An Evangelical Group’s Experience of Australian Secular Workplaces

Authors

  • Ian Hussey Malyon Theological College

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/jasr.27033

Keywords:

evangelicalism, workplace experience, qualitative description

Abstract

This study employed the Qualitative Description methodology to investigate how a sub-group of Australian evangelicals associated with the City Bible Forum navigate their secular workplaces utilizing an anonymous online survey, discussion groups, and interviews. Compared to broader Christian samples, participants demonstrated greater faith–work integration. They were more likely to perceive colleagues as bearing God’s image and to display greater work diligence than other Australian Christians. However, they placed less emphasis on workplace creativity and deriving personal worth from their work. Their theological outlook centred on serving the Lord, ethical conduct, caring for colleagues, and witnessing. Yet, references to the creational mandate and sensing God’s presence in work were infrequent. These evangelicals found their workplaces both strengthening and challenging due to LGBTQIA+ initiatives in their organizations. Although faith-based persecution or micro-aggressions were rare, the study affirmed Paul Bramadat’s (2000) bridging and fortressing strategies. Christian Smith’s (2002) and Michael Lindsay and Bradley Smith’s (2010) work further interpreted the 
qualitative description.

References

Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Greater Sydney 2021 Census All Persons QuickStats. Online: https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/1GSYD (accessed 28 July 2022).

Australian Bureau of Statistics 2022 Religious Affiliation in Australia: Exploration of the Changes in Reported Religion in the Census. Online: https://www.abs.gov.au/articles/religious-affiliation-australia (accessed 2 August 2022).

Barker, Renae 2015 Is Australia a Secular Country? It Depends What You Mean. The Conversation. Online: http://theconversation.com/is-australia-a-secular-country-it-depends-what-you-mean-38222 (accessed 28 July 2022).

Bebbington, David W. 2003 Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s. London/New York: Routledge.

Bramadat, Paul 2000 The Church on the World’s Turf: An Evangelical Christian Group at a Secular University. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Calhoun, Craig, Mark Juergensmeyer and Jonathan VanAntwerpen 2011 Introduction. In Rethinking Secularism, edited by Craig Calhoun, Mark Juergensmeyer and Jonathan VanAntwerpen, 3–30. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Danckert, Sarah 2022 Andrew Thorburn to Step Down from All Board Roles. The Sydney Morning Herald, 16 December.

Halafoff, Anna, Andrew Singleton and Ruth Fitzpatrick 2023 Spiritual Complexity in Australia: Wellbeing and Risks. Social Compass 70(2).

Hollier, Joel 2023 Spiritual Identity Reconstruction among Australian LGBTQA+ Christians from Evangelical Traditions. Journal for the Academic Study of Religion 36(1): 58–75. https://doi.org/10.1558/jasr.21044

Imtoual, Alia 2006 ‘I didn’t know if it was illegal for her to talk about my religion in a job interview’: Young Muslim Women’s Experiences of Religious Racism in Australia. Journal for the Academic Study of Religion 19(2): 189–206. https://doi.org/10.1558/jasr.v19i2.189

Jennings, Mark 2023 Adiaphora: The Israel Folau Case, Heterodoxy and ‘Orthodox Sexual Desire’ in Conservative Australian Christianity. Journal for the Academic Study of Religion 36(1): 76–98. https://doi.org/10.1558/jasr.22486

Lindsay, D. Michael, and Bradley C. Smith 2010 Accounting by Faith: The Negotiated Logic of Elite Evangelicals’ Workplace Decision-making. Journal of the American Academy of Religion 78(3): 721–49. https://doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/lfq034

Lynn, Monty L., Michael J. Naughton and Steve VanderVeen 2009 Faith at Work Scale (FWS): Justification, Development, and Validation of a Measure of Judaeo-Christian Religion in the Workplace. Journal of Business Ethics 85(2): 227–43. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-008-9767-3

Martin, Kara 2017 Workship: How to Use Your Work to Worship God. Singapore: Graceworks.

McAlpine, Stephen 2021 Being the Bad Guys: How to Live for Jesus in a World That Says You Shouldn’t [Electronic resource]. Sydney: The Good Book Company.

McCrindle, Mark, and Sophie Renton 2021 Australia’s Spiritual Climate: Church, State and the Australian Community. Sydney: McCrindle Research.

McLeay, Angus, Elenie Poulos and Louise Richardson-Self 2023 The Shifting Christian Right Discourse on Religious Freedom in Australia. Politics and Religion 16: 197–218. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755048322000414

Messenger, William, and Theology of Work Project 2014 Theology of Work Bible Commentary. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson.

Miller, David W. 2007 God at Work: The History and Promise of the Faith at Work Movement. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Neergaard, Mette Asbjoern, Frede Olesen, Rikke Sand Andersen and Jens Sondergaard 2009 Qualitative Description – the Poor Cousin of Health Research? BMC Medical Research Methodology 9: Article 52: 1–5.

Nelson, Tom 2014 Who’s Serving Whom? Christianity Today, Pastor, 35, Spring: 68–71.

Pepper, Miriam 2018 Faith and Work in the Australian Churches. Presentation to Faith and Work Network Gathering, 24 October 2018. Sydney: NCLS Research.

Piggin, Stuart 1996 Evangelical Christianity in Australia: Spirit, Word and World. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Powell du Toit, Megan 2023 Stanley J. Grenz and Evangelicalism: Tensions, Purpose, and Future. PhD diss., University of Divinity, Melbourne.

Raue, Ben 2018 How Marriage Equality was Won – the Demographics of Yes and No. Online: https://www.tallyroom.com.au/35873 (accessed 10 November 2023).

Schneider, Rachel C., Deidra Carroll Coleman, Elaine Howard Ecklund and Denise Daniels 2022 How Religious Discrimination is Perceived in the Workplace: Expanding the View. Socius 8: 1–14.

Seixas, Brayan V., Neale Smith and Craig Mitton 2018 The Qualitative Descriptive Approach in International Comparative Studies: Using Online Qualitative Surveys. International Journal of Health Policy Management 7(9): 778–81. https://doi.org/10.15171/ijhpm.2017.142

Sherman, Amy L. 2011 Kingdom Calling: Vocational Stewardship for the Common Good. Downers Grove, IL: IVP.

Shutt, Casey 2011 When Sunday Meets Monday: American Evangelicals, their Gospel, and the Workplace. PhD diss., Durham University.

Smith, Christian 2002 Christian America? What Evangelicals Really Want. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Smith, David T. 2021 No Longer a ‘Christian Nation’: Why Australia’s Christian Right Loses Policy Battles Even When It Wins Elections. Religion, State & Society 49(3): 231–47. https://doi.org/10.1080/09637494.2021.1946344

Stanley, Brian 2013 The Global Diffusion of Evangelicalism: The Age of Billy Graham and John Stott. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic.

Taylor, Charles 2007 A Secular Age. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Turnbull, Richard 2019 Work as Enterprise: Recovering a Theology of Work. Oxford: Centre for Enterprise, Markets and Ethics.

Weng, Enqi, and Anna Halafoff 2020 Media Representations of Religion, Spirituality and Non-religion in Australia. Religions 11(7): Article 332: 1–15. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel11070332

Wuthnow, Robert 1989 The Struggle for America’s Soul: Evangelicals, Liberals, and Secularism. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.

Zimmerman, Augusto 2019 Australia. It’s Time We Stand up Against the Growing Persecution of Christians in

Online: https://www.theepochtimes.com/its-time-we-stand-up-against-the-growing-persecution-of-christians-in-australia_2907360.html (accessed 27 July 2023).

Published

2024-03-26

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Hussey, I. (2024). An Evangelical Group’s Experience of Australian Secular Workplaces. Journal for the Academic Study of Religion, 36(3), 317–344. https://doi.org/10.1558/jasr.27033