This is an ethnographic study of religion and community revitalization in Four Corners, a mostly poor black neighborhood in Boston containing some twenty five congregations. I explain the high concentration, wide variety, and ambiguous social impact of religious activity in the neighborhood, two factors account for the density of religious life in Four Corners. First, “social distance” has replaced physical distance as the way urban churches build their congregations. This permits churches to locate quite near each other, yet not compete for members. Second, vacant commercial spaces abound in Four Corners. In the absence of thriving commercial activity, Four Corners has become a “religious district”. Churches in this religious district combine multiple mission traits to form a wide variety of “social packages”. I show, through case studies of particular churches, how congregational culture, human and material resource levels, and structures of authority impact the development and maintenance of particular packages, Community revitalization efforts, however, rely on the quality of relationships among churches and other organizations. While many congregations participate in inter-church networks, few identify with the neighborhood. This has made it difficult for activists to mobilize church networks around neighborhood concerns. Other churches tend to align themselves with fragmented neighborhood constituencies. The resulting lack of coordination between these churches has jeopardized relationships with outside resource providers. I conclude that religious congregations are, paradoxically, both present and absent from Four Corners. They are present as little communities, each serving a unique population. Nevertheless, they are partially or entirely absent from the broader quest for neighborhood well-being. This “absent presence” presents some important challenges for sociology and community development policy.