By now it is almost a truism that the faith and work movement struggles with reaching blue collar workers. A number of very smart people have tried to do something about that. More than any I have seen so far, W. David Buschart and Ryan Tafilowski have succeeded with their new book Worth Doing: Fallenness, Finitude, and Work in the…
Category: Blue-Collar Work
Standing by Our Workers in Pandemic Time
By David Gill, reprinted from The 313. The economic and workplace disruptions of the Covid-19 pandemic are far-reaching and deep. Some of us have been required to mask and suit up and keep on keeping on as essential workers in disease-exposed workplaces. Others of us have managed to keep up our work but do it remotely via the internet. But still…
All God’s Children Got Callings – and Should Have Shoes
By David Williamson. Being “house bound” or “grounded” by Covid-19, I started cleaning out old files and came across two newspaper articles that I had been saving, about shoes. The two articles had two very different vantage points: one, a manufacturer; the second, a shoeshine provider. This led me to remember a familiar old spiritual about shoes, and how all…
Review: Workers on Arrival
By David Gill, reprinted from The 313. Workers On Arrival: Black Labor in the Making of America by Joe William Trotter, Jr.(University of California, 2019) Joe William Trotter, Jr., is distinguished professor of history at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Workers on Arrival is a superb, meticulously researched account of the contributions and challenges of black workers throughout American history. The focus here is not all…
What We Want to Hear from Our Preacher about Work
Reprinted from Workship. Photo by Kara Martin. A couple of weeks ago on Facebook, Nathan Campbell from Living Church in Brisbane explained that he was going to be preaching on the topic of work the coming Sunday. He posed the following question: “This week I’m preaching on work, like the stuff we do to bring order and beauty to the…
The ServiceMaster Story
Excerpt from Chapter 1, The ServiceMaster Story: Navigating the Tension between People and Profit by Albert M. Erisman, copyright 2020 by Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, Massachusetts. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Dave Aldridge had earned his MBA degree, and was working as a manager at ServiceMaster. Like other leaders, he participated in We Serve days, during which senior company leaders…
MLK on Work
To honor Martin Luther King’s contribution to the faith and work movement, we are reposting this article from our archives. It was originally part one of a series. Many in our movement have heard some version of Martin Luther King’s famous “street sweeper” illustration, which calls on workers to pursue excellence in their work and find dignity and meaning in…
Helping that Helps: Six Principles for Poverty Alleviation
By Brian Fikkert; reprinted from Made to Flourish, by permission of The Chalmers Center. At the Chalmers Center, we long to see people who are struggling with material poverty restored to all that God has created them to be as his image-bearers. That’s why we work to equip churches and related ministries to more effectively walk alongside people living in…
Seminary Spotlight: Denver Seminary
By Dan Steiner, reprinted from the Oikonomia Network. Artwork: Light the Lamps, Justin Reddick, mixed media on canvas, 30” x 40”, private collection (used with permission) Justin Reddick wears many hats. He is a husband, father, artist, seminary student and the religious services assistant and creative arts platform facilitator at the Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado. I first met Justin after a lecture I…
Just a Christian
By Matthew B. Harper, a resident in a Virginia prison. Reprinted from Living God’s Mission. “What is your ministry?” As I have worked my way through the church’s discernment process, I have struggled when someone asks me this. And it gets asked a lot. It is a good question because it seeks to understand my role in community, and how I…
The Green Room 