Finding God at Work

by Dr Raymond Perrier · November 2, 2014

Those of us who are employed or run our own businesses spend more of our waking time at work than anywhere else � more than we do with our friends or family, more than we spend at the shops or at church.

The 120 chaplains of Tyson Foods, one of the biggest food companies in the US, assemble for a conference.

So finding God at work ought to be something essential, and not just an optional extra.

As Catholics we readily associate the word �vocation� with those who have taken vows as priests or religious. We probably extend it to lay people who work for the Church or charitable organisations. I certainly think of my job at the Jesuit Institute as a �vocation�.

Sometimes we also apply it when talking about the �caring� professions, such as nurses, doctors or teachers. But why not think of all our work as a vocation: as a calling from God to be his presence wherever we work: in an office, a factory, on a farm or in a supermarket?

Perhaps factories are the places where we are least likely to imagine the presence of God. And especially in food processing plants�though that is where the chicken, beef and pork that we enjoy is prepared and packed for us.

But not so at Tyson Foods, one of America�s largest food companies. They employ 100000 people and slaughter 41 million chickens a week (and much more besides). And they also have the business world�s largest network of workplace chaplains.

Tysons employs more than 120 people to work at their plants and offices as chaplains. Critically, they are not there to preach or evangelise�although many of them at weekends are pastors or parish priests. In the style of military chaplains, they are there to support workers�whatever their spiritual backgrounds and whatever their spiritual needs.

I had the great privilege of meeting the chaplains recently in the US and sharing with them the Ignatian tradition of guided meditation. They were a most impressive group.

They could not be faulted for their commitment to the Gospel. Many of them came from an evangelical tradition in which �bringing people to Christ� is a key part of the calling.

But as Tyson chaplains they have also learnt�to paraphrase St Francis��to preach the Gospel and use words only if you have to�. So they bring the presence of God to the workplace, not by quoting Scripture or telling people they need to be saved, but by listening to people who want to share their own stories.

Given that Tyson employees (or �team members�) are Baptists, Catholics, Presbyterians, Muslims, Hindus, agnostics and atheists, it is critical that the chaplains are able to accompany people on their own spiritual journeys, whatever they are.

One delightful man, who had been a Methodist pastor in a small town for decades, explained to me some of his role.

He had helped the plant manager to review the shift schedule so that the Somali Muslim employees could observe Ramadan and still be productive workers; he connected a small group of Thai workers with a monk who could help them with their Buddhist rituals; and he helped the local Protestant workers come to understand and respect the different religious traditions of their new colleagues.

But the work of the chaplains is not limited to �religious� issues. When people go to work, they come with all their hopes and joys, their griefs and anxieties (to quote Vatican II). Rather than treating their workers as robots, Tyson chaplains treat them as human beings and help them to �have life to the full�.

So if your work is suffering because of problems of family conflict or divorce or alcohol or financial worries, there is someone on the staff who is there to listen, to offer advice if appropriate, and to help you still continue with your work.

Sometimes chaplains have to rise above political debates and put aside personal convictions. One chaplain told me about a worker who was planning to marry�her long-time girlfriend. Although he personally was opposed to same-sex marriage, he believed that this was about her spiritual needs, not about his religious doctrines, and so he gave her the help she asked for.

Our belief is that God is present everywhere and sees us in everything we do.� God isn�t just interested in a few �sacred� parts of our lives but in all aspects of our lives�if only we will let God in.

The Tyson chaplains, by their accompaniment and support, can be the presence of God in a potentially dehumanising work environment.

And their ministry is so deeply Christian they do not even need to mention Christ!