The Church, As it is The Body of Christ Small as a mustard seed and just as fair, The seeds of faith are planted in the night, Seeking their tiny space of warmth and light, Asking but room to grow and prosper there. Small as the seeds of faith, the hope of trust Once-wounded reaches out into the day For answering trust somewhere along the way The fruit of pain and light, of love and loss. We learn there is... Read more
…as detailed over at Seedbed by Josh Moon. I heard his presentation to The Asbury Project a couple of years ago, and I commend his efforts: If you are thinking you are way too unprepared to be a social entrepreneur, then we will get along quite well. Before my sophomore year in college I had no idea what social entrepreneurship meant. I kept hearing the term mentioned in conversations; and being the curious individual I am, I decided to take a... Read more
CNBC reported a bit ago that working more than 50 hours a week may not be doing you, or your employer, any favors: Nearly half of U.S. workers say they routinely put in more than 50 hours on the job each week, often without overtime pay. But employers should probably start politely declining the “free” gift, new research suggests. So-called “work martyrs” give hundreds of hours in free labor to their employers every year, encouraged by always-on gadgets, work through... Read more
Excellent points about work and faith made by Jonathan Malesic here recently: American workers put in more time on the job than most of their global economic peers, and increasingly, the boundary between work and not-work is a fuzzy one. As a result, the labor force increasingly experiences work as precarious, discontinuous and materially unrewarding. There is also a problem in the way we talk about our work. As the stability of work that characterized the industrial era becomes rarer, the... Read more
If Christ’s sacrifice can cover all the sinful things we are, think, say, and do, perhaps it can also make room for spending significant amounts of time not being “spiritual.” Read more
Not every congregation can do ministry with refugees. But every church can show up in their community and see where God is already working. Reprinted from Faith & Leadership. By Hannah Terry When people find out about the work I do with the refugee community in the neighborhood surrounding my church, I’m often asked, “Can any church do this?” My answer? Absolutely. Will the results be the same? No. The reason for that is at the heart of our ministry.... Read more
More thoughts on the work of women in particular today. This article from the New York Times is from 2015, but the problem it talks about is perennial: A PRIVATE equity firm announces it will pay for both your baby and a nanny to fly with you when you travel for business until the baby’s first birthday. IBM plans to ship home breast milk pumped on a work trip. Facebook and Apple will reimburse the costs for employees who want... Read more
Lots to ponder here about the role of caregiving in our society as well as the need for flexible working arrangements to help women fulfill all the vocations they are called to. Read more
The United Methodist Church says yes here: Large portions of our lives are spent at work. Some go to an office each day while others labor outdoors. Some work in 12-hour shifts to provide our food, keep us safe, and heal our wounds. Others travel near and far to sell, build, consult, and transport products and people. Still others teach children, cook meals, clean, and provide other services for our communities…. Methodism’s founder, John Wesley, had a legendary work ethic.... Read more
Kevin Kinghorn has some thoughts about this over at Seedbed: The packages of Traidcraft coffee I’ve bought in the past always carry the written promise that coffee producers in developing countries are paid “a fair price for their work.” I’m all for healthy, sustainable business practices. But the Traidcraft label does raise the obvious follow-up question: What exactly is a “fair” price to pay a worker? We would all agree to obvious points about the treatment of workers: that employers... Read more
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