Folks, the article you will find if you click the link below sets out where we are as a congregation as clearly and succinctly as any I have seen. I’d love to hear your reactions. Post your comments by clicking the button below.

http://www.alban.org/conversation.aspx?id=8160

The next step for us, I think, is getting really honest about our culture, our unwritten rules, our expectations of each other, our assumptions about how to be a church, and such.

For example, do we have an unwritten dress code? A behavioral code for children in worship (that is, they are best seen and not heard)? We seem to avoid conflict. Why?

What do you think?

Core Values - Complete!

Core Values

We commit to living out God’s love through:

Compassion
Showing God’s love without judgment by
· Engaging with others
· Standing with others
· Seeking the best for others
· Being changed by the experience

Learning

Living / Wondering / Discovering / Applying God’s Word

A cycle that centers on God’s word and begins in daily living.

Inclusion
Opening
· Hearts to welcome
· Minds to listen
· Voices to speak and be heard
Diversity
· Of people
· Of ideas
· Of participation
Faith
Belief and trust in God - the bedrock of understanding and experience on which we stand.

Core Values: real live definitions!

Ok, so I'm way late posting the results from January. But here they are:

Core Values
1/17/2009

(text in parentheses has not been agreed by all. It represents J. Dale’s understanding of what he heard.)

We (commit to?) live out God’s love by:

Learning
(A cycle that centers on God’s word and begins in daily living, encounters questions and issues that cause us to wonder, motivates us to discover and learn more about those questions, and leads us to apply them to our lives.)

God’s Word
Living Applying Wondering Discovering

Compassion
Showing God’s love without judgment by
· Engaging with others
· Standing with others
· Seeking the best for others
· Being changed by the experience

Inclusive (sic)
Opening
· Hearts to welcome
· Minds to listen
· Voices to speak and be heard
Diversity
· Of people
· Of ideas
· Of participation

Faith
Belief and trust in God - the bedrock of understanding and experience on which we stand

Core Value 6: Commitment

And let's go ahead and finish the list as long as I'm on a roll. See the entries below for the background.

The sixth core value is commitment.

The group working on an initial definition came up with this:

"Accountability - a promise made is a promise kept, to hold each other accountable (but it's okay to say no)
Acceptance of a task or engagement in the life of the church is why we hold each other accountable.

Some ideas about what this means for us:

Church becomes a culture of accountability
Say no without defending the decision
Failures are OK, but are acknowledged in appropriate ways & people learn from their failures"

So what do you think. Click "Post a comment" below to join the conversation.

And January 17, 9 AM - noon is Definitions Day. Please come -- Fellowship Hall.

Thanks. Jamie

Core Value 5: Faith

OK, so on October 25, 2008, about 30 members of Brown Woodbrook spent the day coming up with a list of core values. Number five on the list is faith.

And "faith" for us means???

Ideally we'll be able to summarize our definitions in two or three words. Then we'll be able to say, "When BMWPC says 'faith,' we mean X, Y, and Z." That kind of shorthand will help us stay focused.

The initial definition one work group in October came up with is:

"The umbrella under which we operate - belief & trust in the God we know in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit."

A specific application of the definition:
Baltimore Station Dinner - saying without beating (anyone) over the head "We're bringing dinner on behalf of the community of faith at Brown Woodbrook."

What does do for you? Click "Post a comment" below to join the conversation.

And please come on January 17, 9 AM - noon to Definitions Day. We'll gather in the Fellowship hall and hash out our definitions.

While everyone will be welcome to join in the discussion, that intitial group of 30 will be invited explicitly to do so and share their thinking as we work toward agreed definitions of the six core values. It will be their agreement that will determine the final definitions.

Thanks. Jamie

Core Value 4: Openness/Inclusiveness

On October 25, 2008, about 30 members of Brown Woodbrook spent the day working to come up with a list of core values. Number four on the list is openness/inclusiveness.

What needs to happen with this one is to decide which word we want to use, and then define that word. For "openness/inclusiveness" here's what the group in October (or the "Gang of 30") as I've started calling them) came up with:

"Open to all people for inclusion in our fellowship and to propose new ideas.

All members will become welcoming every Sunday and will reach out to visitors.

Specific ideas:
Increase visibility by doing something about the pine trees and improve signage.
Listen to and consider with an open mind and respect all ideas presented such as new
forms of worship and times of worship."

Ideally we will be able to summarize our definitions in two or three words. So that we will be able to say, "When BMWPC says 'compassion,' we mean X, Y, and Z." That kind of shorthand will help us stay focused. While anyone is welcome to comment on the values, that intitial group of 30 will be invited explicitly to do so and share their thinking as we work toward agreed definitions of the six core values. It will be their agreement that will determine the final definitions.

Click "Post a comment" below to join the conversation.

And please come on January 17, 9 AM - noon to Definitions Day. We'll gather in the Fellowship hall and hash out our definitions. Thanks. Jamie

Core Value 3: Compassion

On October 25, 2008, about 30 members of Brown Woodbrook spent the day working to come up with a list of core values. Number three on the list is compassion.

So what is "compassion" by our definition?

Ideally we will be able to summarize our definitions in two or three words. So that we will be able to say, "When BMWPC says 'compassion,' we mean X, Y, and Z." That kind of shorthand will help us stay focused. While anyone is welcome to comment on the values, that intitial group of 30 will be invited explicitly to do so and share their thinking as we work toward agreed definitions of the six core values.

It will be their agreement that will determine the final definitions. In the time we spent doing initial definitions, here is what that work group came up with:

Caring for each other.
Caring for the poor, hungry, etc.
Seeing need without judgement.
Giving out of love, not obligation.
Without borders or boundaries

And here are the concrete ideas that work group listed to put flesh on compassion:

Set personal agendas aside.
Pay attention to the homebound and others in our midst.
Find the next "Kidsake"
Get involved with BIN
Proactively help those in need.
See conflict resolution as compassion.
Share our mission stories/Stephen Ministries

So what do you think?

Click "Post a comment" below to join the conversation.

And remember January 17, 9 AM - noon is Definitions Day, when we'll gather in the Fellowship hall and hash out our definitions.

Thanks. Jamie