Voice of the People - Part 5

What follows is the Mission and Values statements for the Voice of the People Trust, as an indication of the values and concerns of my dad:

Mission Statement

The Voice of the People Trust exists to initiate and oversee projects and initiatives which seek the glory of God in faithfully obeying the biblical imperatives to bring good news to the poor, proclaim liberty to the captives, receiving of sight to the blind, set free the oppressed and announce the time has come when the Lord will save his people (see Isaiah 61: 1 - 2, Luke 4: 18 - 19). The Trust understands its task in obedience to these imperatives to include listening to God's voice in the desire for good news, liberty, sight, freedom and salvation in the people of Britain's inner cities and outer estates.

The Trust believes that such obedience will involve patterns of work and organisation which are innovative and flexible.

Values statement

We draw our values from the character of God as revealed to us in the words and life of Jesus, and through the Bible. Jesus spoke of God as a holy and loving eternal Father (Matthew 6: 9 -13). Jesus is our human example of perfection and reconciliation being held together. His holiness did not stop him from being accepted by sinners and social outcasts, nor did His compassion compromise His holiness.

• Incarnation: The Trust will aim to get outside of church buildings, and the organized network of church based activities, into the places where non-churchgoers congregate. Our staff will be people who both share the culture of the people with whom we work and can communicate the values contained in this statement. (Hebrews 2: 14 - 18, Luke 4: 14 - 21, Matthew 9: 36, Mark 5: 1 - 10).
• Redressing disadvantage: We aim to positively discriminate in order to prioritise services for disadvantaged people and, to campaign for social justice for them. (Mark 11: 15 - 17).
• Equality: We aim, after taking account of the prior value (Redressing disadvantage), to demonstrate God's commitment to equality by working to ensure that no one is discriminated against in any prejudicial way that is neglectful, hurtful or harmful. (Galatians 3: 26 - 28).
• Value: All people have value as uniquely gifted creations of God who retain in some measure the image of God and for whom Christ died. We aim to express this sense of the value of people by; listening and empathising, supporting and empowering, creating services requested by users, and by not abusing in any respect (confidentiality, professional boundaries of expertise or conduct etc) the users of our services.
• Listening: We aim to develop projects based on the expressed needs of local people using the skills of local people. We are ready to listen to people, to their story, as they tell it, within their culture and to act on the basis of these stories. (Acts 1: 8 and 1 Corinthians 7: 17 - 24).
• Responsibility: The Bible teaches individual responsibility for actions because all must account for their lives to God. We will aim to empower people using our services in order that they are able to develop their skills and make informed decisions for themselves with an awareness of the consequences of their decision making.
• Service: We aim to serve our users and each other. Managers will serve by providing, within available resources, all that their staff require in order to provide services to our users. Staff will serve by providing services to users, within agreed parameters, to the best of their ability. (John 13: 12-17, Ephesians 5: 21).
• Innovation: God's relationship with the world is a creative, renewing one (Isaiah 43: 18 & 19, Revelation 21: 5). As a result we are committed to experimental and innovative developments that link into contemporary needs within multi-ethnic UPA areas.
• Partnership: The equality that exists in God's kingdom derives from a God-given unity in which individuals with differing skills and experience co-operate in order to achieve an overall aim. We are, therefore, ready to create relationship links between what we hear from local people and self-help groups in the neighbourhood and are ready to see a more meaningful relationship develop between the local Christian community and society around it.
• Quality: The Bible encourages giving our best in all we do as everything should be done for God (1 Peter 4: 10). Therefore, we are looking to improve continuously the services we provide, aiming to get things right first time but also to learn from any failure. Biblical evaluation: We believe that the unchanging truths about God as revealed in the Bible and the historic Christian creeds are directly relevant to the inner-city. We will therefore regularly evaluate our actions, activities, procedures, policies and statements against Biblical frameworks and models. We aim to allow these truths and values to inform every aspect of our organisation. (1 Peter 3:13).

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Galliano - Prince of Peace.