Serving God in the Family “Business”: A Candid Interview with William Franklin Graham IV @TheHighCalling

At The High Calling, we don’t often address the unique vocational, relational, and spiritual challenges of working for a Christian non-profit organization. So we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to interview William Franklin Graham IV, the grandson of evangelist Billy Graham and the son of Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) President and CEO Franklin Graham. Now an associate evangelist with BGEA and Assistant Director of the Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove in Asheville, North Carolina, Will has a lifetime’s worth of exposure to these challenges. Here’s the first question:

The High Calling: People often idealize working for a Christian organization. Are we wrong to expect a Wll Graham at Ocean Grove Auditorium, May 2011Christian workplace to be different?

Will Graham: When we hire people, one of the things that we really try to listen for is if whether or not they feel called to ministry with our organization. We’ve gotten a lot of resumes from qualified people, but if they’re not called, ultimately, they’re not going to fit. They may be wonderful Christian people, but they’re not who we’re looking for.

BGEA has some of the best employees; we really do. But at the same time, we’re all human, and we all have bad days. When there is an issue, we’ll sit down and pray about it. Employees will get together and pray about it. Sometimes it still doesn’t work out. We may have to move people to a different department because their gifts aren’t being used – maybe we put them in a bad spot that doesn’t meet their strengths. On the other hand, we have some great administrators who have helped us in this area. My dad is a wonderful administrator. My granddaddy hired George Wilson, who really kind of shaped the Billy Graham organization administration-wise when it first was founded.

As a staff, every morning we start off in devotions, looking into God’s Word together, praying together for the needs of the ministry. We pray for one another. BGEA is a wonderful place to work, and I’m blessed to be a part of it. It’s tough working for family, but we do it because we love each other. …

Read the whole interview at The High Calling.

 Posted on August 17, 2011 by

 Christianity, church life, Community, Culture, Ethics, Faith, Family, Friendship, Leadership, Theology, Vocation, Walkin' the Talk

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Faith at Work, Part 7: Putting It All Together @TheHighCalling

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Figuring out how to integrate our faith with our work is a primary interest for the High Calling community. In our series about the work of Laity Leadership Institute Senior Fellow David W. Miller, we learned about four ways people do this and about a Hebrew concept that Miller says undergirds the Faith at Work movement.

Investigating the Sunday/Monday Gap

In the first article, we learned that Miller was flourishing in his career as a senior executive and partner at a London bank, and felt called to that career. But he seldom, if ever, heard clergy talk about how to integrate faith and work, even as he intuitively viewed work as part of God’s created order. If work mattered to God, why weren’t clergy talking about it?

To his surprise, Miller gradually discerned a new calling to attend Princeton Theological Seminary, where he earned an MDiv. and then a PhD. in Social Ethics, focusing almost exclusively on the question of integrating faith and work. This question continues to be central to his teaching and research at Princeton University, and to his consulting work with CEOs and businesses.

“I suppose people are drawn to study things either because they’re really good at it or because they’re not really good at it. I was drawn to this subject of integrating faith and work because of my own professional experience of asking how to overcome the Sunday/Monday gap,” said Miller.

A Theological Foundation

In the second article, we learned that the Hebrew concept of avodah provides a theological foundation for Miller’s work. …

Read the whole rest at The High Calling.

 Posted on August 13, 2011 by

 Books, Capitalism, Community, Culture, Education, Ethics, Faith, Family, Friendship, grief, History, Leadership, Public Square, Redemption, Social Action, Theology, Vocation, Walkin' the Talk

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Faith at Work, Part 6: Expressing Spiritual Values @TheHighCalling

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“In the spring of 2009, on the eve of graduation, a small group of us at Harvard Business School found ourselves staring into a great abyss instead of standing on the threshold of new and exciting careers. We understood that the moment we received our diplomas, regardless of our good intentions and moral foundations, we would be cast in the roles of the Darth Vaders of the businessworld.”

This is what Max Anderson and his co-author Peter Escher wrote in the introduction to their book The MBA Oath: Setting a Higher Standard for Business Leaders about the business climate into which they were graduating from one of the world’s most prestigious schools.

Instead of sulking to the finish line of receiving their expensive MBAs, Anderson and some classmates came up with the idea for a professional oath that would not only communicate to others their intention to do things differently than the MBAs who had contributed to the financial crisis of 2008, but would keep them accountable to one another.

Anderson talked to Laity Leadership Institute Senior Fellow David W. Miller about the oath at a Princeton University Faith & Work initiative event. He said he and his buddies envisioned 100 of their 900 classmates signing it. Instead, The New York Times and other media got a hold of the story. The oath has now been signed by more than 5000 MBAs around the world and corporations are inquiring about how they can use it to screen potential employees. …

Read the rest at The High Calling.

 Posted on August 4, 2011 by

 Community, Culture, Ethics, Faith, Leadership, Public Square, Theology, Vocation, Walkin' the Talk

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Hugs & Hospitality at Wright Memorial Church @BarnegatPatch

Congregation that meets in former opera house welcomes visitors with music and warmth.

“Life is desperate; we need all the hugs we can get,” said Rev. Bob Lewis after Sunday morning worship at Wright Memorial Presbyterian Church, Barnegat, NJWright Memorial Presbyterian Church.

He was standing at the foot of the church’s front steps greeting people after the service. There were hugs for the men and kisses on the cheek for the women. He inquired warmly about each person’s concerns and sent them on their way.

This kind of affection permeated the morning.

At 9 a.m., people gathered for coffee and conversation, Lewis said.

“Sometimes it’s religious. Sometimes it’s just funny and jokes,” he said.

At 10 a.m., Lewis began strumming his guitar and singing modern worship songs while congregants arrived and chatted. Music has always been important to the congregation, in keeping with its history as a former opera house that was foreclosed upon and purchased by the Presbytery of Monmouth in 1877, a church brochure said. …

Read the rest at Barnegat Patch.

 Posted on July 27, 2011 by

 church life, Community, Culture, Faith, Family, Friendship, Leadership, Theology, Travel, Walkin' the Talk

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Faith at Work, Part 5: Drawing Enrichment from Deep Wells @TheHighCalling

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Dale Jones is a vice chairman and partner at Heidrick & Struggles, one of the nation’s top executive search firms. He advises boards and CEOs on human capital issues such as leadership, recruiting and succession planning, but a few years ago, Jones sensed a calling to do something about the problem of global water. Together with the founders of America Online, Steve and Jean Case, he pursued an innovative plan to bring clean drinking water to rural villages in sub-Saharan Africa. The plan involved installing merry-go-rounds that pumped water from the ground as children played on them.

“Villages get water for the first time, and to see the rejoicing of families and children is pretty incredible,” said Jones in an interview with Laity Leadership Senior Fellow David W. Miller this spring.

“It was really a time in my life when I needed to do something that would feed the soul, but it was also a chance for my family to be on a journey that we were part of something that had a greater sense of mission and serving people’s needs,” said Jones.

Eventually the PlayPumps project was folded into a larger water project and Jones returned to his work atHeidrick & Struggles. As enriching as the experience was, Jones sensed that his real calling was to the search business. He realized he is most effective connecting people with particular skills and character to organizations that have matching needs and he speaks of  leveraging people with resources to take action. One third of his work at Heidrick & Struggles is devoted to the firm’s social enterprise practice.

Figuring out how to integrate his faith and his passion for humanitarian projects into his daily corporate work is “the crux” of who he is, Jones said.

“I wake up everyday thinking about it,” he said. …

Read the rest at The High Calling.

 Posted on July 27, 2011 by

 Community, Ethics, Faith, Family, Leadership, Public Square, Race, Redemption, Theology, Vocation, Walkin' the Talk

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Exuberant Hospitality at First Baptist Church @NJShorePatch

First Baptist Church of Manasquan, NJExuberant hospitality. That’s how I’d describe Sunday morning worship at First Baptist Church of Manasquan.

The worship band was playing before the service began July 17 and soon after I sat down Rev. Joseph Gratzel came over and gave me a tote bag that held a travel mug, a Bible, and information about the church.

“Have you been mugged?” he asked with a smile.

The service began seamlessly with modern worship and two “Pandamania” songs led by Vacation Bible School students. Associate Pastor Martha Bevacqua asked for prayer requests and the congregation called out a host of personal concerns before saying the Lord’s prayer together.

A sign language interpreter translated the service for hearing impaired worshipers and Senior Pastor Joseph Gratzel’s son Gavin called out questions from the back of the room until his dad gently instructed him to be quiet. …

Read the rest at Manasquan Patch.

 Posted on July 24, 2011 by

 church life, Community, Faith, Family, Leadership, Public Square, Redemption, Social Action, Theology, Vocation, Walkin' the Talk

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Faith at Work, Part 4: Turning Corporate Leadership Upside Down @TheHighCalling

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Ken Melrose is well known for employing a model of servant leadership to turn around the Toro company when it was on the verge of bankruptcy. Earlier this year, he returned to Princeton University, his alma mater, to talk to Laity Leadership Institute Senior Fellow David W. Miller about the circuitous path he took to becoming a servant leader himself.

Melrose told Miller’s Faith and Ethics in the Executive Suite audience that his dream was to make $50,000 a year as a marketing manager.

“If I could have done that, I would have been a happy clam for the rest of my life,” said Melrose.

He went to work for Pillsbury after earning an MBA at the University of Chicago. Then his boss talked him into starting a technology business together. The business went bankrupt.

“When the Toro job came along, I didn’t want to get into the lawn care business, but I took the job.”

Not exactly an auspicious start to a stellar career.

Miller places Melrose’s style of integrating faith and work in the Experience category of The Integration Box (TIB). In God at Work, Miller says these believers view work as a calling that has “both intrinsic and extrinsic meaning and purpose.” Thus it’s no surprise Melrose sometimes talked about his work in terms of his personal dissatisfaction with it.

Read the rest at The High Calling.

 Posted on July 24, 2011 by

 Culture, Ethics, Faith, Leadership, Theology, Vocation, Walkin' the Talk

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What I Wrote This Week @UrbanFaith: July 11-15

Hitchhiker, NYC

  • Foreclosures Hit Churches Hard: A troubling increase in church foreclosures, especially among African American congregations, has us wondering whether too many churches have jeopardized their witness for the sake of an extravagant new building.
  • Was Slavery Better for Black Children?  After presidential candidate Michele Bachmann signed a traditional marriage pledge with potentially racist elements, the pundits piled on. But is their behavior any better than hers?
  • Death Row Inmates Want Pastoral Care: Where should justice and mercy meet when it comes to the lives of prisoners who are facing the death penalty?

I also began work on a story about a black led Tea Party group’s plan to protest the NAACP national convention. Look for it soon.

 Posted on July 17, 2011 by

 church life, Community, Culture, Democracy, Ethics, Faith, History, Leadership, Politics, Public Square, Race, Redemption, Social Action, Theology, Vocation, Walkin' the Talk

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Faith at Work, Part 3: Uncompromising Ethics @TheHighCalling

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Jimmy Dunne is, by his own admission, a man who sees the world in black and white. In a time when shades of gray are increasingly admired, this is not always a popular perspective. But Dunne’s singular vision became a bright light for others to follow after his workplace was decimated by terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Dunne is Senior Managing Principal for Sandler O’Neill, an investment banking firm that  suffered the loss of one-third of its 171 member workforce on 9/11/01.

At a 2010 Princeton University event, “Faith & Work Ethics in the Executive Suite,” Dunne spoke at length with Laity Leadership Institute Senior Fellow David W. Miller about his decision making process in the first harrowing days after he learned that his partners, friends, and coworkers had been killed. Nine-and-a-half years after suffering those losses, Dunne was still emotional about them.

He had survived the first terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in 1993, but was on the golf course the morning of September 11, 2001, when he learned of the second attacks. Thinking about the needs of spouses and children left behind, he quickly decided that these grieving families would receive salaries, medical benefits, and bonuses owed to their missing loved ones. …

Read the rest of this inspiring story at The High Calling.

 Posted on July 14, 2011 by

 Community, Culture, Ethics, Faith, Family, Friendship, grief, History, Leadership, Public Square, Redemption, Social Action, Theology, Vocation, Walkin' the Talk

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Celebrating the King James Bible @NJShorePatch

Museum of Biblical Art in New York hosts exhibit celebrating translation’s 400th anniversary.

1611 King James Bible at MOBIAWhile there are plenty of places to celebrate a special anniversary right here at the Jersey Shore, for one as monumental as the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, a trip into New York City to see On Eagles’ Wings at the Museum of Biblical Art (MOBIA) is just the thing.

The exhibit features a number of historic manuscripts, including a 1611 first folio edition of the bible and a 1440 New Testament. It also includes a collection of breathtaking paintings (my photos don’t do them justice) that contemporary artist Makoto Fujimura created to illustrate a Crossway Books commemorative edition of The Four Holy Gospels.  …

For a full picture of this wonderful celebration, go to Manasquan Patch.

 Posted on July 14, 2011 by

 Art, Books, church life, Culture, Faith, History, Politics, Public Square, Theology, Walkin' the Talk

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What I Wrote This Week @UrbanFaith: 6/27-7/1

Hitchhiker, NYC

  • New Laws, Shifting Demographics: Whether the issue is gay marriage, the ‘war on drugs,’ African American marriage prospects, or the plight of undocumented immigrants, Americans are confronting the issues.
  • Michael Tait: ‘Living Integration’: The dc Talk veteran and current Newsboys singer on race, politics, and the beauty of diversity in Christianity, music — and food.

Michael Tait at Jersey Shore Will Graham Celebration May 22, 2011Michael Tait is lead singer of The Newsboys. He and the Grammy-nominated band performed an electric set at the Jersey Shore Will Graham Celebration in Ocean Grove, New Jersey, last month. Best known as a member of the pioneering Christian rock/rap group dc Talk, Tait’s career in the Christian music industry has been defined by stretching the boundaries of art, faith, and culture. Urban Faith News & Religion editor I caught up with Tait as he prepared to take the stage. …

  • Out in Greenwich Village: Should a church that helps people who struggle with unwanted same-sex attraction be allowed to stay in one of the nation’s most gay-friendly neighborhoods?

The big news out of New York last weekend was the legalization of gay marriage, but The Village Church in Greenwich Village is under threat of eviction from the public school where it meets and a New York Times op-ed writer says it should be because its ministry to people struggling with unwanted same-sex attraction doesn’t represent the community. I spoke to the church’s senior pastor, Sam A. Andreades, about the church and it’s unique position as the only Exodus International affiliate church in New York City. …

 Posted on July 1, 2011 by

 church life, Community, Culture, Ethics, Faith, Family, History, Leadership, Politics, Public Square, Race, Redemption, Social Action, Theology, Vocation, Walkin' the Talk

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Muslims Brave Violent Storm to Attend Friday Prayers @NJShorePatch

Whatever the weather, local Muslims meet for prayer at the Islamic Center of Ocean County.

Islamic Center of Ocean County“Open the gates of mercy for all of us,” Imam Maqsood Qadri prayed as congregants trickled in for Friday afternoon prayers at the Islamic Center of Ocean County in Toms River.

A violent storm had just rolled through the region, pouring down rain and hail, flooding roadways, and making travel dangerous. The communal prayer time, known as Jumu’ ah, was understandably more sparsely attended in the aftermath than it had been when Patch visited June 17.

After offering prayers in both Arabic and English, Qadri’s sermon, or Khutbah, picked up from where it had left off the previous week. He talked again about a miraculous night journeythat Muslims believe the Prophet Muhammad took from Mecca to Jerusalem and then from Jerusalem to heaven, where he encountered Jesus and Moses and received revelation about five-times-daily prayers. …

Read the rest here.

 Posted on June 27, 2011 by

 Community, Culture, Faith, Islam, Theology, Walkin' the Talk

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