Recently I blogged about the work of Paul Graves, Workplace Ministry Pastor at Cedar Park Church, in Bothell, Washington. As follow up, I did a phone interview with Paul about his God-Work 360 program. Highlights from this call are below. |
Christian Overman: How can churches help members to live out their faith in the Monday-through-Friday workplace?
Paul Graves: The
church must be ambitious and courageous in making internal adjustments and creating
innovations that equip members to make the God-Work connection. By "internal adjustments and innovations," I mean creating opportunities within the church’s culture — its
processes, structures, routines, governance – in short, its orientation to
pastoral practices, liturgy, discipleship, etc. For followers of Christ to become mature
disciples in the “outside world” of the Monday-through-Friday
workplace, the “inside world” of the local church must have a fully integrated approach toward nurturing faith-at-work skills in intentional, repeatable and sustainable ways.
Christian Overman:
What is the most important internal adjustment a church can make?
Paul Graves: Most churches have a variety of internal programs
already in place that share common axioms, such as the centrality of the Word
of God, the role of prayer, and worship. But the idea of “vocation,” or “workplace
calling” is not yet one of the essential axioms of most churches. I’m suggesting that vocation/calling be one of those essential axioms, running like a common, unifying thread through all the church programs.
Christian Overman: How are you doing this at Cedar Park?
Paul Graves: Rather
than throw a “bomb” into the middle of the room by creating some sort of “new thing”
at the church, we are finding ways to build the axiom of vocation/calling into already existing structures. For example, our church has an emphasis toward small-group programs, so we have added small groups that specifically
focus on the faith-work connection. Another structure already in place is the
Sunday School. By providing classes that specifically focus on the faith-work
connection, we are beginning to create an awareness
of the vocation/calling axiom upon which we can build.
Christian Overman:
Why is all of this important?
Paul Graves: It is
important because most members of churches spend the vast majority of their lives
outside the walls of the local church. For most people, this is where our
vocational calling is fulfilled. If the church is going to be truly supportive
of the church ‘called out/scattered,’ it has to continually rethink how it does
the church ‘gathered’ – not just on Sunday, but throughout the week. This was
the model for the first century church, and we need to continuously find ways
to reintroduce this emphasis.
For more about God-Work 360, click here.
For more about God-Work 360, click here.