Our Mission
Our mission is to build a radically hospitable community, rooted in grace, that practices deep listening and creative liberation.
Our Vision
Our vision is to become a Spirit-led a movement inward, outward, and onward together that becomes…
…a school for exploring inward: developing spiritually mature, courageous co-creators in the way of Jesus. How? Through providing exposure to spiritual experiences, practices, and wisdom; opportunities to take risks and exercise leadership; and honest dialogue in grace-filled community.
…a launchpad for loving outward: inspiring and equipping people to become agents of the Spirit’s liberating, world-changing work. How? By building strong alliances, and inspiring and equipping V&M’ers to fertilize the efforts of our partners to alleviate suffering and create alternatives to exploitative systems.
…an organism progressing onward: evolving as a hospitable, relevant, self-sustaining, and generative movement that reflects God’s radically inclusive love. How? By inviting new people into the fellowship and incorporating their gifts and voices; sharing missional and financial responsibility for V&M; and seeding new expressions of community.
…a community sharing life together: creating a culture of deep listening, care, celebration, and trust where the ability to belong is integrated with the right to be different. How? By intentionally creating space in our lives for each other; providing meaningful rituals to mark life transitions; and nurturing healthy relationships of all kinds.
Safe Sanctuary Policies
Click on this link to see the Safe Sanctuary Policies of our denominational body.
At V&M we are deeply engaged in the work of preventing and responding to all forms of oppression and violence. Our youth ministry team is guided by curriculum based on community questions, feedback, and spaces of collaborative imagination. Learn more about how we discuss consent and care with resources from Spring Up.
Queer-affirming
At V&M we fully embrace LGBTQ+ people into all levels of leadership, including as staff and board members. We perform weddings and sponsor ordination for queer folks. Our affirmation of the belovedness and Sacredness of all LGBTQIA+ peoples is fully and publicly embraced by our regional denominational bodies (the PNW Conference and Western Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church), although it remains out of alignment with the homophobic stances from the global UMC body.
Eco-Church
Valley & Mountain has been honored for our efforts to integrate environmentally healthy practices into the total fabric of our community’s life (from the events we hold, to the theological topics we engage, to the way we use facilities and finances)! The United Methodist Council of Bishops has provided us with a grant to help create a resource for current and future new faith communities that will help them to incorporate ecologically healthy behaviors and principles into their unique way of being and building church. The resource, called “Green from the Start,” is now live and available for download below.
Finances
In keeping with our commitment to fiscal transparency, this section explains the values and commitments that V&M’s leadership uses when making financial decisions.
Our commitment to radical hospitality causes us to strive toward an open-handed approach to finances, while avoiding a hoarding mentality. Therefore:
We ask V&M’ers to share generously with V&M through regular and committed giving.
We ensure that V&M shares its resources with the broader community.
Our commitment to creative liberation causes us to maximize the ways in which our finances contribute to human dignity and environmental flourishing, and avoid exploitation. Therefore:
We embrace a triple-bottom line approach (which weighs financial, social, and environmental impacts) to decisions related to raising and spending money.
Our commitment to deep listening causes us to view ourselves as interdependent stewards, rather than private owners, of the resources of God’s Creation. Therefore:
We adopt procedures that enhance financial transparency.
We exercise discipline in spending.
We seek to be receptive to the Spirit’s guidance in decision-making.