating stories ensures that this purpose will be well fulfilled.