“What exactly does SLF do?” It’s a question we hear often. Maybe a little less than in years past.
But it still comes up plenty. At this year’s ‘Fancy Friday’ events on June 2, we developed some messaging that seems to have struck a chord. In fact, many of our guests reported it was the clearest presentation of our mission ever. And it only took us 20 years to nail it!
Let’s start with our Vision (We believe) and our Mission(We engage). We’ve been proclaiming them since 2005, and we notice the idea o
f ‘shalom’ (peace and well-being) is becoming widely understood and embraced. A Vision is the strategic exercise of looking out toward a ‘preferred future’ and a transformation that is bigger than any one group or organization. When we look to the future, we see a city that is worthy of the name Salem … Shalom … peace and well-being.
In short, the healthiest community in Oregon—not that we would brag or boast. Simply a testimony to God’s healing and transformational power. A Mission is an organization’s specialized assignment. In SLF’s case, our role is to build bridges; to connect people and organizations; to catalyze change. Our first focus is the church community, an asset that was dormant and disjointed for many years. We are also deeply called to all sectors of the community: schools, non-profits, agencies, law enforcement, government, business and neighborhoods. People-of-faith … and People-of-goodwill. We’ll engage with anyone who shares the belief that good healthy things happen when neighbors help neighbors; when people serve, and walk alongside, in relationship.
| That brings us to our Theory of Change: the steps we take to fulfill our Mission. 1) SLF engages leaders at the tables of decision-making and out in the neighborhoods. Both ‘blatant’ and ‘latent’ leaders. 2) We build the capacity of others. SLF is not a direct-service provider; rather we help churches and non-profits and schools by building their capacity to serve. 3) We develop joint initiatives … also called Collaborative Impact. Strong examples are the Churches as Neighborhood (CaN) Centers Collaboration, the Community Partnership Teams (CPTs), Fostering Hope, the Interfaith Hospitality Network, Safe Families, and Just Walk Salem-Keizer. |  |
At the end of the day, if we boil it all down, we could say that the simple answer to the question, “What does SLF do?” is this: We Believe. We Engage. And it’s having an impact, thanks be to Christ.
