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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.

The Incarnation Didn’t Happen in a Synagogue

By David Williamson. We are very eager to exclaim “TGIF.” Some years ago, I came across a book by Bill Diehl, an executive in the steel industry: Thank God It’s Monday. The book itself is a good read, and it encouraged me to remember the story of a Pittsburgh business executive with a situation on Monday morning that needed God’s…

Ecclesiastes: Toil, Pain, Joy and Glory

By Tim Yearsley, reprinted from the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity. What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labour under the sun? All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless. A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink…

Entrepreneurship for Flourishing

Reprinted from the Oikonomia Network. The vision of the Economic Wisdom Project is summarized in twelve “elements” that provide starting points for thoughtful, biblically informed understanding of contemporary opportunities and challenges. For a handy guide to the twelve elements, download this one-page summary, taken from our EWP vision paper “A Christian Vision for Flourishing Communities”: Below is an excerpt from the paper “Twelve Elements of Economic…

The Five Causes of Poverty: Individual Brokenness

Reprinted from the Chalmers Center. Part three of a series. Adapted from A Field Guide to Becoming Whole, p. 125-134. We’ve been exploring the five causes of poverty in this series of posts, and it’s important to remember that any one of us can be impacted by all five causes – false stories, destructive practices, individual brokenness, systemic brokenness and demonic forces. These factors are…

The Big Quit: The Paradigm Shift

By Lisa Slayton, reprinted from The Tamim Journey. This is the seventh in a series.  “Work is the inside made into the outside…With the right work, the relationship to that work and the mystery of what is continually being revealed to us through our endeavors, we find a home in the world that eventually does not need debilitating stress, does not need…

Vocation: God’s Relentless Invitation

By Demi Prentiss, reprinted from Living God’s Mission. “We are all one in mission; we are all one in call….” Rusty Edwards’ lyrics remind us that, at bottom, all vocations are essentially the same – to be Christ’s ambassadors in, to, and for the world. For many, discerning how to enact that call in their own life can become a challenging,…

Review: Aging Matters

By David Gill, reprinted from The 313. R. Paul Stevens is professor emeritus of marketplace theology and leadership at Regent College, Vancouver BC, and a marketplace ministry mentor. He has worked as a carpenter and businessman, and served as the pastor of an inner-city church in Montreal. He has written many books, including Doing God’s Business, Work Matters and The Other Six Days. He is coauthor of The Marketplace…

Is Calling for Individuals or Communities? Yes!

By David Williamson. Going through old files, I came across an unpublished paper by Darrel Guder, at one time the Henry Luce Professor of Missional and Ecumenical Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary. The title of the paper is “The Christian’s Callings in the World: Pastoral Formation and Missional Vocation.” I was already working through an almost new and certainly energizing…

Rest Assured

By Nikki Benson, reprinted from the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity. Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden…

Productive Work and the Virtue of Economic Growth

Reprinted from the Oikonomia Network. The vision of the Economic Wisdom Project is summarized in twelve “elements” that provide starting points for thoughtful, biblically informed understanding of contemporary opportunities and challenges. For a handy guide to the twelve elements, download this one-page summary, taken from our EWP vision paper “A Christian Vision for Flourishing Communities”: Below is an excerpt from the paper “Twelve Elements of Economic…