Lack of good jobs in Memphis is more than an economic problem, says Dr. Chris Scruggs of Advent Presbyterian Church. “It’s also a spiritual problem. If we do not create an environment in which people can find good jobs, we deprive our children of the opportunity to use their unique God-given talents, gifts and abilities. We impoverish ourselves and our society.”

Do you agree? What can the faith community do about this? What is your congregation doing specifically – mentoring, job training, etc. – to help?

Employment is going to be even more challenging in the future. There are a number of reasons for this, but I can specifically think of three. First, the advent of technology is making more jobs obsolete. A prime example is the reduction and shrinkage of mail handled by the Post Office. Secondly, the economic control that is exerted by the few over the vast majority of resources in the United States causes economic deprivation for the masses. The gap between the extremely wealthy and the rest of the country is widening at an alarming rate. While emphasis is placed on profits, they are being squeezed out by downsizing workers. Meanwhile, CEOs and other top managers have obscene salaries and benefits. Sometimes they are paid these sums while they do a perfectly lousy job. Thirdly, jobs for the young are stagnant because more and more older workers are unable to retire with a healthy income. Consequently, college students graduate and have no access to a job.

I believe the economy is in the state where more people will have to have an independent entrepreneurial mind set. The days of expecting a company to look out for your welfare from cradle to grave are gone. At Castalia Baptist Church we are stressing that our members become better managers over their resources. Stewardship is not limited to tithing. All of our income must be handled with responsibility.

Lack of good jobs in Memphis is more than an economic problem, says Dr. Chris Scruggs of Advent Presbyterian Church. “It’s also a spiritual problem. If we do not create an environment in which people can find good jobs, we deprive our children of the opportunity to use their unique God-given talents, gifts and abilities. We impoverish ourselves and our society.”

Do you agree? What can the faith community do about this? What is your congregation doing specifically – mentoring, job training, etc. – to help?

When his parents asked the young Jesus what he had been up to after being missing for a few days, he asked, “Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” Some years later, in what is called the “Lord’s Prayer,” he referred to “Our Father.” Isn’t our first priority–our first business–loving God, trusting His care, and cherishing all his creation, including all mankind? That starting point has helped so many in taking the right steps in finding satisfying employment.

Lack of good jobs in Memphis is more than an economic problem, says Dr. Chris Scruggs of Advent Presbyterian Church. “It’s also a spiritual problem. If we do not create an environment in which people can find good jobs, we deprive our children of the opportunity to use their unique God-given talents, gifts and abilities. We impoverish ourselves and our society.”

Do you agree? What can the faith community do about this? What is your congregation doing specifically – mentoring, job training, etc. – to help?

As a young person, when I heard the statement, “We are made in the image and likeness of God,” I presumed it meant that we could reason and love. More recently, as I read Genesis, I see that the first image of God is as a worker. God is at work creating the earth and creatures and human beings. Working makes us like God. When work is taken from us – by an illness or an injury or an inability to obtain it – we quickly lose our sense of dignity. Catholic Social Teaching sees work as one of the rights essential for a human being. And not just any work, but a job that pays a living wage. Work is essential to human flourishing, thus an important area for the faith community’s concern and advocacy.

Lack of good jobs in Memphis is more than an economic problem, says Dr. Chris Scruggs of Advent Presbyterian Church. “It’s also a spiritual problem. If we do not create an environment in which people can find good jobs, we deprive our children of the opportunity to use their unique God-given talents, gifts and abilities. We impoverish ourselves and our society.”

Do you agree? What can the faith community do about this? What is your congregation doing specifically – mentoring, job training, etc. – to help?

Several years ago, I read in the paper about a Boston orthopedic surgeon who was six hours into spinal surgery when he abruptly told colleagues in the operating room at Mount Auburn Hospital that he had to “step out.” With his patient under anesthesia, his back cut open, what did the doctor do but grab a ride from a medical device salesperson to his bank in nearby Harvard Square to deposit his pay- check. He returned to complete the surgery about 35 minutes later.

When I told my sister this story, it reminded her of something she went through with her dentist. Fitting her with a crown for her root canal, with one hand on her right cheek and the other holding a cell phone, he negotiated the purchase of a Toyota Pathfinder.

I tell these two stories to say the lack of proper motivation for a good job qualifies as a spiritual issue as well as the lack of a good job. If we’re fortunate to have a good job, is our work driven by strict self-regard or by a sense of service to humanity? Driven by the former, work is denied meaning. But driven by the latter, work takes on the dignity of a calling to something greater than ourselves.

As for what my congregation is doing to make a difference, we, partnering with St. Patrick Presbyterian church, are involved with a local non-profit called Hope for Collierville, which is reaching out to those in our community living below the poverty line. Concerned that people find good jobs, Hope for Collierville recently offered a 10-week course of study through the National Jobs for Life Curriculum. Subject matter included ethics and character development with attention given to skills for preparing a resume, being interviewed for a job, and networking. Six people fulfilled course requirements and graduated.

Lack of good jobs in Memphis is more than an economic problem, says Dr. Chris Scruggs of Advent Presbyterian Church. “It’s also a spiritual problem. If we do not create an environment in which people can find good jobs, we deprive our children of the opportunity to use their unique God-given talents, gifts and abilities. We impoverish ourselves and our society.”

Do you agree? What can the faith community do about this? What is your congregation doing specifically – mentoring, job training, etc. – to help?

For decades the Highland Church of Christ has partnered with HopeWorks in Memphis.  Under the skilled leadership of Executive Director Ron Wade, HopeWorks recently celebrated its 800th graduate. This non-profit agency welcomes the unemployed into a proven environment which equips them spiritually, mentally and socially for the marketplace.  Single mothers who’ve been laid off, ex-cons who’ve just been released, or married men down on their luck find at HopeWorks a unique blend of high expectations, love and grace and classes and counseling which help them successfully find not just a new job, but a real career.  Highland members serve as Faith Encouragers to the students, meeting weekly with them for prayer, peer-to-peer counseling, and encouragement. Highland members also provide internships for students at their businesses–the first step for many students into a work environment. Some Highland members regularly hire HopeWorks students for their companies. They’ve found these students to be among the finest employees in the Mid-South. Once a month our entire church staff serves lunch to the current class at HopeWorks. It’s our favorite time of the month. I know of no organization doing a better job at helping others find jobs than HopeWorks.

Lack of good jobs in Memphis is more than an economic problem, says Dr. Chris Scruggs of Advent Presbyterian Church. “It’s also a spiritual problem. If we do not create an environment in which people can find good jobs, we deprive our children of the opportunity to use their unique God-given talents, gifts and abilities. We impoverish ourselves and our society.”

Do you agree? What can the faith community do about this? What is your congregation doing specifically – mentoring, job training, etc. – to help?

Yes, the issue of the lack of quality jobs is a spiritual issue–one of the first reforms that John Calvin instituted in Geneva was a jobs program!– but in a deeper sense than what the Rev. Scruggs suggests. The heart of job availability, economic investment and a healthy community is education reform, which is known most readily in Memphis in the school consolidation issue. Education is at the heart of the long-term jobs issue. When our state legislators seek to keep privilege in place for the outlying suburbs without regard for a quality and equitable education system for the greater community, we fail our children and sentence them to an even bleaker future.

I would hope that all faith communities would do all they can to help those unemployed, but I would also hope they would work towards a strong, quality educational system for all. It would pay off in the long run!