OUR JOURNEY
Towards a Holistic WholeLife Church
The Vocation@Work (VW) Story
The year 2022 marks the inception of a transformative journey for Christ Lutheran Church (CLC) as we embark on a groundbreaking church model, the WholeLife Church, reshaping our understanding of what it means to be a church. The concept had long been brewing in my mind since joining CLC, but it wasn't until late 2021, with the conclusion of our previous strategy, "Towards Greatness," that the journey truly began. As we chart a course for the future, questions abound: What is God's direction for us in the next five years? What should our strategy entail? What methodologies should we adopt for church growth? These inquiries led us to reevaluate our vocations, ministries, and the purpose of the church, ultimately leading to the concept of the holistic WholeLife Church.
Our quest for a holistic church growth model that encompasses all aspects of life's relationships has been ongoing. We aim to develop a contextualized model that enables us to live out a holistic life through our faith, making our work and church relevant to our vocations. We've started viewing church beyond Sunday, recognizing that it includes the work we do from Monday to Saturday. This integration of work and faith gave rise to Vocation@Work CLC and set us on a path to defining the concept of the WholeLife Church.
Through this model, we envision the formation of one holistic life where work and faith are integrated to address the fragmentation between faith and work. The need for such integration became apparent as we developed the core strategy of the church, acknowledging the connection between work and faith, a connection we had previously overlooked. We realized the fragmentation in our faith life when the church focused solely on spirituality within its ministries and confines, a crisis not unique to our church but shared by many others. We recognized that growth strategies solely centered on expanding church ministries through programs and activities were insufficient. We needed to address the compartmentalized lifestyles that left us disengaged from the world's realities and challenges.
Thus, we began crafting a unique model that integrates faith and work, understanding its benefits for individuals and the church. This model demanded a completely new approach to church, where the totality of our faith must be lived out in the community, with, and for God. Within the discipleship model of the church, work and faith integration became a foundational structure of our discipleship module.
As we embarked on and continue to refine the model, we have gained a deeper understanding of its effectiveness and its potential to enhance church engagement and foster growth. We define the WholeLife Church as a church that transcends Sunday, a congregation gathered on Sunday that extends its reach to the dispersed church in the workplace from Monday to Saturday, breaking down the barrier between Sunday faith and Monday work.
This integration is facilitated through a Discipleship Development Program, where we learn and experience work-life through the integration of work and faith modules. To ensure the model's sustainability, we are cultivating an integration culture and mindset within CLC, fostering purposeful and intentional engagement in this journey.
The learning component consists of three discipleship modules (VW Discipleship) and an experiential component designed to bring God's presence to our workplace through intentional church activities, enhancing the theoretical aspect of the model (referred to as VW Physical Enhancement) and digitalizing the integration (VW Digital).
The integration process is guided by a strategic intent, employing a set of questioning techniques to ensure alignment with our purpose and methodology while upholding a sound theological and biblical framework of work and vocation. We owe much of this framework to the teachings of the reformers on vocation and work, which shape the core theological foundation of our work and faith integration model.
Therefore, our proposition for our five-year plan is to develop a simple model that engages work life and faith, as we believe that when our work life is engaged, the church will thrive, because our work matters to God, and God matters to our work, thus making our work the work of God in serving, caring, and giving purpose to the world.
e year 2022 marks the inception of a transformative journey for Christ Lutheran Church (CLC) as we embark on a groundbreaking church model, the WholeLife Church, reshaping our understanding of what it means to be a church. The concept had long been brewing in my mind since joining CLC, but it wasn't until late 2021, with the conclusion of our previous strategy, "Towards Greatness," that the journey truly began. As we chart a course for the future, questions abound: What is God's direction for us in the next five years? What should our strategy entail? What methodologies should we adopt for church growth? These inquiries led us to reevaluate our vocations, ministries, and the purpose of the church, ultimately leading to the concept of the holistic WholeLife Church.
Our quest for a holistic church growth model that encompasses all aspects of life's relationships has been ongoing. We aim to develop a contextualized model that enables us to live out a holistic life through our faith, making our work and church relevant to our vocations. We've started viewing church beyond Sunday, recognizing that it includes the work we do from Monday to Saturday. This integration of work and faith gave rise to Vocation@Work CLC and set us on a path to defining the concept of the WholeLife Church.
Through this model, we envision the formation of one holistic life where work and faith are integrated to address the fragmentation between faith and work. The need for such integration became apparent as we developed the core strategy of the church, acknowledging the connection between work and faith, a connection we had previously overlooked. We realized the fragmentation in our faith life when the church focused solely on spirituality within its ministries and confines, a crisis not unique to our church but shared by many others. We recognized that growth strategies solely centered on expanding church ministries through programs and activities were insufficient. We needed to address the compartmentalized lifestyles that left us disengaged from the world's realities and challenges.
Thus, we began crafting a unique model that integrates faith and work, understanding its benefits for individuals and the church. This model demanded a completely new approach to church, where the totality of our faith must be lived out in the community, with, and for God. Within the discipleship model of the church, work and faith integration became a foundational structure of our discipleship module.
As we embarked on and continue to refine the model, we have gained a deeper understanding of its effectiveness and its potential to enhance church engagement and foster growth. We define the WholeLife Church as a church that transcends Sunday, a congregation gathered on Sunday that extends its reach to the dispersed church in the workplace from Monday to Saturday, breaking down the barrier between Sunday faith and Monday work.
This integration is facilitated through a Discipleship Development Program, where we learn and experience work-life through the integration of work and faith modules. To ensure the model's sustainability, we are cultivating an integration culture and mindset within CLC, fostering purposeful and intentional engagement in this journey.
The learning component consists of three discipleship modules (VW Discipleship) and an experiential component designed to bring God's presence to our workplace through intentional church activities, enhancing the theoretical aspect of the model (referred to as VW Physical Enhancement) and digitalizing the integration (VW Digital).
The integration process is guided by a strategic intent, employing a set of questioning techniques to ensure alignment with our purpose and methodology while upholding a sound theological and biblical framework of work and vocation. We owe much of this framework to the teachings of the reformers on vocation and work, which shape the core theological foundation of our work and faith integration model.
Therefore, our proposition for our five-year plan is to develop a simple model that engages work life and faith, as we believe that when our work life is engaged, the church will thrive, because our work matters to God, and God matters to our work, thus making our work the work of God in serving, caring, and giving purpose to the world.