18 May, 2004 10:12 AM
Tonight at LivingRoom we're beginning a series on Everyday Spirituality - specifically tonight focusing upon the workplace. In doing some searches on the net for resources on the topic I was surprised to find very little at first. Strangely enough my own site came up a number of times in Google simple because I'd mentioned it in passing a couple of times. Scary how Google makes a person an expert in something simply for using the right words repeatedly in the one paragraph. I had to dig a little deeper to find some quality stuff online and thought I'd share some of what I found (which comes at the topic from different perspectives and locations around the globe) here:
- Intervarsity - Ministry in Daily Life states their purpose as being 'MDL exists to help the Church of Jesus Christ recover the biblical truth that ministry is the calling and privilege for every Christian believer'. They have a hundreds of resources on their site including bible studies on faith in the marketplace, Case Studies, reflections and Articles.
- Faith at Work is one of the better resources I've found. It is the home of Alistair Mackenzie from New Zealand - writer of the book 'Where is God on Monday' (pictured right). I met Alistair last year at a class he spoke at (he wouldn't remember me) and his approach was very impressive. His site has a wealth of information exploring themes of God's work and our work, Career and Life Planning and Ethics for the Marketplace. Some of Alistair's papers are well worth the read.
- Reality Magazine has a number of good articles on the topic including Faith in the Work Place which hypothesizes that one of the reasons that many are leaving the church is because people are not being presented and taught about a faith that is relevant to every day life - including life in the work place. Also check out God's Co-Workers at Reality Magazine.
- The Faith and Work Project looks like it hasn't been updated for a while - but is a project based in the UK. They have a number of papers and resources available as well as a free 16 page booklet titled People in Business - People in Need: How Can Local Churches Help?
- Empowering the Priesthood of All Believers - an address by The Most Rev. George L. Carey Archbishop of Canterbury in 1992.
- My Work life Bookstore has heaps of books on the topic of spirituality in the workplace as well as a forum that seems to get used occassionally.
If you have any other suggestions of books, sites or online articles that might add to this conversation please feel free to add them in comments below.
Comments
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I read a review of 'Religion and the Workplace : Pluralism, Spirituality, Leadership' by Douglas Hicks (in the Harvard Business Review). Here's an excerpt from that review:
"Companies actually do a disservice to their employees when they promote nonsectarian messages of transcendendance, fellowship, and harmony. Instead they should be promoting tolerance and fostering genuine religious diversity which will actually improve, not undermine workplace morale. "
I haven't read it, but maybe this summer it will make it on my list....
Steve Bogner » 20 May, 2004 10:14 AM
Mark Greene is an important person to look at in the UK. He is the Executive Director of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity. He's written a book and produced a couple of interactive videos looking at these issues. Don't have the link but Google will find it.
Gary Manders » 19 May, 2004 5:19 AM