Why a Center for Faith and Work

By: Katherine Leary Alsdorf

One of the things Martin Luther made very clear 400 years ago was that a “priestly calling” was in no way more pleasing to God than any other calling or vocation. No one’s role or vocation – from Tim Keller’s to the most recent college grad – is more important than another in the eyes of God. When the church, as “the priesthood of all believers,” aims to bring Christ-centered cultural renewal to the city, we mean for all the people of the church to join in doing that – in our various neighborhoods, social circles, and vocations.

Redeemer has identified five areas of ministry (Mercy & Justice, Worship & Evangelism, Community Formation, Church Planting, and Faith & Work) in which we believe our church community can strategically live out the transformational power of the gospel. Based on the understanding that “the gospel changes everything,” the Center for Faith & Work seeks to help us, as a congregation, bring the renewing and redeeming power of the gospel to our work lives, the institutions in which we work, and the culture around us. More than 5000 people strong, our church community touches thousands of organizations and workplaces each day. How we live – our purpose, our behavior, our relationships, and our work itself – is an expression of what we believe and our understanding of how the world works. Can we be bearers of hope, reconciliation, creativity, joy, zeal, and love in our work environments and through the actual work we do?

So, what we believe matters. If we believe that the coming of Christ changed everything, then we’ll look at the brokenness of the world differently. We’ll look at the gifts we’ve been given and the skills we’ve acquired differently. We’ll look at the hardships we face differently. We’ll look at the rewards of our work differently. We have the good news that Christ paid the price for our sin in a way that reconciled this broken world to God once and for all. We have been given the big picture in which goodness and love triumph over selfishness and evil.

Redeemer’s Center for Faith & Work (CFW) is the cultural renewal arm of the Redeemer movement, founded to equip, connect, and mobilize our church community in their professional and industry spheres toward gospelcentered transformation for the common good. Through our work, we respond to God’s mandate to continue in his creation. Through our work we serve God as we serve those he places in our lives. Our work provides a crucible where we more fully recognize our own limitations while at the same time experiencing God’s majesty and grace.equip, connect and mobilize professionals in their respective faith & work endeavors, and to develop the theological foundation to support wise decision making throughout a person’s career. As we see the gospel transform individuals and how they work, we then see the gospel at work in our relationships and even the world around us.