Walking With a Guide

Seeing Your Community Through Fresh Eyes

When I was the pastor of King Street Church, I rented a small office in a dingy little building in downtown Boone. Down the hall was a court-ordered drug counselor and a bail bondsman. One particularly nice day the bail bondsman and I decided to walk to lunch. On our way, he told me about what downtown had been like when he was growing up. I learned how it had been reshaped over the years. I saw my neighborhood through his eyes.

In her book, On Looking: A Walker's Guide to the Art of Observation, Alexandra Horowitz offers a fantastic idea: Ask people with various specialties, interests, and perspectives to walk with you through your neighborhood to show you what they see.

Horowitz walks her neighborhood in New York City with a geologist, a typographer, an illustrator, a naturalist, an urban sociologist, a woman who is blind, and a sound designer among others. Each walk opens her up to new discoveries that she would have never found without her guides.

Who can help you discover something new in your neighborhood?

Getting Started

Brainstorm a list of potential guides: As a listening team, think about people in your community who might offer you a new perspective of your neighborhood.

A few ideas: A small business owner, an older person who has lived in the neighborhood for a long time, a local politician, an Uber driver, the neighborhood gossip, a professor with an interesting specialty, an artist, a social worker, a pizza delivery person, a city planner, a historian, a first responder, a UPS driver, etc.

Reach out to your guide: Call, text, or ask them in person. Tell them what your church is up to and what you are hoping to learn. Ask them if they would be willing to walk through the community with you (and maybe another friend) sometime and act as a guide (picture a tour guide you might hire on vacation).

Jot down what you learn: I like to take notes after a conversation, but if you are worried you won't remember, take a few notes as you walk. Write down as much information as you can about your conversation so you can share with the rest of the listening team later.

Show your appreciation: Be sure to thank your guide and consider offering them a small token of appreciation (lunch afterwards, a small gift card, etc).

Purchase a copy of the book On Looking: A Walker's Guide to the Art of Observation here.