Advent is the season leading up to the birth of Christ. During this season Christians are called to enter a posture of hopeful anticipation as they re-enter the long-expected arrival of the Messiah. This is a season of hope—a season where we experience the power of anticipation. But Advent is not unique to the Christmas season. And hope is not merely a driver for religious people. The truth is, we are all narrative creatures living with desired outcomes (“hopes”) and, whether we see it or not, these hopes are the engines that drive our lives.
Continue reading as Robert Covolo illustrates why we should reflect on the power of hope this Advent season.
This year’s Year-End Giving Campaign highlights stories from CFWLA participants who have experienced profound transformation through our programming. These stories reveal how their vision of work, relationship with God, and outlook on life have been renewed.
We invited participants to reflect on their journey and share how they see God at work—both in their workplaces and in the larger story He’s writing in the world. Each week we will be adding a new testimony.
Here, Robert shares a prayer from our recent Reimagining Work event. Join us in prayer over our public servants and the important work they do for the flourishing of our communities.
Our twelfth Reimagining Work gathering, focused on public policy in Los Angeles, brought together distinguished guests and panelists for an inspiring evening of insights and collaboration.
Labor Day is seen by most Angelinos as the last gasp of summer; a three-day weekend serving as summer’s conclusion—the bookend to Memorial Day’s launch of summer. It is well known that Memorial Day honors those who died in the armed forces defending our country, but less is known about the significance of Labor Day. Is it a secular holiday—a materialist nod to the role workers play in building the economic prosperity of the United States? Or should we include Labor Day among holidays Christians take note of?
Read on to hear more as Robert Covolo explores why Christians have good reason to enter Labor Day with celebration.
It is staggering to think of the vast amount of time and effort that goes into resolving workplace conflict. Will it ever end? The prophet Isaiah believes it will.
In Week Three of our Advent blog series, we find hope in Isaiah 2 and reflect on the promise that upon His return, Christ will act as the ultimate adjudicator—bringing peace to workplaces around the world.
There is an incredible variety of kinds of work—from farming, to finance, to the fitness industry. But one thing all work has in common is the fruit we seek to gain from our labor.
In Week Two of our Advent blog series, Robert Covolo explores the story of Sisyphus alongside the words of Isaiah to unpack the longing we all experience—in the immediate sense and in the enduring sense—for meaningful work.
At our recent event, Reimagining Work Vol. 9: Spiritual Disciplines for Our Current Moment, Margaret Lindsey—our own Co-Director here at CFWLA—blessed attendees with thoughtful teaching and guidance on how to infuse our daily lives with more stillness as well as what it looks like to cultivate space to commune with the Lord. Read on as Margaret graces us all again with a prayer of replenishment and blessing.
A smartphone is a wonderful thing. It provides immediate access to all kinds of information, plays any music you like, keeps you in touch with friends and family from around the world, and has innumerable apps that can help you keep your life organized. It’s little wonder they are so popular. But there is a drawback. Smartphones bring with them a demand for our attention. Read on as Robert Covolo dives into The Common Rule and its recent impact on his life.
So far in Part I & Part II, we’ve reflected on how God values our work since aspects of his nature as a worker get expressed as we work. We also saw that the purpose for our work is rooted in our primary call to glorify God above all else in all we do, including our daily work. Work is much more than simply a means to a better end outside of the workplace such as providing for ourselves or church.
However, we all know an idealized view of work hardly addresses the brokenness of our everyday experience. Read on as we conclude this series and see how God uses broken and unfinished people to accomplish his will and purpose in the world.
My background in becoming an aerospace engineer coupled with my early involvement in a solid Bible-believing church right out of college created a tension I spent several decades trying to reconcile. What does having Christ as the Lord of all of my life, as I learned in church, have to do with the daily grind of building complex aerospace products? In your case, you might be keeping an office organized, accounts efficiently managed, juggling day jobs with night jobs to make ends meet, laboring as a stay-at-home parent, or closing a large deal as a managing partner in a private equity firm.
What is it that relates what we are doing with our work lives directly to living in and for the Kingdom of God as Jesus commanded? Just how does God respond to our deepest questions about work?
As we look forward to our Annual Faith + Work Conference: Meaningful Work in an Age of Disruption this Saturday, April 2, 2022, the Center for Faith + Work Los Angeles is proud to present Part 2 of the conversation with one of our thoughtful speakers, Michaela O'Donnell. Michaela is Executive Director of the Max De Pree Center for Leadership at Fuller Seminary and will be talking with our own Robert Covolo, Director of Vocational Discipleship at CFWLA.
In this episode, they discuss the way work forms us + seeing the fruit in our work, the importance of relationships and people in all types of work, the problem of "pursuing our passions" and the role ambiguity plays in vocation.
As we anticipate our Annual Faith + Work Conference: Meaningful Work in an Age of Disruption on April 2, 2022, the Center for Faith + Work Los Angeles is proud to present this two-part conversation with one of our esteemed speakers, Michaela O'Donnell. Michaela is Executive Director of the Max De Pree Center for Leadership at Fuller Seminary and will talking with our own Robert Covolo, Director of Vocational Discipleship at CFWLA.
In this episode, they discuss the road that brought Michaela where she is today—from her inclination to entrepreneurship, to the challenges she's faced in her career. Michaela and Robert will also explore the need for creativity, flexibility and lamentation in all believers' vocations.
