Greg Forster
A new school year is upon us, with new students and new opportunities. We’ve got lots of new things going on in the Oikonomia Network as well, as we continue to expand our enterprise and bring the gospel to bear on the world of daily work, for the sake of our people and our culture.
New ON Intro: Check out our front page for a new video that boils down the whole oikonomia concept and introduces our exciting work in under two minutes. The video even settles the most divisive issue of all: Is it “Oi-ko-no-MIA” or “Oi-ko-NO-mia?” Never let anyone say we shy away from the tough questions! Share this with peers and community members who are wondering what ON is all about. (Don’t forget to share our video featuring faculty leaders as well.)
New ON Data: Our network continues to reach thousands of current and future pastors, equipping and energizing them for the task of leading God’s people in the world of work. In the winter/spring semester of 2014, we set an all-time ON record for student attendance at extracurricular events!
Winter/Spring 2014
Classes 40
Students 772
Extracurricular 68
Students 3,672
The statistically minded can compare these with our 2012 and 2013 data. Curricular integration continues to be our key challenge in the year ahead. Speaking of which…
New Feature: Starting this month, each edition of our newsletter will highlight one or more of the “helpful models” identified by the ON advisory committee. This month we’re featuring the church-based entrepreneurship course led by David Gill at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Over the course of the year, we’ll have a chance to review quite a few of the 34 models. The committee is also working to develop next steps to better equip ON faculty for curricular integration.
New Partner Newsletter: The Faith and Work Channel of the Patheos website now has an email newsletter, providing a digest of the excellent faith and work content featured on the channel. You can read stories like “Forgive Me for My Robot Has Sinned,” scholarship on work in the Bible from the Theology of Work Project, Steve Garber’s Visions of Vocation blog, and even a meditation on why some people would rather endure electric shocks than think. The ON is a partner in the channel and several of our newsletter articles have been noted there, along with some of my posts for Made to Flourish.
We think if you like the ON newsletter, you’ll like the Faith and Work Channel’s newsletter, too. So later this month we’re going to sign up our ON newsletter recipients to get both newsletters. If you want to opt out, just drop me a line at info@oikonomianetwork.org and let me know.
May the Lord bless and strengthen you for a new year of our wonderful work together, preparing the next generation of leaders to help God’s people live the adventure of following God all day, every day!