When God closes a door, he opens….a blog?

Last updated on: April 5, 2016 at 11:32 am by Jennifer Woodruff Tait

When God closes a door, he opens….a blog? 2016-04-05T11:32:52-05:00 Jennifer Woodruff Tait

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In October 2013, I got a phone call from my friend Chris Armstrong about a new venture he was starting. It was the venture which became this Patheos Faith and Work Channel. Certain pieces of his startup puzzle had shifted, and he needed someone else on the team. Could I be on a phone call at 4:00 that afternoon?

I could, and I did. (Up until that point I had never even heard of the faith and work movement. I learned fast!) Several learning curves later, the channel saw the light of day in January 2014, and since that point we’ve been bringing you for the past two years great content about questions related to issues of faith, work, economics, and vocation. Once I had learned that the faith and work movement existed, I came very quickly to agree with its contention that the church needs a lot more reflection around these issues. I enjoyed becoming managing editor for the channel and, since May 2014, curating this particular blog as a repository for both what I liked to call the “greatest hits” of the faith and work movement and a landing spot for new voices.

In the world of startups, puzzle pieces shift frequently. This is hard for me as someone whose spiritual gift is making the trains run on time (INTJ on the Myers-Briggs, if you speak that language), but it is nevertheless true. My time as managing editor ended March 31. The channel continues under the able leadership of Kathleen Mulhern and other Patheos staff; and I am part of a new venture as content editor for The High Calling at the Theology of Work Project. The High Calling contains a wonderful archive of content dealing with issues of faith in daily life stretching back to 2007, with a robust diversity of writers (something which I’ve previously noted that the faith and work movement needs more of) and I will be working on integrating that content with Theology of Work’s online Bible commentary, a commentary for the entire Bible which focuses on issues of work.

So why am I still here in this space at MISSION:WORK writing to you right now? Well, sometime in the past two years I came to the realization that I wasn’t just an employee of the faith and work movement, I was a participant. In fact, I was a voice. The faith and work movement needs more woman thinkers, I kept saying. It needs more mainline thinkers (you can read my thoughts here on being a doctrinally orthodox mainliner). Wouldn’t it be great if someone could write about those things? Really great?

Physician, blog thyself.

So I’ll still be here, saying some things about work and vocation and discipleship I think (or at least things I think I think!), reprinting some other things I like, sharing poetry on feast days because that’s how Anglicans roll, talking about what it’s like to pastor a small church, publicizing the great stuff coming out of THC and TOW, and…well, we’ll see. Welcome along for the ride.

I’ve kept singing this song by my friend Joe Martyn Ricke as I went through all these changes. Check it out. (Lyrics here.) You may find yourself humming a few bars when the road takes an unexpected turn.

“Every mountain will be brought low

Every valley shall be raised

turn around oh turn around

Until we make a highway for our God

in this rough place

turn around oh turn around…”

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