Faith in Business
About Faith in Business
Faith in Business is a feature of theological college life unique to Ridley. It is a project concerned with relating Christian faith to the world of work, notably that of business, and has been in existence since 1989.
It developed out of a twin concern that the concept of lay ministry is too often restricted to what lay people can do for the church (rather than taking in the work which occupies most of their time), and that the church's attitude to business savours too much of indifference, suspicion or hostility.
In contrast, this project is concerned with Faith in Business in a twofold way: affirming the role of business in God's purposes, and exploring the application of Christian faith and values in business. It seeks to encourage lay Christians to be faithful disciples in demanding working contexts and also equips those training at Ridley for ministry with business people.
To further these aims the project undertakes four main activities:
- Research - into the area of business, faith, values and leadership.
- An Annual Conference - which takes place at Ridley over a weekend around Easter. It attracts 35-50 business people, along with a couple of Ridley students who have a particular interest. Recent conferences have covered consultancy, fair trade, the application of the classical virtues to business and globalisation. The most recent, held in Spring 2009, focused on the topic of Entrepreneurship. For more details see the Programme page.
- Workshops - these are one-day workshops with a sharply-focused brief, involving groups of 15-20 people. The most recent in May 2008 explored the topical issue of Social Enterprise.
- The Christian Consultants Group - For 11 years Faith in Business hosted a Christian Consultants Group which met three times a year at Ridley Hall. It had many profitable discussions and produced a series of papers. If you would like to comment on or add to these papers please contact either Richard Higginson (rah41@cam.ac.uk) or Sally Orwin (sallyorwin@mac.com).
Publications - including several books and booklets by the Project Director, along with a major stake in the quarterly journal Faith in Business, published in partnership with the Industrial Christian Fellowship. For more details see www.fibq.org
- Richard Higginson's book Questions of Business Life consists of his considered reflections on all the topical issues on which Faith in Business ran seminars over a period of six years. For more details, click here.
- Speaking Engagements - which the Director, along with close associates of the Project, undertakes in various places round the country and sometimes further afield.
The Director also runs a short end-of-term course on Faith in Business which most students take at some stage of their time in training. His work with the Project takes up about 20% of his time (that proportion of his costs being paid for by the Project rather than the college). Faith in Business is financed by a combination of fee income and donations.
For further information or to be placed on the Faith in Business mailing list, please contact:
Address: |
Revd Dr Richard Higginson |
Telephone: |
+44(0)1223 741074 |
Email: |
rah41@cam.ac.uk |
More about Faith in Business:
Also at Ridley :