Leading Ideas Talks “Harnessing Social Capital for Community-Centered Ministry” featuring Angie Williams and Audrey Smith
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Jan 27, 2026 
Audrey Smith, a church planter in Petersburg/Ettrick who practices asset-based community convening, and Angie Williams, an OpenTable leader training people to mobilize social capital, discuss relationship-centered ministry. They cover defining social capital, identifying neighborhood connectors, matching capacity to real needs, sustaining long-term engagement, and reimagining church presence in community life.
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Social Capital Is Community Power
- Social capital is simply who we know and what we know, and every person has it to invest in their community.
- Community convening turns those relationships into shared purpose by listening to neighbors and naming socially valid indicators.
Start By Listening In Your Defined Neighborhood
- Define your neighborhood and intentionally go into that defined area to get to know your neighbors again.
- Use socially valid indicators to let residents name the outcomes they want to see before designing programs.
Ettrick Residents Named Their Priorities
- Audrey describes slow trust-building in Ettrick and the need to persistently show up in community spaces.
- Neighbors prioritized safety, education, and job training as their socially valid indicators.