God at Work The History and Promise of the Faith at Work Movement

by Miller, David W.

• ISBN13: 9780195314809
• ISBN10: 0195314808
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-12-14
• Publisher: OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

Summary

What was once taboo - faith at work - is increasingly accepted in corporate America. From secretaries to CEOs, growing numbers of businesspeople today want to bring their faith to work. Yet they wrestle with how to do this effectively and appropriately in a pluralistic corporate setting.For help they turn not to their clergy, but to their peers and to a burgeoning cottage industry on spirituality at work. They attend conferences and seminars, participate in Bible study and prayer groups, and read books, blogs, and eNewsletters. They see their faith as a resource for ethicalguidance and to help find meaning and purpose in their work. In God at Work, David W. Miller looks at how this Faith at Work movement developed and considers its potential value for business and society. Done well, the integration of faith and work has positive implications at the personal level, as well as for corporate ethics and the broader economicsphere. At the same time, increasing expressions of religion and spiritual practices at work also present the threat of divisiveness and discrimination. Drawing on the insights of theological ethics as well as the sociology of religion, Miller analyzes the history of the modern day Faith at Work movement from its roots in the late 19th century to its modern formulation and trajectory. He examines the diversity of its members and modes ofexpression, and constructs a new framework for understanding, interpreting, and critiquing the movement and its future. Miller concludes that workers and professionals have a deep and lasting desire to live a holistic life, to integrate the claims of their faith with the demands of their work. Hedocuments the surprising abdication of this field by church and theological academy and its embrace, ironically, by the management academy. Offering compelling new evidence of the depth and breadth of spirituality at work, Miller concludes that faith at work is a bona fide social movement and here to stay. He establishes the importance of this movement, identifies the possibilities and problems, and points toward future researchquestions. God at Work is essential reading for business scholars and leaders, theologians and clergy, and anyone interested in the integration of faith and work.

Author Biography

David W. Miller, Ph.D. is Executive Director of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School and Assistant Professor (Adjunct) of Business Ethics. He brings an unusual "bilingual" perspective to the academic world, having also spent 16 years in senior executive positions in international business and finance.

Table of Contents

Introduction	3	(6)
ONE "Faith at Work"?	9	(14)
TWO The Social Gospel Era (c. 1890's-1945)	23	(16)
THREE The Ministry of the Laity Era (c. 1946-1985)	39	(24)
FOUR The Faith at Work Era (c. 1985-Present)	63	(16)
FIVE Response of the Church and the Theological Academy to FAW	79	(26)
SIX Faith at Work as a Social Movement	105	(20)
SEVEN Analyzing and Understanding the Faith at Work Movement	125	(18)
EIGHT The Future of the Faith at Work Movement	143	(12)
Notes	155	(42)
Selected Bibliography	197	(22)
Index	219