NEWS RELEASE – On Saturday, February 25th about 125 people attended a three-hour session by Dr. Richard (Rick) J. Goossen on “Christians At Work: Finding Your Calling, Making A Difference” at Willingdon Church, Burnaby, BC.
The session was jointly organized by ELO and Willingdon School of the Bible. Attendees represented a diverse range of ages and occupations, and Willingdon members and others from throughout the community.
The session consisted of a presentation by Rick Goossen, followed by individual table work on calling, and then a group discussion. The individual table work was centered around a “Calling Action Plan” to help people focus in a practical way on their calling and how it can impact their daily actions.
The workshop highlighted the importance of calling for Christians, both the general and specific call. Rick Goossen talked about passion, purpose and priorities and the importance of being a steward not only of one’s financial resources, but also one’s talent. Rick Goossen highlighted examples of the callings of some high-profile Christians.
One example was Mark Burnett, the #1 TV producer in Hollywood who has produced Survivor, Celebrity Apprentice, Shark Tank and The Voice. Mark Burnett has produced “The Bible” mini-series, “The Son of God” movie, the “Ben Hur” movie. He has become passionate about The Gospel and making a stand in Hollywood. He calls himself a “noisy Christian.” He is driven by his calling.
The presentation also addressed how Christians can approach work. The workshop pointed out that Christians have a meaning framework through which their work is filtered and which places it in the context of their total life calling. This is very different than not having a clear sense of meaning and then having the workplace or the particular employer shape meaning.
There was much animated discussion and great questions. Some of the questions focused on the nature of passion. How do we find our passion if it is no immediately evident? Can we have more than one passion? What if our passion is not tied to our career and thus we can’ make money from it.
The title of Rick Goossen’s presentation is similar to that of the book he co-authored with R. Paul Stevens titled, Entrepreneurial Leadership: Finding Your Calling, Making A Difference (IVP, 2013). The book discusses in detail the nature of calling, including myths around calling and the process of vocational discernment.
Dr. Goossen has spoken on the importance of calling to groups around the world. He sessions are always impactful in terms of having people focus on their meaning in life, how they are making a difference and how they can be a faithful steward of their gifts and opportunities.
The audio of the presentation: https://www.entrepreneurialleaders.com/podcasts
The PowerPoint of the presentation: http://www.entrepreneurialleaders.com/RickSeminars