(Desired Haven Ministries President Cheryl Kilgore serves as the Project Manager for TOW, and has for all of its' five years of effort. Madetomatter Senior Writer has been part of its' leadership team and Executive Committee since its' incubator days.)
The Theology of Work Project unveils its new website this week, with resources for applying the Christian faith to daily work at http://www.theologyofwork.org/. The website contains some 500 practical text, video, and audio resources to help people in business, government, research, and every field of work outside the church. The site also aims to help pastors and church leaders equip their members for life in secular workplaces. Over the coming year, the TOW Project expects to expand the website to cover every book of the Bible and the most important topics in contemporary workplaces. At present about 2/3 of the planned articles are online. All the materials on the website are available free of charge.
"We're focused strictly on what the Bible says about work," explains Dr. Haddon Robinson, president of the TOW Project. "How can the Bible help people succeed in their work in terms of excellence, ethics, and calling, according to God's purpose and design.?¢?? He adds the website covers a wide breadth of professions, including both paid and unpaid work. The TOW Project's mission, leadership, processes and history are described at "About the Project" on the website, he says.
Co-chairman Andy Mills says that the TOW Project's collaborative research process and breadth of coverage makes it distinctive. "I don't know of any other resource that covers the entire Bible and does it with such a broad team of contributors and editors from across the spectrum of orthodox/historical Christian thought.?¢?? He says that about 40 scholars and authors have contributed articles to date. Each article is discussed in depth by the TOW Project's steering committee of 15 members from around the world, then thoroughly revised in response, discussed again, revised again, and finally --- if it passes muster with the steering committee---posted on the website. "As much as possible we want to say,"'This is what the Christian community thinks this passage of scripture means for the workplace,' rather than 'This is what one person or one Christian denomination thinks.'"
"Often the most interesting resources come from the most unexpected places," says William Messenger, executive editor of the TOW Project. "Who would have thought that the Song of Songs would have so much to say about workplace relationships and employee satisfaction", he asks, "or that the best example of a manager in the Bible is the Valiant Woman in the Book of Proverbs"? He adds, "I was surprised that Paul's discussion about yoking oxen in 2 Corinthians would have so much practical guidance for workplace relationships in business today".