Discipleship Commons

This year’s Oikonomia Network (ON) gathering took place in San Diego. The beauty of this coastal setting created a great backdrop for a serious conversation on faith, work, and economics. The vision of Avodah, a Hebrew term for work, worship, and service permeated the gathering as the network began to both survey models of successful integration, as well as anticipate new challenges and opportunities to continue the work of the Kern Family Foundation.

ON Director Dr. Greg Forster opened the meeting by reminding the group of the deep need for community among the Oikonomia Network.  Rather than seeing each program in isolation: we need a community to strengthen, learn, and maintain integrity within the ON efforts. Forster notes work remains important for schools, church, and world, by focusing on the intersection of those efforts. When we separate the church from the public square, our discipleship suffers.

Forster noted the long-term vision of the Oikonomia Network and the reality that much of the work will take time. Quoting the founder, Mr. Robert D. Kern, Forster noted that “if you are trying just for something just in your lifetime, you are thinking too small.” The challenge is to see each effort as broadly inter-generational, working to develop a new generation of leaders that engage work but primarily from the perspective of Christlikeness.

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