Faith & Work Ministries Partner the Pew and the Pulpit

It’s easy to blame church leaders for the failure of churches to resource their people better for ministry in daily life, particularly at work. Leaders are only partly to blame, though. For many church members, it may be a relief to leave the responsibility of ministry to the “professionals” and avoid accepting responsibility themselves.

In churches where people are being equipped for work, new levels of conversation and partnership between church leaders and church members have been the precursor for effective faith and work ministries. Resources—such as books, videos, or online tools— from other churches or ministries are also instrumental. A sustainable, successful initiative requires

• ongoing energy, enthusiasm and leadership from grassroots members;
• vision-casting from the top (pastoral leadership); and
• outside resourcing.

Why Faith and Work Ministries Need Lay Leaders

According to David Miller, author of God at Work, “lay-led and lay-founded groups are generally more effective at understanding and meeting workplace integration needs.” Few pastors have enough knowledge about workplace issues to develop the breadth of programming needed. Lay leaders bring credibility to faith and work efforts.

In addition, “ordinary” Christians are needed to develop a useful theology of everyday life because they are best able to identify its concerns. A workable theology requires practical testing; only a theology forged in the cut and thrust of everyday life will have vitality and relevance. Everyday theology then, is a cooperative effort between “everyday” Christians and professional theologians. (Robert Banks, All the Business of Life)

We recently spoke with Chris Lake, a faith and work ministry lay leader at Park Street Church in Boston. The WorkLife Ministry at Park Street is both lay-led and pastorally supported. Lake had an “awakening” when he stumbled upon Neil Hudson’s book, Imagine Church: Releasing Whole Life Disciples, three years ago. Using materials from the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity’s Imagine Church Project, he and his wife lead the WorkLife Ministry team. The team has facilitated classes about whole-life discipleship and started “work-life” groups to read and wrestle with books like Tim Keller and Katherine Alsdorf’s Every Good Endeavor and Os Guiness’ The Call. He explained, “The benefit of this ministry is that people acquire renewed vision for their lives. They reclaim their identity as kingdom agents, as priests in the everyday places of life, from the workplace to the schoolyard. Collectively, we’re learning what it means to be the ‘scattered church’ that reaches our city.”

The Pastor’s Role

Many pastors feel out of touch with the modern workplace and inadequate for the task of equipping people for work. Some may feel threatened by the enthusiasm and big dreams of marketplace entrepreneurs. But pastors are needed—not as experts, or as controllers—but rather as equippers and encouragers. They provide vision and support.

Miller identifies five activities that are related to core aspects of general pastoral ministry. Church leaders can make workplace applications in each of these ministry areas. These include:

• A ministry of presence or listening, by visiting people in their places of work
• A ministry of preaching and prayer that intentionally and constructively addresses faith and work issues
• A ministry of teaching designed to address work-related matters, using the experience and expertise of other church members for input
• A ministry of personal integration that trains people to utilise personal prayer and devotional study every day
• A ministry of gatherings that helps create job-specific networking and equipping opportunities

Lake also emphasized that pastors have a hugely important role to play.  He commented, “The thing that pays the biggest dividend is visiting people in the everyday places, including their workplaces. While there, pastors can find out what struggles people face. They are then in a much better position to teach and preach during the limited  time they have together. Plus, it’s hugely encouraging to the people who receive a visit. Just one visit a week of maybe two hours can make a huge difference.” In addition, he recommended allowing time for work-related testimonies on Sunday mornings helps people recognize God at work in their own stories.

Suggested Resources

To develop a faith and work ministry at your church, we suggest starting with the following resources.

• The Equipping Church article from the Theology of Work Project. The article examines ten practices common to churches that are equipping people for mission in the everyday places of life.
• The Theology of Work Bible Commentary, free online from the Theology of Work Project. From Genesis to Revelation, the TOW Commentary examines book by book what the Bible says about work.
• From the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity:
  • Imagine Church: Releasing Whole Life Disciples (book)
  • Life on the Frontline (DVD)
  • Fruitfulness on the Frontline (book, DVD)

Miroslav Volf writes, “We need to build and strengthen mature communities of vision and character who celebrate faith as a way of life as they gather before God for worship and who, sent by God, live it out as they scatter to pursue various tasks in the world.” Initiating a process of partnership between pastors and working people takes a lot of time, conversation and collaboration. However, this sort of partnership has the power to mobilize the whole church in mission and ministry, all the time.

Excerpts from Theology of Work Project article Equipping Churches Empower and Collaborate with People in the Congregation.