June 19, 2003

CHICAGO - Ministry happens in workplaces across the United States, and it happens in ways that are almost unique to each setting, according to about 20 participants in a workplace ministries consultation here June 6-8. The Division for Ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) hosted the consultation as part of a project to define and support workplace ministries.

"We were interested in what is going on and what is possible, creative and faithful for future involvement by the ELCA in the workplace," said Sally A. Simmel, director for ministry in daily life, ELCA Division for Ministry. "Insights, learnings and stories will be gathered into a position paper for presentation to the wider church," she said.

The consultants were people in management positions in for-profit and nonprofit organizations, ordained and lay ministers, seminary faculty and staff, chaplain "practitioners," a career counselor and "a pastor who did an internship in the corporate world as part of his seminary training and is now serving a parish," Simmel said.

Lutheran tradition places an emphasis on all believers living out their faith through their vocations, Simmel said. "Work is a context where spiritual and emotional issues include ministry in daily life, the search for vocational fulfillment, stress and personal crisis, burnout, search for meaning and a variety of ethical issues," she said.

The Rev. Donald A. Stiger, former director for ministries in chaplaincy, pastoral counseling and clinical education, ELCA Division for Ministry, plans to complete a paper summarizing the consultation's findings and recommendations this summer. Stiger is vice president for chaplaincy and spiritual care, Lutheran Medical Center, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Consultation participants described a "landscape" of workplace ministries - examples ranging from a Christian consoling a coworker to a full-time military chaplain going into combat. Pointing to news reports of scandals in several U.S. corporations, participants also discussed the influence Christians have on the values and missions of their workplaces.

"I hope the ELCA takes an initiative in facilitating workplace ministries," said Felix Rivera, supervisor of quality and advanced manufacturing engineering, Wiring Systems Platform, Hubbell Inc., Bridgeport, Conn. "There are many stressed, unhappy people in the workplace. In view of what is happening in the business world, the window of opportunity is now," he said.

Rivera added that "many stressed, unhappy people" also work for the ELCA, and the church should make "an honest assessment" of its employees' concerns.

Two distinct types of workplace ministry emerged - the ministry of "a trained and certified chaplain" who is available to employees and clients, such as hospital patients, for assisting in times of crisis and in making ethical decisions; and the ministry of an employee who translates her or his faith into conduct that is caring, competent, responsible and just.

"As a 30-year veteran of the workplace, now in seminary, I was glad to hear the understanding and support for workplace ministry. The pain in people's lives is great and much of it is brought to the workplace," said Margaret Schoewe, a diaconal ministry candidate at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, completing her internship as a chaplain at St. Luke's Medical Center, Milwaukee.

"I would like to see the ELCA support workplace ministry through the priesthood of all believers and through specially trained workplace chaplains," Schoewe said.

"I hope that the results of the consultation will enable the ELCA to incorporate into its education, placement and support procedures provisions for enabling ministers in the workplace and for lay leadership of ministry in the workplace," said the Rev. Karl Reko, program director for Europe, ELCA Division for Global Mission.

"I hope the end result will be an intentional entrance into the workplace in a variety of ways," said the Rev. Naomi M. Hawkins Barcanic, coordinator for support and interpretation, Fund for Leaders in Mission, ELCA Foundation.

Barcanic said she would be interested to see chaplains in office settings, providing "sacred space" for people who needed to talk. "Critical training would be needed for these chaplains, and accountability of them to the whole church should be required," she said.

The Rev. Connie Kleingartner, Logos associate professor of evangelism and church ministries and director of field education, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, said she wanted ELCA leaders to see workplace ministry as an asset to the church's ministry. She said she hoped that stories about workplace ministries would encourage more pastors to visit congregation members in their workplaces.

"I would hope that there would be some sort of concrete action taken which would focus around the development of programs equipping laity to better integrate their faith/spiritual beings into the workplace," said Jim Grubs, vice president for coworker services, Reell Precision Manufacturing Company, St. Paul, Minn.

"I did not have any idea of the scope of workplace ministries," said Mary Olson Baich, president, Vesper Society, Hayward, Calif. She said she hoped the consultation would help the ELCA identify workplace ministries, determine who would conduct the ministries and provide them with the necessary training and support.

"That might lead to how to support congregations in their efforts to connect the workplace with the faith community through dialogue, presentations by members, visits to members in the workplace, or other more creative ways," Baich said.

"The ELCA has developed outstanding resource materials that can help congregations link the workplace and the congregation," said Mark Peterson, president and CEO, Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minn. "Congregations that initiate conversation at their church about workplace issues have found terrific linkages of faith and life," he said.

ELCA News Service