How church leaders can support people in work…

Here are some of the ways church leaders can support those in work, and help them engage meaningfully with their colleagues, contacts and customers…

“I was speaking to a Sunday School teacher recently, who said to me: ‘I teach 10 children once a week and they ask me to stand at the front of the church for prayer. But I teach 50 non-church children every day in school and I’ve never once been prayed for about that.’

She isn’t alone. Many people tell me their church doesn’t offer them support in their daily work. And yet Christians who work full time can easily spend 50% of their waking life in work. They are likely to spend more time with their colleagues than with their spouse, children, or non-work friends.

So how can your church support members who are working? How can you enable your members to reach out in practical ways and connect meaningfully with the people they spend the most time with – people who may be a million miles away from ‘church’?

Five ideas

1. Be committed to affirming people in the workplace – you could take a few minutes during one service a month to ‘interview’ a member of your congregation about their work, the challenges they face and how God is helping them in their workplace. One church leader I know called Phil texts a few people every day with a little blessing or prayer of encouragement for the working day ahead.
2. Put local workplaces and working members of your church on the agenda at prayer meetings. Ask God to help your church members to be ‘salt and light’ where they work.
3. Consider hosting a ‘Heart of Success’ evening, using the DVD resource from Care for the Family. This will benefit church members, and also provides a faith-neutral, cringe-free event to invite work colleagues to.
4. Could your leadership team visit everyone a couple of times a year at work or for lunch? I’ve done this as a church leader and once people knew that we were not going to preach or be whacky, they loved having us in their workplace. If it’s inappropriate for you to visit at work, meet them for lunch during the day or for breakfast. What makes a difference is that someone cares and values their work
5. Begin to develop a practice of ‘whole-life discipleship’. When we talk about ‘discipleship’ let’s remember that the way we work and our family life are at the heart of that discipleship.

In your weakness, God will strengthen you

In my experience, church leaders want to be more helpful but are unsure how to be. Many lack confidence. They may feel intimidated, especially if it’s years since they were in that kind of working world, if ever.

This would be my word of encouragement to every church leader: you will feel awkward, and you will probably feel inadequate to help a banker, medic, staff nurse, headmaster or stay-at-home mum. But in that moment of weakness, God’s strength can begin to operate through you – empowering your church members, changing their workplaces, and transforming the community.

Resources to help you engage through work

Written from a Christian perspective, my book, ‘Love Work, Live Life!,’ is available from Care for the Family and at the Engage Conferences – or you can order your copy here.

Care for the Family is also offering churches a special discount on bulk orders of ‘The Heart of Success’ by Rob Parsons, a book that is suitable for those with a faith or none. Your church could order copies to give to church members and to business contacts in your area.

The Heart of Success - RRP £8.99
SAVE £31: Order 10 copies for £58 – 35% discount
SAVE £89: Order 25 copies for £135 – 40% discount
SAVE £225: Order 50 copies for £224 – 50% discount

Call Care for the Family on (029) 2081 0800, or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it   today.

David Oliver

Last Updated 19 June 2009