Guiding Values Refreshed & Reaffirmed

by Larry Zook

March 26, 2008

One of the joy-filled experiences of life is to join with others in community and teamwork to achieve something that couldn't be achieved alone. One such example is the effort this past year to refresh our Guiding Values at Landis Homes. After inviting staff, residents and board members to share which values they feel most passionate about, what might be missing, and how the values might be improved, the attached refreshed Guiding Values were approved at the March 25 Landis Homes Board Meeting.

One of the contributions of the Board was their encouragement to shorten the list from seven to five values, while still retaining the ideas found in the list of seven. This resulted in two values, creativity and excellence, being incorporated in other values. The value of teamwork was also renamed to "community", while still incorporating the teamwork idea in the description. Other ideas, such as diversity and broadening the definition of stewardship to include not only financial, human and material resources, but other resources as well such as God's creation, time and other things God entrusts to our care, are included in the refreshed values as well.

In the Board discussion leading to approval of the refreshed values, the question was posed as to how we can easily remember the five values. After the meeting, Board Member Rachel Pellman, who also coordinates the Fellowship Day quilt auction along with her husband Ken, got back to us with the suggestion of Jesus Christ In Street Clothes, where the first letter of each word corresponds to one of our five values:

Joy
Compassion
Integrity
Stewardship
Community

"Jesus Christ In Street Clothes" captures well all that is represented by Jesus taking the towel and basin and washing the disciples feet, and his invitation to us to be his representative in serving others.

I welcome also hearing any other ideas for ways to remember the five values. My hope, starting with myself, is that these values are lived out with integrity as we each are stewards of the mission God has entrusted to us.

Link to Guiding Values

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