The purpose of the Faith at Work Summit is to gather active participants and leaders in the faith at work movement from every industry sector to learn from each other and work together to extend Christ’s transforming presence in workplaces around the world. The 2018 Faith at Work Summit, held in Chicago at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare on October 11th-13th, is still open for registration! Join us tomorrow night!
In anticipation of the upcoming Summit, I had the opportunity to interview Chuck Proudfit, President and Founder of SKILLSOURCE. In 2003, Chuck started At Work On Purpose to facilitate a citywide marketplace ministry which has grown to include over 10,000 working Christians across Greater Cincinnati, OH. Chuck is co-author of BIZNISTRY: Transforming Lives through Enterprise, and the author of Citywide Marketplace Ministry in a Box.
AK: What will you be addressing at the Faith at Work Summit this year?
CP: I will be talking about models for city expressions of faith at work. In Cincinnati, we call this “citywide marketplace ministry,” the idea that most cities have marketplace ministries, but few cities have a well-organized, decentralized, organic network of working Christians stepping forward together as the Church at Work across a city. Several different cities are building prototypes in this space, and the workshop will share and explore examples.
AK: What inspires you about the Faith and Work movement today?
CP: I am inspired by the hard work and momentum that I’m seeing all around the globe. It’s always the path of “more resistance” to be faith expressive at work, yet many Christians are finding creative, compelling ways to BE the church, the “salt and light,” in the sectors, industries, employers and roles they hold. I am also inspired by the momentum I see underway, with more and more connections, coordination and collaboration across the faith at work movement.
AK: What do you see as current challenges facing the Faith and Work movement?
CP: In many regions, we face a virtually “post-Christian” cultural environment, which frequently perceives Christian faith expression as “parochial,” “out of touch,” “less evolved,” “bigoted”, etc. We need to capture a 21st century expression of the early church in which we “earn the favor of the people” in the way we serve the culture, in the name of Christ and to God’s glory.
AK: What are you looking forward to at the Faith at Work Summit?
CP: I am looking forward to meeting old friends and finding new ones, within the global faith/work movement. I am looking to learn from my peers, and to share what I’ve been learning as well. I am looking to simply “feel” God’s presence and pleasure, as we gather together to celebrate and imagine what God can do through us in the working world.
For Chuck’s Talk on “Citywide Marketplace Ministry as 21st Century Workplace Ekklesia” at the 2016 Faith at Work Summit in Dallas see:
The Green Room 