Discover
what's already there
Explore stories, books and tools grown from decades on the ground, and name the potential already present in your people and places. Start where you are.
“You don’t find local leaders by reading CVs.
You find them by watching who shows up and how they show up.”
Read our books
At the Scent of Water
Old stumps are not dead wood. Drawing on 35 years and the stories of local leaders from Birmingham to the Thai-Burma border, Ash shows how churches and neighbourhoods bud again when local people lead.
At the Scent of Water is the refreshment you are looking for. Every seed contains huge promise. But its locked-in potential can only be released by the life-giving combination of air, warmth, soil and water. Community leadership is nurtured in exactly the same way; earthed in local neighbourhoods, activated through trusted relationships and fuelled by good practice. Ash Barker writes from 35 years of experience, hope emerges in the community, from the dirt and watered by love.
Ash is calling us to what Jesus modelled: to pitch your tent among the people, to let your address be your theology, to discover that flourishing is not a private achievement but a communal gift.
For 3 decades, Ash & Anji Barker have been key mentors for us, their faithfulness helps us stay faithful. At The Scent of Water… gives us small, simple (not always easy) but very doable steps towards the transformational change we all long for.
Ash Barker promises that the renewal of the local church and the revitalisation of struggling neighbourhoods are indeed possible… And none of this is untested theory. Ash lives what he writes!
At the Scent of Water will inspire you to see your neighborhood as holy ground and give you the courage to join God in helping it flourish.
No Wastelands
In ‘No Wastelands: How to grow seedbeds of Shalom in your neighbourhood,’ Ash Barker shares his personal odyssey of serving on the front line of urban poverty on three continents. Through stories, scriptures, and insights, Ash challenges readers to release the unique potential of their local communities and see lasting change happen.
This book is for those who deeply love their neighbourhoods but feel stuck, as well as those just beginning their local adventures and suspect more is possible. Let Ash’s experiences spark your imagination, values, practices, and strategies to grow seedbeds of shalom in your own neighbourhood.
Missionary – Not Just a Position
“Anji’s story is engaging, insightful, heart wrenching and at times, very, very funny. The Reverend Kate Bottley, Broadcaster and Priest.
This book is an entertaining and moving autobiography of the extraordinary and unusual life of Australian mother – Anji Barker.
A qualified social worker and a United Reformed Church Minister, Anji has spent the last 30 years living in poor urban communities in Australia, Thailand and the UK. She is passionate about social justice and grassroots transformation. Her faith has lead her to jump in boots and all fighting for those who are pushed to the margins.
Anji shares openly and honestly about faith and doubt, the challenge of raising children in difficult places, as well as the joy that this life brings. She reminds us that our mistakes and failings can be our assets and that God delights in the strangest, most unlikely bits of who we are. Her stories will make you laugh and cry, inspire and encourage you.
“This is a delightful must-read for anyone who dares to live a life for others.” Brian D. McLaren
Also by Ash: Make Poverty Personal · Risky Compassion · Slum Life Rising · Surrender All · Sub-Merge · Finding Life · Collective Witness · Making Connections
The Local Catalyst
Each month Ash shares one story of a local leader, the insight behind it, and one practical tool your team can use that month.
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Local Leaders Readiness Survey
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Find your online courses
Three to four weeks of short sessions and live peer coaching:
Finding Your Local Time, Finding Your Local Assets, Finding Your Passion and Purpose.
Local Discovery Workshops
Our facilitators come to your community for asset mapping, passion and purpose work, and local plans. People walk in thinking their neighbourhood needs rescuing. They walk out knowing it doesn’t.
Finding Your Local Time, Finding Your Local Assets, Finding Your Passion and Purpose.
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