THE CULTURE OF ORCHARD
Orchard exists to see a world where Christ is known by the actions of His followers. We pursue this by implementing our mission: Inspire Christ-followers to launch and lead creative initiatives serving those in need. As our vision and mission statements make clear, we are expressly Christ-centered in the work that we do.
Our services include comprehensive online training, coaching, and one-on-one consulting to non-profit leaders. We build these offerings emphasizing our six organizational values:
1. Jesus is the Center
2. Prayer is Necessary
3. Love is the Reason
4. The Bible is our Framework
5. Community is a Gift
6. God Inspires Innovation
Orchard inspires creative initiatives to serve communities by empowering those who lead them. Those who receive our services also receive Orchard’s endorsement as a leader. We take this responsibility seriously. Orchard’s Board of Directors grants the Orchard Partners Committee (OPC) the authority to accept or deny new Partners and to make all decisions regarding existing Partners being removed or reassigned within the Orchard Partners program.
QUALIFICATIONS
The OPC utilizes the personal questions below when considering new leaders for our program:
- Is the leader committed to Jesus?
- Does the leader demonstrate humility, love, and hopefulness?
- Does the leader honor Jesus with their character and conduct?
- Does the leader communicate clearly and promptly via email?
- Is the leader in community with other believers?
- Does the leader demonstrate a commitment to biblical faithfulness?
- Does the leader have the capacity and follow through needed for the work?
- Do other people recognize this person as a leader?
- Does the leader have the capacity to engage with Orchard’s digital resources?
- Is this person the senior leader and decision maker of their organization?
We also review details related to the organizations each leader represents. Our goal is to discern if the organization is aligned with Orchard’s vision, mission, values and theological convictions. We will also look out for potential organizational issues that could create challenges to engagement with the Orchard Partners program. OPC reserves the right to deny service if we do not believe that we are aligned, either personally or corporately, according to Orchard’s mission, vision, and values. Clear explanations will be given for all denials of service.
PROCESS
- Applicants complete Orchard Partners Application and all associated documents.
- Materials are reviewed quarterly by the OPC.
- All applicants are notified of their acceptance, or lack thereof, into the Orchard Partners program via email by the end of March, June, September, and December (depending on when their application was submitted).
- Limited services will be made available to new Partners in March, June, and August upon acceptance. Full scope of services are made available each January in congruence with our annual cycle of ministry.
- All denials for service will be communicated via email following the calendar listed above. Each will include a clear explanation from the OPC regarding the decision. Questions and further clarification can be directed to the Orchard Program Director.
Orchard’s selection process is intended to demonstrate good stewardship and faithfulness as Orchard’s team seeks to live out our own calling. We hope that denials of service can be received gracefully, especially where there may disagreement in the final decision.
THEOLOGICAL CONVICTIONS
God’s love is for all people and is available to all without partiality. Following Jesus is God’s plan for all to experience His love, both now and forever. This is why we prioritize working with leaders seeking to show the world the goodness of Jesus. Orchard embraces diversity of opinion, however we do so with some fundamental limitations.
While God reveals Himself in nature and other life experiences, the collective 66 books and letters of the Holy Bible contain God’s most specific and complete revelation for how to follow Jesus. We turn to the Scriptures seeking to understand what the authors meant and how those writings interact with the rest of the Bible. When what we read in the Bible challenges our own opinions, we give deference to the Scriptures and see it as God gracefully shaping us further into the image of Jesus. We do this knowing that the temptation will always remain to embrace teachings that are culturally popular but not grounded in timeless truth. Where confusion exists, we look to the belief and positions held by the global church throughout history.
We recognize that faithful Christ-followers can be misaligned when it comes to ministry engagement. The apostle Paul demonstrated this as he separated from John Mark in the days of the early church. When these moments arise, our team will seek to live peaceably with all. We also commit to honoring Christ in continuously seeking unity in hope that we can model restored relationships as Paul and John Mark modeled years after their divide.
Adopted with unanimous support from Orchard staff and Board of Directors on August 16, 2022