About the Faith and Work Alliance
The Faith and Work Alliance (FWA) was birthed out of a brainstorming session at a 5-day intensive course hosted by Redeemer Church’s Centre for Faith and Work in August 2017. Four of us had made the trip to Princeton Seminary to attend this annual event and towards the end of the week, we got together to dream about what God could do in South Africa (and beyond) in the area of faith and work.
The Bible teaches that all Christians are to live their lives for the glory of God – and that’s easy enough to understand if you work for the church or a Christian organisation, but not so easy if you’re in banking, media, politics, the arts, academia – or any other profession that is traditionally viewed as secular.
However, God’s creation is not limited to the material world, but also includes societal spheres like family, religion, art, science, education, economics and so on – which means that the distinction between things that are important to God (religious matters) and things that aren’t (every other sphere of society), is of our own making. This so-called sacred/secular divide robs us of the Biblical vision for work.
It’s true that God cares a great deal about artists, scientists, educators, economists etc – but he also cares a great deal about art, science, education and economics! It all belongs to Him. This has two important implications; firstly, our work has intrinsic value. Secondly, we are agents of redemption in whatever field of work God has placed us; our mission being to discern and apply the Creator’s original design and intent to every sphere of society.
That’s the essence of the dream we scribbled on a whiteboard on that hot afternoon in Princeton – to equip Christians in churches, schools, businesses and other organisations across South Africa with the tools, resources and interventions that will enable them to be effective agents of redemption at work and in public life.