Gabriel Lacoba interviews people to reveal how faith shapes Christians approach to their vocation, as well as exploring the role of the local church in motivating and equipping them to apply their faith in their working environment.

Abstract

To share learning from the experience of individual Christians about how their faith in shapes their approach to their vocation. The paper also explores the role of their local church in motivating and equipping them to apply their faith in their working environment.

Having worked in traditional Christian ministry contexts (i.e. local churches and faith-based institutions) as well as so-called ‘secular’ ones I have observed and experienced human dynamics that are identical across both, good as well as bad. This has prompted many questions over the years, such as “Has there been a problem with my expectation of how faith works itself out vocationally? Or “What is the stamp of Christian faith on vocation?”

This paper seeks to look at various people’s experience as means of identifying themes that point to the influence of faith and the local church on the experience of their work.

The paper is based on qualitative research that involves interviews with six individual Christians who regularly attend Evangelical churches in Sydney. The research approach is inductive, seeking to explore people’s experience and discover potential themes that arise from discussions. The interviews are structured, with use of pre-determined questions that are posed to each interviewee. There will be allowance for qualifying statements or questions with opportunity to probe particular themes that arise if they appear to be of significance to the interviewee. Interviewees are balanced across age groups, genders, and secular and faith-based work environments.

Full Title : Faith and Work: Understanding the Individual Experience

Biography

Gabriel is a husband, father of five daughters and grand-dad to two captivating little girls. He’s moved in and out of roles in local churches and faith-based organisations belonging to the NSW Baptists, Anglicans and the Uniting Church over 36 years, while also leading teams in charities such as the Cancer Council and the National Breast Cancer Foundation. For three years he managed the City to City Australia’s Centre for Faith and Work and when presenting the paper was the Director for Community Engagement at Baptist World Aid Australia.

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