How to Remake the World Neighborhood by Neighborhood is the solution to the social breakdown felt across the country and around the world today. It narrates the story and philosophy of Community Renewal International (CRI), an organization founded in Shreveport, Louisiana. In the places where it has taken root, people build new friendships and begin to restore the bonds that sustain communities so that they thrive. Crime rates plummet. People come out of their homes and grow connections with their neighbors. They become active, caring participants in their societies.
The late Millard Fuller, co-founder of Habitat for Humanity, once described CRI as “the premier community renewal building model in the nation,” and his wife and co-founder Linda Fuller writes, “Mack McCarter shares the courageous steps he took to fuse love and caring into relationships, using the best elements of society to improve neighborhoods, cities and our futures.”
The book tells the story of how McCarter returned to his home town of Shreveport after many years as a pastor in Texas. He found a city that was racially divided and suffering from violence. With a small group of like-minded people, he intentionally and proactively began engaging with people in the city's most violent and dangerous neighborhood. Over time, studying the history of the rise and fall of civilizations and applying that research to the practical question of community renewal, he developed a replicable system. Today, Black and white, Republican and Democrat, men and women—all who have become part of the “We Care Team,” now over 50,000 strong, have remade entire neighborhoods and repaired the fabric of society.
Product Preview
| Format: | Paperback book |
|---|---|
| Product code: | OB985001 |
| Dimensions: | 5½" x 8" |
| Length: | 168 pages |
| Publisher: |
Orbis Books
|
| ISBN: | 9781626985001 |
| 1-2 copies | $18.00 each |
|---|---|
| 3-5 copies | $17.00 each |
| 6-10 copies | $16.00 each |
| 11+ copies | $15.00 each |
Praise
Our country is as divided today as it has been at any time since the Civil War and Reconstruction, but not just in politics in our society as well. Few have studied and thought more about how to bring a sense of community back to our local communities than Mack McCarter. With Community Renewal, Mack has developed a recipe for how to nourish and nurture the souls of our communities. Our neighborhoods, whether we realize it or not, are craving, even starving for something different, something to bring us together. This is a cookbook full of such recipes and thoughts.
Charlie Cook, Founder, The Cook Political Report
My friend Mack, a true servant leader grounded in faith and hope, has written a book that is both compelling and necessary for our time and all time. From the moment of reading the introduction where tears flowed on my cheeks to the last word, Mack has given us a path forward that may be new to some but is ancient in its wisdom. With a big vision of caring and compassion integrating all humanity, he explains the small steps we all can put it into action to truly build an “ever-renewing community" which can “remake our world, neighborhood by neighborhood."
Matthew Dowd, political strategist, MSNBC analyst, and author of A New Way: Embracing the Paradox as We Lead and Serve
Mack beautifully illustrates by words and actions what my homeless friend, Denver Moore, pounded into my brain. It is not the language we speak or the color of our skin that divides us, it’s the condition of our hearts. This game changing book should be required reading for every person on the planet.
Ron Hall, co-author of #1 NYT Best Seller, SAME KIND OF DIFFERENT AS ME
One of my all-time favorite movies is “Back to the Future.” Mack McCarter doesn’t have the wild hair of the scientist but “by golly” he does have God’s “bolt of lightning” for plugging in best practices of his childhood into declining neighborhoods. Through this book, Mack McCarter shares the courageous steps he took to fuse love and caring into relationships…using best elements of society to improve neighborhoods, cities and our futures.
Linda C. Fuller, co-founder of Habitat for Humanity International and The Fuller Center for Housing
Author
G.S. “Mack” McCarter is the founder and coordinator of Community Renewal International. Before returning in 1994 to his native Shreveport to implement his vision, Mack pastored churches in Texas for eighteen years. There are now more than 50,000 “We Care” team members in every state and forty-one nations. Ten cities in the United States are reproducing the Shreveport model of connecting caring people, changing lives, and transforming communities. Mack and his wife Judy live in Shreveport, LA, and Washington, DC.
Tim Muldoon teaches in the philosophy department at Boston College and is the author or co-author of ten books including The Ignatian Workout and, with his wife Sue, The Discerning Parent. His books and essays are used frequently in college courses, faculty discussion groups, and retreats. He and Sue reside outside of Boston.
