Oikonomia Network

Theology that Works

Preparing church leaders as disciples who disciple others for a whole life’s work in God’s kingdom and world

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Karam Forum: Rising to the Challenge with Hope, Vision and Wisdom

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Note: Karam Forum isn’t the only digital opportunity for ON collaboration! Here’s a quick reminder of an opportunity we shared last month: Register today to join Scott Cormode, author of The Innovative Church, and Michaela O’Donnell Long for a webinar on how churches can transform their approach to vocation to connect with the rapidly changing needs of the world […]

Flourishing and Justice as “Subduing” the Earth

byJ. Michael Thigpen, provost and professor of Old Testament, Phoenix Seminary

Note: The new book Human Flourishing: Economic Wisdom for a Fruitful Christian Vision of the Good Life publishes papers delivered at colloquia that were held by the Oikonomia Network in 2019. This innovative, cross-disciplinary scholarly collaboration is now available in an inexpensive paperback. This is an excerpt from a chapter in the book; footnotes have […]

Living Faithfully in a World of Difference

byTimothy Keller, founder, Redeemer Presbyterian Church; and John Inazu, Sally D. Danforth Distinguished Professor of Law and Religion, Washington University in St. Louis

Note: Adapted from the authors’ new book, Uncommon Ground: Living Faithfully in a World of Difference. This book’s central question is how Christians can engage with those around us, while both respecting people whose beliefs differ from our own and maintaining our gospel confidence. We want to provide a Christian response to the reality of […]

Classic EWP Talk: Pastoral Leadership for Flourishing Communities

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We’re all struggling with pandemic-adapted classrooms. An invaluable tool to help you adapt your classes for the new pedagogical reality is our library of Economic Wisdom Project Talks. To avoid losing students to “Zoom fatigue” in your digital or blended class, a key best practice is to switch teaching modes at least every 20 minutes. […]

Seminary Spotlight: Western Seminary

byAdam Christian, director of operations, and Bert Downs, leadership development specialist, Center for Leadership Development

In this seminary spotlight, we highlight Western Seminary’s Center for Leadership Development. The CLD is a part of our institution specifically aimed at equipping men and women to thrive as Christians in their workplaces, whether they work in church ministry or elsewhere. A growing library of non-credit resources is available to help train individuals and […]

Seminary Spotlight: Denver Seminary

byDon Payne, associate professor of theology

Note: This article spotlights work at Denver Seminary, where three faculty members are individual faculty partners of the Oikonomia Network. Appropriately for the new pandemic reality, this update comes to you via video. A transcript, with links to the resources discussed in the video, is provided below. Hi there, and greetings from Denver Seminary. My name is […]

Karam Forum 2021 Digital Event on January 5

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It’s been a crazy year, and you’ve been waiting patiently for word on our annual Karam Forum event. We didn’t want to make any hasty decisions, or make announcements when we weren’t yet sure what we were doing. But we’ve been working behind the scenes to craft the best plan to serve you well. Karam […]

Human Flourishing: Scholarly Collaboration from the ON

byGreg Forster, director of the Oikonomia Network, and Anthony Cross, adjunct supervisor, International Baptist Theological Study Center

Note: The new book Human Flourishing: Economic Wisdom for a Fruitful Christian Vision of the Good Life publishes papers delivered at colloquia that were held by the Oikonomia Network in 2019. This innovative, cross-disciplinary scholarly collaboration is now available in an inexpensive paperback. This book is a step forward for an urgent conversation in theology. […]

Innovative Church: Book and Webinar

byScott Cormode, Hugh De Pree Professor of Leadership Development, Fuller Theological Seminary

Note: Register today to join Scott Cormode, author of The Innovative Church, and Michaela O’Donnell Long for a webinar on how churches can transform their approach to vocation to connect with the rapidly changing needs of the world around us. The Innovative Church is the fruit of five years of innovation work with hundreds of […]

Workplace Discipleship: A Biblical Case for Partnership and Teams

byDavid Gill, workplace discipleship coach, First Covenant Church

Note: Excerpt from Workplace Discipleship 101: A Primer by David W. Gill, copyright 2020 by Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, Massachusetts. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The secular case for teams tends to be pragmatic: teams are embraced because they work and they improve the organization. The biblical case grounds the argument even deeper in our created […]

Seminary Spotlight: Biola University

byScott Rae, dean of the faculty and professor of philosophy and Christian ethics; Helen Mitchell, director, Talbot Center for Faith, Work and Economics; and Matt Williams, professor and chair of New Testament

Note: Appropriately for the new pandemic reality, this spotlight update comes to you via Zoom video. A transcript, with links to the resources discussed in the video, is provided below. Scott Rae: We’re happy to bring you this update from Talbot School of Theology and Biola University in the area of faith, work and economics. […]

Seminary Spotlight: Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

byNathaniel Williams, Intersect Project marketing coordinator

A window cleaner, an associate pastor and an educator would typically have little in common. But they do share one thing: they, like thousands of other believers, have been challenged to integrate their work, culture, faith and concepts of economic wisdom via the resources of the Intersect Project. The Genesis of the Intersect Project Southeastern Baptist […]

Karam Forum: Richard Mouw on Theological Education and the Common Good

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One of the foremost evangelical leaders in building a theology for the common good is Richard Mouw, former president of Fuller Theological Seminary. In a newly-released video of his talk at Karam Forum 2020, Mouw insightfully identifies potential pitfalls among evangelical leaders driving this change, and offers a more integrated way forward in theological education. […]

Compassion and Conviction: Faithful Civic Engagement

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Note: Adapted from Compassion & Conviction: The AND Campaign’s Guide to Faithful Civic Engagement, by Justin Giboney, Michael Wear and Chris Butler. No one makes political decisions from a neutral position. To make a policy decision is to choose certain values and goods over others. Political decisions are inevitably informed by a certain worldview or […]

The Sixth Commandment and American Democracy

byIrwyn Ince, pastor, Grace DC Presbyterian Church

Note: Reprinted from Made to Flourish. In 1958, Martin Luther King, Jr. made the following statement about the Civil Rights Movement: From the beginning a basic philosophy guided the movement. This guiding principle has since been referred to variously as nonviolent resistance, non-cooperation, and passive resistance. But in the first days of the protest none […]