The Art of Community, Charles Vogl
The Art of Community, Charles Vogl
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The Art of Community
Seven Principles for Belonging

Author: Charles Vogl

Narrator: Tom Dheere

Unabridged: 3 hr 50 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Ascent Audio

Published: 09/12/2016


Synopsis

Community builders face a difficult task: create spaces-physical, virtual, or both-where we can be connected, defeat loneliness, and enrich our lives. Charles Vogl outlines seven ancient principles any organization can follow to create robust, thriving, positive communities.

This book is a guide for leaders seeking to build a community, to strengthen the community they already have, or who may not think of themselves as community leaders but who are envisioning a group they hope to create. These communities can be formal, with official memberships and administrations, or informal, tied by shared values and commitments. Some people think communities happen by accident, or have to emerge organically, but Charles Vogl emphasizes that there are solid, time-honored principles for consciously building them.

Drawing on 3,000 years of tradition, Vogl lays out seven enduring principles that every community of every kind must master to be effective and supportive. He describes each principle's purpose and provides extensive hands-on tools for implementing them. He also helps leaders ensure that their communities remain healthy and life-affirming and not degenerate into rigid cults.

Reviews

Goodreads review by William on July 24, 2019

I had a hard time getting past how religion focused this book is. The author by no means preaches or converts but the lens through which everything is taught is very much that of someone who is deeply involved with some religious affiliation. The most valuable lesson (still taught through a religious......more

Goodreads review by Vivian on July 25, 2023

I always appreciate when someone is able to distill an amorphous idea into component parts and this book does that pretty well. My main take away was to work on letting go of the "everyone is welcome" attitude. As young children we are taught to include everyone and that only snobbish or stuck up je......more

Goodreads review by Jilles on July 03, 2021

The author presents some very interesting ideas, which tell the importance of rituals, symbols and gatekeeping. These ideas are illustrated with real-life examples, which are both grand as well as personal to the author. The middle section of the book slows down dramatically in order to present scri......more

Goodreads review by Oana on April 04, 2021

I guess I had big expectations from this book because I heard of it a couple of times from people who run communities in a way or another. If this was the first lecture in community building, I think the impact would have been different. Being one of the many books I came across since wearing the co......more

Goodreads review by Sandy on June 19, 2018

Having read a lot of books on community, coming at it from a variety of perspectives, I found this book to be a good overview but didn’t particularly add to my own body of knowledge. That being said, if you haven’t done much study on community yet this might be a good place to start. It it, as I sai......more