April 20, 2006

MINNEAPOLIS – "Imprisoned by a job you hate? You hold in your hands a GET OUT OF JAIL FREE card!" says David Murrow, author of Why Men Hate Going to Church.

Professional responsibilities and career are not just about jobs, but about one's whole spirituality and the meaning and purpose of one's life, says Ed Klodt in The Jonah Factor®, an indispensable guide to vocation planning.

Workplace dissatisfaction is rising rapidly across America. A recent study shows that more than 50 percent of employees nationwide don't like their jobs. One in four says they work merely to earn a paycheck. This increasing discontent is due, for the most part, to secular thinking on the part of most job seekers, who select careers and positions based on pay, benefits, ego gratification, and retirement plans. The Jonah Factor®: 13 Spiritual Steps to Finding the Job of a Lifetime outlines this growing national challenge, which is made especially urgent by new financial and demographic studies that show most Americans will have to work later in life than they've assumed.

The Jonah Factor®, so named because of the reluctance of Jonah the prophet to do the work to which God had called him, is a simple, innovative 13-step process of vocational discernment. It was developed and implemented by author Ed Klodt to help him find greater job fulfillment after a successful 30-year corporate career, most recently as Vice President of National Sales Campaigns for one of the top three mutual fund firms in the U.S.

Extensively researched with more than 500 spiritual quotes, references and insights, The Jonah Factor® surveys the problem and provide a logical step-by-step approach to helping Americans discern God's plan for them in their work and helps them develop the confidence to make the changes necessary to finding greater job fulfillment. The Jonah Factor® utilizes a combination of spiritual judgment, an inventory of talents and abilities, and partnership with a church or congregation that culminates in a carefully considered leap of faith.

"Ed Klodt has nailed it. The largest issue of concern for any wage earner is a sense of fulfillment and being in the right place. The Jonah Factor® is compelling, engaging and a must read for anyone who is interested in finding God's call." – Larry Kreider, President, The Gathering, USA

"With the turmoil in the job market today, with retirement plans being totally changed, or in many cases being stopped, the lack of company and employee loyalty, and changing of jobs more frequently, I believe and highly recommend that this book be read by all individuals (male and female) that are unhappy in their jobs and are contemplating a move, either up or down, into another position. The use of the 13 Spiritual Steps to Finding the Job of a Lifetime, coupled with the strong belief in God, will in fact, assist all who read and use these steps to better satisfy the daily needs in their lives." – Floyd M. Gilbert, Colonel US Army (Retired), President, National Council of Presbyterian Men, Presbyterian Church (USA)

"The Jonah Factor® is a very readable, user friendly book which invites the reader into discovering one's vocation and meaningful life and work. The author draws upon his life experience, biblical references, and other resources to assist in this journey. It reads as though it is a close friend, a companion on the way and, as such, I will want to keep it close by as an ongoing source of reflection and guidance." – Bud Holland, Coordinator, Office for Ministry Development, The Episcopal Church Center

"Martin Luther taught us about ‘vocation,' Rick Warren touched a cultural nerve by addressing ‘Purpose,' now Ed Klodt integrates vocation and purpose a he addresses the struggles and potential blessings in our occupational search for meaning." – Howie Wennes, Interim President, California Lutheran University

"Author Ed Klodt deftly pinpoints the angst of so many Americans-they don't want to be at work! Using an insightful study of the biblical character Jonah's struggle to find fulfillment in God's purpose for his life, Klodt introduces a step-by-step approach for readers to hear and follow God's call to a fulfilling career. I loved the Bible study of Jonah. It's worth a series of sermons! In succeeding chapters, Klodt contextualizes Jonah's study with practical steps he coins ‘The Jonah Factor®: 13 Spiritual Steps to Finding the Job of a Lifetime.' Readers will find inspiration in The Jonah Factor® to motivate them toward career fulfillment and purposefulness." – Virginia R. Holmstrom, Executive Director, American Baptist Women's Ministries, American Baptist Churches USA

"Human nature resists getting outside the comfort zones but The Jonah Factor® faces the fear/faith factors squarely and gives the reader a toolbox filled for mining the riches found in scriptures and in the aptitudes God has given each of us. Often I hear people say that they ended up in their careers ‘by accident,' unhappy because their God-given aptitudes are left waiting to be useful and fulfilling. Like Jonah, their ‘leap of faith' is the best thing ever to happen for them. In 20 years facilitating group ministry to 10,000 persons in Job Transition, I've met many who could be blessed by Ed Klodt's book, including me!" – Pastor Rod Anderson, St. Andrew Lutheran Church and Job Transition Group, Eden Prairie, Minnesota

Ed Klodt is the editor and publisher of Digging Deeper, a syndicated publication of daily devotions distributed weekly throughout the U.S. (www.digging-deeper.com). A self-described "Jonah" for many years, Ed has been a senior manager of communications at several Fortune 500 firms. In 2004, after having developed and implemented The Jonah Factor's 13 steps, Ed left the corporate world to pursue God's call of developing a national writing and speaking ministry. A popular speaker at a variety of churches, retreats, and seminars, Ed has been a lay minister and adult education instructor for sixteen years at Ascension Lutheran Church in Thousand Oaks, California.

The Jonah Factor®, Format: Paperback, 5.5" x 8.5," 176 pages, ISBN: 0-8066-5617-4, Publisher: Augsburg Fortress, Price: $12.99.

To order The Jonah Factor® please call Fortress Press at 1-800-328-4648 or visit the Web site at http://www.augsburgfortress.org/.

Authors Online

This book will be featured during the July 2006 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America online book discussion. During the month participants and the author will post questions, comments, background and new observations. Posts can be made via the Web, or completely via e-mail. Sign up for these online discussions: http://www.lutherlink.org/books/.

Augsburg Fortress