A collection of people from a range of occupations identifying strongly with one of the ways God is at work in the world. Whether by work area or passion, each of these six ?hubs? forms a loose network of people playing a similar function as God?s image bearers in the world. Through these various vocations, we hear God?s call on our lives to serve Father-Son-Spirit. Each hub aligns with the biblical story of God?s mission through Creation, the Fall, Israel, Jesus, Church, and the New Creation. We are called to ?faithfully improvise? in this unfolding epic.
HUB 1. PROVIDENTIAL WORK (Creation): God?s provision for and sustaining of humans and the creation, e.g., bureaucrats, engineers, ecologists, construction workers, IT programmers, policy makers, public utility workers, shopkeepers, farmers, painters, entrepreneurs, business people, brokers, mechanics, accountants, tradies and more. Basically, all who help keep and cultivate the environmental, economic and political order working smoothly reflect this aspect of God?s labour.
HUB 2. REVELATORY WORK (Fall): God?s work to enlighten with truth, e.g., educators, scholars, scientists, preachers, journalists and writers all seek to illuminate what is true, and call us to repent (literally, rethink) and align with what leads to life.
HUB 3. JUSTICE WORK (Israel): God?s maintenance of justice, e.g.,
judges, lawyers, paralegals, government regulators, city managers, prison wardens and guards, policy researchers and advocates, diplomats, supervisors, administrators and law enforcement personnel, all work to preserve structures that bless rather than curse societies and the spaces we inhabit.
HUB 4. REDEMPTIVE WORK (Jesus): God?s saving and reconciling actions, e.g., evangelists, pastors, counsellors, peacemakers, and artists who incorporate redemptive elements in their stories, novels, songs, films, performances and other works, embodying sacrificial love to break the cycle of violence that destroys life.
HUB 5. COMPASSIONATE WORK (Church): God?s involvement in comforting, healing, guiding and shepherding, e.g., doctors, nurses, paramedics, psychologists, therapists, social workers, pharmacists, community workers, non-profit directors, emergency medical technicians, counsellors and welfare agents all work for holistic care of community.
HUB 6. CREATIVE WORK (New Creation): God?s fashioning of the physical and human world, e.g., people in the arts (sculptors, actors, painters, musicians, poets and so on) display this, as do a wide range of craftspeople such as potters, weavers and seamstresses, as well as interior designers, metalworkers, carpenters, builders, fashion designers, architects, novelists and urban planners (and more). Each draws on divine inspiration to create a new vision for and way of living in God?s world.
?Vocational stewardship starts with celebrating the work itself and recognizing that God cares about it and is accomplishing his purposes through it??Amy Sherman, Kingdom Calling