Category: Future of the Movement

Take This Job and Shove It: Theological Reflections on Vocation at #ActonU

This summer, I had the opportunity to attend my 7th Acton University, the 1st since joining the team at Made to Flourish. ActonU was a rich experience of learning and conversation with friends, both old and new. ActonU can be a daunting experience as you have the opportunity to choose 11 classes from more than 100 options. Unlike any conference…

Called Together: A Biblical Perspective on Gender Roles in the Workplace (Part 2)

By Joanna Meyer. Read Part 1 here. “To be honest, I don’t know any women like me…” It’s a lament I hear often when I ask career-minded Christian women to introduce me to faithful women in their network. This feeling of isolation isn’t limited to professional women — ask any stay-at-home mom how lonely her days can be and you’ll…

Looking Forward to the 2018 Faith at Work Summit: An Interview with Al Erisman

The purpose of the Faith@Work Summit is to gather active participants and leaders in the faith at work movement from every industry sector to learn from each other and work together to extend Christ’s transforming presence in workplaces around the world. The 2018 Faith at Work Summit, held in Chicago at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare on October 11th-13th, is now open for registration! Early registration is…

How Rest Can Save the Conversation on Vocation From Itself, Part 3: Finding Rest in a Restless World

Part 1 of this series; Part 2 of this series Just as the Christian faith provides us with a strong foundation from which to work out the various dimensions of calling, work, and vocation, it also provides us with a strong foundation from which to address the topic of rest. The Christian tradition doesn’t stop with validating rest, leisure, and…

Book Review: No More Work: Why Full Employment is a Bad Idea (or, “Why Should I Love God Better Than This Day?”)

A while ago, I checked in with you with a dispatch from a growing genre of books: let’s call it the postwork genre. As I put it there in describing the genre, It’s the contention of many in the faith and work movement that the best way to fulfill God’s plan for the world is for everyone to work, or…

Called Together: A Biblical Perspective on Gender Roles in the Workplace (Part 1)

By Joanna Meyer One of the highlights of Denver Institute’s event calendar is our annual business leaders’ event “Business for the Common Good.” This year’s gathering was no exception as entrepreneurs and executives from across the country joined us to consider how God could work through the gifts and influence of His people. Guests packed the Studio Loft at Ellie…

Interviews: Practicing the King’s Economy – Honoring Jesus in How We Work, Earn, Spend, Save, and Give

Early in Practicing the King’s Economy: Honoring Jesus in How We Work, Earn, Spend, Save, and Give, written by Michael Rhodes and Robby Holt with help from Brian Fikkert, the authors talk about a method often used by the church to respond to needs in their communities: So often, the metaphor for our compassion becomes the soup kitchen. We line up on…

Rethinking Urban Poverty: A Video from the 2016 Dallas Faith at Work Summit

The purpose of the Faith@Work Summit is to gather active participants and leaders in the faith at work movement from every industry sector to learn from each other and work together to extend Christ’s transforming presence in workplaces around the world. The 2018 Faith at Work Summit, held in Chicago at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare on October 11th-13th, is now open for registration! Early registration is now available at $239 per ticket, so be sure to purchase soon. 

Chris Brooks and Evangel Ministries have been faithfully seeking to address issues of urban poverty in the city of Detroit since 1998. In this talk from the 2016 Dallas Faith@Work Summit, Brooks shares some of the insights they have gleaned in efforts to bring a holistic understanding of gospel and vocation to bring restorative waters to an “urban desert.”

Check out this 15-minute video to learn how Brooks envisions seeing occupations not merely as means toward a paycheck, but as a “vocation” that can be utilized to fulfill God’s command to love neighbors in need. Multi-generational poverty in communities is a real problem demanding multi-sectored, interdisciplinary solutions. Rather than pitting social justice against gospel concerns, Brooks lays out a vision where “solving social problems is not a violation of the gospel, but actually a fulfillment of it.”