We all want to belong to strong and supportive communities. But can communities be built, or must they arise spontaneously? Won’t intervening in the process destroy it? No, says Charles Vogl.

Both in his career and as a personal quest, Vogl has been deeply invested in understanding what it takes to bring and keep people together. He’s discovered that while community can’t be forced, it can be actively encouraged and nurtured.

Drawing on 3,000 years of spiritual tradition, Vogl lays out seven time-tested principles that every leader can apply to grow enduring, effective, and supportive communities. The principles are distilled from spiritual traditions, since major religions have built highly diverse communities that have lasted for centuries. Vogl has secularized and universalized these principles so they can enrich a wide array of communities—formal or informal, physical or virtual, and centered on any shared interest.

Vogl describes each principle’s purpose and provides extensive hands-on tools for creatively adapting them to the style, needs, and inclinations of your particular group. He also helps leaders ensure that their communities remain healthy and life affirming and do not degenerate into rigid cults. This is a guide to bringing friendship, connection, and support to where there had been loneliness, separation, and isolation.

Charles H. Vogl has been working to build communities since his days as a Peace Corps volunteer in Zambia. He now works with leaders in tech, finance, media, government, and social change organizations to help them create effective change. He is also a founding producer at Broken English Productions, creating work that has won several international awards, including the Amnesty International Movies That Matter Award. He is a regular guest lecturer at his alma mater, Yale.