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…
By David Williamson. I was reflecting on the early chapters of Genesis from a faith and work, theology of work perspective this past week, thinking about how God uses our work to bring order out of chaos, when we began experiencing racial unrest across the globe. I thought of another, perhaps more basic way of understanding the process of God…
By Chris Brooks, reprinted from Made to Flourish; this article originally appeared at woodsidebible.org. Last week, I lost my breath. My breathlessness came because of watching the now viral video of a man gasping for the desperately needed air his lungs begged for. He pleaded with the police officer whose knee was crushing his windpipe as he moaned out the words,…
Excerpt from Economic Wisdom for Churches. THESIS 50: Christians should be taught that if the pope knew about the exploitation practiced by the indulgence-preachers, he would burn the church of St. Peter to ashes rather than build it with the skin, flesh and bones of the sheep. Martin Luther, 95 Theses Jobs, poverty, globalization, environment, debt, racism, trade – does…
By Chigor Chike, reprinted from Everyday Faith. Adapted from an Inspiring Everyday Faith Webinar held on Wednesday 25 March 2020. Everyday Faith and the Secular-Sacred Distinction For the church it is important that in our gatherings and discussions we find opportunities to include people of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) heritage. There is often a useful, different perspective that…
Reprinted from Made to Flourish. Like many pastors, Heber Brown III visits congregants from Pleasant Hope Baptist Church in Baltimore when they’re in the hospital. But unlike most pastors, he’s doing something more than praying for and visiting people. Over the past five years Brown has mobilized more than two dozen area congregations into the Black Church Food Security Network (BCFSN)…
By Darrell Yoder, reprinted from the Oikonomia Network. The rhythms of life at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary are rooted in a vision of the gospel that is biblically holistic, prophetic, formational and deeply practical. Within our shared theological framework, we seek to hold space for difference – theological, cultural, ethnic, gender and otherwise – so that we can experience the richness…
To mark the occasion of Martin Luther King Day, we are reposting this article from our archives. It was originally part one of two; read part two here. The post originally ran on Feb. 6, 2018. “The American ideal of racial progress is measured by how fast I become white.” James Baldwin As a white person I’ve never been very cognizant…
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…
By Demi Prentiss, reprinted from Living God’s Mission. The call that God places on each person’s life sometimes shows up as their ministry. But more often, when we look more closely, our call is bigger than our ministry. Our call could be described as the melody of God’s song in our life. Our ministry could be understood as the lyrics…
The Green Room 