Church on Sunday, Work on Monday: The Challenge of Fusing Christian Values with Business Life

Church on Sunday, Work on Monday, Laura Nash and Scotty McLennan's guide to negotiating spiritual and economic priorities, can help corporations, churches, and seminaries tackle a difficult project. The authors' goal is to improve communication between the worlds of church and business. Much of their book, drawing on extensive research including case studies and interviews, defines the obstacles to such communication: liberal church leaders are dismissive of capitalism, conservative church leaders are overly indulgent of it, and business leaders are put off by both of these unsophisticated economic perspectives. Nash and McLennan offer questions for "Reflection" and "Action" at the end of each chapter, and they provide a few general suggestions, particularly for churches and seminaries, that might improve communication between the two worlds. The book devotes most of its energy to diagnosis, however. The prescription is yet to come.

According to McLennan (author of Finding Your Religion and inspiration for Doonesbury's Rev. Scott Sloan) and Nash, the church manages to support and nurture its people through birth, marriage and death; when it comes to helping Christians make sense of the day-to-day grind of the business world, however, churches are too often silent. It is vital for the future of the church, and for the well-being of Christian business-folk, that churches and parishioners find a way to talk meaningfully about the connections between faith and work. Clergy in particular will value this book, which is filled with tips to help them minister more effectively to the businesspeople in their midst. For example, the authors suggest that seminaries should offer more "exposure to the character of the businessperson," and that clergy should attend the occasional business seminar. This would have been a stronger book if the authors had restrained themselves from stuffing it with familiar but uninspired self-help suggestions for "reflection" and "action" at the end of each chapter, or cutesy mnemonics like "the four P's." It is hardly the final word on the subject; its riveting descriptions of the glaring gulch between church and business are more compelling than its attempts at bridging that gulch, making this more "wakeup call" than solution. Still, McLennan and Nash have made a valuable contribution to the growing conversation about church-life integration, and clergy especially shouldn't miss this book.

This book provides the reader with the logic and the tools for building a sound bridge connecting individual faith and workplace conduct.

Nash and McLennan raise critical issues of Christian ethics and the daily realities of business life in a manner designed to encourage honest thought and dialogue. Their practical reflection and action ideas will be helpful to congregations who really want to start talking about the business of faith.

This empirical study of the intersection of spirituality and economic life reveals that many business leaders draw from their faith at work to help forge a new ethic for business life today.

For anyone interested in advancing spirituality in business and yet concerned that it might do more harm than good, this book is a must read. It states the issues well and offers a way through that is a win-win for all concerned.

This is a very important discussion of the relation between business and religion in contemporary America. It should be required reading, especially for business people worried about the Church and Church people worried about business.

Nash and McLennan unlock the door between Christian beliefs and the day-to-day realities of the business world. This book is must reading for Christians working in the private sector and the clergy struggling to effectively minister to them

Extremely useful in breaking down the walls between business and religion, and will be equally valuable to religious and business leaders alike.

Laura Nash shares her unparalleled depth of insight about why the Christian faith is failing to engage the core activities of the business enterprise. No one can make any real progress until they come to grips with the realities she and Scotty McLennan so fluently explore. Read it-whatever your perspective about faith and business.

Manna from heaven! Nash and McLennan couple empirical evidence with personal anecdotes to articulate and analyze the nature of the divide that many people of faith find between their Sunday worship and their Monday work. This is must-read for clergy who take their congregation's work seriously, and for lay people who take their worship seriously.

This is a much needed and important book. In an area that has been shockingly devoid of empirical research, Nash and McLennan add to our knowledge of one of the most important aspects of life. They are to be strongly applauded.

The line between the sacred and the secular often separates the thinking and understanding among Christian leaders and leaders in business who are also Christian. The essence of the faith requires integration in all areas of life, so why isn't there more common ground? This book represents a careful study and review of this question. It is a must read for those who are serious about teaching and living their faith.

A bold book with a clear wake-up call and to businesspeople and churchgoers to cease seeing one another as incompatible adversaries and begin to recognize that, as a source of strength and perspective, religion offers businesspeople a foundation on which to take risks and do good work. And business offers an opportunity for people of faith to let their beliefs drive their behavior and accountability in the workplace. Laura Nash and Scott McLennan use stories of real people to ground their book. The result is an heartening, indispensable guide for anyone making critical decisions in business today.

With incisive intelligence, Laura Nash and Scotty McLennan lift the curtain on the mistrust, even hostility, between the church and business. A groundbreaking book.

This book's particularly thoughtful analysis comes at a crucial time— when more business people are seeking deeper spiritual understandings and commitments and also when churches are seeking to engage the challenging problems of our communities that business people are well equipped to help resolve.