A Statement of Purpose
Offering Christ through worship: through education: through support; through service: and through involvement.
Offering Christ: Invites persons to develop a relationship with Jesus Christ and the Ministry
Through Worship: Develop patterns of worship which provides a strong sense of the presence of God.
Through Education: Educate people in the Christian faith and how it relates to everyday life.
Through Support: Create a broad range of small groups for studying, sharing, and coping with life experiences
Through Service: Relate the gospel to current social issues and community problems providing opportunities for active involvement.
and Through Involvement: Promote a climate which provides a sense of broad congregational involvement in the future of the ministry.
reverend alan l. joplin
voices of the tribe ministries
602-621-6050 Drums
Voices of the Tribe Ministry is a nondenominational ministry committed to helping take the gospel of Jesus Christ to all nations. We cooperate with Christians from churches of many denominations and other Christian organizations around the world to help Christians grow in their faith and share the Gospel message with their fellow countrymen. "All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Matthew 28:18-20
Working together with these fellow believers, our goal is to help give every man, woman, and child in the world an opportunity to find new life in Jesus Christ. "But when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power to testify about me with great effect, to the people in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth, about my death and resurrection." Acts 1:8
The sole basis of our beliefs is God's infallible written Word. We believe that it was uniquely, verbally and fully inspired by the Holy Spirit and that it was written without error in the original manuscripts. We accept those areas of doctrinal teaching on which, historically, there has been general agreement among all true Christians. Because of the specialized calling of our movement, we desire to allow for freedom of conviction on other doctrinal matters, provided that any interpretation is based upon the Bible alone, and that no such interpretation shall become an issue which hinders the ministry to which God has called us.
- There is one true God, eternally existing in three persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - each of whom possesses equally all the attributes of Deity and the characteristics of personality.
- Jesus Christ is God, the living Word, who became flesh through His miraculous conception by the Holy Spirit and His virgin birth. Hence, He is perfect Deity and true humanity united in one person forever.
- He rose from the dead in the same body, though glorified, in which He lived and died.
- He ascended bodily into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God the Father, where He, the only mediator between God and man, continually makes intercession for His own.
- Man was originally created in the image of God. He sinned by disobeying God; thus, he was alienated from his Creator.
- The salvation of man is wholly a work of God's free grace and is not the work, in whole or in part, of human works or goodness or religious ceremony. God imputes His righteousness to those who put their faith in Christ alone for their salvation, and thereby justified them in His sight.
- It is the privilege of all who are born again of the Spirit to be assured of every believer is called to live so in the power of the indwelling Spirit that he will not fulfill the lust of the flesh but will bear fruit to the glory of God.
- Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church, His Body, which is composed of all men, living and dead, who have been joined to Him through saving faith.
- God admonishes His people to assemble together regularly for worship, for participation in ordinances, for edification through the Scriptures and for mutual encouragement.
- The Lord Jesus Christ commanded all believers to proclaim the Gospel throughout the world and to disciple men of every nation. The fulfillment of that Great Commission requires that all worldly and personal ambitions be subordinated to a total commitment to "Him who loved us and gave Himself for us."
of Voices of The Tribe Ministry, Inc.
- Life and Dignity of the Human Person
- Call to Family, Community, and Participation
- Rights and Responsibilities
- Option for the Poor and Vulnerable
- Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers
- Solidarity
- Care for God’s Creation
Every human person is created in the image and likeness of God. Christian belief in the sanctity of human life and the inherent dignity of the human person is the foundation of all the principles of Christian social teaching. People are more important than things, and that the measure of every institution is whether it threatens or enhances the life and dignity of the human person. The human person is central, the clearest reflection of God among us; Each person possesses a basic dignity that comes from God, not from any human quality or accomplishment; The test of every human institution or policy is whether it enhances the life and dignity of the human person.
How we organize our society—in economics and politics, in law and policy—directly affects human dignity and the capacity of individuals to grow in community. families are central social institutions that must be supported and strengthened, not undermined. While our society often exalts individualism, the Christian tradition teaches that human beings grow and achieve fulfillment in community. People have a right and a duty to participate in society, seeking together the common good and well being of all, especially the poor and vulnerable. The Church teaches that the role of government and other institutions is to protect human life and human dignity and promote the common good.
- No community is more central than the family; it is the basic cell of society. It is where we learn and act on our values. What happens in the family is the basis of a truly human life.
- The state and other institutions of political and economic life, with both their limitations and obligations, are instruments to protect the life, dignity, and rights of the human person. When basic human needs are not being met by private initiative, and then people must work through their government, at appropriate levels, to meet those needs.
- A central test of political, legal, and economic institutions is what they do to people, what they do for people, and how people participate in them.
In a world where some speak mostly of “rights” and others mostly of “responsibilities,” the Christian tradition teaches that human dignity can be protected and a healthy community can be achieved only if human rights are protected and responsibilities are met. Therefore, every person has a fundamental right to life and a right to those things required for human decency: faith and family, food and shelter, health care and housing, education and employment.
Corresponding to these rights are duties and responsibilities—to one another, to our families, and to the larger society. While public debate in our nation is often divided between those who focus on personal responsibility and those who focus on social responsibilities, our tradition insists that both are necessary.
Flowing from our God-given dignity, each person has basic rights and responsibilities. These include: the rights to freedom of conscience and religious liberty, to raise a family, to immigrate, to live free from discrimination, and to have a share of earthly goods sufficient for oneself and one’s family. People have a fundamental right to life and those things that make life truly human: food, clothing, housing, health care, education, security, social services, and employment.
In a world characterized by growing prosperity for some and pervasive poverty for others, Christian teaching proclaims that a basic moral test is how our most vulnerable members are faring. In a society marred by deepening divisions between rich and poor, Christian tradition recalls the story of the Last Judgment (Mt 25:31-46) and instructs us to put the needs of the poor and vulnerable first. Scripture teaches that God has a special concern for the poor and vulnerable (Ex 22:20-26).
The prophets denounced injustice toward the poor as a lack of fidelity to the God of Israel (Is 1:21-23; Jer 5:28). Jesus, who identified himself with the least of these (Mt 25:40-45), came to preach the good news to the poor and told us, “Give to him who asks of you, do not refuse one who would borrow from you” (Mt 11:5; 5:42). The Church calls on all of us to embrace this preferential love of the poor and vulnerable, to embody it in our lives, and to work to have it shape public policies and priorities.
We must seek creative ways to expand the emphasis of our nation’s founders on individual rights and freedom by extending democratic ideals to economic life and thus ensure that the basic requirements for life with dignity are accessible to all. The love of Christ compels us to turn our attention to the needs of our poorer sisters and brothers. We cannot relax our efforts to assist the poor in their need. We must be especially mindful of the elderly, along with women and children, who are often the primary victims of social neglectTraditionally, workers have the strong support of the Church in forming and joining unions and worker associations of their choosing in the exercise of their dignity and rights.
In a marketplace where too often the quarterly bottom line takes precedence over the rights of workers, we believe that the economy must serve people, not the other way around. Work is more than a way to make a living; it is a form of continuing participation in God's creation. Work is a way of fulfilling part of our human potential given to us by God.
If the dignity of work is to be protected, then the basic rights of workers must be respected—the right to productive work, to decent and fair wages, to organize and join unions, to ownership and private property, and to economic initiative. Respecting these rights promotes an economy that protects human life, defends human rights, and advances the well-being of all.
Our culture is tempted to turn inward, becoming indifferent and sometimes isolationist in the face of international responsibilities. Christian social teaching proclaims that we are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers, wherever they live. We are one human family, whatever our national, racial, ethnic, economic, and ideological differences. Learning to practice the virtue of solidarity means learning that “loving our neighbor” has global dimensions in an interdependent world. 
Because of the interdependence among all the members of the human family around the globe, we have a moral responsibility to commit ourselves to the common good at all levels: in local communities, in our nation, in the community of nations. We are one human family, whatever our national, racial, ethnic, economic, and ideological differences. On a planet conflicted over environmental issues, the Christian tradition insists that we show our respect for the Creator by our stewardship of creation. Care for the earth is not just a slogan, it is a requirement of our faith. We are called to protect people and the planet, living our faith in relationship with all of God's creation. This environmental challenge has fundamental moral and ethical dimensions that cannot be ignored.
The world that God created has been entrusted to us, yet our use of it must be directed by God's plan for creation, not simply by our own benefit. Our stewardship of the earth is a kind of participation in God's act of creating and sustaining the world. In our use of creation, we must be guided by our concern for the welfare of others, both around the world and for generations to come, and by a respect for the intrinsic worth and beauty of all God's creatures.
The vision of Voices of the Tribe Ministries, Inc. is not just a guide to revitalization it merely add a moral dimension to political, economic, and social decisions that affect our lives. Rather it is a redefinition of who we are and what we do. We are not separate people but a faith community grounded in the reality of our times and in our solidarity with the whole human family. The Church has a prophetic role in calling for and participating in an extensive collaboration among many different sectors of the wider community.
The principles of social justice and preferential love for the poor lead us to action in addressing the injustice and inequity that we find in the lives of people in our society, with particular concern for people who are most vulnerable. These actions must overcome poverty, racism, crime, apathy, fear and the pervasive influence of violence in our culture. Our actions will build upon the many good things already being done within our churches. But we also must face the harsh economic reality of the times and seek to reverse powerful trends of unjust social mores, and diminishing resources. It means personal and institutional conversion as well as tough, pragmatic, personal and institutional choices.
The recommended actions are not new plan of, Vision or Goals. Rather, Voices of The Tribe Ministry, Inc. invite you to see new possibilities and challenges in what it means to be a Celebrating, Evangelizing, Teaching, Caring and Participating community. We are also called to a deeper understanding of stewardship. Good stewardship means using our gifts and resources in such a way that we can be even more responsive, interdependent and mutually supportive. To succeed in this vision, we will need strong organizational skills put to use in imparting a moral and ethical dimension to political and economic life. It will be necessary to act out Gospel values in the home, neighborhood, and workplace and in the political arena. The vision of Voices of the Tribe Ministries, Inc. must be a way of life that is the constant thread in our daily activity, the reflective application of Gospel values to the challenges of our time and place in history.
Christian social teaching is a complex and nuanced tradition with many other important elements. Principles like “common good” outline the advantages and limitations of markets, the responsibilities and limits of government, and the essential roles of voluntary associations. The dignity of human life a central Christian principle requires that we measure every policy, every institution, and every action by whether it protects human life and enhances human dignity, especially for the poor and vulnerable.
These moral values are part of a systematic moral framework and a precious intellectual heritage that we call Christian social teaching. The Scriptures say, “Without a vision the people perish” (Prv 29:18). As Christians, we have an inspiring vision in our social teaching. In a world that hungers for a sense of meaning and moral direction, this teaching offers ethical criteria for action. In a society of rapid change and often-confused moral values, this teaching offers consistent moral guidance for the future. 701 west encanto
phoenix, az 85007
phone: 602-621-6050 Drums
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