Mission
The mission of *culture is not optional is to work for the flourishing of all in our community through radical rootedness and boundless imagination.
Core values
Perhaps our first value is in our name: *culture is not optional. But what kind of culture? And why is it “not optional?” We believe humans are created to make something of the world, and what we make is “culture.” We can’t help but make culture in our homes, neighborhoods, churches and workplaces. The culture we make can be life-giving or destructive, beautiful or scarring, compassionate or self-centered. As followers of Christ, we aspire to make culture that is loving, just and joyful. The following values further articulate what kind of culture we hope to cultivate through the work of *culture is not optional.
- Experiential learning — We learn best when attractive alternative models open our hearts to grow and change.
- Liberated imagination — Dreaming is a universal superpower that frees us from “the way things are” to co-create a new future.
- Radical hospitality — Belonging creates the conditions for healing.
- Faithful presence — We practice deep affection and commitment for all life within our watershed.
- Compassionate listening — Kinship grows through the practice of attention.
- Abundant simplicity — The good life is marked by sharing and gratitude.
- Sabbath rhythm — We honor daily, weekly, and seasonal patterns of rest and work.
- Ridiculous joy — “Be joyful / though you have considered all the facts.”
- Contemplative activism — We seek to be “peaceful peacemakers” through both our private disciplines and public actions.
- Creative collaboration — We work together across difference to make the world we dream of.
