At the last Catalyst Leadership Team (CLT) meeting I was given the assignment of writing and sharing my thoughts regarding West Valley Community Church's core values. It was thought by CLT members that, as a relative newcomer, my "objective" impressions of these guiding principles would be helpful for the church's leadership.
 
There are four core values documented in our by-laws and the first is, I think, the most ambitious. It states simply, "Everyone is involved." This statement is explained by comments that affirm the fact that "any member may hear God's direction and become a 'Catalyst' to initiate ministry."
 
By explicitly identifying "everyone's involvement" as a core value of our church, we are committing ourselves to a goal that falls somewhere between highly unlikely and impossible. It's probably not an overstatement to suggest the Seahawks have a better chance of going to the 2010 Super Bowl!
 
Why am I so pessimistic about such a laudable goal? Because I don't think we can define "everyone," and even if we could, how would we determine whether or not they are "involved?" Obviously, when our core values were identified, we never intended "everyone" to mean the entire human race, or even the entire population of Federal Way, or even most of the people within a block of the church. So who did we mean by "everyone?" Everyone who attends church this week, or last week, or a year ago...?
 
Suppose we limit "everyone" to mean everyone who has made a commitment to our church by becoming a member. That seems more realistic. But each time the deacons meet, much of our discussion focuses on church "members" who are missing in action. There are still many church members that I have never met! Obviously they are not "involved." Ironically, there are quite a few non-members who participate in virtually all of the church's activities. So defining "everyone" as only official church members probably doesn't reflect the spirit of the goal.
 
Putting the definition of "everyone" aside for a moment, let's try to define "involved." Does church attendance satisfy that objective? Not in my book. Just showing up doesn't make you anything but a spectator. The Seahawks probably had a few spectators at their last home games, but I doubt any fan would claim "involvement" in the team's dismal record. Some churches and pastors have a goal of filling their pews on Sunday morning, but I don't think our church's leadership thinks that's the measure of success. I know I don't.
 
So how do we define "involvement" and who qualifies as "everyone?" Maybe you're beginning to see why I consider this our most ambitious core value.
 
However, while it's ambitious for an entire church, this goal's not so tough when it comes to individuals. For instance, how does this apply to you? Are you part of "everyone?" Are you "involved?" To the extent that you are associated with our church and participate in a meaningful way, we are succeeding in following our first core value.
 
Ultimately, the purpose of identifying our core values is to find guidance for future activities. If it's important for us to have broad participation in our church's ministry, the leadership needs to identify and cultivate those opportunities. Furthermore, we need to actively encourage folks to get involved. We need to make room for newer members to "get in the game." That may even mean some of us have to do less.
 
I've known a few pastors who could never accept "everyone is involved" as a core value. These pastors mow the church lawn, teach the Sunday school class, lead the choir, sing the special music, print the bulletin, conduct mid-week prayer meeting, serve a youth group leader, and even clean the church building. All that's left for the members to do is to show up Sunday morning. You never have to worry about me being that kind of pastor. I'll gladly do as little as possible because I happen to agree with our church's core values. I'm going to do my part to see that "everyone is involved!"