By John Terrill, reprinted from Made to Flourish. What would Jesus do? WWJD, a common refrain in Christian subculture of the mid-1990s, exploded into the popular vernacular and Christian kitsch by the end of the decade. Estimates of the number of WWJD bracelets sold in the United States during the last decade of the 20th century range from 15 to 52 million.…
By Lana Hill and Justin Lonas, reprinted from the Chalmers Center. Sometimes, when we’re walking with people as they work to escape material poverty, we want hard-and-fast rules to follow that lead to measurable outcomes. But the truth is, there’s no single “recipe” that always “works” everywhere. Once we begin to confront the complexities of poverty and our own brokenness, we may…
By Hilary Masell Oswald, reprinted from CityGate. Editor’s note: The 5280 Fellowship in the Denver metro area was the fellowship model used to frame and expand CityGate Fellowship partnerships. The first of those partnerships was Circle City Fellows in Indianapolis. In April and May, we will feature a story of impact from each of these cities to paint a picture of the work-integrated justice and…
The Green Room is honored to reprint this post from Living God’s Mission, including the original LGM editor’s note. See our tribute to Fletcher here. Editor’s Note: This is almost certainly the last piece Fletcher Lowe wrote in this life. Less than 12 hours after he emailed it to me, Fletcher died in his sleep, in his apartment in Richmond,…
By Adam Christian and Bert Downs, reprinted from the Oikonomia Network. In this seminary spotlight, we highlight Western Seminary’s Center for Leadership Development. The CLD is a part of our institution specifically aimed at equipping men and women to thrive as Christians in their workplaces, whether they work in church ministry or elsewhere. A growing library of non-credit resources is available…
Part two of two. See part one here. Cleaning out my bookshelves, discarding and reorganizing, I came across Entrepreneurship for Human Flourishing, co-authored by Chris Horst and Peter Greer of Hope International, a mission organization addressing poverty trough microfinance. I had already written about entrepreneurship, and wanted to find what I had missed. I observed that I had missed a…
Reprinted from the Salt & Light Australia Daily Devotional. Giving someone or something our undivided attention is something that has become increasingly difficult in today’s cultural context where technology and social norms enable and allow us to do so many things at once. It almost feels inefficient to not be in a meeting, while replying to a work messaging notification and keeping abreast…
By Phylicia Masonheimer, reprinted from Made to Flourish. “We’re pregnant!” I was 25 years old and working full-time for a university when I got the news. My husband and I were delighted! What could be more exciting? As we set up the nursery, folded tiny clothes, and signed up for birthing classes, I began conversations with my employer to move…
By Justin Lonas, reprinted from the Chalmers Center. Part two of two. See part one here. Many churches hesitate to partner with non-Christian or governmental agencies because they fear they won’t be allowed to speak about Jesus. However, Cheek has found the opposite to be the case. For those willing to enter into this work and be straightforward about their motivation,…
By Demi Prentiss, reprinted from Living God’s Mission. The Book of Common Prayer offers this collect for Labor Day (BCP, p. 261): Almighty God, you have so linked our lives one with another that all we do affects, for good or ill, all other lives: So guide us in the work we do, that we may do it not for self alone,…
