A Community Called G.R.A.C.E. -- The Ten Core Values of Neighborhood Ministries

The purpose of this dissertation is to develop and diagnose the ten core values of Neighborhood Ministries, Inc., a faith-based non-profit in Phoenix, Arizona.  After thirty years of embedded urban ministry among the poor in our city, the effort to drill down and describe these core values and their theological underpinnings had never happened, yet these values are the rails we drive upon every day. It is time to take on this marvelous task.

Two factors compel me to choose this direction for my dissertation. The first is to codify what Neighborhood Ministries, the organization, has learned along the way, to say in words what this ministry takes for granted that is inside the air that is breathed, or, inside the ministry's DNA. The second is for the next generation of leaders emerging from this mission and for those who join us along the way.

This dissertation produced a book that pulls out from the whole and stands alone. It will be used for teaching, training, and transferring these ten core values. It is called, A Community Called G.R.A.C.E. and has eleven chapters. Chapter 1 describes the foundations upon which the mission stands:  The Word Made Flesh, The Word of God and The Kingdom of God. These three root the values of our mission. The next ten chapters are each devoted to one of the core values: We are called to incarnational love; We are called to the work of reconciliation; We are
called to holistic ministry; We are called to be the church as well as support the church; We are called to leadership development; We are called to the work of justice; We value learning; We value relationships; We value community; and We value partnerships. Two overlays accompany each chapter and each value, one which focuses on the role that an understanding of grace provides for the ministry, and the second focuses on spiritual formation. Without these two, doing the hard work of living these core values would be impossible.