Evangelizing in the Workplace

A major area of common ground among all of us is work. After all, after collecting statistical data about lifespan, expected retirement, hours of work per day, number of work weeks in a year, and number of hours people in the U.S. sleep, the calculated proportion of U.S. people’s wakeful time that they use for their professional careers is almost 31% of their entire lives (see Appendix A, line m). In other words, we spend almost one third of our lives “at work.”

In fact, multiple studies¹ show that organizations increasingly recognize the important role of religion (and spirituality) as an integral factor in achieving strong employee satisfaction, employee engagement, individual performance, and corporate performance. So being focused on one’s career and work is not inconsistent with being religious.

Importantly, we each do different kinds of work in God’s vast vineyard, and He’s given each of us particular gifts and talents to do the work He wills us to do. With work (including labor and toil in all word forms/usage) as a prominent matter in the Bible (it is mentioned 819 times in the NAB, according to the concordance of the NAB on the Holy See’s website)² and a major area of common ground among people, it is also potentially a fertile place in which to evangelize — to lead others to Christ and the Catholic faith. So, yes, evangelizing in the workplace is possible, notwithstanding limitations, and it can be done compassionately, carefully, and well.

This article examines constraints to and opportunities for workplace evangelization. Constraints for evangelizing at work fall into four very basic categories: legal, organizational, moral and ethical, and personal. Opportunities for evangelizing at work require thoughtful consideration about one’s self and ways to evangelize — that it is not, nor should it ever be, proselytizing.

The difference between evangelization and proselytizing is fairly subtle but critical to know. Proselytizing generally is driven by the goal to change someone’s religion, can be achieved through coercion, and features pressure tactics. Evangelizing generally is driven by a genuine desire to help someone establish or strengthen their relationship with Christ, is achieved by inviting someone to “come and see” how Christ is our salvation and the truth of the Catholic faith in this regard, and truly respects a person’s free will.

Evangelizing respects a person’s free will by inviting someone to “come and see” how Christ is our salvation and how the Catholic faith upholds the kerygma’s truth. In communion with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ plan, Go and Make Disciples, and given the four basic categories of workplace constraints, this paper presents an approach to workplace evangelization that upholds three goals of that plan (cf. §102, §111, and §123) to evangelize respectfully, carefully, and lovingly in workplaces.

Limitations on Evangelizing in the Workplace

Organizations have diverse workforces and cannot ignore the intersection of religion and spirituality in the workplace that is instrumental in employee and organizational performance and success. When companies admit people as employees or members of any sort, they are admitting whole persons. Their knowledge, skills, abilities, and experiences all are accompanied and upheld by their values, faith/spirituality, personality, opinions, wants, needs, cares, worries, and so on.³

In fact, a great amount of research (at least since the mid-1990s) about the importance and role of religion and spirituality in the workplace demonstrates greatly an extensive crossover of values between organizations and employees — that not only do employees want to work in organizations that respect and allow some religious/spiritual accommodations, but employees themselves (and thereby organizations) perform markedly better because of such supportive organizational provisions.⁴

In this context, there are four very basic categories for limits on evangelizing at work that concern parameters that are legal and regulatory, organizational, ethical and moral, and personal.

The first category of limitations is legal and regulatory, and it is the most extensive of the four categories. Although the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects “free speech,” not all speech is equally protected. Political speech (i.e., speech and actions in praise or blame, advocacy or dissent about the government, its policies, leaders, etc.) is most protected; however, when such speech (including concomitant actions) threatens, incites, or otherwise endangers citizens and institutions, protections cease.⁵ Someone saying they dislike the president in certain ways is one thing and protected, but threatening the president’s life is quite another and not protected.

As a matter of “free speech,” then, evangelization falls into a category of “ordinary” speech (the other categories being “artistic” speech, e.g., literature, painting, sculpture, music, and “commercial” speech, e.g., advertising, public relations). “Ordinary” speech is the least protected under the First Amendment and very much restricted — as all speech can be — by limits of time, manner, and place that a society, community, or organization may stipulate in laws, ordinances, and policies.

In this way, evangelizing at work would be acceptable when it occurs naturally in conversations and does not impede one or more people in their work. So talking about religion or spirituality would be fine, for example, in a breakroom or in the hallway when and where casual conversations often occur. In fact, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (and as amended), specifies how employers are to not discriminate on the basis of religion as well as other matters of race, national origin, sex, gender, etc. (see SEC. 2000e-2. [Section 703]):

It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer –

(1) to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; or

(2) to limit, segregate, or classify his employees or applicants for employment in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

This provision for employer practices means, at least in part, if someone’s sincerely held religious belief is to evangelize about Christ, which it is for the Catholic faith, an employer cannot block that person from evangelizing in the workplace — unless doing so interferes with the work others do for the employer or creates a hostile work environment for others. (The EEOC Compliance Manual’s Section 12.III.B.2 has details about hostile work environment.)

Guidance from the U.S. Department of Labor and the EEOC also are particularly valuable to both employers and employees in this regard, guiding employers about religious accommodations (inclusive of spiritual practices) and protect employees from discrimination on the basis of religion (inclusive of spiritual orientation).

For example, EEOC specifically covers religious discrimination broadly; EEOC defines and describes religious discrimination in workplaces, harassment, segregation, reasonable accommodations, dress and grooming, and undue hardship; and EEOC gives detailed explanations about religious workplace accommodations that pertain under Title VII. Recent federal rulings through the U.S. Departments of Justice, Education, and Health and Human Services have made the protection of religious liberty in the workplace a major issue to resolve (US Department of Labor, 2019). The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contractor Compliance Programs addresses religious accommodations for any organization contracted for work with the U.S. government.

Additionally, state and local protections address marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, lifestyle, and genetic predisposition.⁶ Additionally, the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent rulings on certain cases reinforces religious freedoms that would apply favorably to evangelizing in the workplace⁷ Any resolution of the issue of religious liberty in the workplace would address a major concern that employees prefer and perform better for employers that proactively make accommodations for religion and spirituality.

The second category of limits on evangelizing is organizational. Organizations, through their cultures and business operations, sometimes can be already accommodating of religiousness/spirituality while others would need adjustments, if they were to do so (large to small, depending on various factors). The basis within extant scholarship is the idea that “we are all in this together.” An organization does not exist without its people, who transact with each other and use organizational resources to do what the organization needs to have done. Keys to this category are an organization’s values and culture (i.e., context, traditions, and environment of a workplace), attitudes and behaviors plus words and actions of management and employees, policies and structures for and about religious expression, and training in matters of maintaining a respectful workplace, avoiding harassment, promoting diversity, and others.

Top-performing organizations of any kind and in any industry are those whose employees (leaders and followers) are engaged and satisfied with their work and management’s ways of enabling them to work well. At the same time, employees’ applying their faiths or spiritualities ought not impinge on others’ rights through, for example, proselytizing or overt religious/spiritual practices.

To the extent that the greater organization offers employees ways to engage their religion or spirituality that help them enjoy and grow in their work and help the organization prosper, the organization can put in place attitudinal and structural means to help them (e.g., designated, specialized places for worship, prayer, meditation; leaders’ genuinely supportive words and actions; policy statements and compliance). For example, one journalist found empirical evidence that “spirituality in the workplace, positively affects Organizational Commitment and Organizational citizenship behavior of the employees. Besides Organizational Commitment also positively affects the Organizational citizenship behavior of the employees” (p. 227).⁸ All told, these key limitations reflect how “faith friendly” an organization may be.

The third category of limitations is morals and ethics. Much scholarship⁹ about ethics and spirituality/religion in the workplace demonstrates the greater extent of the benefits of spiritual/religious supportiveness than risks, especially beyond bald performance measures, when it comes to doing the right thing in the right way at the right time for the right people for the right reasons. Instrumental in what is “right” is a combination of what is legally allowed plus, based on organizational values, what management and employees see as morally and ethically appropriate to do. In short, employee satisfaction and engagement are positively affected, particularly for ethics and ethical decision-making.¹⁰

In this category, the virtues and values that are shared between an organization and its employees should be wide and firm. Plus the intersections among the rules and principles of faith, the organization, and society should be sufficiently clear, so that there is a kind of balance. Recognizing that there will be some employees who do not care or are opposed to workplace religion/spirituality (perhaps as a matter of personal privacy), shared values between an organization and its employees provide rationales and clarity about the ethics involved in blending religion/spirituality in the workplace for those who wish to partake in it while respectfully allowing others the choice to not partake at all.

The fourth and final category of limitations on evangelizing in the workplace is personal, which largely concerns attitudes and behaviors. The core point apparent across scholarship about religion/spirituality in the workplace is that people practice various religious and spiritual traditions while some others practice little or not at all. Respect of those traditions and practices is essential, and to the extent that the previous three domains intersect with this one (and each other), an organization can uphold the legal protections, enact pertinent ethical principles, and provide the means that help individual employees (and employees in groups, if they so choose) achieve their full potential for themselves through religion/spirituality both personally and professionally, turning that full potential back to the organization through strong performance in their work for organizational success.

As workers in the Lord’s vineyard, we primarily need to be excellent workers who do their work to give glory to God. We do our work out of love for God, for work itself, and for whom our work ultimately helps. We also need to be self-aware as Catholic workers who are disciplined, respectful, discreet, and compassionate with coworkers of any rank and station. In this way, we can foster a reputation as good people working well — as an example of Jesus’ teachings in the Gospels.

Across these four categories of limitations on evangelizing in the workplace, they encompass external and internal limitations, and all of them are more helpful than not. Being obedient to the rules and being motivated by love can work in one’s favor. The reason is that “love does no evil to the neighbor; hence, love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:10). The most important thing to remember about evangelizing at this point, as we begin to consider actions for evangelizing, is that bringing someone to Christ and the Catholic faith takes time.

Workplace Evangelization Approach

An approach for evangelizing in the workplace given in this section is a personal, even pragmatic one that, when used by Catholics according to their abilities, should prove fruitful. For any of us, evangelizing well, compassionately, and morally in the workplace needs an action plan that specifies achievable and realistic objectives that can be realized through appropriate and effective action steps.

At the outset, important contextual matters about the actions of evangelization among Catholics must be reviewed so that the approach’s relevance and application are connected to that context. Although various studies have been published in recent years about challenges facing the Catholic Church, including topics related to evangelization, one recent study in particular bears most directly to this paper’s thesis.

Vinea Research and DeSales Media surveyed devout Catholics¹¹ for their “disposition for discipleship” in order to “identify unmet needs,” “obtain reactions to and interest in the availability and use of apps in discipleship,” and “determine the extent to which these solutions address their unmet needs” (p. 4). The survey’s participants being “devout” Catholics is important because they are presumably best suited for evangelizing. Specifically relevant findings are the following that concern evangelization:

• 75% of those surveyed feel that faith in Christ affects their decision-making at work (p. 36).
• 82% of those surveyed have a comfort level in sharing their faith (30% extremely, 39% somewhat, and 13% slightly) (p. 39).
• 52% of those surveyed are moderately or extremely proactive about sharing the Catholic faith (p. 40).

These findings are very promising for capitalizing on and enabling Catholics’ existing good disposition to evangelize. However, even though participants have a strong willingness to evangelize, they need significant help in personal readiness to do so. The following findings specify the top areas for such help:

• 76% of those surveyed have an interest in developing evangelization skills (p. 43).
• Certain barriers impede Catholics from evangelizing, namely lack of experience (33%), lack of confidence (42%), not wanting to offend (38%), situational appropriateness (62%), and lack of knowing how to start conversations (39%) (p. 42).
• Evangelization formation formats that are equally most appealing are parish-based training sessions (51%), an app with modules that can be listened to when desired (51%), and in-person group or community (51%) (p. 44).

Given this context and the survey’s results, I believe the approach I give here is one that, although admittedly general, addresses the needs and wants for Catholic evangelization — especially in the workplace. The approach (“plan”) given in the next section would suit individual Catholics as well as parishes and, potentially, dioceses that can evaluate and implement the plan in whole or in part with positive effects. After all, God calls us, as St. John Paul II wrote in Christifideles Laici, to an “integrated life” that unifies both the religious/spiritual and the secular aspects of life.¹² Fitting work within right priorities that God expects of us enables us to fulfill His commission for us in the world — to go and make disciples. The plan, then, presents objectives and action items, the latter of which gives guidance for one’s self as an evangelizer and about others as evangelizees.

Objectives

This approach includes objectives that are more humanistic (i.e., evangelizing compassionately and thoughtfully in the workplace) than hard-core statements about quantitatively measurable results that may be sought. The objectives draw inspiration from the Vinea Research–DeSales Media study. The objectives for workplace evangelization are as follows:

• Be yourself, “glorifying the Lord by your life” (attitudinal, verbal, & behavioral example of Christ in the world — words and behaviors).
• Do all things borne of love.
• Know the Catholic faith well and be willing to foster understanding.
• Your only agenda is to share the Gospel of Christ (the kerygma), doing so credibly and mindfully for others.
• Meet people “where they are,” not for what you think they ought to be.
• Remember that it takes time. Relationships grow only with care and love.

The objectives stated here are more humanistic and about personal accomplishments from evangelizing rather than hard-core statements about quantitatively measurable results that are sought. We each can indeed fulfill Jesus’ great commission when evangelizing compassionately and thoughtfully in the workplace. Which brings us to putting the objectives into action.

Action Items

A vital perspective about evangelizing in the workplace (or anywhere) is that you are having a genuinely friendly conversation, and it may continue another time. To meet the above objectives and evangelize well, charitably, humbly, and morally, the following action items apply:

• Genuinely get to know colleagues of all ranks and stations, being aware of their boundaries and real restrictions
• Show genuine joy, concern, sorrow, pain, or wonder with or for others, letting the language of the faith be natural on your lips
• Listen well and nonjudgmentally to colleagues and observe them for their personal disclosures, especially areas of common ground or interest

• Seek natural fit in conversation, and determine whether and how to casually pursue evangelizing, particularly if it fits work and life topics.
• Encourage curiosity to foster comfort in pursuing questions later

An additional group of action items concern “options,” as these they are useful and appropriate ways to evangelize (some passively other actively) within a given situation. The options are:

• Wear and carry personal sacramentals
• Disclose casually about being Catholic and willing to chat about the faith
• Display Catholic items in your workspace & computer screen background
• Pray at work and in public
• Look around at Mass to see who’s there from work, then use that literal common ground to get to know them better.
• Consider meeting after Mass or other times of the week for coffee, breakfast, lunch, whatever to chat (Catholics or not).
• Lean on stories to tell about God in your life, being a witness to testify to Him:
• Consider starting or joining small groups of colleagues (Catholic or not) to discuss the Bible and the Catholic faith. Invite colleagues (non-Catholic, Catholic-curious, or fallen-away Catholic) to join you in a small group.
• Invite someone (non-Catholic, Catholic-curious, or fallen-away Catholic) to join you at Mass. Sit somewhere sufficiently from others so you can explain things as needed to your guest.
• Use your God-given gifts to help others on the job and off, accompanying them on their faith journey.

This approach is in tune with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ published plan, Go and Make Disciples, particularly for three goals that pertain to evangelizing in workplaces, which also give suggested action items:

• 102: To promote and develop a spirituality for the workplace. Possible actions:
  • Encourage reflection on the transforming presence of God in the workplace
  • Acknowledge workers as agents of God’s presence in the workplace
  • Encourage the formation of Catholic and other Christian groups and organizations that foster values in the workplace.
• 111: To cultivate an active core of the baptized to serve as ministers of evangelization in their parishes, dioceses, neighborhoods, workplaces, and homes. Possible actions:
  • Form diocesan evangelization committees and offices
  • Form evangelization teams in parishes
  • Form and support national and regional schools of evangelization
  • Hold workshops and support groups for those involved in evangelization in explicit ways.
• 123: Develop groups to explore issues of the workplace and lay spirituality. Possible actions:
  • Hold workshops about evangelization in the workplace
  • Hold support groups for professionals
  • Hold retreats about the value of work and the ethical/justice issues associated with employment
  • Schedule renewal days organized by and for lay people

Evangelizing in any manner in any situation may not be easy all the time. “But even if you should suffer because of righteousness, blessed are you. Do not be afraid or terrified with fear of them, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope” (1 Peter 3:14–15; emphasis added). This workplace evangelization approach is at least a practical starting point to help people see they can evangelize at work and do it well.

Going Out to Make Disciples

Catholics in their workplaces can carry out Christ’s great commission to make disciples. Most important, the approach given here leverages what people already can do to evangelize in their workplaces and empowers them. We can enact what Pope St. John Paul II said in his encyclical Laborem Exercens: “Let the Christian who listens to the word of the living God, uniting work with prayer, know the place that his work has not only in earthly progress but also in the development of the Kingdom of God, to which we are all called through the power of the Holy Spirit and through the word of the Gospel.”¹³

Someone can be religious and focused on their career and work, being a person of love, integrity, discipline, and excellence in your faith and work that glorifies God. A Catholic worker can evangelize in the workplace but be respectful and careful. Know the Catholic faith and defend it the best you can, and when you can’t, offer to get the right information and share it. Know the legal and organizational limitations as well as the cross-over points for organizational values, morals, ethics, and the Catholic faith. Remember also that evangelization takes time — belonging leads to belief and then to the behaviors of a practicing Catholic. Catholics can apply the action plan and action items in ways that would work for them and for who they are, so they can accompany people well and compassionately on their faith journey.

Appendix A

Calculations used to determine amount of U.S. lifespan devoted to work/career

The calculations here, using multiple sources, focus on the wakeful portion of one’s life, because it is during one’s wakeful hours of a work day during their working lives (“career”) that they actually perform their jobs. Accordingly, in this context, the sense and reference of work is exclusive to the tasks within the purview of any job assignment in a profession in which someone earns compensation, which enables the person to support one’s self and, when applicable, dependents. In this way, although the proportion of work as part of one’s entire life (wakeful and not) is given in line m, one important calculation is that for the proportion of hours worked to available wakeful hours for work in one’s career given in line l.

2022. Average U.S. human lifespan: 77 years (2020)¹⁴ => 28,105 days; 674,520 hrs.
2023. Average work life (“career”): 52 years (ages 15–67)¹⁵,¹⁶
2024. Average work hours per standard work week: 34.3¹⁷
2025. Work weeks per year: 47 (excludes holidays [10], vacation days [10], and sick days[5])¹⁸,¹⁹
2026. Hours worked per year: 1,765.35²⁰
2027. Hours worked over one’s career (e*b): 82,971.45
2028. Proportion of work over lifetime (f/a_hrs): 12.3%
2029. Wakeful hours per day: 17 (assume 7 hours/day of sleep for people ages 18-60)²¹
2030. Wakeful hours available per work week (h*5): 85
2031. Wakeful hours available per work year (i*d): 3,995
2032. Wakeful hours available for work over career (j*b): 207,740
2033. Proportion of hours worked in a career to available wakeful hours in a career (f/k): 39.9%
2034. Proportion of hours worked in a career to entire lifespan (k/a_hrs): 30.8%

Appendix B

Sources about evangelization and apologetics of the Catholic faith.

• Compendium: Catechism of the Catholic Church
• Go and Make Disciples, USCCB
• Evangelizing Catholics: The Bible, the Eucharist, and the New Evangelization, Scott Hahn (YouTube)
• Reasons to Believe: How to Understand, Explain, and Defend the Catholic Faith, Scott Hahn
• Evangelical Catholicism: Deep Reform in the 21^st Century Church, George Weigel
• The New Apologetics: Defending the Faith in a Post-Christian Era, Matthew Nelson, Ed.
• Letter to a Suffering Church: A Bishop Speaks on the Sexual Abuse Crisis, Bishop Robert Barron
• Arguing Religion: A Bishop Speaks at Facebook and Google, Bishop Robert Barron
• How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization, Thomas Woods
• Handbook of Catholic Apologetics, Peter Kreeft & Ronald Tacelli
• Bearing False Witness: Debunking Centuries of Anti-Catholic History, Rodney Stark
• The Case for Catholicism: Answers to Classic and Contemporary Protestant Objections, Trent Horn
• The Biblical Basis for the Catholic Faith, John Salza
• Proving the Catholic Faith is Biblical: From Priestly Celibacy to the Rosary, Dave Armstrong