Is the gap between pulpit and pew narrowing? Read the latest research

Last updated on: February 20, 2015 at 3:35 pm By Center for Faith and Work, LeTourneau University

New research conducted by the Barna Group for the Center for Faith & Work at LeTourneau University shows a substantial uptick in the number of pastors who say they preach on the topic of work. However, most church-goers still doubt the significance of their work to God. “While American church-goers hear more sermons on work these days, there’s still a gap between what’s preached from the pulpit and what’s grasped by those in the pew,” says Bill Peel, Executive Director. The research revealed that 70... Read more

Be careful what you wish for

Last updated on: February 21, 2015 at 3:22 pm By Mission:Work

This post came to us from The Well. Thanks, folks! Jen’s book Teach Us to Want was also a selection in the Patheos Book Club recently, and you can read more about that here. By Jen Pollock Michel When Ellen was only twenty, her parents died within six months of each other. Soon after, her oldest sister, ten years her senior and executor of the estate, sold the family home. Refusing to share the proceeds, she severed contact with Ellen,... Read more

Living out the gospel by teaching, not preaching

Last updated on: February 20, 2015 at 3:16 pm By Mission:Work

This post comes to us from Duke Divinity School’s blog Faith & Leadership, an offering of Leadership Education at Duke Divinity. Read some more interviews with folks pursuing community development along these lines in our recent Community Development Forum and in another post from Faith & Leadership. They prepare for their mission by meeting regularly for more than a year in the basement of an old Baptist church in Midtown Memphis. “America is not short on information about the gospel,”... Read more

[VIDEO] The next set of encouraging videos from the Faith@Work Summit

Last updated on: April 14, 2015 at 2:03 pm By Mission:Work

Some more great talks from the Faith@Work Summit have now been posted. (Here’s the first set , here’s the second set, and here’s the third set.)Enjoy! Paul Wilson on how seminaries need to change to pay attention to what the rest of us do all day: Al Erisman on how universities need to do the same: Mark Washington on student ministries and groups dealing with faith and work issues: Tom Nelson on loving our neighbor: Read more

Does the perfect job exist? A Lenten thought

Last updated on: February 18, 2015 at 4:40 pm By Mission:Work

Madison Perry of the Washington Institute for Faith, Vocation, and Culture has been wondering that himself: Do you feel trapped in an occupation? When asked to describe the perfect job, I often find myself frustrated, exclaiming: “It doesn’t exist!” Recently, a friend confessed a dark day-dream: at least once a day he imagines that if he were to die, the world would go on fine without him. He imagines this because his job isn’t that important. Everywhere he goes he... Read more

The miracles of the everyday

Last updated on: February 17, 2015 at 9:46 am By Guest Contributor

This post is adapted from a sermon preached by TJ Tetzlaff on February 15, 2015 on these Scripture texts. There is a story about a girl on her first day of college, waiting in line with her family to register for classes. And while she’s standing there she has this overwhelming feeling of anxiety and apprehension about school and she is convinced she isn’t capable of the work. And as she’s turning around to tell her parents that she can’t... Read more

[VIDEO] Even more great talks to encourage you from the Faith@Work Summit

Last updated on: April 14, 2015 at 2:03 pm By Mission:Work

Some more great talks from the Faith@Work Summit have now been posted. (Here’s the first set and here’s the second set.) Enjoy! Cheryl Broetje on shaping and caring for workers. (Caution: you may need a Kleenex!) Larry Ward on creating jobs: Gloria Nelund on being a Christian in the corporate world: Eric Welch on faith groups in the marketplace: Read more

Want to send your valentine a love poem about work?

Last updated on: February 14, 2015 at 4:45 pm By Mission:Work

We’ve tracked down links to a few. 🙂 Poems about work and money from Poets.org Poems about work from the Poetry Foundation, including one actually called “Love and Work” Ten great poems about work from Tweetspeak Poetry (with some more links to poems about work and even advice on how to write poems about work.) There….all you need is the chocolates. Or maybe our last post. Read more

From a blog about work, you want a love poem about daily life, right?

Last updated on: February 16, 2015 at 4:14 pm By Jennifer Woodruff Tait

On the Road Not on the mountaintop, but in the aisles, Not in the death, but in the daily grief Where sometimes faith is born and sometimes doubt, Where stern deception batters at belief, The day after the triumph, and the day Before amazing thunderbolts break through– In passing in the night, beneath the clouds We glimpse behind the veil, at last see through. If we cannot be faithful in the hours Between the joy and underneath the pain, Daily... Read more

From the archives: Working 9 to 5?

Last updated on: February 4, 2015 at 11:57 am By Mission:Work

Recent research published in The Atlantic indicates that folks in creative and professional jobs might benefit from a differently structured workday: “A shorter workday works particularly well for knowledge workers—people in creative or professional jobs—who can work productively for about six hours a day, compared to the eight hours manual laborers can churn out, according to Salon. Unlike machines, humans operate on a cyclical basis, which means our energy and motivation fluctuate in peaks and troughs. Cognitive workers tend to be more focused... Read more