Leviticus 26:2-6 KJV
2. Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD.
3. If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;
4. Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.
5. And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.
6: And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land.
In Leviticus, one of the Books of Law, God tells us of his pledge. The foundation of a Christian based recovery program must be built on a pledge to help those who seek help in the name of God.
Mission and vision are the foundation of a treatment program. Applying for funding to start or grow a program must be mission driven in order to keep true to the reason and commitment to offer services to those who need them. First things first. The core values of the program must be based in ethics.
Ethics
Ethics is not a black and white issue with a clear definition. Although you can find a definition of ethics in the dictionary, you must answer the question, what is the ethical foundation of your program? In real time, ethics is more about the interpersonal human relationships and how we apply who we are to what we do without letting our bias and judgments determine what is right or wrong. This is just one of many ways of answering the question of what is and is not ethical.
A question you might need to answer is how do you determine what is ethical for your program and how does it apply to mission and vision. Another question you might ask yourself is who will we approach to serve on the board of directors that supports the mission and vision of our program from an ethical prospective This line of thinking has to be consistent all the way thorough every employee and volunteer in your program.
Consider this. Do you offer services to a person that says she is a Christian who is a substance abuser, and is on the run from the courts, but refuse to admit a person who says she is an atheist who clearly needs help and wants help. This is just one example of the many ethical questions you might encounter when you develop your program and present it to funders. The question of what is ethical for your program is going to take some time to answer. So easy does it.