Faith at Work: How Churches Can Better Enable Believers to Integrate Their Personal Faith in the Workplace Stuart D
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Digital Commons @ George Fox University Doctor of Ministry Seminary 1-1-2010 Faith at work: how churches can better enable believers to integrate their personal faith in the workplace Stuart D. Dugan George Fox University This research is a product of the Doctor of Ministry (DMin) program at George Fox University. Find out more about the program. Recommended Citation Dugan, Stuart D., "Faith at work: how churches can better enable believers to integrate their personal faith in the workplace" (2010). Doctor of Ministry. Paper 2. http://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/dmin/2 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Seminary at Digital Commons @ George Fox University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctor of Ministry by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ George Fox University. GEORGE FOX UNIVERSITY FAITH AT WORK: HOW CHURCHES CAN BETTER ENABLE BELIEVERS TO INTEGRATE THEIR PERSONAL FAITH IN THE WORKPLACE A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GEORGE FOX EVANGELICAL UNIVERSITY IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF MINISTRY BY STUART D. DUGAN PORTLAND, OREGON NOVEMBER, 2010 1 ii Copyright © 2010 by Stuart D. Dugan All rights reserved. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. iii Contents ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................. vi ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1 Narrative ...................................................................................................................................... 1 Statement Of The Problem .......................................................................................................... 6 Research Narrative ...................................................................................................................... 8 Defining the Terms.................................................................................................................... 12 Scope and Limitations ............................................................................................................... 16 CHAPTER 2: RATIONALE FOR FAITH-AT-WORK MINISTRY .......................................... 18 Biblical and Theological Foundations ...................................................................................... 24 Reviewing Key Biblical Terms ................................................................................................. 25 Theology of Work and Vocation ............................................................................................... 31 Call and Vocation ...................................................................................................... 34 Call............................................................................................................................. 35 Vocation..................................................................................................................... 39 The Importance of Naming ........................................................................................ 44 Vocation and the Role of the Church as Community ................................................ 50 Historical Perspectives and Application of Vocation ............................................................... 54 Reformation ............................................................................................................... 55 Calvin......................................................................................................................... 57 Other Theological Perspectives ................................................................................. 61 Contemporary Voices ................................................................................................ 64 CHAPTER 3: PHILOSOPHICAL STUMBLING BLOCKS ....................................................... 71 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 71 iv Early Greek Philosophy ............................................................................................................ 79 Immanuel Kant‘s Perspective and Impact ................................................................................. 84 Dualism in the Church............................................................................................................... 89 CHAPTER 4: PRAGMATIC STUMBLING BLOCKS .............................................................. 96 1. Old Testament versus New Testament .................................................................................. 97 2. Theological Disagreements ................................................................................................. 103 3. Inadequate Support from Churches and Clergy .................................................................. 113 4. Resistance from the Business Community .......................................................................... 119 5. Legal Constraints................................................................................................................. 126 CHAPTER 5: FOUR MODELS OF CHURCH-BASED FAITH-AT-WORK MINISTRY ..... 131 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 131 Models of Church-Based Faith-At-Work Ministries .............................................................. 131 1. Culture/DNA Model: ........................................................................................... 137 2. Partnership Model: .............................................................................................. 139 3. External Opportunities Model: ............................................................................ 141 4. Internal Development Model: .............................................................................. 143 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................. 144 CHAPTER 6: PRIMARY RESEARCH AND APPLICATION, AND CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS ...................................................................................................................... 150 Conceptualizing Faith-at-Work Ministry ................................................................................ 150 Presentation and Evaluation of My Three-Pronged Approach ............................................... 159 Faith-At-Work Midweek Class Discussion ............................................................. 161 Downtown Bible Study Group ................................................................................ 163 Business Consultant and Spiritual Guide ................................................................ 169 Conclusions and Recommendations for the Future................................................................. 170 BIBLIOGRAPHIC SOURCES CITED ...................................................................................... 175 v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS It is often written that projects of this magnitude are never able to be done without the assistance of many people along the way and this is certainly true for mine as well. At the top of my list of people to recognize and thank are my wife, Evelyn and sons, Tim and Matt. They put up with my absences and my papers spread over the dining room table far beyond reasonable tolerance levels. Without their love and forbearance this would not have been possible nor worth the effort. I am long overdue in expressing my gratitude to Doug Crane of Creative Media Development, Portland Oregon for enabling me to get my feet wet in the business world, and his question to me that prompted my career change into church ministry. Sometimes it is only in hindsight that one sees the providence of God clearly enough to say thanks. Much more recently, author Larry Peabody has become a friend in this process and I am grateful for his mentoring. I am also grateful to the wonderful people at both First Presbyterian Church (FPC) in Fort Lauderdale, FL and Lacey Presbyterian Church (LPC) in Lacey, WA for their friendships, financial support and study leave time. I am indebted to the guys in the men‘s ministry at FPC, as well as other women and men who joined me in this faith-at- work pursuit and passion and who served as my guinea pigs as I tried out my various theories. Theirs are the stories told in chapter six. There are too many to list all by name, but a few stand out for having provided extra insight, support and encouragement along the way. In particular I wish to shine a light of thanks on Steve Botkin, Drew Greep, H. vi Wayne Huizenga, Eric Johnson, Phil Keagy, Earl Mogk, Doyle Moore, and John Schecter, I also wish to express my thanks to Wayne Smith and Leadership Network, Inc. for allowing me to be part of a truly fascinating and ministry-changing experience. I feel very blessed to have been part of the great and innovative work being done in the field of faith-at-work ministry across the nation. The excellent instruction received