Stewardship is delighted to announce its new partnership with Christian network Faith in Business, joining Gordon-Conwell Institute’s Mockler Center For Faith and Ethics in the Public Square as a 2023-24 Theme Partner.
Working from rest
The theme for the Faith in Business Cambridge 2024 Leadership Retreat, which takes place on 26-27 April in Cambridge, is ‘Being Productive - Working from Rest’.
The Bible puts rest at the centre of the Gospel. It 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 deep rest. Appreciating this gift of rest in Christ releases and energises us to be productive in all spheres of our life.
Faith in Business is examining this biblical principle of rest and its implications for business people through the year at its Faith in Business monthly webinars, culminating in a weekend of rest and fellowship at the 2024 Cambridge Leadership Retreat. Faith in Business Director, Peter Heslam, explained the choice of this year’s theme, “At the start of Genesis, God's first command to humans is to work (Genesis 1.28). Yet immediately after this, on the seventh day, God rested and instituted the Sabbath (Genesis 2.1-3). This means that, for us human beings, our first full day on earth was a day of rest!
Yet in society today, we see 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?”
Rest helps us to steward our resources well
Stewardship Chair of Trustees, Chris Gillies, added, “Stewardship’s work supporting donors, churches and charity partners means it is experienced in the challenges of what it means to be a good steward. In the midst of the pressures of 21st century life, facing the reality that everyone has the same number of hours in each week, the importance of working out of rest, being generous with our time, and stewarding our time well cannot be overstated. Stewardship is therefore delighted to be one of Faith in Business’ Theme Partners, and to be providing a number of business leaders to speak at Faith in Business events on this theme.”
Following Jesus' example of rest
Ken Barnes, Director of the Mockler Center for Faith and Ethics in the Public Square, further commented: “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 (for example: Mark 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 (Mark 6.31-32)! At the Mockler Center, we have been researching Sabbath and work in a new book that will be published in 2024. Ahead of this launch, at each Faith in Business monthly webinar we shall be previewing each of the topics in the book, to show the role that rest plays in making us more productive."
Faith in Business also announced that, as a result of the Stewardship and Mockler Center sponsorship, it is able to provide bursaries to help people attend the Leadership Retreat.
The Faith in Business Retreat
Further information about the theme and retreat, together with a link to their book, is available on the Faith in Business website.
Photo by Andrej Lišakov on Unsplash.
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Ruth Jackson
Ruth is leading the PR and Communications for Stewardship. She joined Stewardship in April 2022.
She has over 25 years’ marketing communications experience across a range of sectors, including higher education, technology and the arts, both business- and customer-facing.
Ruth worships at C3 Church in Cambridge, where she lives with her husband and two teenage daughters. When she’s not at her desk, you might find her rowing on the River Cam, in a ballet class or out for a walk.
She supports causes that are focused on alleviating global poverty and injustice, with a particular interest in supporting vulnerable children.
