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How can we create a kingdom culture in our team, in our organisation? And how can we sustain it? A former senior Boeing executive and workplace ministry pioneer, Al Erisman will plunge us into the story of ServiceMaster, a cleaning company with a remarkable culture sustained through five successive leaders over 70 years.

Founded in the US in 1929, ServiceMaster found success against multiple measures, and by 2000 it was a multinational, publicly-traded company valued at $6 billion, with profit increasing year after year. The Financial Times rated it in the top 20 companies in the world. David Heskett of Harvard Business School described it as having ‘cracked the code’ in the service business by helping workers find a sense of purpose and meaning in their work. In an industry plagued by 500% annual staff turnover, ServiceMaster became known for employees finding a career, giving dignity and honour to work and workers who usually don’t get it.

So how did they do it? ServiceMaster’s focus, with a corporate objective ‘To Honor God in All We Do’, and deeply rooted in the Christian faith of those five leaders, provides lessons for any organisation. Their practices echoed the principles many of us have learnt through Covid: the vital role of essential workers, the importance of ethics, the need for purpose beyond profit, and the call for a new kind of servant leadership

It is possible to run a business or organisation, large or small, this way in a competitive world.  Illustrated  how through stories, practices, and principles.
 

How do we follow Christ in a post-Christendom context? And when public faith is suspect, what does it take to shape our bit of God’s world toward shalom?

We often say ‘be in the world but not of the world’ or ‘like the men of Issachar, read the signs of the times’. But what does this mean practically for my local street and the places I work and play? We need fresh vision to move past the platitudes and embrace God’s mission in a godly way. Neither taking over nor retreating, what does it look like to truly bless and love my neighbours?

We often look at the whole landscape of society when we think about shaping culture – the heights of fame, the highest levels of politics, the pinnacles of business achievement. But in order to wisely traverse the cultural peaks, we first need to map our own day-to-day frontline’s tricky contours and chart a path following in Christ’s footsteps. We need new words and new ways to reach our particular time and place.

This experimental forum will guide you there. Provocative stories, holistic theology, practical wisdom, a community journeying together through better conversation – this is a safe place to wrestle and test a hunch or three.