Author: William Messenger

I'm the Executive Editor of the Theology of Work Project and a member of the Steering Committee. Previously, I was was the Director of the Mockler Center for Faith and Ethics in the Workplace at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary from 1999 to 2008, and an adjunct faculty member there. I created and led the seminary’s doctoral and master’s degree programs in workplace leadership and business ethics. I have served as an adjunct faculty member of Laidlaw-Carey Graduate School (Auckland, New Zealand), guest lecturer at Holy Cross College (Worcester, MA) and adjunct professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy, NY). I am a member of the Board of Directors of ArQule, Inc., a biotechnology company near Boston, where I chair the compensation, nominating and governance committee and am a member of the audit committee. I previously worked as a sales representative at IBM, corporate finance associate at Goldman Sachs, consultant at McKinsey & Co., and vice president of sales and marketing Advanced Metabolic Systems. I'm ordained in the Episcopal Church and formerly served as pastor of Charles River Church in Boston and assistant rector of All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Belmont, MA. I got a B.S. in Physics from Case Western Reserve University, an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, a Master of Divinity from Boston University School of Theology and a Doctor of Ministry from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. I live near Boston, MA, USA, with my wife and daughters.

Working for the Money

by William Messenger in Theological Discussions, Transparency

By Will Messenger Fewer men are working now than used to. A long-term trend, which accelerated in the wake of the global economic meltdown of 2008 is that labor force participation by working-age men in the US has declined significantly since 1950 (see https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNS11300001). Undoubtedly, there are many causes behind this, and no single intervention is likely to change a…

The 4-Chapter Gospel. Or Is It 3? Or Maybe 5?

by William Messenger in Theological Discussions, Unsolved Problems

By Will Messenger We’ve been having a lively debate in the Theology of Work Project about how many chapters there are in the biblical narrative. Are there 4? 3? 5? This question comes up, for us, in the context of engaging our audiences as fully as possible, especially the Reformed, who seem always to speak of 4 chapters, and the…

From a racist gas station to a Bible commentary

by William Messenger in Diversity, Future of the Movement, Unsolved Problems

My work matters to God—but can the Bible help me in practical ways? Over the past seven years, 138 scholars, pastors and workplace Christians from 16 countries have researched every book of the Bible, recognizing over 1000 passages related or directly applicable to work (free online at theologyofwork.org). The Bible develops workplace applications at length, including calling, truth and deception, finance, wealth and provision, witness to Christ, relationships at work, leadership, what churches can do to equip their members to follow Christ at work, and how to make sense of suffering and hardship at work. Some applications are surprisingly specific—like the importance of face-to-face communication in times of stress, or Jesus’ process for resolving conflicts among co-workers. Others span the world of work, like the value God places on excellence in so-called secular jobs, and pre-eminent role of relationships in doing good work. Its ever-present message is that work is a gift from God for meeting one another’s needs and making the world more like God intends it to be.

Will Messenger (BS, Case Western Reserve; MBA, Harvard; MDiv, Boston University; DMin, Gordon-Conwell) is Executive Editor of the Theology of Work Project, Inc., an international organization dedicated to researching, writing, and circulating materials about how the Christian faith can contribute to non-church workplaces. He was the Director of the Mockler Center for Faith and Ethics in the Workplace at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary from 1999 to 2008.

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