Social Capital and the Faith Community

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Social Capital and the Faith Community

• Eric Swanson

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Social Capital

• Define Social Capital and its benefits
• Where faith communities fit in the larger
  community
• What individual congregations can do
• How to deepen the engagement of your congregation

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Life without Social Capital

• Your corn is ripe today mine will be so
  tomorrow. Tis profitable for us both, that I
  should labor with you today, and that you should
  aid me tomorrow. I have no kindness for you, and
  know you have as little for me. I will not,
  therefore, take any pains upon your account and
  should I labor with you upon my own account, in
  expectation of a return, I know I should be
  disappointed, and that I should in vain depend
  upon your gratitude. Here then I leave you to
  labor alone you treat me in the same manner. The
  seasons change and both of us lose our harvests
  for want of mutual confidence and security.
• David Hume (1711-1776)

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Social Capital is

• Social capital refers to the collective value of
  all "social networks" (who people know) and the
  inclinations that arise from these networks to do
  things for each other (norms of reciprocity).

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Benefits of Social Capital

• The benefits of social capital spill beyond the
  people immediately involved in the network and
  can be used for many other purposes. The more
  neighbors who know one another by name, the fewer
  crimes a neighborhood as a whole will suffer. A
  child born in a state whose residents volunteer,
  vote, and spend time with friends is less likely
  to be born underweight, less likely to drop out
  of school, and less likely to kill or be killed
  than the same childno richer or poorerborn in
  another state whose residents do not. Society as
  a whole benefits enormously from the social ties
  forged by those who choose connective strategies
  in pursuit of their particular goals.i
• Robert Putnam

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Two types of Social Capital

• Bonding capital is the strength of the
  relationships between the members of a group of
  peoplea family, an affinity group, ethnic group,
  club or church.
• Bridging capital is the strength between the
  diverse segments of society.

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What are the diverse segments of a community?

• Business
• Arts Media
• Science Technology
• Non-profit organizations
• Congregations
• Government
• Education

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Where is the energy focused?

Business
Congregations
Non-profit
Children Schools Neighborhoods Families
Education
Arts Media
Science Technology
Government
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Collaboration
Do you care about what I care about?
Do you believe what I believe?
Bounded Set
Centered Set
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The difference faith can make

• 350,000 congregations
• Spend 36 billion providing services in America
  each year
• Each congregation averages 184,000 in helping
  others
• 93 of religious congregations provide at least
  one program of service for the community

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What can congregations do?

• Children
• Reading ProgramsHope Pres
• Schools
• Adopt a schoolEmbrace Teachers
• Neighborhoods
• Adopt a neighborhood--Arlington
• FamiliesMariners
• Motel families

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Levels of engagement

Money Things
Projects
People
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Begin with the willing

Late Adopters 34
Early Adopters 13
Innovators 2.5
Middle Adopters 34
Laggards 16
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Depth of Engagement Money
Things Projects People
Yearly Quarterly Monthly
Weekly Frequency of Engagement
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Social Capital and the Faith Community

• Eric Swanson