In the modern era, it is all too easy to feel like political science has become disconnected from the local communities we serve. Rebecca Glazier's book Faith and Community: How Engagement Strengthens Members, Places of Worship, and Society is a powerful reminder of the importance of localized community engagement. Glazier uses a variety of data collected through the Little Rock Congregations Study to demonstrate that church-based civic engagement benefits individuals, churches, and communities. Along the way, she provides a vision for the future of community-engaged social science research.

One of the book's strongest features is its methodological contribution. Chapter 2 details how Glazier orchestrated the Little Rock Congregations Study (LRCS), an ambitious, multi-method, community-based research project. Conducted over multiple waves since 2012, the LRCS has incorporated surveys of church members and clergy, interviews, and focus groups. Glazier and her team have ensured that the community benefits from their research, generating a report for each participating congregation summarizing its congregants’ responses to their surveys. Even for scholars who are not interested in the benefits of religious community engagement, Glazier's research design provides inspiration for how to study the impact of nonprofits and civic associations