We’ve just closed off advertising for the Sept Southern Cross with 3 full pages of job ads - first time this year the section has reached 3 pages.

Sure, end of year is traditionally a time of employment changes, but the question must be asked, ‘where are all the Christian workers for these orgs?’

And a related question to probe and provoke, ‘should Christians seek employment with Christian orgs if available - aka: the body of Christ needs you - or should Christians seek work in the secular world - aka: workplace evangelism?’

I have spent nearly all of my paid employment with secular organizations, but my last job and current job are with Churches.
After the insurance company retrenched me I chose to stay at home minding grandsons, doing foster care, teaching scripture and joining a craft group. Just as my second grandson was about to start school (and I was worrying about how I would fill my days), an administrative vacancy came up at my Church-I saw that as an answer to prayer. After three years, my current job was advertised (actually on this website) and I moved from part time to full time (there were other good reasons to change).
It’s wonderful working for a Church, (although I can see very good reasons not to) and if all the Christians are off doing secular work, whose going to run the Church office?

I’d say the issue isn’t simply whom you work for, but what work you’re doing.  Christian organisations of course need plenty of people to do work indistinguishable from what it would be in the secular world, viz. admin, technicians of various sorts and so on.

I read the heading as “working for Christian Ogres”.  I was looking forward to some entertaining stories.

Mike

You can do ministry in secular jobs, you can do ministry working for a church organisation - why should one be chosen above the other?  I say work where your natural abilities and your spiritual gifts are best used, which could be for a secular organisation or could be for a christian organisation.

Mike Doyle - 20 August 2008 09:24 PM

I read the heading as “working for Christian Ogres”.  I was looking forward to some entertaining stories.

Mike

You won’t get ogre stories from me! The two best jobs I’ve ever had are my present one and the last one, and the best part with both is the wonderful people I have been working with.

I’ve worked for both, but have spent most of my working life working for Christian organisations. This wasn’t a deliberate choice by me (although probably different for God) - they just offered me a job at a time when I was looking for one. I have no real preference for either, but think that it’s important for Christians to work in the secular workplace, both in order to gain skills which can be used to God’s glory, and to maintain connections with non-Christians.

I can also think of two main disadvantages that may come from working for a Christian organisation.
1) Your colleagues will eventually disappoint you. Even if everybody on staff has every issue of the Briefing and has a tattoo of Peter Jensen, they are still sinful, and will eventually act in ways that will disappoint and/or hurt you. For some reason, we don’t expect such behaviour from our Christian brothers & sisters, and so the disappointment is greater.
2) Dodgy theology In the first Christian organisation I worked for, one staff member was so enthusiastic about the Toronto blessing that he travelled over to Toronto to get it, and enthusiastically promoted it at church and work.  And in my current job I’ve had to deal with an organisation that was originally evangelical, but at its’ nadir was totally dominated by the social gospel. It was difficult to be enthusiastic about working at a Christian organisation in this situation, despite the good work it does. (Fortunately, I believe that things have improved somewhat.)

a tattoo of Peter Jensen

Words fail me!!!  (A graven image no less!)

Have worked in a couple of Christian orgs and plenty of secular ones. I liked Anglicare. The service I worked at (only as a casual and not for long- was between jobs) was brilliant. Cutting edge stuff at the time. The drivers of that service went opn to become prominent figures in their field.
The other agency was both good (the context and clients were great) and ghastly. The org was fairly predatory in regards to funding, disinterested in the clients and the staff and a long way from cutting edge. The stresses of the workplace played out into a lot of nastiness between staff. A manager in the system was not a good man and was predatory in regards to clients.
I found mostly working with Christians difficult. We once had a long running and all consuming row over whether or not it was OK to eat Hare Krishna food! We were dealing with abused kids, kids who were prostituting themselves, all sorts of crises and staff engaged in a ridiculous inner conflict over Hare Krishna food.
I did like the variety of opinion though. An all evangelical, or all social gospel or all charo context would distress me and I would by nature take a differing stance just to get em thinking outside the square.
Most non-Christian paces I have worked in have had plenty of Christians working in them and this I prefer.
We work outside our comfort zones and this mangles the natural tendency I have experienced of Christian places to drift into moralising and being in danger of becoming judgemental. And most of the Christians I have worked with have been great witnesses by dint of compassion and gentleness.