Core Values -- Establishing An Identity

In their book, Built to Last, Collins and Porras wrote about the need for, and the importance of, core values. I will paraphrase their comment about the importance of cove values in business in the context of the Church: core values are the church’s essential and enduring beliefs not to be compromised for financial, membership gain, or short-term expediency.[i] They are a small set of general guiding principles (no fewer than three, no more than six); they are not to be confused with a mission statement or a strategy. That may be one reason why it seems difficult for some churches to put their mission statements into practice.

In 1963, Thomas Watson, founder of IBM, wrote in a company booklet,

“The basic philosophy, spirit and drive of an organization have far more to do with its relative achievements than do technological or economic resources, organizational structure, innovation, and timing. All these things weigh heavily in success. But they are, I think, transcended by how strongly the people in the organization believe in its basic precepts and how faithfully they carry them out.”[ii]

He was speaking to an organization’s core values. Each local church ministers to a unique assemblage of people. And each church ministers in a distinctive mixture of peoples, cultures, generations, and lifestyles which I call complex culture.[iii] In order to minister effectively in such a context, each local church needs to decide, beyond its Christian identity, why it exists? Only then, can the congregation begin to work on its mission, and design strategies to accomplish it.

For that reason, a mission statement must issue from core values and a rock solid vision, or it cannot effectively be put into practice. It is like trying to discover how to get to an unknown destination without knowing where you are.

CORE VALUES                    Who are we?
VISION STATEMENT         Why are we here?
MISSION STATEMENT      What is our purpose?
STRATEGY                           How will we accomplish our purpose?

In most cases, a core value should be boiled down to an “intense simplicity” that gives significant guidance. Sam Walton said the following about Wal-Mart: “We put the customer ahead of everything else….If you’re not serving the customer, or supporting the folks that do, then we don’t need you.”

If you have too many core values, you might ask yourself the following questions. Questions like the following can help you identify those values which constitute your authentic core.

·         Which of these values would we strive to live up to even if our community ceases to reward us, or perhaps even penalizes us?

·         Which values would we be willing to alter or discard if the environment no longer favors them?

·         What is it about our church which if this value were gone, would compromise our authenticity?

Each local church should formulate its own core values, and nail them down. Then everything that is done needs to be ordered around them. Core values function as an internal compass, and function largely independently of the external circumstances.

Collins and Porras included in their book the core values of many major U.S. corporations; here are two. Notice that their five core values are captioned by one major vision. Take a look at each company. They are illustrative of the different directions core values of successful companies, and by extension, a local church might take.

Wal-Mart – the customers are central

·         “We exist to provide better value to our customers” – to make their lives better via lower prices and greater selection; all else is secondary

·         Swim upstream, buck conventional wisdom

·         Be in partnership with employees

·         Work with passion, commitment and enthusiasm

·         Run lean

Marriott – concern for our employees is central

·         Friendly service and excellent value (customers are guests); “make people away from home feel that they are among friends and really wanted”

·         People are number one – treat them well, expect a lot, and the rest will follow

·         Work hard, yet keep it fun

·         Continual self-improvement

·         Overcoming adversity to build character

These companies are constantly changing their methods and strategies, because their clientele’s needs and preferences are changing. However, a successful company that stays on message does nothing that is incompatible with its core values. The same will be true of an effective local church.

Anchor these core values in concrete. Determine that they will not be changed for any reason. Hold fast to the core values. They will give to the church:

·         A certainty of purpose.

·         A guideline to form new policy or programming, as the need arises.

·         Greater understanding among the people of the congregation as it addresses changes in program or methods.

Is it, in your opinion, essential for a church to identify its core values? If not, why not?

What do you think should be decided first, core values or mission statement? Why? Why not?

What are your core values?

---

[i] Collins and Porras. Built to Last. New York: Harper Business, 1994, pp. 73-75.

[ii] Thomas J. Watson, Jr., A Business and Its Beliefs. 1963.

[iii] In July of 2012, I describe, in two posts in this blog, the concept of complex culture and delineate its constituent parts.