WP313 Forum Video Archive

Workplace Ethics | David Gill

CHRISTIANS TYPICALLY ARGUE that ethical standards are not relative and subjective but at a foundational level are absolute. This is all good but we have not done enough to move beyond a dilemma/quandary-oriented, reactive “damage control” ethics to a more biblical, proactive “mission control” ethics. Many Christians add Bible verses but don’t challenge the framework and process. We’ve often failed to get to the missional heart of the matter. WP313 Founder Dr. David W. Gill explores the need to move beyond hard core individualism to a more biblical team approach and beyond an abstract rules-orientation to a more biblical agent/character and corporate/culture approach.

NURSES PLAY WHAT MANY of us believe is the key role in healthcare today. Hands-on, patient bedside caregiver . . . physician’s partner and assistant . . . patient educator and advocate . . . public health advocate . . . it is a huge job. With health care so often now viewed as a for-profit business, the squeeze is on to serve more patients, more efficiently, in less time. New diseases, new medical technology, new political pressures . . . nurses are true heroes for taking all this on. How can the Christian faith bring insight and strength to nursing practice today? Is Jesus’ track record of caring for the sick inspiring and illuminating to nurses?  What can churches and fellow Christians do to encourage and strengthen our nurses today? Is it time to revive the practice of churches having a “parish nurse”?

On June 11 we heard from two talented and experienced nurses. Kathy Leong earned her BS and RN at Cal State University Hayward. She served 27 years at Alta Bates Hospital on the acute surgical floor and since 2014 as School Nurse in the Oakland, San Lorenzo, and Fremont School Districts. Janet Nelson Wray earned her BS in Nursing at the University of Florida, her MS in Nursing at the University of Washington, and her PhD in Psychiatric Nursing at the University of Loyola, Chicago. She now serves as Associate Professor of Nursing at Mt. Joseph University in Cincinnati. She served previously as a nursing faculty member at North Park University (1986-95) and the University of Cincinnati (1998-2018).

OUR APRIL 30TH FORUM focused on “multi-vocational discipleship” with Rev. Dr. Sheila Robinson. Previous WP313 Forums have focused on people called to music, plumbing, medicine, engineering, business consulting, law, manufacturing, corporate leadership, hi-tech, entrepreneurship, and chaplaincy. What would it be like if we were gifted and called to two or more vocations or work specialties at the same time? This is not about being forced to juggle several jobs just to survive (been there!)—it is about choosing and being chosen and called to simultaneously pursue two or more lines of work. It is not about being bi-vocational just until you can drop the second job. By the way, there is no shame in those times when we do have to cobble together an income from two or three jobs; in fact, it is heroic!

The Rev. Dr. Sheila Robinson is one of those exceptional multi-vocational saints: ordained pastor, registered nurse, radio host (Bay Area Gospel Music Academy Hall of Fame), author of several creative books, and mother. Sheila shared how she discerned and pursued those callings, how she balanced their several demands on her time and focus, and her counsel for those of us who may also discern a multi-vocational call on our life. This is going to be interesting!

SOME PEOPLE call it “Christianity in the Marketplace.” At WP313 we call it “Workplace Discipleship.” Denise Lee Yohn calls it Faith and Work Integration. The labels vary, but the central question is always “How does our Christian faith relate to our work lives?” Is the answer the same for all workers—or is it different depending on our job specialty? Is the faith and work journey different for different generations (e.g., Baby Boomers vs Millennials? Gen X vs Gen Z?)? How are forces like globalization, advancing technology, and threatening pandemics changing the faith and work journey?  How can we and our Christian friends best be prepared to make the most of our faith and work journey?

On January 29, our Forum featured Denise Lee Yohn—a keynote speaker, writer, and consultant on brand leadership and Director of the Faith & Work Journey, a spiritual formation and professional development experience. Denise is the author of Fusion: How Integrating Brand and Culture Powers the World's Greatest Companies (Nicholas Brealey, 2018) and What Great Brands Do (Jossey-Bass, 2014). Now she inspires and teaches Christian businesspeople to discover the gospel (“good news”) of work and become faithful stewards of their vocations.

THE WORLD IS WAKING UP to the march on behalf of a much-delayed, much-needed recognition that black lives matter. Black lives matter and are precious to God and need to be treated as such by people everywhere. Much of the public attention is focused, understandably, on policing and on the political and cultural level. At Workplace 313, we call for some serious focus on the workplace in particular. Our forum was led by the Rev. Dr. Gina Casey, who holds degrees from Howard University, American University (MS Info Systems), and both Fuller and Gordon-Conwell Seminaries. Her work experience includes years in government (NASA) and the tech industry (Intel) and as a pastor and chaplain ordained in the AMEZion Church.

COMING OUT OF economic chaos and uncertainty of the pandemic, many if not most of our workplaces are changing. Some are disappearing completely. Searching for and finding work will be a (or “the”) major challenge. For some of us, we will need to think about starting our own new enterprise. Join us for an exciting, inspiring two-hour on-line Forum with five entrepreneurs in different work specialties: Jacqueline Cooper founded Financial Education Associates (2001). Victor Cubi launched Victor for Hire, a handyman business (2013). Calvin Ho is co-founder of Restvo, a “discipleship and mentoring app” (2018). Devin Marks is founding president of Hutchinson, Marks, & Co., a business communications and speech consultancy (2019). Christine Paige is the proprietor of Bliss Hair & Beauty Salon (2015). Their stories and lessons learned show there is hope (as well as hard work) ahead. Moderated by David Gill and Larry Ward, we will hear about entrepreneurial start-up basics and meet these fascinating start-up leaders.

HOW DO THE VISUAL ARTS fit into the Christian faith? Better said, how do they fit into the mission of God in the world? Far too often the arts—and more tragically, the artists—have been ignored (sometimes actively rejected) by the Christian church. But it was God who created a world “pleasing to the eye”—not just “good for food.” It was Jesus who said “consider the lilies of the field and birds of the air”—not just consider the laws and precepts. The Word is foundational but remember: "The Word was made flesh and we beheld his glory.” Our artists today have the incredible “ministry” of bring truth and reality into our image-saturated culture. Join us for an exciting exploration of the interface of art and theology—of the meaning of workplace discipleship for the artist with one of the top creature designers and animal anatomists working in the field today, Terryl Whitlatch—recipient of the 2020 Spectrum Fantastic Art Grandmaster Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sci Fi and Fantasy Illustration.

Terryl was the principal creature designer for Star Wars — the Phantom Menace. She designed most of the alien characters and creatures, from concept to fully realized anatomies and stylizations. Some of the significant characters include Jar-Jar Binx, Sebulba, the pod racers, the undersea monsters of Naboo, and the Naboo Swamp creatures. She also worked closely with George Lucas in the redesign of such pre-existing characters as Jabba the Hutt and the dewbacks.

She also is the creator and illustrator of the following books: The Wildlife of Star Wars: A Field Guide, The Katurran Odyssey, Animals Real and Imagined. Two newer titles, Science of Creature Design and Principles of Creature Design, were released in November 2015.

WP313 VIRTUAL FORUMS 2021

A CONVERSATION WITH TWO of our workplace heroes: Chaplains Gina Casey and Susan Cosio. In the best of times, the work of a chaplain is challenging. This is true for military, corporate, and government chaplains but In today’s health care context the stakes could hardly be higher. Hospital chaplains get to the bedsides of patients, sometimes in their final hours, separated from loved ones by pandemic restrictions. They work with family members of the sick and dying. They encourage and care for staff members and medical personnel, also under increased stress during a pandemic. They work in intimate, vulnerable contact with disease. They play a spiritual and pastoral role with folk of every imaginable religious, social, philosophical, economic, and relational orientation.

THE BENEFITS AND OPPORTUNITIES brought to us through today’s computer technology and the internet are truly amazing. Just imagine the Covid-19 pandemic—as hard as it has been—without being able to connect, communicate, care, learn, and work as we have been able to. But at the same time, the recurring news stories of big data hacks and thefts of peoples’ financial and personal information, the impact of conspiracy theories and lies online, the massive invasion of privacy, the vulnerability to sabotage, fraud, and other mischief online, and even our 24/7 connection (if not addiction) to our computer networks—this is all cause for serious concern and calls for some careful attention. Our Forum was led by Michael McNally, former Chief Scientist at White Ops (now HUMAN). Michael is an experienced director of engineering with a history of working in the internet industry, including thirteen years at Google and just over two years at Facebook—leading anti-fraud, anti-spam, and anti-abuse efforts. He supported researchers working on fact checking, and reducing the viral spread of misinformation and messages that promote violence and hate.

HAVE WE LEARNED ANYTHING in twenty years?  The 2008 Wall Street scandals, especially in the housing market, seemed to say “No.”  And since then?  What are the lessons here for those of us who are both managers and employees—not just in giant companies but organizations of all sizes in all fields?  How can we detect (early!) and root out corruption and wrong-doing?  How can we not just detect and call out the evil but “overcome evil with good” as St. Paul urged. These questions helped frame our Forum discussion with Enron whistleblower Sherron Watkins on June 5, 2021.

IT'S ABOUT SERVING the Lord and serving the people. God brings the rain and—with the help of good plumbers—gets that life essential safely into our homes and workplaces. Water is a precious commodity and good plumbing keeps it from being wasted. Good plumbing also carries away toxic waste. Sounds like a good ministry to me! How can we get more respect for our brothers and sisters in the trades (ministries!) like plumbing and carpentry? How can we encourage more of our young folk (and those needing to find good work) to follow the Lord into these vocations? These ideas (and the ones shared) framed our Forum discussion with Louis Ray on September 25.

BECOMING A PHYSICIAN takes years of rigorous, expensive, demanding study and training. It is usually carried out in high-stress workplaces like hospitals, where peoples’ lives and health are at stake. Doctors often (not always!) get paid a lot but the expenses of education, practice, insurance, equipment, etc., are also massive. The opportunity to do good—and prevent bad—in medicine is big. The risks and rewards are both high. What does Christian faith bring to a physician in his or her practice? What difference does (or could) it make? How could the church best support its doctors and other health care personnel (as well as patients)? These ideas and questions (and ones shared) framed our Forum with Dr. Phil Stillman on October 23, 2021.

ENGINEERS WORK at the heart of our technological civilization, addressing many of the challenges, problems, and opportunities of human existence—with creative design and construction, applying scientific methods to the natural world. What might Christian faith and biblical truth and values mean for engineering practice? Does a Christian bring anything distinctive to engineering ethics and practices? Is there ever a time to say “No” to an engineering project (or company)? Are there arenas or aspects of human life that should resist the engineering mentality as inappropriate or ineffective? These ideas and questions (and the ones shared) framed our Forum discussion with Geotechnical Engineer Alan Kropp on November 20, 2021.