Faith in Business Theme 

Each year, Faith in Business focuses on a theme that reflects current business issues. It does so from a Christian perspective infused with freshness and creativity. The aim is to stimulate biblical and practical insight, discussion and initiative in the contemporary workplace and in the church contexts to which workplace Christians belong.

We bring each theme alive through events and publications. This culminates in the Faith in Business Cambridge Leadership Retreat, where a diverse cross-section of business leaders (including early-stage entrepreneurs) gather for two days of input, discussion, gathered worship, reflection, and prayer based on the theme.

The theme for the academic year 2023-24 is as follows.

Being Productive: Working from Rest

At the start of Genesis, God's first command to humans is to work (Gen 1.28). Yet immediately after this, on the seventh day, God rested and instituted the sabbath (Gen 2.1-3). This means that, for us human beings, our first full day on earth was a day of rest!

This is reflected in the fact that for centuries Christians have, until relatively recently, regarded its day of rest (Sunday) as the first day of the week. The custom embodied the notion that, given the six days of demanding work that are awaiting us, we need to begin the week with one full day of rest. 

We see the principle of working from rest in the life of Jesus. The gospel writers often show him withdrawing to find solitude before intense periods of ministry (eg Mk 1.35). He urges his disciples to do the same, on one occasion before they find themselves involved in a major food distribution operation to feed a crowd of five thousand people (Mk 6.31-32)!

All this could sound like the basis for some sage advice to 'come apart before you call apart'. But the bible does not stop there. As you will see if you track with us throughout 2023-24, it puts rest at the centre of the gospel. The bible presents rest as the reason why the gospel is good news. It shows that, at the heart of God's offer of salvation in and through Jesus Christ, is the offer of rest.

As we embark on this journey, consider where we are starting off from: rising levels of stress-related mental health issues; anxiety about the future; neglected children and old people; burnout. Could it be that we have ignored God's gift of rest?

Join us as we explore all this. Discover the role that rest plays in making us more productive. At our Faith in Business Monthly webinars we will unpack our theme via the following topics:

• Resilience: God’s Unique Gift
• Reprioritisation: Assessing our Values
• Resistance: Reclaiming our Time
• Reimagination: Finding our Sacred Spaces
• Renewal: Healing our Relationships
• Redemption: Integrating Faith and Work

2023 / 24 Theme Partners

We are delighted that Stewardship and the Mockler Center for Faith and Ethics in the Public Square are our 2023 / 24 Theme Partners.

They will be providing speakers to many of our Faith in Business Monthly online seminars and at our retreat. Together with Faith in Business, both organizations are thought leaders. Stewardship will mainly help provide first-hand business leadership and experience, whilst Mockler Center will mainly provide academic insight on sabbath and work, based on research they plan to publish as a book.