District 11 Book Club Discussion on "Gone for Good?: Negotiating the Coming Wave of Church Property Transition" Wednesday, August 14th at 7:00 PM in Sequoya Library

Image credit: https://www.melsdon.com/goneforgood

 Topic:  District 11 Book Club Discussion on "Gone for Good?: Negotiating the Coming Wave of Church Property Transition" (2024) by Mark Elsdon
When:  Wednesday, August 14, 2024, 7:00 to 8:30 pm
Where: Meeting Rooms A and B Combined Sequoya Library, 4340 Tokay Blvd Madison, WI 53711 

To explore the topic of evolving church and community property, the next District 11 Book Club will discuss the 2024 book Gone for Good?: Negotiating the Coming Wave of Church Property Transition. Joining Alder Tishler for the book discussion will be District 11 resident and the editor of the book, Mark Elsdon, along with contributing authors Nadia Mian and Curt Paulson.

"This book begs congregations not to view their buildings simply as financial assets. It asks us to resist the temptation to contribute to gentrification or to reduce social services in the neighborhood, all in the name of a quick buck."  - Beth Guzman 

Free copies of the book are available at the Ask Desk at Sequoya Library, first-come first-served.

About the Authors:

Mark Elsdon lives and works at the intersection of money and meaning as an entrepreneur, pastor, speaker, and author. Mark is cofounder of RootedGood, which seeks to create more good in the world through social innovation; executive director at Pres House on the University of Wisconsin's Madison campus; and owner of Elsdon Strategic Consulting. He holds degrees from the University of California, Berkeley, Princeton Seminary, and the University of Wisconsin School of Business. Mark is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church, USA, and lives in Madison, Wisconsin. He is an avid cyclist and considers it a good year when he rides more miles on his bike than he drives in his car.

Nadia Mian is senior program director at the Ralph W. Voorhees Center for Civic Engagement and a lecturer at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. Nadia holds a PhD from the New School, and a master's in environmental studies, in which she specializes in urban planning, from York University in Toronto, Canada. She previously taught at New York University, the New School, and Columbia University, where she was managing editor of the journal City & Community. Her latest research examines how faith-based institutions are using their property to build affordable housing and at the same time advocate for change land-use, zoning and housing policy.

Kurt Paulson is a professor of urban planning in the Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His teaching and research focus on housing, affordable housing finance and policy, land use, and municipal finance. In addition to his published academic research, he has authored two Dane County housing needs assessments, has chaired the City of Middleton Workforce Housing Committee, and does economic impact  analysis research for WHEDA (Wisconsin Housing and Economic  Development Authority). Kurt is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP).

Citations:

Guzman, Beth. "Gone for Good? Negotiating the Coming Wave of Church Property Transition." The Presbyterian Outlook, Book Reviews 25 January 2024  https://pres-outlook.org/2024/01/gone-for-good-negotiating-the-coming-wave-of-church-property-transition/  Accessed 25 July 2024