Recently, the PCU Board of Directors approved three "core values" that connect our mission with our current (and future) programs and activities. For us, helping people "embody Jesus' way of compassion and justice for our world" means that:
-We affirm the divinely-infused dignity and worth of people and the planet.
-We promote practices of discipleship that build just and sustainable communities.
-We resist structural discrimination and oppressive powers.
In practice, when we digitally promote activities or events, there isn't always time to make explicit the values undergirding our actions. For the sake of space and brevity, they sometimes have to remain implicit.
Nevertheless, when we prepare for a focused month against Mass Incarceration, we are resisting oppression and seeking to build just communities. When we rally in solidarity in Los Angeles this Saturday for climate solutions, we are affirming the divinely-infused worth of the planet and its people. When we gather with young adults to explore their relationship with faith and each other, we are promoting practices of discipleship and friendship.
Everything we do as an organization, and as people, comes out of some set of values and priorities. My challenge to you is this: be clear on your values, both for yourself, and for each other's sake as we partner together to embody this valuable Way.
On the way,
Timothy Murphy
Executive Director
PS: Naomi Klein, author of the newly-released book This Changes Everything, has adapted a chapter for an article in the Nation. In it, Klein contrasts the social transformation needed to prevent our planet from devastation to historical civil rights movements. Check it out here. You can also watch an interview with her on Democracy Now! here.