Archbishop of York Launches God at Work Course

THE GOD AT WORK course was launched by the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, at a special conference at Holy Trinity Brompton on February 16. Around 160 delegates attended the conference and received training in how to run the six-session course, which is to help equip Christians to live out their faith in their workplaces.

In the evening, the archbishop – who was welcomed by HTB Vicar Nicky Gumbel – spoke to around 600 congregation members about a Christian response to the current economic crisis.

The archbishop said, ‘I want to thank God for this God at Work course because it is going to equip churches up and down the land to engage properly with people in their working life and it will make a huge difference. There is no more pressing time for it than now.’

Churchwarden Ken Costa, author of the book God at Work, on which the course is based, gave an overview of the course, which tackles such issues as purpose at work, ambition, work-life balance, stress and making tough decisions.

During his talk, the Archbishop said, ‘The God at Work course is not just about increasing the size of the church. It is about breaking new ground for the kingdom of God, making more and more of a difference for good.

‘That’s what that course is about. Thank God it will result in people joining the church, but actually is to break new ground for God’s kingdom to come in.’ He added, ‘We are here because we want to see business changing lives and transforming communities for the
better. We want to see industry that makes the world a better place. We want to see an economy that serves humanity and sustains the world we share.

‘We want to see God at work, working in business. If we as leaders are not going to help them to know it is part of thier calling to live the gospel fully, then we are not going to help them.’

Other God at Work launch events have taken place in Nottingham and Manchester. Another three are planned for Glasgow, Belfast and Birmingham.