ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar – As I sit here in awe at the fruitfulness of a business as mission (BAM) program in its sixth year of growth, Biblical Entrepreneurship, I ask myself, “How did this work 25 hours away by plane, and worlds away in culture and language, ignite our church to get serious about the faith and work movement?” At the…
By Greg Forster; part three of a series. “I just don’t understand it,” the world-famous culture war pastor said to me. His voice was soft, his head cast down, his tone sorrowful. “I don’t question that they’re believers. They are. I know they are. But I just don’t understand how anyone who believes in Jesus could vote for politicians who…
In 2012, two friends and I launched an initiative called the Vocation Infusion Learning Community (VILC). The aim was to gather congregational leaders from around the country in a series of four retreats focused on faith and work. Over the next few years we took over 40 church teams through the program. Today, a similar initiative continues through Made to…
One of the issues highlighted by the election, and all the noise surrounding it, is a growing lack of civility in our society. There are plenty of examples of the ingredients contributing to its continuing decline. Facebook has curated content to fill people’s timelines with stories that affirm their existing opinions. Social media itself has become a venue for debate, often taking the place…
ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar – I am writing from the end of a continent; to some, the end of the earth: the island nation of Madagascar. Out my hotel window is the historic Analakely Market in the capital city known affectionately as Tana. A dozen or more red-tiled roofs cover stalls in which vendors hawk their wares. This jet-lagged blogger couldn’t sleep…
By Jonathan Malesic Every American, it seems, believes in the dignity of work. Americans overwhelmingly see ourselves as hardworking, attesting to the value they place on work. Rival politicians like Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Hillary Clinton, and Sherrod Brown all make appeal to the dignity of work in in addressing voters. At first glance, this seems to be a widely-shared…
A review of God’s Story of Work for Kids, a theology of work curriculum by Helen C. Kim Dr. Helen Kim has been involved in children’s ministry as a church staff professional and a volunteer for over 12 years. During that time, she’s never once come across a Sunday School curriculum on work. That might sound understandable given that little…
By Greg Forster; part two of a series. One of the most fun experiences I’ve ever had was teaching Sunday school classes on theology and politics in one of America’s most firmly “dominance paradigm” churches – the kind of church that has a culture warrior mentality. Even where churches have more recently turned away from the culture war as such,…
For the first post in this series, click here. Faith@Work 101 needs now — and will always need — to be actively promoted and taught in our churches and all other Christian contexts. These five basics need to be constantly and creatively promoted. But we also need to move beyond these shared basics as leaders and teachers. I want to…
One topic that continually comes up among faith and work leaders is this: should we create more vocation-specific materials? That is, instead of creating resources broadly about, say, work, Sabbath, calling, or caring for the poor, should we create experiences, books or small group studies specifically for those in, say, law, business, architecture or nursing? The topic came up at…
The Green Room 