Is God At Work?
Workplace attitude church survey
At the recent CRE exhibition in Peterborough, we posed a number of questions to attendees on the church’s attitude towards the workplace. In particular we were interested in whether the workplace is seen as a mission field and what the church is doing to support their members.
We analysed the results in two groups – those responses given by church leaders and those given by members of the congregation.
Here is what we found:
100% of church leaders say they believe that the workplace is a mission field but only 78% of church members thought their church saw it that way.
There is a sharp difference between what leaders think about the workplace and what congregations experience in the Sunday morning messages. The workplace is often sidelined and yet for most people it is the place where they will spend most of their lives. For them, it is their mission field.
"We fish in pools and puddles when in our workplace we are sitting by an ocean." Mark Greene
Only 24% of church leaders have an intentional strategy to the workplace. Members of the congregation put this at only 11%.
Given that most people accept the workplace as a mission field, relatively few churches have any strategy towards it. No one would dispute the need for training missionaries that travel abroad, and yet it seems that those working the biggest mission field are neither trained nor prepared to ‘harvest’.
When it comes to helping Christians who are facing prejudice or action because of their faith, 73% of church leaders say they could help out although their members only put this at 55%.
Churches have over the years developed great ministries for helping the sick and disadvantaged of our society. They have achieved great breakthroughs in social justice but in today’s ever-secular business environment they are relatively quiet.
Quite often the only help churches can provide is through prayer and while this is essential, it does little to help a Christian take practical steps when defending their position.
The foundation of our faith makes good business sense – Christians should never be under attack for their beliefs but it requires churches to know and act in accordance with the laws that govern business.
Overall, more than half of those surveyed would like specific help in addressing the Christian faith in the context of work related issues and 63% want to be kept informed of what’s going on in regard to the Christian faith and the workplace.
Transform Work UK is a national charity that is passionate about helping Christians to ‘transform their workplace and the nation’. We do this by supporting Christians in the setting up Christian Workplace groups that can benefit the organisations they work for and the colleagues they work with. We provide free resources and links to other like-minded Christians to show the world that God is truly ‘at work’.
Join us today in our mission. Sign up to our regular email newsletter and become a supporter in this vital work of reaching out to the workplace mission field. For more information visit the church leaders page on our web site www.transformworkuk.org. |
Transform Work UK; registered charity No. 112005
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