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Author: The Green Room

Ever heard of a “green room”? It’s the room in a theater where actors and speakers can relax when they’re not on stage….talk to each other about what they really think, fix their makeup, get some coffee, and otherwise prepare for their next moment “on.” Well, this blog is the green room for the faith and work movement, where its leaders can kick off their shoes, grab a cup of coffee or a mug of tea, and talk heart-to-heart about where the movement’s come from, where it’s going, what’s working, and what’s not working. We hope you’ll join the conversation.

EWP Talks on History: God’s Mighty Works

Reprinted from the Oikonomia Network. Our collection of EWP Talks on History will help your students see that they are part of a much bigger story – the story of the mighty works of God done among us, his people, across the centuries since the coming of the Word and Spirit. From a 4th century witness against slavery to the social witness…

Why We Need Ministry Design Principles

Reprinted from the Chalmers Center. Ministry focused on addressing poverty is fundamentally about promoting change. It’s about helping people and communities move to a better situation than their present one.  Effective poverty alleviation requires us to know where we are trying to go and how we can get there. In other words, we need a “story of change” – or as it…

Going beyond the Sanctuary

By Pam Tinsley, reprinted from Living God’s Mission. “Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’” (John 20:21). This verse, from the Gospel reading for the Second Sunday of Easter, has been my earworm this past week. Jesus appears to his disciples after his resurrection as they huddle together…

The Answer to Workplace Idolatry Is Also in the Workplace

By David Gill, reprinted from Workplace 313. In her recent book, Work, Pray, Code: When Work Becomes Religion in Silicon Valley (Princeton, 2022), UC Berkeley sociologist Carolyn Chen showed how work has become, in effect, a replacement religion for many tech workers. Church attendance is down and what takes its place is work as religion, the source of meaning and purpose, and the idol to whom sacrifices of time (and…

O, for a Thousand Linemen to Sing!

By David Williamson. While on my usual neighborhood walk, I noticed a cable company employee working below the ground to establish an electrical connection that would establish an internet connection to several homes in the area. Spontaneously, I recalled the old song “Wichita Lineman,” and started singing – well, humming, actually – the words of that Glenn Campbelll classic. I…

Are We Plants? Fruitfulness v. Busyness

By Nell Goddard, reprinted from the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity. Don’t forget: Drink water. Get sunlight. You’re basically a house plant with more complicated emotions. So goes the meme currently circulating on social media. It’s been around a while now, but its prevalence has increased in the past few weeks as many people have moved to home working, and…

EWP Talks on NT: The New Creation

Reprinted from the Oikonomia Network. Our collection of EWP Talks on New Testament will help your students see the revelation of God in Christ in a fresh way, as a power breaking into the whole world by the Spirit even today. Economic wisdom means above all the wisdom we have come to know in Christ, the full and final embodiment of God’s…

Resurrection as Reconciliation & Empowerment

Reprinted from the Chalmers Center. As the Chalmers Center staff gathers with our churches and families to celebrate Easter this week, we join with Christians around the world, declaring “He is risen!” Jesus’ death and resurrection is what secures our reconciliation with God, ourselves, others, and all creation. The one who made all things is remaking us, as Paul tells…

Walking to Jerusalem

By Brandon Beck, reprinted from Living God’s Mission. My four-year-old friend and I, along with his mother who is the Director of Children and Family Ministries here, went to the local Christian bookstore yesterday to look for craft supplies for the upcoming Palm Sunday children’s formation lesson. The mother and I were chatting as we walked from the parking lot…

Review: Faith, Morals & Money

By David Gill, reprinted from The 313. Edward D. Zinbarg (MBA, Wharton; PhD, New York University) spent thirty-five years at Prudential Insurance as chief economist, chief investment officer and executive vice-president. During those years he also taught finance at City University of New York for fifteen years and co-authored the widely-used textbook Investment Analysis and Portfolio Analysis (1986). In his retirement, he…