The role of organisational support is crucial to the success or failure of a Christian workplace fellowship.
This blog looks into the two sides of the coin; support from the organisation to the fellowship group and the responsibility of the fellowship group towards the organisation.
The discussion is from the United Kingdom workplace perspective and may not apply to other parts of the world where freedom of faith and religion is not enshrined in law.
But even in the United Kingdom, we are experiencing more and more religious restrictions due to the increase in secularism and the campaign of certain pressure groups who want to take religion and expression of faith out of public life.
Interestingly, many studies have shown that employers who cultivate a diverse and inclusive workplace are likely to benefit from a motivated and engaged workforce. This means diversity and inclusion can have a direct positive impact on an organisation’s success. This impact cuts across all diverse characteristics such as age, gender, race as well as a religious belief.
The fact is that religion and faith continue to be a huge part of many people’s lives. Most would like to share their religious experiences with their colleagues the same way they share other aspects of their life.
We must not take it for granted that we have laws in the United Kingdom that protect the rights of employees with (or without) religious faith to manifest their beliefs in the workplace.
The Equality Act 2010 protects employees from discrimination, victimisation, and harassment. The European Convention on Human Rights guarantees freedom of thought, conscience, and religion (Article 9), freedom of expression (Article 10), as well as the right to freedom of association (Article 11). These laws have been robustly protected by the European Court of Human Rights, protecting the rights of Christians (and others) to manifest their faith in public, including at work.
Based on the above, no employer should be forcing an employee into a situation where they have to choose between their faith and their job. Employers should rather look to combat any animosity against all faiths by ensuring that employee training instils respect for all colleagues – regardless of their religious beliefs.
You can read more about Christian employee rights at ‘An Employer’s Guide to Christian Belief: Christianity in the workplace’ https://lawcf.org/resources/christianity-in-the-workplace
PARTNERSHIP APPROACH TO ORGANISATIONAL SUPPORT
We have previously shown how God, Adam, and Jesus Christ all worked in partnership with others to bring their creations to life. The same is true for us, as we must learn to create in a community to accomplish the work God created us to do. To do this, we must be open-minded to see the partners God had already positioned to help us in the creative assignment He gave us. You can review the role of partnership as a principle of work at https://fmministry.co.uk/principles-of-work-partnership
There are roles and responsibilities for the Christian workplace fellowship and the parent organisation in maintaining a partnership win-win relationship.
The concept of a Christian workplace fellowship is that the association should be open to everyone in the workplace. The aim is to support the members in maintaining their spiritual well-being in the workplace, thereby contributing to the advancement of the organisation.
The Christian fellowship should reflect the organisation and have representation from the staff at all levels, and from all the diverse groups in the organisation. The group should also work at inclusiveness of the different Christian denominations and backgrounds. It should serve both individuals and the organisation in prayer and all practical ways possible. Outreach of the Gospel and the goodness thereof should then flow from individuals in the fellowship to other members of the organisation and ultimately to the community served.
To fulfil the above, a Christian workplace fellowship should seek recognition by the parent organisation rather than assuming the right of association. Gaining recognition should not be difficult as most organisations will be reasonably accommodating once they recognise the positive contributions that can be gained from a Christian workplace group.
The Christian fellowship should be prepared for the demand of openness from the organisation as the group should not be seen to exclude other employees. They should also expect that whatever is done for the Christian fellowship can be demanded by any other faith organisation in the workplace. This may be a turn-off for the organisation if there are many competing faith organisations in need of support.
To reduce the demand factor, the workplace Christian fellowship should make every effort to limit their activities to their staffing entitlement for breaks. Most full-time employees are entitled to a one-hour lunch break and this should be sufficient to hold a fellowship meeting. The main request from the organisation should therefore be about the provision of a venue or an online facility for the meeting to take place. That can also be limited to once a week.
You can read more about the vision of a Christian Workplace Group and the need for inclusiveness from Transform Work UK at https://www.transformworkuk.org/
THE ROLE OF ORGANISATIONAL SUPPORT – WISDOM IN RELATIONSHIP
As far as Christian workplace group is concerned, the parent organisation should be a partner in advancing Christian ministry in the workplace. However, Christians and workplace Christian groups must deal with their employers with Godly wisdom.
Jesus’s example of how to deal with governing organisations can be extracted from how He related and taught His disciples. We can take a couple of examples from the Bible:
- Mark 12:17 Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”
Jesus used the example of tax payment to illustrate that His followers must obey governing authorities. The application of this in the workplace is that followers of Jesus must obey the rules in their organisation. This means for example that we must not use the organisational time to do religious activities. We cannot extend our entitled lunch breaks without permission and when we do, we must put back any time owed. But this does not mean we should compromise our faith and we must refuse to negotiate with sin.
- Matthew 10:16 “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves’’.
Jesus warned His disciples (us) as He sends us out into the world. We must take note that there are ‘wolves’ out there who would like to tear us into pieces if we give them the opportunity. Nevertheless, we should keep an open mind, be nice and be at peace with everyone in as far as it is up to us. We must operate offensively with gentleness and a pure heart. And we must do everything with wisdom. The Holy Spirit is always available to guide us so we should ask, listen and take His advice. We should also take courage in knowing that as long as we are in Jesus, we will be victorious in the end.
Our default position should be like that of Daniel and his friends who opted to be thrown into the furnace than bow to an idol. Although they trusted their God to rescue them, their statement was ”But even if He does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up” (Daniel 3:18).
I hope you have benefited from reading this blog and if so, please share with others. Please also continue to send your feedback and comments to hello@fmministry.co.uk or use the comment box below. Next time we will look at another factor that can promote an effective workplace Christian fellowship.
Please note that Fishers of Men Ministry is interested in offering support and encouragement to individuals and workplace fellowship groups so please drop us an email if you need advice or support in the area. You can also check out our website to see how you can get involved in this work https://fmministry.co.uk/getting-involved
God bless you and let us keep growing in the image of our Lord Jesus Christ
Adesina
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