Vision, Mission, & Guiding Principles

Spirit in Action envisions a world in which every community is strong, vibrant, heart-centered and working joyfully together across our unique identities to sustain an interdependent system of caring for each other and the earth.

The mission of Spirit in Action is to create a positive future grounded in the values of equality, peace and justice for all. We develop effective leaders, support organizational sustainability, build cohesive networks and catalyze transformative social change.

Through our programs, we aspire to build a broad and interconnected social force committed to collectively changing the world by working with communities to Reimagine culture, Resist domination, Reform institutions and Recreate society.  Click here to read about our Theory of Transformation.

Since our inception, four guiding principles have shaped all aspects of our work.  These principles emerged from a national Listening Project in which activists responded to the question: “What will it take to build a transformative movement that can change the world?” Their stories, struggles and aspirations gave rise to these principles.

1. Collective Visioning for a Positive Future:  Collective visioning provides a foundation for collaboration and collective action; it give us a sense of where we want to go together and inspires us to boldly begin the journey. By unleashing our creative capacities to imagine a more just, life-sustaining society, we can develop a roadmap to the change we envision. We believe that imagination is an essential tool for liberation.

2. Action for Deep and Lasting Change: Social transformation requires a continuum of sustained engagement that includes personal and organizational development, as well as network and movement building. On the individual level, it means cultivating practices that ensure physical, emotional and spiritual well-being. At the interpersonal level, it means actively working to build authentic, trusting relationships. At the organizational, network and movement levels, acting for deep and lasting change prioritizes developing a shared analysis, building grassroots power and developing overarching strategies to move beyond short-term campaigns.

3. Connecting with Spirit: This principle acknowledges that spirit is the conscious recognition of our wholeness and interconnection to all life on earth. Integrating this understanding of spirit into social justice work brings forward what inspires and sustains us. It pushes us to consistently balance our inner and outer change work by honoring that they go hand-in-hand. This principle speaks profoundly to the need to shift the culture of our movement from a place of fear, anger and disassociation to one of hope, love and interdependence.

4. Healing from Divisions to Build a Diverse Movement: Intentionally engaging across lines of difference and transforming how we relate to each other is essential to making broad-based change. We acknowledge the legacies of oppression, trauma and violence that we carry with us every day into our work and into our relationships, and we tap into legacies of resilience to heal and transform at the personal and interpersonal levels. The privilege and responsibility of being in diverse community calls us to recognize that we share both a common humanity and particular social identities, which accord power in unbalanced ways. Bridging these power divides through inclusive communities of practice is at the heart of healing divisions.

Linda is a woman with lots of experience, heart and mind and activist passion, while valuing spirit.

—Karimah Stauch, Bonn, Germany, Regional Coordinator, United Religions Initiative