NIFW

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Four Common Standards for Integrating Faith and Work in Local Congregations

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How will the Church in the 21st century “equip the saints for works of service” (Eph. 4:12) for the vast challenges we face in the world today? This seems overwhelming at first blush. But then I remember that God’s people are touching every area of our cities through their daily work, and it’s the Church’s privilege and responsibility to send them to be agents of healing through their vocations.

I recently had the privilege of learning from Matt Rusten, Executive Director of the Made to Flourish Pastors Network. On a call for other leaders in the faith-and-work movement, Rusten and Jeff Haanen, executive director of Denver Institute for Faith & Work, discussed the possibility of leaders and churches agreeing upon a set of minimum standards for the integration of faith and work in local congregations. They discussed that “faith and work” isn’t an “add on” ministry, but instead a vision for the sending of God’s people that should be integral to every church’s philosophy of ministry.

Rusten presented a compelling list of four practices that I believe could be a common starting point for churches that embrace historic teachings about vocation. As presented by Rusten, the four practices intersect with four distinct areas of congregational life: corporate worship, pastoral practice, discipleship/spiritual formation, and mission/outreach.

Here’s a brief summary of each of the four practices:

Four Common Standards for Integrating Faith and Work in Local Congregations

1. Corporate Worship: Pastoral Prayers for Workers (1x per month)

  • Pray specifically for congregants’ working lives.

    • General liturgical prayers

    • Vocation-specific prayers

    • Commissioning prayers

2. Pastoral Practice: Workplace Visitation (1x per month)

  • Visit parishioner’s workplaces.

    • Onsite - non-participatory

    • Onsite - participatory

    • Offsite

      • Meetings

      • Sermon prep 

3. Discipleship/Spiritual Formation: Vocational Interviews in Small Groups (regularly)

  • Interview congregants about their daily work. (Use the following sample questions.)

    • Give us a picture of a day in the life of your work.

    • What unique opportunities do you have to love your neighbor through your work?

    • Where do you experience the brokenness of the world in your work?

    • How can we pray for you?

4. Mission/Outreach: Asset Mapping Exercise (annual)

  • Conduct a congregational survey about the varying assets a congregation has that can be deployed for community benefit.

    • Physical/space assets

    • Financial assets

    • Networks

    • Human capital

    • Community

Below is the full presentation by Matt Rusten (from about 4:18 to 19:00) and transcript of the City Gate call. In addition, here’s a simple asset mapping survey that local churches can use.

 We at the Nashville Institute for Faith and Work heartily commend each of these practices in our network, and eagerly look forward to working with local churches to better equip the saints for works of service.

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Congratulations to Corner to Corner, Recipient of the Stewarding Influence Grant

The Nashville Institute for Faith and Work (NIFW) has awarded its $5,000 Stewarding Influence Grant to Corner to Corner. Using a mantra of “Connect, Invest, Grow,” Corner to Corner exists to extend hope to communities in Nashville who encounter a cycle of despair often caused by high-rates of incarceration. In particular, Corner to Corner is teaching entrepreneurial skills, and this grant is expected to generate $500,000 of annual economic impact into Nashville’s most underserved neighborhoods.  

THE STEWARDING INFLUENCE GRANT

Modeled after the concepts presented by Andy Crouch at NIFW’s “Stewarding Influence” forum on October 4, the grant was offered to an organization, group or individual with a project that uses authority and vulnerability to promote flourishing for all people across Nashville and beyond. At the forum held at Clementine in West Nashville, Crouch encouraged over 300 guests to examine their spheres of influence and challenged them to use authority and vulnerability (taking meaningful risk) to increase flourishing for others. The event concluded with the launch of the grant competition.

If you missed the forum, read all about the powerful evening here.

CORNER TO CORNER

Corner to Corner is a faith-based, community led, and community driven nonprofit teaching entrepreneurship in underserved neighborhoods. The organization has had over 100 entrepreneurs graduate from The Academy using the Co-Starters “Urban” curriculum, of which they are the only licensed entity in Nashville to do so.

“Corner to Corner is led by influencers in the communities it serves and through that, one life is able to impact another with meaningful new businesses as an outcome,” said Missy Wallace, Executive Director of NIFW. “Since its inception, Corner to Corner has graduated 104 entrepreneurs on various stages of launching or growing their small business and over 80% are still in business within one year of graduation. What a privilege to partner with an organization which is helping underserved individuals experience flourishing through the joy of innovation and work.”  

Corner to Corner will use the $5,000 grant towards extending the Co-Starters curriculum to three new cohorts, training another 45 “underestimated” community members to start their own business.  Based on their past success, this will lead to over $500,000 of economic development poured back into some of Nashville's most impoverished neighborhoods.

Will Acuff, Executive Director of Corner to Corner, said, “We are so excited to be partnering with NIFW, taking steps to ensure that underestimated entrepreneurs have on-ramps to opportunities across the city. We believe that every neighbor in the city with the God-given passion, creativity, and drive should have the opportunity to turn their business-dream into a money-making reality.”

Watch this video to hear more from Corner to Corner about how they plan to use their $5,000 grant.

To learn more about Corner to Corner, please visit theacademynashville.org.

The institute is thrilled to extend the concepts from our Stewarding Influence forum on October 4 through this competition. We received 14 submissions, forcing the committee to choose between many truly amazing organizations and groups. We had a rigorous grooming process with a committee who narrowed it down to four finalists.

Click on the name of the other finalists to hear more about their initiatives:

Andy Crouch Delivers a Powerful Night of Fellowship and Flourishing at Stewarding Influence

Holy conversation happened in a holy place in West Nashville at our fall forum, Stewarding Influence, featuring Andy Crouch.  Over 300 people gathered in Clementine Hall, a newly renovated event space that highlights the tensions of new versus old Nashville, and engaged in an evening that focused on using our spheres of influence to promote flourishing for all people across Nashville and beyond.

Andy Crouch stood in front of the beautiful antique organ and asked audience members to consider their own history. Had they grown up in a place of control, safety, suffering, or flourishing? Further, had they considered what it meant to move from whatever place they are in toward flourishing? A key, said Crouch, is how vulnerability and authority create opportunities for flourishing.  Crouch then challenged the audience to examine their own influence and ask - right now, am I in a place of idolatry, withdrawal, suffering, or flourishing? Through live-texting the audience saw themselves as a part of a whole and then as a group learned the path to flourishing, which in the end involves great sacrifice.

Some guest testimonials of Andy’s keynote include: “Perfect portrayal of the gospel and our sin nature,” “Articulate, smart, inspiring, convicting,” “Spoke to my heart,” “One of the best talks I've ever heard.”

“Crouch then challenged the audience to examine their own influence and ask - right now, am I in a place of idolatry, withdrawal, suffering, or flourishing?”

At the conclusion of the evening, NIFW launched this year’s Stewarding Influence Grant Competition.  Organizations and individuals are encouraged to submit proposals aligned with the concepts of using authority and vulnerability that create flourishing for others for a $5,000 grant. The grant proposal process is meant to extend the conversation past the evening and seep into the day-to-day for the flourishing of Nashville and beyond. Applicants are asked to fill out an application in its entirety and submit a two-minute video no later than November 15, 2018 at 11:59 p.m. CST.  Click here for an application.  Questions about the grant process can be directed to info@nifw.org.

Complete with networking, food, and fellowship, the evening also featured live music from gospel, jazz, funk fusion band, Cotten, and original compositions from Songs for the Church (“Do Not Fear” and “Strong and Weak” are available here). Missy Wallace, Executive Director of NIFW, gave a brief history of the venue, Clementine, Nashville, and the theology of work.

Perfectly tying the beauty of the evening together, Tammy Bullock closed the program with a powerful rendition of, “Establish the Work of our Hands” (you can listen to the original recording of it here).

“Flourishing is about living the life we are meant to live which begs the question - what is the other life and how do we know which life we are living?” Missy Wallace said, “Andy walked us through a transformative evening of understanding how we use control and withdrawal to avoid taking meaningful risk.  In the end, it is a combination of meaningful risk and authority which leads not only us but those who we lead, into the life prepared for us by Christ. And this changes everything at work for the better.”

The night would not have been possible without the support and collaboration from our sponsors: Jarrard Phillips Cate Hancock, Christ Presbyterian Church, St. George’s Episcopal Church, Parks Church, Harpeth Hills Church of Christ, St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church, and Marketplace Chaplains.

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A Q&A on Faith and Entrepreneurship with James Granberry, Partner at OakPoint, and Erick Goss, CEO of Creative Trust

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James Granberry, Partner at OakPoint

James Granberry, Partner at OakPoint

Erick Goss, CEO of Creative Trust

Erick Goss, CEO of Creative Trust

The Nashville Institute for Faith and Work is excited to welcome James Granberry and Erick Goss for our October Faithfully Working Lunch on October 25 from 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. Entrepreneurship is hard and doing it redemptively with God at the center is countercultural.  Come learn how James and Erick have weathered different seasons of their entrepreneurial journeys.

Q: What have you most learned about integrating your faith into your work in the last year?

James:  Integrating my faith into my work does not mean handing out tracts to my employees, having a fish on my business card, or quoting scripture in a negotiation.  It means doing excellent work because God calls us to excellence in all things. It means asking: How can I love in this particular situation (whether good or bad) to this particular person (co-workers, investors, partners, competitors, vendors)? My work is a platform to reflect the love God has shown me. This may seem easy in good times but exceedingly difficult in difficult times.

Erick:  God's work is my work.  He calls us to participate in what He is doing in the world.  I need to always be attentive to what He is saying through the Bible, through circumstances, through people, through prayer.  I want to be attentive to what is He calling me to do. It's easy to attempt to make my own way on his behalf. Engaging God daily and looking for the Spirit's work is really the only way I've found to stay in sync and not fall into a pattern of relying on myself.  I think it's actually less about integration and more about surrender. Integration could be viewed as taking a spiritual thing called "faith" and integrating into a non-spiritual thing called “work”. Rather, I feel my work is an outward expression of my spirituality and relationship with Christ, just like being a parent, serving at church or being involved in the community would.

Q: What idols most plague you in a working environment?

J:  Pride -- my desire to be liked, to be respected.

E:  There are probably too many to list!  Reputation, ego, money, success, ease, etc.  It's pretty clear that I've got an idol problem when what I want isn't happening the way I want it to.  When anxiety, frustration, jealousy, despair, and/or anger manifest themselves, it is clear that my desires are disordered, and that God and His Kingdom aren't my primary concern.

Q: How does your industry most reveal God's character?

J:  God is the ultimate steward.  He stewards his power, wisdom, and creativity perfectly in his unfolding plan starting with creation and eventually culminating in our eternal fellowship with him.  Real Estate investing is about stewarding investment capital, land, structures, and people. The more we look to the ways the ultimate steward uses His power and influence in His master plan, the more redeemed our own work can be.

E:  We work in children's digital media.  There are a number of disciplines required to do good work.  They include creativity, storytelling, economy, stewardship, teaching, support, and nurture, engineering.  All of these disciplines communicate different aspects of God's character as Creator and King.

Q: Where is your industry or work in tension with Christianity?

J:  Generally, my industry is about making as much money as possible for investors and our company, with that you can lose sight of the human element throughout our value chain.  With investors -- we have a large incentive to put money to work in investments regardless of the investment quality. With employees -- there is more work than time - we can demand a lot and not provide time for restorative rest with family, friends, and God.  With our tenants -- we can dehumanize them, thinking of them as units of occupancy/rent instead of God's divine creation to be cherished.

E:  Most of our industry doesn't acknowledge the spirituality of parents and children.  God isn't a part of the conversation despite the incredible volume of stories being told and produced.  The "telos" or ultimate aim of the majority of the companies in our industry has little to do with anything transcendent or spiritual.  The industry as a whole has accepted that "material" reality such that there really isn't room for stories that mention or acknowledge "faith"...much less Christianity.

Learn more about NIFW’s Entrepreneur Support Group.

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Want more resources from NIFW? Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. You can also find more resources from NIFW on our blog and resources page.

Want to stay connected with NIFW? Join our email list to be the first to know about our upcoming events, programs, and latest resources.

JAMES GRANBERRY

James is a founding partner of OakPoint Investments. His efforts center on managing the company’s $350 million investment portfolio across the US, in addition to maintaining relationships with investor partners.  He is a Texas native, Furman graduate, and Vanderbilt MBA holder with expertise in portfolio and asset management, financing, acquisitions, and dispositions.  James is married with three girls (2,4, and 6) and when he isn’t working or attending tea parties with his girls, he likes to read, play golf, or listen to his latest favorite podcast. 

ERICK GOSS

Erick is CEO and Co-founder of Creative Trust Ventures where leads all retail, e-commerce, online video, and mobile operations.  At CTV, he launched JellyTelly, a new children’s digital network, and subscription video-on-demand platform and, in partnership with VeggieTales creator Phil Vischer, launched the bestselling video series Buck Denver Asks…What’s in the Bible?. Read more here.

Register for any of our other upcoming events HERE.

Learn more about the integration of faith, work, and culture at NIFW.org or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram.

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A Q&A with Greg Adams, COO of the State of Tennessee

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The Nashville Institute for Faith and Work is excited to welcome Greg Adams for our September Faithfully Working Lunch on September 20 from 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. Read below to see a few thoughts he has to offer as a preview for his talk:

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Q: What intrigues you most as you consider the concept of working faithfully?

A: How we live out the calling to do our work with excellence unto the Lord and our mission of declaring His glory through our actions as we interact with co-workers/people naturally.

Q: Can you name specific examples of ways you see faithfully working played out in your various industries (business, political, etc.)?

A: In both business and government, I have seen faithfully working most clearly played out when one is being mistreated or how one responds in difficult times. An attitude of hope, gentleness and reverence in the situation and towards authority is a stark contrast on the way non-Christians think. It often causes them to reflect on your behavior and ask where this comes from.

Q: Do you believe it's possible for those transitioning in and out of different industries to continually exhibit faithfully working? And if so, how is that possible?

A: It is possible, but you need the right perspective. If I believe my transition is all about me, money, status, and retirement then I will struggle with faithfully working. However, if I believe my work, and any transitions, are connected to God's bigger purpose, where I see His provisions and His management over my work life, then it is possible to exhibit faithfully working.

Greg Adams serves as Chief Operating Officer for the State of Tennessee. He joined the governor’s senior team in July of 2013 after working for IBM for 36 years. Adams was a member of the company’s senior leadership team, most recently as a managing director in the financial services sector. In the governor’s ongoing effort to make Tennessee the best managed state in the nation, Adam’s role is to work with state departments to ensure they’re operating in the most efficient way possible. For more, click here.

You can register for the September lunch HERE or register for any of our other upcoming events HERE.

Learn more about the integration of faith, work, and culture at NIFW.org or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram.

Meet our 2018-19 Gotham Class

Gotham, our nine month faith and work intensive, launched last weekend with an opening retreat focused on the year ahead. We are very encouraged by the breadth and depth of vocational, spiritual, and personal experiences in the new Gotham class.  We have a representation of 15 churches, 15 industries, 60/40 female/male, 3 races - all coming together to focus on Christ in their lives. Get to know our new Gotham class below.

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How the Enneagram Can Enhance Your Work: A Q&A with Ian Cron

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The Nashville Institute for Faith and Work and Lipscomb University's Spark Idea Center are excited to partner and present a weekend Enneagram seminar with Ian Cron, author of The Road Back to You and host of the podcast "Typology." Ian will help participants investigate how the Enneagram, a powerful ancient tool for understanding personality type, might inform us of our specific wirings and giftings to better understand the work we do and inspire us towards more fruitful work and workplaces. Join us for this Friday evening (5:30-9 p.m.) / Saturday (8 a.m.-4 p.m.) workshop. Read below to see a few thoughts Ian has offered as a preview for his talk in April.

Q: In what ways do you see that the Enneagram can help enhance the workplace?

A: The Enneagram offers amazing insight into how our personality types engage in relationships with partners, friends, and coworkers and what we most need and fear from those interactions.  It’s the best tool I know for cultivating self-awareness. Self-awareness means knowing your strengths and weaknesses, what your triggers are, and how you make decisions, among other things. It’s the ability to monitor and regulate your thoughts, feelings, and actions, and the effect they have on others. How does this translate to the workplace? Well, a leader who knows the inner workings of their personality type and those of the people they lead gets way ahead of the curve. They learn to understand their coworkers and use different techniques to motivate their team members based on their different personality styles. It changes the dynamic of the workplace when you can identify the different strengths and challenges of your coworkers by allowing you to move from a space of mindless reactivity to mindful responsiveness. You can really transform a workplace when coworkers learn to take a moment to pause and ask themselves, “What’s happening in this moment? And how do I need to regulate my response to actually bring about the healthiest, best outcome in this situation?” It improves the communication skills of your entire team and reduces conflict in the workplace.

“You can really transform a workplace when coworkers learn to take a moment to pause and ask themselves, ‘What’s happening in this moment? And how do I need to regulate my response to actually bring about the healthiest, best outcome in this situation?’”

Q: In what ways do you see that the Enneagram promotes dignity and flourishing for all?

A: For centuries great Christian teachers have insisted we can't really know God until we FIRST know ourselves. For instance, Calvin said, "Without knowledge of self, there is no knowledge of God” and St. Augustine prayed, “Lord let me know myself, that I may know thee." As we develop self-awareness and self-knowledge we learn to accept that grace requires nothing of us. We are all worthy of honor and respect just for being our authentic selves. Inside each of us is a hidden gift that reveals something about God’s heart. So, when we are tempted to prosecute ourselves for the flaws in our own character, the Enneagram helps us pause and remember that each type is, at its core, a signpost pointing us to travel toward and embrace an aspect of God’s character we need. Growing in this understanding promotes dignity for each of us and opens the door to true transformation. The Enneagram is a tool that helps us awaken both self-compassion and our compassion for others. When we learn self-compassion and allow our hearts to expand we can stop trying to change people and simply love them for who they are.  And, that’s when we truly begin to flourish.

“We are all worthy of honor and respect just for being our authentic selves. Inside each of us is a hidden gift that reveals something about God’s heart.”

Q: Do you have any specific examples of ways you've seen or experienced more fruitful work due to incorporating the Enneagram into the workplace?

A: On the most recent episode of Typology, I interviewed a band with 12 members (including staff). They tour together on one bus with 12 bunks for months at a time and are with each other day-in and day-out. For them, studying the Enneagram has reduced conflict among the group by giving them a new, common vocabulary that has helped them to understand where each other are coming from. They can better understand each other’s strengths and challenges and have used that knowledge to pause and act intentionally toward each other rather than mindlessly. They are learning to see themselves in real-time and self-regulate when speaking with each other. The Enneagram has given them each a new starting point for communicating with each other in a more empathic and compassionate way. And they are better able to see each other’s vision for the band and then take that knowledge to make decisions as a group that improve their performance at each show.

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Ian Morgan Cron is a bestselling author, nationally recognized speaker, Enneagram teacher, trained psychotherapist, Dove Award-winning songwriter and Episcopal priest. His books include the novel Chasing Francis and the spiritual memoir Jesus, My Father, the CIA, and Me. Ian draws on an array of disciplines—from psychology to the arts, Christian spirituality and theology—to help people enter more deeply into conversation with God and the mystery of their own lives. He and his wife, Anne, live in Nashville, Tennessee.

Learn more about the integration of faith, work, and culture at NIFW.org or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram.

Can the Enneagram Help Inform Your Work?

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British mathematician George Box once said, “All models are wrong, but some are useful.” Could this also be true for the Enneagram?

The Enneagram is a powerful ancient tool for understanding personality type that uses a 1-9 scale to categorize people based on their specific giftings and wirings. Recently, it has gained increasing notoriety in both personal discovery and work relations.

As part of our mission to equip you in both of these spheres, the Nashville Institute for Faith and Work will host a weekend workshop, “The Enneagram at Work: A Seminar with Ian Cron,” in conjunction with Spark: Lipscomb’s Idea Center, on April 20-21. Tickets are now available.

Cron, the author of The Road Back to You: A Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery and host the Enneagram-themed podcast Typology, writes in the opening chapters of The Road Back to You that understanding and applying the Enneagram in your day-to-day work can contribute to the shalom of your work and workplaces.

“I recently read a Harvard Business Review article in which the entrepreneur Anthony Tjan writes, ‘There is one quality that trumps all, evident in virtually every great entrepreneur, a manager, and leader,” Cron writes. “That quality is self-awareness. The best thing leaders can do to improve their effectiveness is to become more aware of what motivates them and their decision-making. Numerous other books and articles on the topic of self-awareness in magazine from Forbes to Fast Company all say the same thing: know thyself.”

We hope to see you there and continue the conversation on April 20-21.

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Learn more about the integration of faith, work, and culture at NIFW.org or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram.

Photo Gallery: NIFW's Completing Capitalism Forum

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See below for a few photos from our sold-out Feb. 1 evening forum at Nisolo with Mars, Inc.'s Dr. Jay Jakub on "Completing Capitalism: Heal Business to Heal the World."

Miss out on the evening? Join us for a future event this spring.

Learn more about the integration of faith, work, and culture at NIFW.org or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram.

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Why ESG? One Entrepreneur's Thoughts on NIFW's Weekly Group

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James is currently participating in the Nashville Institute for Faith and Work’s (NIFW) Entrepreneur Support Group (ESG) and offered a few of his thoughts on the group below.

Q: What did ESG illuminate for you in your work?

A: So many things! For starters, ESG showed me that, among fellow entrepreneurs, there is much universality in the joys and struggles I experience in my work. Therefore, the community of fellow entrepreneurs I found at ESG, with whom I share a similar faith, has provided both a sounding board and a comfort. Further, ESG reminded me that how I engage with the community that defines "my work"—my co-workers, my partners, my investors, my vendors—matters.

Q: What is one of your greatest struggles in your day-to-day work?

A: Deciding how to use my largest non-renewable resource: Time.

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Q: How does your faith intersect with the work you do as an entrepreneur?

A: I believe that I was uniquely gifted for the work I do. My calling is to do my work to my utmost abilities—no more and no less (both limits are hard to come to terms with) and provide a platform for those who are called to similar work (whether they realize this calling or not) to be able to live into their unique gifts.

Q: What has ESG done for you personally and professionally?

A: Through ESG I better understand the integration of my daily faith with my daily work. This plays out in the way I help others flourish with their investments so they can impact the people, systems, and structures they interact with and bring glimpses of the already (heaven) to the not yet (earth). I've also become more cognizant of the beauty and goodness that can come from the average, everyday moments at work, specifically through practically and intentionally loving the co-workers and clients I interact with on a day-to-day basis.

Learn more about NIFW’s Entrepreneur Support Group (ESG).

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Want more resources from NIFW? Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. You can also find more resources from NIFW on our blog and resources page.

Want to stay connected with NIFW? Join our email list to be the first to know about our upcoming events, programs, and latest resources.

James Granberry is a founding partner of OakPoint Investments, a full-service real estate advisory and investment firm shaped by creativity, and focused on progress and growth. His efforts center on overseeing the performance of the company's 1.7 million square feet of owned assets across the US. Additionally, he heads up the acquisition efforts for the company's multi-family portfolio. A native of Texas with an undergraduate degree from Furman and an MBA from Vanderbilt, James provides expertise in portfolio and asset management, financing, and multi-family acquisitions and dispositions. Over the course of James’ career, he has been responsible for acquiring more than 3.5 million square feet of commercial and multi-family investments. He is also a co-founder and past chairman of Mere Christianity Forum—a collegiate ministry at Furman University promoting the thoughtful exploration of Christian faith through thoughtful conversations and authentic community.

NIFW’s Entrepreneur Support Group is currently accepting applications for the Spring 2018, group. For more information on ESG, visit our webpage and apply today.

Phil Gwoke Mends Generational Workplace Frustrations at The Gen Divide Forum

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How might you change the way you work if empathy served as a driving force for reconciling the generational differences you experience in your job?

This was at the core of BridgeWorks Consultant Phil Gwoke’s message as he headlined the Nashville Institute for Faith and Work’s Fall Forum, “The Gen Divide: Bridging Age Gaps at Work” at Houston Station on November 9.

“Our formative years shape the way we think, communicate and approach life,” Gwoke said to a packed room. “This is what we study at BridgeWorks. Birth years, that’s just the beginning: what shaped you is what’s most important.”

It was evident from those attending that a sense of frustration over generational attitudes affects a majority on a day-to-day basis. Survey data via a live text-in poll revealed that 65 percent of attendees feel “frustrated” on a daily or weekly basis by something the “other” generation says or does at work.

“Our formative years shape the way we think, communicate and approach life.”

Of those attending, 49 percent identified as Millennials (1980-1995), 30 percent identified as Generation Xers (1965-1979), and 21 percent identified as Baby Boomers (1946-1964).

Gwoke engaged the audience beyond stereotypical finger-pointing generational divisions and instead helped participants in every generation better understand the “other,” so workplace relationships, and in turn the work we do, might be fortified moving forward.

The evening also featured insight from Lyft Nashville Marketing Lead Joel Rakes, who represented a Millennial's perspective on work, and Adams & Reese Managing Partner Gif Thornton, who represented a Boomer’s perspective on work.

You can view a full photo gallery from the event below.

Tickets are also now on sale for our next citywide forum, “Completing Capitalism: Heal Business to Heal the World” at Nisolo on February 1, 2018 at 5:30 p.m.

Learn more about the integration of faith, work, and culture at NIFW.org or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram.

What's the Story Behind NIFW's Refreshed Look?

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What lies behind a refresh?

For the Nashville Institute for Faith and Work it marked a moment in time for the Institute to double-down on its vision—set in place in January 2015 through our sending church, Christ Presbyterian Church—to equip, connect, and mobilize individuals and organizations to ingegrate their faith into their vocational work.

Our logo, that now features the letters "F" and "W" crossing, symbolizes our desire to help foster the overlap between an individual's Christian faith and their day-to-day work.

Our move to new offsite offices (located off 8th Avenue) symbolizes our desire to both be in and for the city, in an effort to bring flourishing to every corner of Nashville.

Our refreshed website and refined monthly communications systems reflect our desire to equip Nashvillians with a place to be inspired and mobilized to shine light on the dark areas of their vocational spehres.

These enhancements have brought excitement to the NIFW offices, and our team is eager to equip and connect you with others to see the role your work plays in God's unfolding story.

You can expect continued communication from NIFW in your inboxes this fall. The NIFW team is anticipating connecting with many of you at one of our events this fall.