At the Scent of Water : Growing faith, community and flourishing where you live
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Overview
'At the Scent of Water' is for the tired, the hopeful, and the quietly convinced: the local catalysts who still believe place matters. For those done with meetings about meetings, and ready to grow something real, right where they live.
Drawing on 35 years in urban communities from Melbourne to Bangkok to Birmingham, Ash Barker walks you through a pathway he has tested where he has lived: find the hidden catalysts already on your doorstep, form them through practices rather than programmes, and release them into flourishing together.
Through raw, hope-filled stories of people doing patient work in hard places, this book shows that renewal is already stirring beneath the surface of your street, your neighbourhood, your congregation.
The water is closer than you think. And at the scent of water, even the oldest stumps can live again.
The book includes:
- prompts for personal reflection and group discussion;
- practical exercises to try for yourself and your neighbourhood.
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.
Shane Claiborne, Red Letter Christians and the Simple Way, Philadelphia, USA
I've watched Ash and Seedbeds work up close for years. At the Scent of Water captures what I've seen firsthand: ordinary people, uncovered and formed into the local leaders their communities were already waiting for. This book doesn't just describe that work. It shows you how to start it.
Bishop Mike Royal, Churches Together England, Birmingham, UK
We've had the privilege of serving alongside Ash in this city we love, Birmingham, for over a decade... It has been stunning to see so many people 'backed' and invested in, who otherwise would be forgotten and overlooked. Whenever Ash writes about what he is learning and seeing, we are always very keen to take note.
Rev Tim & Rachel Hughes, Gas Street Church, Birmingham, UK
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Details
- ISBN-13: 9780648472537
- ISBN-10: 0648472531
- Publisher: Seedbeds Communications
- Publish Date: November 2026
- Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
- Shipping Weight: 0.88 pounds
- Page Count: 220
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