« Family Literacy Day Saturday at Belmont | National Media Spotlights Belmont's Entrepeneurship Program »

Faith at Work In the News

The Tennessean examines the integration of religious faith and the workplace in a story that features a recent half-day seminar at Belmont University. Here's an excerpt of the story:

Faith-and-work programs date to the 1950s, said Michael J. Naughton, theology professor at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis and a speaker at the Belmont program. The movement waned from the 1960s through the 1980s then began to pick up again. Naughton, co-author of Managing As If Faith Mattered: Christian Social Principles in the Modern Organization, has long focused on work-faith issues.

Today's culture ''fosters division between public and private life,'' he said. ''Most of us want unity. Most of us don't want to pass on to our kids two different standards.''

He pointed to a recent ad campaign designed to draw tourists to Las Vegas' gambling and glitz by telling potential vacationers ''what happens there, stays there.

''The fact is, what happens in Vegas stays with me. … It comes back with me,'' Naughton said.

Actions speak louder than words when wedding faith-based values and work, Belmont speakers said.

If the owner of a company says it's OK to cut corners to boost profits even once, that sends a message to employees, said Jim Van Hook, former Provident Music Group chairman and dean of Belmont's Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business.

''For the short term, that may work,'' he said, ''but in the long run it won't. … When you're not looking, they're going to rob and cheat and steal because you're cutting corners.''

Posted by the Office of University Marketing & Communications, April 3, 2004

    Belmont University's fast-growing community of about 4,000 students comes from nearly every state and more than 25 countries. Belmont is committed to premier teaching with a focus on success in the real world. Our purpose is to help students explore their passions and develop their talents to meet the world's needs. With more than 50 areas of study, eight master's degrees and two doctoral degrees, there is no limit to the ways Belmont University can expand an individual's horizon.

    Office of Marketing and Communications
    615.460.6645 Greg Pillon
    615.460.6646 Bill Hobbs

    Belmont University
    1900 Belmont Boulevard
    Nashville, Tennessee 37212
    615.460.6000
    www.belmont.edu