Worshipful-Work
   The Basics What is WORSHIPFUL-WORK: CENTER FOR TRANSFORMING RELIGIOUS LEADERSHIP? Worshipful-Work is an inclusive, ecumenical ministry integrating spirituality and administration to enliven your meetings with new vitality. A variety of resources are combined to elevate the table of your board/council to holy ground, to transform it into a community of spiritual leaders. This ministry is designed exclusively to help pastors and lay leaders in their ministries. Our Beginnings WORSHIPFUL-WORK grew out of the learnings and experiences of the Set Apart Lay Leader Project, a four-year ecumenical effort aimed at the development and revitalization of church boards/councils via the integration of spirituality and administration. The Project, enabled by a generous grant from Lilly Endowment and directed by Dr. Charles M. Olsen, involved lay and clergy participants from 20 churches across a broad ecumenical and cultural spectrum. It constructed a nationwide network of stakeholders through the process of inquiry and research. It drew upon the wisdom of an ecumenical advisory panel and has equipped a cadre of available consultants. The Alban publication, Transforming Church Boards Into Communities of Spiritual Leaders, by Dr. Charles M. Olsen, is based on the learnings of this project. Our Calling Our calling is to reclaim spirituality and worship as the impetus for the work of God performed by people of faith. Congregations, judicatories, religious communities, theological seminaries and persons of faith who serve on all kinds of boards are coming to know "worshipful work". We believe that pastors and key lay leaders are ready to do boards differently. We are seed sowers who want to stand with and nourish healthy communities of faith. Our Vision Our vision is to see worship as the catalyst for spiritual insight in deliberative meetings, penetrating every aspect of the meeting -- not just a series of decisions and transactions. The board/council table can be the focus for both individual and corporate spiritual formation. Board members can be transformed! The experience on a board can be life-giving and faith-deepening rather than depleting! The distinct faith character and experience of board governance in congregations can provide a unique mentoring ground for ministry and service on other boards in the for-profit, not-for-profit, and public world outside the walls of the church. Spirituality and administration can be integrated in governance. The congregation can be renewed starting with the board/council. Who would seek our services?
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