Courses

In Psalm 86:11(NIV), the psalmist asks the Lord for an “undivided heart.” Many of us have more experience with a fragmented and disintegrated heart than with an undivided one. We believe that we should be authentic worshipers, that we should engage in the activities of a life of faith, and that we should do good work. We think we know what a life of faith is “supposed” to look like, whether we live up to that or not. We all work, whether that work is valued by others or not, whether we value it ourselves or not, whether we are remunerated or not, and whether we think we are fulfilling a calling or vocation or not. We recognize that we are to worship God, although opinions abound on how that should look or sound. As reflective believers, we may admit that our own lives—as well as the lives of those that we work with or that we are ministering to, leading, or educating—are fragmented and disintegrated rather than “undivided.” What would it look like to be wholehearted and thoroughly integrated believers? This course will provide the opportunity to investigate and evaluate the three core areas of Faith, Work, and Worship, to address challenges and opportunities for meaningful integration in our lives and to explore how we might live and minister from a place of wholeness and wholeheartedness.

Knowing…

• analyze how your experience and understanding of the life of faith, a theology of work, and an approach to worship has shaped the way you have done ministry in the past and how it contrasts with other approaches that we will explore; and
• examine the effectiveness of the inter-relationships between faith, work, and worship in your life and ministry and understand how they might be better integrated or reshaped.

Being…

• reflectively evaluate how your understanding about faith, work, and worship have shaped who you are; and
• risk creating a more integrative approach to faith, work, and worship that influences your being within the context of calling and ministry.

Doing…

• solve some problems of inconsistency and fragmentation/disintegration in your life and ministry or for those within your circle of influence;
• design a more integrated approach to meaningful life and ministry that comprises all three areas;
• implement an approach to integration that will provide you with an effective model both for yourself and others.