Episodes
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How can faith-based organizations, civic leaders, and business leaders join forces to tackle city-wide challenges? This episode dives into three powerful case studies focused on housing affordability, showcasing how collaboration is driving real change in Colorado. Youâll hear firsthand stories from:
Stu Davis, founder of COS I Love You, on how churches, businesses, and civic leaders in Colorado Springs are working together to address housing and community needs. Jessica Dominguez, owner of Love Thy Neighbor Real Estate and director of Abundant Ground, on how Denver churches are reimagining land use to create affordable housing. Michelle Warren, president of Virago Strategies, on advocating for groundbreaking policy changes to unlock housing potential on faith-owned properties.These leaders are meeting their citiesâ toughest challenges with creativity, persistence, and faith. Their stories will inspire you to reimagine how collaboration can bring Godâs hope and life to your own community.
On Working Better Together:
"And even though our temptation is to sometimes want to be the deliverer of support, a meal, a shelter bed, a hand around the shoulder, we also get to partner with agencies and organizations who do that every single day. And so Matthew 25 can be exercised by handing somebody a meal. It can also be exercised by providing additional resources and firepower and sustainability to the organizations who do that very thing, whatever problem it is that they're trying to solve. So I'm a big believer in both, and I just think that it's worth the opportunity for us to step into those partnerships and create the kind of collaboration that I think can happen when we do." -Stu Davis
On Challenges of Collaboration:
"So partnership is key. Having Michelle and Brian in my corner has been so great. I think the challenges with getting development going is the amount of time it takes, the amount of money it costs just to do some pre-development work. I also think that, oh, I know that churches are kind of waiting a long time before making the decision, and then it puts them in a spot where they have to make maybe a quick decision where they're not able to take their time to do their due diligence." - Jessica Dominguez
On Ego:
âAnd so we really need to understand that the whole process of collaboration, which is also in government called democracy, is its strongest when we have all the voices there having the opportunity and equal voice to speak into it. So I would just say is come full of conviction, but hold your positions with a little bit of open handedness so that you can build bridges to other people." - Michelle Warren
RESOURCES
Download the episode transcript Learn more about the Denver Institute's FOR Campaign See the full Tamarac Scale COS I Love You Website (Sign Up for thier Newsletter Here!) âThe Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finishâ (John 1:14 MESSAGE) Abundant Ground Website Learn More about Empowering Faith and Educational Institutions to Create the Housing Their Communities NeedGET INVOLVED
If you are a church or faith-based nonprofit leader, would you read and consider signing this Letter of Support to allow churches greater ease and lower cost in developing creative housing projects? If you arenât a faith leader, would you share this with your pastors or other organizational leaders in Colorado who might lend their support? If you are a business leader and interested in signing a Letter of Support to allow churches greater ease and lower cost in developing creative housing projects, please check back on this page soon for the link to sign! -
Rob Kelly is the Founder & CEO of the FORCLT Network which connects pastors for personal, church, and city renewal. Rob is also co-founder of the City Leaders Collective which connects and equips city network leaders globally. In Part 2 of our Union With Christ series, you'll hear from Rob about why our union with Christ is such a misunderstood, revolutionary and often overlooked concept in scripture. This conversation reveals how union with Christ transforms identity, relationships, and our vocation. We also discuss why this conversation has often not been fully embraced in the Western Church, and some suggestions for answering the question, "how then should we live?"
On Union with Christ:
âWhen you understand your union with Christ, it changes how you even understand your salvation... When we talk about salvation, you're talking about what you're saved from, which is our sin that did ... What? Separated us from God. So if our sin separated us from God, then what did our salvation do? It united us to him. So can we not talk only about what we're saved from, but more joyfully, what we're saved into? Yes, Jesus died for our sin. Yes, our sin needed to be washed. It's through the blood of Christ the scripture says, right? This is amazing truth, that he paid the price for us that we could not pay for ourselves. Yes. But in so doing, he brought us back into the place that we were always created for in the first place, which is literally in God who is our salvation.
On moving from Eden to the Eternal City:
"We start in the garden with two, we end in a city with multitudes, a fully cultivated creation where we are one with God, where every tear is wiped away, everything is set back to right. Everything is not just set back toward the Edenic state, but in a more full, beautiful, shalom Edenic state, greater, that it's no longer perishable, but it will be raised imperishable. How? Because Jesus' body is made imperishable. It is because he is the new creation. "If you are in Christ, a new creation," Paul says."
RESOURCES
Download the episode transcript.Rob Kelly on LinkedIn
Learn more about Rob Kelly and FORCLT
Metanoia: How God Radically Transforms People, Churches, and Organizations From the Inside Out by Rob Kelly
Rob Kelly is the founder and lead author of the State of the City Report
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Episodes manquant?
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Dave and Monica Hickman are entrepreneurs whose leadership has been marked by believing that Jesus doesn't want a relationship with us; he wants to be one with us. The Hickmans founded SocialHub, a business in North Carolina that creates community-building events for luxury apartment communities and they share some of their journey in this episode about how this new perspective to their faith and work has influenced how they lead. This shift from a constant striving to "be closer" to Jesus to recognizing an inherent unity that already existsâa concept also grounded in John 17âhas had practical implications in their personal lives and in modeling their understanding of unity with Christ in a business context.
Highlights
On proximity to Jesus:âFor me, all the striving was just neutralized because you're starting from the finish line. Instead of this journey that so many of us are used to of praying to receive Christ... the next steps in your Christian journey was to get closer and closer to Jesus over time. And while that's motivating to some degree because you're working towards something, it can also be really detrimental to your spiritual health as well, and turning you into just a Christian workaholic of always trying harder. And I think that's why Jesus always would point to our hearts. But it's not quite as sexy as saying to someone like, 'Hey, you already have everything that you could ever get.' You're as close to Christ now as you will ever experience between here and new creation. So now it's learning what's true of you having already arrived, learning what's true of you as 'the beloved Son in whom he loves, in whom he's well pleased,' that declaration over Jesus." - Dave Hickman
On the art of hospitality:
"I think just who we are as people and really driving hospitality, connecting people, enjoying life with others has kind of flown not only from us but from our staff, because they're just so amazing and they really do care for people. And I think that is really what sets us apart in the industry. Not only being able to create unique experiences for people on site but welcome them in a warm way, showing respect, being kind, being a good person." - Monica Hickman
Resources
Download the episode transcript. Closer Than Close: Awakening to the Freedom of Your Union with Christ by Dave Hickman How Charlotte startup SocialHub plans to grow across the Southeast "Until the unlimited, unbridled and unrelenting love of God takes root in our life, until Godâs reckless pursuit of us captures our imagination, until our head knowledge of God settles into our heart through pure grace, nothing really changes.â - Running on Empty by Fil AndersonDo you like The Faith & Work Podcast? See more great resources at Denver Institute for Faith & Work or find us on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn @denverinstitute
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Ben Nussbaum, VP of Sales at OnCenter and associate director of Faith & Work Chicago, opens up about what itâs really like to stay true to your faith in the ups and downs of a sales career. He talks about the struggle of selling products he wasnât fully behind and how he found a way to align his sales approach with his Christian beliefs. Ben also shares how practicing spiritual disciplines like prayer helps him stay grounded in the high-pressure world of meeting a quota and encourages leaders to create workplaces that honor the dignity of every employee. His approach to serving clients with integrity, even when itâs tough, is an inspiring model for Christians in any business role.
On finding stability:
âThat is the daily reality they live in. Either the highs are high and I think I'm awesome, or the lows are low and I think I suck. It's very hard to find equilibrium or middle ground as a disciple. And that's acually why I think the gospel is such a balm for the salesperson.â
On faith in work:
âWhat Christ has to say to us when he says, 'blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth,' that has to mean something for the way we send emails, the way we do someone's taxes, the way that we defend someone in court, the way that we script a cold call. Whatever it is, right? It's our responsibility. This is what it means to be image bearers to live out that reality or that story."
On failure:
"You failed. You had a crappy performance review. You didn't hit your Q3 quota, like I don't know what it is. Christ takes the failures and those who have lost much and makes something wonderful out of them. So you know, every time I miss a quota or don't hit a deadline or I didn't measure up in my job, I'm reminded that God chose what is weak to shame the strong. It is the power of God that's made perfect in my weakness. So, be weak. Be comfortable with losing. It might mean that God is ready to use you."
Download the episode transcript.
Follow Ben Nussbaum on LinkedIn
Learn more from Faith & Work Chicago
âBe comforted, small one, in your smallness. He lays no merit on you. Receive and be glad.â - CS Lewis, The Space Trilogy
A Community of Hope in a World of Rage â Sermon â Ray Ortlund
Praxis Labs Redemptive Entrepreneurship Model
Do you like The Faith & Work Podcast? See more great resources at Denver Institute for Faith & Work or find us on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn @denverinstitute
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Romanita Hairston, CEO of the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, delivers a powerful reflection on leadership, faith, and purpose. She reveals how her journey through nonprofits, tech, and philanthropy is deeply intertwined with her identity as a woman and follower of Christ. With bold inspiration from Martin Luther King Jr., Hairston challenges leaders to rise above cultural norms, embrace their full potential, and build a "Beloved Community" rooted in love and justice. She urges listeners to lead with curiosity, courage, and conviction, offering a vision of leadership that transforms not only workplaces but entire communities through faith and service.
On whole-life integration:
âThat leads to lots of different ways we have to see ourselves in lots of different contexts. When our relationship to our children and our family is different, with the way we keep and care for our community can sometimes be different, when a lot of things become different about how we show up in environments because we are women. But itâs always mediated through this question of âWho has God called me to be and how does that lead me to show up in this space?ââ
On leading with curiosity:
âWomen have a powerful ability to lead with curiosity. And that [saying] âtell me moreâ is I think a bit of a superpower in what women can bring to a conversation. Leading with curiosity and courage. Because itâs not always, it doensât always feel safe to be curious in a context where youâre supposed to know. So I think thatâs an unique encouragement to any leader but a very unique encouragement to women to use that superpower of curiosity.â
Hear more from Romanita Hairston at Women, Work & Calling Annual Event Friday, November 1, 2024 where she will be our keynote speaker!Download the episode transcript.
Thank You. Iâm Sorry. Tell Me More.: How to Change the World with 3 Sacred Sayings by Rod Wilson
Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness by Robert K. Greenleaf
Fair Play: A Game-Changing Solution for When You Have Too Much to Do (and More Life to Live) by Eve Rodsky
Johari Window
Do you like The Faith & Work Podcast? See more great resources at Denver Institute for Faith & Work or find us on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn @denverinstitute
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SUMMARY
Author Bruce Feiler claims that people experience 30 to 40 disruptors in their lives, which is about one every 12 to 18 months (Source). In todays conversation, we hear from authors Lisa Pratt Slayton and Michaela O'Donnell, PhD on the fluctuating aspects of life and how we can more mindfully and faithfully navigate change. Whether you're in a change in your life, just getting out of one or preparing to be in one, their new book Life In Flux is an essential resource for you as a faithful worker and leader which will prepare you with a set of navigational skills for the inner work that helps us be at home in flux.
HIGHLIGHTS
On Waking Up Moments:
"There comes a moment⊠in which somewhere inside of us we realize: âWhat got us here is not going to get us to where we want to go on the way forward.â Thatâs what waking up sounds like. âI don't want to keep doing this. I want to do it differently.â These waking up moments, we are very prime to have them when life is in flux.â
On Using Your Navigational Skills:
âThatâs the knee jerk [reaction], right? Is to just start running in circles. But if we stop and cut the engine, and listen and invite maybe a couple of people to listen with us, we start to see the signs and see the things and pay attention to whatâs going on so that we can begin to make very small incremental steps. And thatâs the work.â
Resource Download the episode transcript.Life in Flux by Michaela OâDonnell and Lisa Pratt Slayton
Companion Resource: Navigating Change with the Enneagram
Learn More about Lisa Pratt Slayton
Learn More about Michaela OâDonnell
In this episode, Lisa mentions âPLFâ which stands for Pittsburgh Leadership Foundation
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Summary
On this episode of the Faith & Work Podcast, we learn about cultivating creativity and imagination from cartoonist Mike Maihack. Mike is best known for his series Cleopatra in Space, originally published by Scholastic and later adapted by Dreamworks into an animated show. Through our conversation, Mike shares some of the ways he views his creative work in light of the gospel, shares how he has navigated public criticism of content creation and recounts some of his own personal journey with being a cartoonist.
Highlights
On Superheroes and the Gospel:
âWhat I love about superheroes... is that there's these characters that have these immense abilities, these things that we can't even imagine being able do ourselves. And yet, instead of using these abilities for selfish purposes... They use it to do things that Jesus would do. They would help the poor. They would make sure they're saving those that cannot save themselves, they're sacrificing themselves. They're always looking at the greater good despite maybe the hurt that causes them. They're always looking at every single other person that they're around is a much greater person than themselves, despite them having these abilities."
On Making Beauty:
âMy spiritual drive is God, he's a working God. He spent all this time creating us, creating the world. He is still working on it, and I want to please Him by cultivating that as much as I can. Really trying to contribute to that world, mak[ing] sure that world stays beautiful because I think that's the ultimate end goal right there, is to make sure this world is ready when a heavenly realm appears. And it is we're putting things in this world that he wants to see. And so that's sort of spiritually how I approach my work."
Resources
Download the episode transcript
Instagram @mikemaihack
Mikeâs Website
Mikeâs Graphic Novel Recommendations:
Infinity Gauntlet
Bone
Called To Create By Jordan Raynor
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This episode concludes our AI Series on the intersection of AI and faith, theology and work. This episodes guest, Andy Crouch, is a partner for theology and culture at Praxis, a venture-building ecosystem advancing redemptive entrepreneurship. His writing explores faith, culture, and the image of God in the domains of technology, power, leadership, and the arts. He is the author of five books including, The Life We're Looking For: Reclaiming Relationship in a Technological World. Andy and Jeff discuss how AI can be used for redemptive purposes, and reflect on some best practices as the increased use of AI will impact our future.
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Artificial Intelligence is here to stay, but will it ever be sophisticated enough to replace the human? What does it mean to be human?
Welcome to part two of our three-part AI Series on the intersection of AI and faith, theology and work. In this conversation we explore what it means to be human and how that definition challenges and interacts with Artificial Intelligence technology. Please enjoy this multi-faceted dialogue among host Jeff Hoffmeyer, speaker and writer in science and faith, Greg Cootsona, and Reuter professor and computer scientist Noreen Herzfeld, PhD.
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Artificial Intelligence is inescapable in todays workforce and is impacting both the marketplace and the church in significant ways.
We begin this three-part series on the intersection of AI and faith, theology and work with a conversation between host Jeff Hoffmeyer and Stephen Presley. Stephen is an author, professor and senior fellow for Religion and Public Life at the Center for Religion Culture and Democracy. Together they discuss the importance of considering how AI is impacting our lives and our souls.
On efficiency and formation:
âOne of my concerns is if weâre just trying to get better and better and better, what is it that we are trying to become? What kind of person, or what kind of people, is scripture calling us to be? Efficient is not the only virtue that scriptures are calling us to be.â
On how technology asks us to improvise:
"So our institutions are facing remodeling through a whole variety of technological advances, and that improvisation is built on the assumption, like I use the image of a jazz player, where only someone who is skilled in jazz can know how to pick up an instrument and just go. If I were to do it, it would not sound. Well, the assumption there is that it is Christian virtue, Christian mores, Christian assumptions that are guiding the performance. So I think the same needs to apply to any new technology, particularly the implementation of any sort of AI, AI programming or any of that that underneath it, you're still dealing with questions of virtue, questions of morality, questions of spiritual formation."
Download the episode transcript.
"Is AI Changing the Work of Pastors?" article in Common Good
More from Stephen Presley
Stephen Presley's Website
@sopresley on X
@stopresley on Instagram
Recommended Further Reading
The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt
Alone Together by Sherry Turkle
Slow Productivity by Cal Newport
Stephen Presleys Recommended Readings
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Summary
What are limiting beliefs and how do they affect my work? In this episode, Joanna Meyer talks with Charlena Ortiz, a life & business coach, writer, and the founder of Grit & Virtue. Together they discuss the importance of who we are as workers but also who we are as sons and daughters of Christ.
HighlightsOn limiting beliefs:
"I would say that limiting beliefs are our biggest enemy. Limiting beliefs often paralyze us from becoming who God has created us to be and from doing what God has created us to do."
On starting the process of identifying limiting beliefs:
"...it requires self-awareness. Sometimes we hear self-awareness just thrown out, but really, I would encourage every person listening to really peel back the layers of what it means to be self-aware. For me, journaling has been a great tool to help me become more self-aware of what's going on in my inner world. "
On choosing behaviors that lead to freedom:
"...when we can operate out of freedom and choose the behaviors and decisions out of our true identity, then we're able to move forward from that place [of limiting beliefs] and really know that freedom is something that is transformative and can only come from the father."
ResourcesLearn more about Grit & Virtue and The Manifesto. You can also download our free Study on Calling.
Download the episode transcript.
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Summer is a great time to rest, enjoy the nice weather, and listen to your favorite podcasts. Tune into the Faith & Work Podcast as we kick off a four-part summer series featuring some of our best content filled with practical takeaways and great insights.
For our third encore episode this summer, we explore key questions about calling. How do we discover our calling? What's the difference between our occupation and our vocation? Can they even be the same thing?
This interview was recorded at one of Denver Institute's earliest events where author, educator, and organizational leader Steven Garber, joins us to talk about a broader vision for vocation.
Highlights
On exploring my calling:
"This question of 'my calling before God and service to the world' has to be marked by a deep honest sense of humility."
On vocation and occupation:
"I make a distinction between vocation and occupation: vocation is the deeper, longer word that makes sense of your life and mine. It's the deeper reality. It's the deeper story that makes sense of who you are, that makes sense of why you are different than your brother and your father and your best friend and your wife and your neighbor...Occupation is a word that gets at what I do day-by-day."
On the tension of work:
"Everybody, everywhere has some sense of tension between what I think I was meant to do, what I really want to do, and what I have to do."
Resources
Download the episode transcript.
Denver Institute's FREE Downloadable Resource - âA Study On Callingâ
More by Steve Garber:
Visions of Vocation: Common Grace for the Common Good
The Seamless Life: A Tapestry of Love and Learning, Worship and Work
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Summer is a great time to rest, enjoy the nice weather, and listen to your favorite podcasts. Tune into the Faith & Work Podcast as we kick off a four-part summer series. In these episodes we will be featuring some of our best content filled with practical takeaways and great insights.
For our second conversation we hear from scholar and nonprofit leader Amy Sherman. Amy is a senior fellow at the Sagamore Institute, where she directs the Center for Faith in Communities. She is also the author of the book Agents of Flourishing: Pursuing Shalom in Every Corner of Society.
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Summer is a great time to rest, enjoy the nice weather, and listen to your favorite podcasts. Tune into the Faith & Work Podcast as we kick off a four-part summer series. In these episodes we will be featuring some of our best content filled with practical takeaways and great insights.
To kickoff this series we will hear from Shundrawn Thomas, founder and managing partner of The Copia Group, a bespoke investing firm based in Chicago, IL. At the time of the interview, he served as the president and CEO of Northern Trust, a trillion-dollar global investment management business. He is also the author of the book Discovering Joy in Work: Transforming Your Occupation into your Vocation.
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What bearing does our work have in light of eternity? How does our theology of heaven shape the way we show up to the needs of the world in the here and now?
Tune in to hear an honest and eye opening conversation with Jordan Raynor, author, speaker, and Executive Chairman of Threshold 360. In this conversation we discuss 'The Great Commission', Heaven, and Jordan's most recent book The Sacredness of Secular Work: 4 Ways Your Work Matters for Eternity (Even When You're Not Sharing The Gospel).
Resources:
Continue your learning, check out "The Gospel for Our Work" by Ryan Tafilowski.
Episode Note: Jordan Raynor referred to the "Romans Road" throughout this episode, which may not be familiar to all listeners. It is an evangelism method developed in 1970 by Dr. Jack Hyles that uses verses from the book of Romans to walk a person through the process of salvation. Learn more about the Romans Road today.
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Join us for our second conversation on Faith In Public Life, featuring Karen Swallow Prior Ph. D., reader, writer, and professor.
In this episode we discuss Karen's most recent book, The Evangelical Imagination: How Stories, Images, and Metaphors Created a Culture in Crisis, in which she outlines some of the cultural influences that have shaped our understanding of the role faith plays in public life.
Resources
The Evangelical Imagination: How Stories, Images, and Metaphors Created a Culture in Crisis
Free e-book to continue your learning Politics at Twilight.
Faith & Work Podcast: "Leading with Christian Distinctiveness in a Pluralistic Society" with Stephanie Summers, CEO of Center for Public Justice"
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How might the example of Christ as a servant shape the field of law and those who have made justice their profession? These is the types of questions Robert Cochran addresses in his most recent book titled The Servant Lawyer: Facing the Challenges of Christian Faith in Everyday Law Practice. Listen in as Bob shares insights from his career, encourages Christians working in this field, and frames the importance of law for the common good.
Robert F. Cochran Jr. is the Brandeis Professor of Law Emeritus at Pepperdine University and a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law. Following law school, he clerked for Judge John A. Field on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and practiced with the law firm of Boyle & Bain in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Resources:
Check out Bob Cochran's book The Servant Lawyer.
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What does it look like to be a faithful presence in the field of education from a leadership level? How can community college help address the labor shortage in the state of CO? Listen in as we interview Dr. Mordecai Brownlee, the sixth President of the Community College of Aurora, as he shares his thoughts on the role that community college can play in filling the gap between earning a degree and finding employment opportunities.
Resources
If you enjoyed this topic and would like to learn more watch the video: The Soul of Education with Dr. Mary Poplin.
Learn more about the amazing work of the Community College of Aurora.
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What is the call of the Christian in this political moment? What do our politics reveal about us and our world?
Join us was we embark on a short series titled "Faith In Public Life." For this series we will explore themes related to politics, Christian imagination, and public life. As we enter into an election year it is our hope that we would engage this season thoughtfully and in light of God's grace for the whole of our lives.
In this episode, Joanna Meyer and Ross Chapman interview Micheal Wear, Founder, President, and CEO of the Center for Christianity in Public Life. Micheal is also the author of The Spirit of Our Politics: Spiritual Formation and the Renovation of Public Life.
Resources:
The Spirit of Our Politics: Spiritual Formation and the Renovation of Public Life by Michael Wear
The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God by Dallas Willard
Renovation of the Heart: Putting on the Character of Christby Dallas Willard
The Politics of Neighborly Love (2016) With a keynote from Justin Giboney (AND Campaign) and a panel discussion featuring Gov. Bill Haslam, Scott Sauls, and Stephanie Summers (Center for Public Justice), this presentation helps to develop a biblical, non-partisan framework for understanding our role as Christian citizens.
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What does it look like to collaborate well in the workplace? What challenges do men and women face when working together? And how can we as Christian workers strive for a better and more complete picture of redemptive collaboration.
In this episode, you will hear from Rebecca Johnson, Sarah Evers, and Darius Wise as we listen to a session from the past year's Women, Work, & Calling event titled "Better Together: Women and Men at Work." This conversation is rich with practical insights and takeaways anyone can implement in their day-to-day work.
Resources:
Download the episode transcript.
Learn more about Women, Work, & Calling.
Learn more about Rebecca's work on gender equity through Bold Belonging , Sarah Evers work with RKE Partners, and stay connected with Darius Wise.
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