May 5, 2026
By JoAnn Flett | Executive Director | Center for Faithful Business On May 7, 2026 Center for Faithful Business will host Dr. Jay Jakub. Jay is the Executive Director of the Economics of Mutuality (EoM) Foundation in Geneva, Switzerland. He previously served as Chief of Staff for the EoM Alliance’s Mutual Value Labs consultancy and […]
March 17, 2026
By Dr. Jen Bennett Across college campuses today, many students are asking an important question: How does my faith connect with the work I feel called to do in the world? For students interested in entrepreneurship, that question becomes even more pressing. They want to build meaningful ventures. They want their work to matter. And […]
February 16, 2026
What I love about SPU, about the Division of Business & Government where I teach, is that what we teach has always been centered on love for people and striving for justice and human flourishing. When I started at SPU in 2010, we championed “Another Way of Doing Business” that focused on business practices as primary […]
December 23, 2025
Isaish 9:6 For unto us a Son a given, a child is born! By the CFB Team We end this season of Advent by reiterating John 1:14 from Eugene Peterson’s (SPU alumnus) The Message. But this time we pay closer attention to how the verse ends. “The Word became flesh and blood and moved into […]
December 17, 2025
Brittany M Tausen Associate Professor of Psychology, Seattle Pacific University In the liturgical rhythms of Advent, joy might seem like relatively low-hanging fruit. After all, it is the most wonderful time of the year. And yet, the wisdom of Advent invites us to contemplate a broader context and deeper meaning. Our Savior’s birth does not […]
December 10, 2025
by Albert Erisman | SPU executive in residence emeritus and senior fellow, Center for Faithful Business Jesus came with a promise of peace. At the time of his birth we read, 14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” Luke 2:14 Yet Jesus spent much of […]
December 5, 2025
By JoAnn Flett | Executive Director | The Center for Faithful Business It is the season of Advent. As Lewis Galloway[1] (2023) observed, “Advent is the season of longing for God. Only God can bridge the gap between the way things are and the way God intends the creation to be.” This past week I […]
November 7, 2025
By Dr. JoAnn Flett | Executive Director | Center for Faithful Business Whenever I am asked the question, “What are you thankful for?” It affords me a moment to pause and reflect. Upon reflection, my answer would be, I am thankful for meaningful work, with amazing colleagues here at SPU. A recent Barna Report entitled “Trends at Work” from Spring 2025 noted, “…as […]
September 3, 2025
By Al Erisman (author, CFB Senior Fellow) & Randy Pope When all around you is falling apart, does peace mean you don’t understand what is going on? Or does peace mean you see the higher purpose and are in touch with the One who holds the future? We remember the time on the Sea of […]
August 15, 2025
Beginning today August 15, 2025 until September 1, 2025 the team at CFB will rest from our daily social media posts. We hope you have enjoyed reading the blogs, prayers, book reviews and poems. Social media posts will resume on Labor Day, September 1, 2025. We thought it was a good option to practice what […]
August 6, 2025
By Ross Chapman and Ryan Tafilowski (IVP, 2024) Book Summary by Ross Chapman “Why did they send a pamphlet instead of a book?” asked one of my mentors when he finally received Faithful Work in the mail. While it stung for a second, it was exactly the response we wanted. We set out to write […]
July 29, 2025
by JoAnn Flett, Executive Director | Center for Faithful Business I was recently in a meeting with some non-profit leaders in the Pacific Northwest, when one of the leaders remarked, “Who says summer is a restful time of year?” The sentiment was echoed by other leaders who entered the summer months anticipating rest. But what […]
July 18, 2025
By Dave Hataj Being called back to the family business, a small manufacturing company over 30 years ago, I kept asking “What could a little, dirty, dysfunctional machine shop have to do with ministry and the kingdom of God? For more on that story watch the Faith & Co film Turning. In 2014, I launched […]
July 11, 2025
I thought graduating would solve all my problems. After four years of late-night essays, early morning classes, and part-time jobs, I believed the hard part was behind me. I was always on the go, too busy to slow down or think deeply about the future. Each day brought new challenges, and while my schedule was […]
June 30, 2025
By Al Erisman Bill Pollard’s leadership at ServiceMaster was legendary, and his writing, particularly in The Soul of the Firm was among the best I had encountered on faith at work. In 2006 I interviewed him for Ethix magazine, where we were exploring ethical leadership in business. That interview is here: https://ethix.org/2006/10/01/684. I was completely […]
October 28, 2024
By JoAnn Flett, PhD Today is the last day of September and this past month we focused on the theme of “welcome”. This is appropriate given that we are welcoming back students to SPU’s campus, and we also welcomed a new season, Fall. So, I asked our CFB team, what does it mean to be […]
August 14, 2024
By Lynne Baab More than 30 years ago, my husband and I lived in Israel for 18 months, experienced the Sabbath day, loved it, and adopted a Sabbath pattern when we returned to the US. We did this entirely on our own. In the early and mid-1980s we didn’t know of any other Christians who […]
August 7, 2024
By Denise Daniels & Shannon Vandewarker | Authors of Working in the Presence of God We often miss the point that Sabbath-keeping is a great gift! Jesus communicates that the Sabbath is not simply one more rule to remember and follow, but rather it is a blessing that God designed and gave to us. It is […]
June 12, 2024
By Samuel Gibbon | 2024 Graduate My time at SPU has profoundly transformed me. Like many of my fellow undergraduates, I embarked on my college journey under extraordinarily unusual circumstances. We started amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, navigating fully virtual classes, which challenged us to adapt and forge connections through screens. Entering our sophomore year felt […]
June 5, 2024
By JoAnn Flett | Executive Director – CFB On May 23, 2024, the Center for Faithful Business hosted the Bruce Kennedy Ethical Leadership Lecture. This year’s lecture was given by Rich Stearns, President Emeritus of World Vision, United States. It was based on Rich Stearns recent book, Lead Like It Matters to God. The evening […]
June 1, 2024
By Liam Massey |Fourth Year student Our Messiah was a wing of refuge for the poor in spirit, and an overturner of tables to the vainly religious. He was as tender as the dove, and yet as tough as the serpent. This kind of humanly impossible antithesis that was the life and is the essence […]
May 22, 2024
By Uli Chi | Board Chair, Virginia Mason Franciscan Health A reasonable question you might ask is: Why a book on wise leadership? By one count, over 50,000 books on Amazon have leadership in their title. So, why another book on leadership? We live in an information-rich age. But despite having the world’s knowledge at […]
May 8, 2024
Hee-Sun Cheon | Associate Professor of Marriage and Family Therapy / Director of Story-jangeedle, a Playback Theatre Ensemble (Sotryjang2.com) In my recent study, I was fascinated by the exploration of how couples with faith cultivate their sense of “we-ness,” also known as couple identity and the intricate role their faith plays in this process. I […]
April 29, 2024
By Jeff Van Duzer (CFB Senior Fellow and former Dean of SBGE) In my time serving as Dean of the business school at Seattle Pacific University, I had the privilege of regularly meeting with Christians in business. These were generally enriching conversations and I learned a lot about the good work that was going on […]
April 22, 2024
By Dr. Ange Kakpo (Assistant Professor of Economics) & Dr. Geri Mason (Associate Professor of Economics) The Earth is not a customer in a market nor a producer with decision-making abilities. We extract natural resources from the Earth for our production purposes. Firms add value through these production processes, but value is created by interaction […]
April 20, 2024
By Charlotte Qu | Assistant Professor of Accounting It was the night before Easter Sunday. My quiet time with God, after tucking my 2.5-year-old daughter into bed, turned into a state of deep grief and sorrow. This was not new, as it had happened numerous times before, ever since my father’s passing last June. But […]
February 15, 2024
By Derek Braun | CFB Employee (3rd Year Student) What is unconditional love? There are a variety of actions, concepts, and examples that we experience that begin to suggest what unconditional love is. Conceptually, I like to think of parenthood as a form of unconditional love. There are no incentives in the way a mother […]
February 7, 2024
By Isaac Hung Believers in Business is a student-run annual conference for Christian MBAs. Our mission is to equip and encourage future Christian business leaders to live out their lives and careers for the glory of God. We provide a forum for honest discussion on the opportunities, challenges, and strategies for following Christ in the […]
January 24, 2024
By Michael Paulus | Library Dean and Assistant Provost at SPU Last year I published a book on artificial intelligence and human hope, in which I explore historical and theological resources that can help us imagine and create a better world with AI. I submitted the book to the publisher before OpenAI’s release of ChatGPT, […]
January 16, 2024
By JoAnn Flett |Director at CFB Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. [MLK] Day offers us a time to celebrate his life and reflect on his legacy of justice and love. Our SPU community gathered in chapel and our celebrations and reflections were shaped by his book, Strength to Love. I can think of no better […]
December 20, 2023
By Joyce Kwon | Student (Junior)Before his death, Jesus told his disciples that they will feel sorrow, but their grief will turn into wonderful joy after Jesus returns (John 16:20). The disciples were unsure of what he meant, so Jesus tells them, “It will be like a woman suffering the pains of labor. When her […]
December 13, 2023
By Derek Braun Merriam-Webster defines peace as “a state of tranquility or quiet”. A couple of examples are included after the definition, which are “freedom from civil disturbance” and “a state of security or order within a community provided for by law or custom”. In modern society, peace is largely associated with levelness, many times […]
December 1, 2023
By Stephen Waggoner On Thursday, November 16th, 2023, the Center for Faithful Business welcomed KIROS Young Professionals, a group of early career Christian professionals in the Puget Sound region. This group meets to explore how to integrate their faith with their work. At this particular gathering, KIROS YP invited Jim Hancock from 3Practice Circles to […]
November 29, 2023
By Tracy Matthews Executive Director of Attune Geopolitical turmoil. Division and polarization. Economic uncertainty. Mental health degradation. The world is a mess. The path forward is increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. As a leader, how are you showing up these days? Are you flourishing or languishing? Psalm 1 says that “[The one] whose delight […]
October 25, 2023
The Importance of Love in Organizations By Matthew T. Lee In the short film, “Faith At a $700 Billion Company” (https://faithandco.spu.edu/film-detail/faith-at-a-700-billion-company/), Ron Johnson, former Vice President of Retail Operations for Apple, Inc., explains how he connected his religious faith with his secular work. He was intrigued by the possibility of translating the Gospel “into […]
October 6, 2023
By Derek Braun, October 8th As we were preparing for our first-ever Coffee Talk, I had no idea what to expect. The Center for Faithful Business was responsible for promoting it, so were people going to come? If students came, how engaged would they be? Would they be there for the free coffee, and simply […]
September 14, 2023
A Prototype Chapter Launches in Virginia By Barbara Finnegan My attention was grabbed by the cover text on the Fall 2022 issue of Response Magazine – “Faith and Work.” I had just heard a sermon on that very topic, and my pastor had even used the Dorothy Sayers quote that appeared in the […]
August 30, 2023
Walking the Faithful Path: Post-Graduation Transition into the Workforce By Nicole Baker August 3, 2023 As I stand at the doorstep of post-graduation life, I am acutely aware of the delicate dance between my faith and my career. The transition from the structured world of academia to the uncharted territory of the workforce […]
July 3, 2023
In its fifth year, the Bill Pollard Faith & Business Research Fellowship continues to attract interest from business leaders, scholars, and practitioners around the globe. The fellowship provides selected scholars and business practitioners the opportunity to conduct research for scholarship, classroom usage, and leadership reflection. In February of this year, the Pollard Faith & Business […]
June 14, 2023
Are You Ready? Reflecting on graduation and preparing for the future With my academic career, I have always felt ready to take on new learning and academic challenges. But in the Spring of 2022, for the first time, I felt unready. I was not ready to finish my learning and I certainly wasn’t ready to […]
May 18, 2023
Two SPU projects chosen as 2023 Flourish Prize Finalists The Aim2Flourish Project invites university students to research and submit articles about companies whose core business model and activities are contributing toward one or more of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Aim2Flourish is an initiative at Case-Western Reserve’s Weatherhead School of Management and their […]
May 10, 2023
Celebrating & Growing in Wise Leadership: Reflections on the Bruce Kennedy Ethical Leadership Lecture On May 3, new and old friends alike gathered at Seattle Pacific University to celebrate and learn about wise leadership at the Center for Faithful Business’s event: “The Bruce Kennedy Ethical Leadership Lecture.” Named in honor of the late Bruce Kennedy, […]
April 26, 2023
What Does Ethical Leadership Look Like Today? Now more than ever, we need models of ethical leadership. The Bruce Kennedy Ethical Leadership Lecture was created to offer just that. This year’s Ethical Leadership Lecture is titled: “Wisdom & Leadership,” and it will take place at 7:00 pm on Wednesday, May 3, at Seattle Pacific […]
April 5, 2023
SPU Giving Day 2023: Equipping Students’ Faith Integration Spring at Seattle Pacific University means the arrival of sun dappled foot paths and trees newly adorned in white and pink blossoms. It also means, for some, a fast-approaching graduation, and the first steps in their professional career. The Center for Faithful Business at SPU aims […]
March 29, 2023
Relational Depth: Moving from Information to Transformation Reflection by Dr. Thomas L. Boehm, founder and director of the Center for Faith and Disability, Wheaton College; and Dr. Bill Merrifield, VP of Engagement/Director of Education, IDEAS. Without relational engagement, moving from talk to action can be like trying to run through a brick wall. No matter […]
February 22, 2023
Discerning & Answering God’s Call in the Retirement Phase of Life Book Review/Announcement Jeff Haanen, An Uncommon Guide to Retirement: Finding God’s Purpose for the Next Season of Life (Moody Publishers, 2019) What’s next? How do I balance my commitments to rest, family, and work? What’s the proper role of work in this new season […]
February 16, 2023
On Friday, February 10, the Center for Faithful Business hosted 40 guests in the Nickerson Studios at Seattle Pacific University for the third Frank Haas Integrity in Business Award event. Family, friends, colleagues, pastors, and more came together to celebrate Steve Bell, founder of Bellmont Cabinet Company, and his efforts to lead with integrity in […]
January 30, 2023
Seattle Pacific University’s School of Business, Government, and Economics (SBGE) has once again garnered the prestigious PRME (Principles for Responsible Management Education) Champion designation through the United Nations Global Compact. SPU is one of only three schools in the United States and 47 throughout the world to receive this status. As a worldwide PRME Champion […]
January 25, 2023
To those in our community directly impacted by the recent wave of layoffs, we at the Center for Faithful Business offer our prayers and sympathies. Work impacts many other key areas of our personal and communal well-being. Our work allows us to contribute to our family, local community, and to the wider society in meaningful […]
January 18, 2023
Seeking the Flourishing of the City to Which You’re Called Book Review: Agents of Flourishing: Pursuing Shalom in Every Corner of Society, by Amy L. Sherman (IVP: 2022), 339 pages God’s promised shalom has always come with a caveat: the well-being of God’s people is integrally bound up with the well-being of their neighbors. “Seek […]
January 11, 2023
It’s hard for me to reconcile my love of flying trapeze and my fear of heights. I started out with the most basic of tricks—where safety lines secured me to someone on the ground, belaying any mistakes I made by softening my descent to the net—to flying with only my own strength and skills to […]
December 9, 2022
SEATTLE, WA — December 6, 2022 — The Center for Faithful Business (CFB), a center of the School of Business, Government, and Economics at Seattle Pacific University, is pleased to announce the hire of Ryan Pemberton as Assistant Director. An alum of Oxford University and Duke Divinity School, Ryan will lead the CFB’s operations […]
January 28, 2022
Thinking Out Loud with Jeff Van Duzer Seattle Pacific University Transcript:Everybody knows that scripture’s made up of a whole host of different genres and different writings, letters, prophecies, biographies. I mean just whole bunch of different types. And typically when you hear somebody talk from the Bible, they’ll pull one little story out and then […]