Seven years after the launch of a Project many deemed too complex, too expensive, too controversial and too ambitious, a group of stalwart volunteers representing widely diverse Christian backgrounds will celebrate the conclusion of the Theology of Work Projectâ??s major initiative: Construction of a framework for understanding Godâ??s view of vocation and labor, populated with commentaries on the subjects from each book of the Bible.

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The barriers were enormous and the labor tedious and time-consuming. No project of its kind had ever been attempted in the free-market, competitive mindset of workfaith ministries, and certainly not one with such an ambitious goal, requiring almost $1.6 million in funds. In addition to nominations for the Steering Committee, Christianityâ??s leaders also submitted hundreds of questions they hoped could be answered by a Theology of Work Projectâ??s research teams. These questions were divided into roughly twenty key topics or categories, and research teams were assigned to most of them.

Still, in January, 2007, almost twenty representatives from the body of Christ from across the denominational, worldview and geographic spectrum met to map out a strategy. Housed at conference facilities on the Atlantic Ocean in Gloucester, Massachusetts, the team would stretch and watch giant ships cross the horizon or to glimpse the twin lighthouses off the coast. Selected by Cheryl Kilgore from Desired Haven Ministries/Madetomatter.org, the site was chosen, in part, so the team members could be reminded God is bigger than any barrier they might face. With a keynote speech by Randy Kilgore, also from Desired Haven/Madetomatter, on the history of workfaith efforts in America, the group elected Dr. Haddon Robinson as its first President. Cheryl Kilgore was asked to continue serving as the Project Manager for what would be known as the Theology of Work Project, and Haddon asked William Messenger to tackle the duties of Executive Editor, a role he had also been serving in during the projectâ??s early days.

Haddonâ??s prayer that first day, and each meeting day thereafter, was that God would bless us if we were doing work that honored Him, and that He would give us the wisdom to stop if we were not honoring Him. Dozens of researchers worked thousands of hours studying, drafting, reviewing, and editing hundreds of thousands of words and ideas at a cost of nearly $1.8 million dollars to produce a theology available at no cost to millions of workers worldwide. (Return to Turning a New Corner)