Defining the Terms

Just as we must define values and assumptions, it’s also important to define the terms we are using and ground them in a theological context.

• Asset: Skills, capacities and resources. Community assets are things we care about, such as individual talents; associations and networks; institutions; physical assets; and economic assets. (Luther Snow, Strategies for Sustainable Small Town and Rural Development)
• Asset Mapping: Asset Mapping is a not a system or a method, but a way of thinking and acting that reminds us of the assets all around us and the success we have when we work with these assets together to get things done as part of a larger community. (Luther Snow, Strategies for Sustainable Small Town and Rural Development)
• Asset-Based Community Development: Asset-based community development (ABCD) is an approach that encourages the formulation of policies and interventions based on the identification and utilization of the capacities and skills of people and their neighborhoods (Kretzmann & McKnight, 1993). It is a means to sustainable development that stems from a focus on strengths versus needs. It is a methodological approach by which a development practitioner can become a catalyst that does not create or bring development to a community from outside, but rather energizes change and development from within (Bergdall, 2003).
• Call: A vocation (vocation comes from the Latin “vocare,” which means “call”) that may be professional or voluntary but is, by definition, received from God.
• Gifts: An expression of the Holy Spirit in the life of believers which empowers them to serve the common good. (1 Corinthians 12:7)
• Talents: A natural ability that manifests through our beliefs and behaviors.
• Need: Something that is required for safety and survival. Maslow defined a hierarchy of needs, which is discussed here that includes our well-being on levels of physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem, and self-actualization.