We should begin with this: There don’t seem to be very many of these folks. A combination of Google searches with minimally shifting terms — “faith and work pastor” / “minister faith work” / “church faith work” — revealed only a few individuals. While many churches offer Bible studies or small groups centered on faith and work, these ministries tend to fall under the purview of someone with a title similar to “pastor of leadership development” or “director of adult programming.”
For the few churches who do employ a staffer, faith and work doesn’t make up the entirety of his or her job description. But this, perhaps, is the point.
The idea of the faith and work movement is one of integration and lifestyle as much as it is about thoughtful theological development. Common Good spoke with John Posey, faith and work advisor at Christ Covenant Church in Atlanta, Georgia, and Jonathan Fitzgerald, director of work and culture and leadership development at Reality Church of Los Angeles, about their work at the intersection of church and professional vocation.
For Posey, who serves primarily as the area director of Christian Business Men’s Connection Metro Atlanta, the work begins with a wheel. Through classes, workshops, and events, Posey introduces congregants at Christ Covenant to four spokes of that wheel: culture making, vocational flourishing, professional networking, and workplace ministry. Communicating this framework, Posey emphasizes that every Christian — from pastors and missionaries to nurses and Uber drivers — has peace with God as a core element of their identity. When believers go into the workplace, then, their presence really matters. In every place from group education settings to one-on-one conversations, Posey wants people to understand: Christians are “thermostats not thermometers” — the ones who set the tone in a workplace, the ones who have the power to make it a place of peace.
Similarly, Fitzgerald spends a lot of time thinking about how workers in every sphere of the marketplace can feel empowered and equipped because of who they are in Christ. Fitzgerald is intentionally curious — leading with questions, shaping conversations about faith and work with congregants through questions that prompt them to consider, for example, whether work is a necessary evil or something good. While he appreciates the emphasis on culture making in much of the faith and work conversation, Fitzgerald has his focus set on building character, specifically through the fruit of the spirit. This approach, he hopes, will naturally lend itself to resonating with people in any type of work, whether a field that is traditionally assigned words like meaning and purpose or not.
Just a few months into his role, Fitzgerald is in the early days of establishing discipleship groups based on industry. He’s also trying a new experiment within an existing ministry at Reality L.A. called “Social Sundays.” Traditionally, congregants volunteer to plan various activities like hiking or pickleball that fellow churchgoers can choose from and attend. This time, they’re planning the gatherings specifically around fields of work or study. This could end up looking like a group of doctors going to dinner together, or it could be a set of film industry professionals attending an industry-specific convention together. The idea is that connections and friendships can begin, leading to mutual discipleship opportunities that give people places to process questions, concerns, and congratulations within their vocations.
For Posey and Fitzgerald alike, the mission is as vast and complex as it is simple and clear. Living as God’s image in the world is simultaneously the birthright and the calling of the believer — and while learning how to think wisely about that truth cannot be underestimated, church leaders devoted to faith and work know that helping cultivate relationships with people who get it in a Monday-through-Friday, day-in-and-day-out way cannot be either. —Abby J. Perry