On Nov. 11 at 4pm EST, CityGate will host a free webinar with Tracy Mathews of Attune: Receptivity, Discernment and Formation Listen. Discern. Go. It seems so simple. Yet in practice, it is challenging and sometimes painful. We live in a fast-paced world with so much information, challenge, and opportunity swirling in our orbits that it can feel impossible to…
Laicizing the Church
By Demi Prentiss, reprinted from Living God’s Mission. For the church in the 21st century, this definition of “laicize” [see image] is missing the mark, What’s needed is a word that speaks of laity assuming their rightful place in the church, as the “first order“ – both historically and in terms of numbers. I’m searching for a term to describe the laos –…
God Is Shaping Us through Our Work
Reprinted from the Salt & Light Australia Daily Devotional. In 2010, Eugene Peterson declared, “I am prepared to contend that the primary location for spiritual formation is the workplace” (Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places, p. 127). Let’s think about that for a moment. Surely not: it’s in church on Sunday, or at a spiritual retreat? However, Peterson was not just a…
Review: The Work of Our Hands
By David Gill, reprinted from The 313. Randy White is the founder (2012) and executive director of the Center for Community Transformation at Fresno Pacific University. After his BA at Sacramento State University, he earned his Master of Christian Studies at New College Berkeley, his MA in Urban Sociology & Community Development at Fresno Pacific, and his DMin in Transformational Leadership in the Global City at Bakke Graduate University.…
The Heart of Business
By David Williamson. The Monday morning section of the StarTrib had this title for the lead article: “Ex Best Buy CEO’s Quest for ‘Human Magic’.” The article was about Hubert Joly. It attracted my attention for four reasons: Because Best Buy has made a significant turnaround, from edge of failure, to strong retail and service company in the high-tech arena.…
Karam Forum 2021: Reviving Reconciliation
Reprinted from the Oikonomia Network. Chris Brooks will speak at Karam Forum 2021 on “Reviving Reconciliation,” and folks from leading investment firm Eventide will join us to talk about the tough theological questions raised by modern finance. That’s on top of David French and Michael Wear on justice and the church today, Jennifer Powell McNutt, Gavin Ortlund and more on justice and the church in…
Workplace Warfare
By Robert Martin, reprinted from the Salt & Light Australia Daily Devotional. The workplace is not a place we commonly associate with spiritual warfare. But maybe we should given the passionate exhortation the Apostle Paul makes at the end of the book of Ephesians, where he writes in 6:10: Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Paul is…
Jesus the Worker
By John Terrill, reprinted from Made to Flourish. What would Jesus do? WWJD, a common refrain in Christian subculture of the mid-1990s, exploded into the popular vernacular and Christian kitsch by the end of the decade. Estimates of the number of WWJD bracelets sold in the United States during the last decade of the 20th century range from 15 to 52 million.…
Refocusing Development through Innovation
By Lana Hill and Justin Lonas, reprinted from the Chalmers Center. Sometimes, when we’re walking with people as they work to escape material poverty, we want hard-and-fast rules to follow that lead to measurable outcomes. But the truth is, there’s no single “recipe” that always “works” everywhere. Once we begin to confront the complexities of poverty and our own brokenness, we may…
Making Homeownership Possible for More Neighbors
By Hilary Masell Oswald, reprinted from CityGate. Editor’s note: The 5280 Fellowship in the Denver metro area was the fellowship model used to frame and expand CityGate Fellowship partnerships. The first of those partnerships was Circle City Fellows in Indianapolis. In April and May, we will feature a story of impact from each of these cities to paint a picture of the work-integrated justice and…