A longer list of core values

Having opened a new book (at least for me) Church Re-Imagined, by Doug Pagitt and the Solomon's Porch Community*, I discovered a different set of Core Values. Granted the book begins with "We dream of a church where…" and then follows with the list below (not calling them core values) nevertheless I think they are a great set of core values.

1. We listen to and are obedient to God
   
2. People who are not Christians become followers of God in the way of Jesus
   
3. Those who are not involved in church would become an active part of it
   
4. People are deeply connected to God in all of life: body, mind, soul, and spirit
   
5. Beauty, art and creativity are valued, used and understood as coming from the Creator
   
6. Culture is met, embraced and transformed
   
7. Joy, fun and excitement are part of our lives
   
8. The Kingdom of God is increased in real\ ways in the world
   
9. The biblical story of God is told and contributed to
   
10. Biblical Justice, mercy, grace, love and righteousness lead the way
    
11. Truth, honesty and health are a way of life
    
12. We value innovation and are willing to take risks in order to being glory to God
    
13. Worship of God is full, vibrant, real and pleasing to God
    
14. Faith, hope and love are the context for all
    
15. The next generation of leadership is built up, and leaders are servants
    
16. Everyone is equipped to do ministry
    
17. God's Spirit takes precedence over all structures and systems
    
18. Christian Community is the attraction to outsiders and the answer to questions of faith
    
19. People participate in the Kingdom of God in accordance with their abilities and gifts
    
20. We are connected to, dependent on, and serve the global church
    
21. People learn the ways of God and are encouraged to make them central to their lives
    
22. Other churches are valued and supported
    
23. People's visions and ideas of ministry come to life
    

John

*ISBN 978-0-310-26975-5

Core values

What are core values? Businessdictionary.com defines them this way. "Core values are operating philosophies or principles that guide an organizations internal conduct as well as its relationship with the external world." In other words core values are the foundational principles that help an organization become and be themselves.

Every organization has core values, some are stated and some are not. Below are some that are stated.

Lockheed Martin states that its core values are: Passion, Risk Tolerance, Excellence, Motivation, Innovation and Empowerment. Dow proclaims theirs to be Integrity, Respect for People, Outside-in Focus, Unity, Agility and Innovation.

Having just watched a documentary on Enron, while they might have had some stated core values, here are some unstated ones which seemed to be demonstrated by some (but not by all) of their employees which led to Enron's fall: Greed, Hubris, Secrecy, Power and Fear.

Church communities have core values as well. Sometimes churches are very good at stating those core values and allowing them to give vision and direction to the church's life. Too often however I believe congregations simply assume they know what those values are, do not articulate them and thus do not allow those values to play a formal part in organizing the life and work of the community.

As First Presbyterian Church we have core values. The issue for me however is that they are somewhat buried in our many statements (Mission, Vision, Focus and Inclusion) and thus are not readily accessible..thus not overly useful.

Over the next several weeks I will be mining core values from our statements for the purpose of helping us clarify our vision; that vision that speaks clearly to who God has called us to be and to what God has called us to do.

My hope is that this mining process will be helpful to other congregations as they seek to discern their own core values and use those values to shape their vision.

John

first vision from first visions

This blog is going to be a journey into creating and keeping a vision for First Presbyterian Church of Birmingham, Michigan. I will be reflecting on all things visionary (books, articles, struggles and conversations) that might impact this journey. these blogs will also be carried on the church's weekly e-mail and first things.

John