“Our heart is to have a city full of Christ followers who are comfortable and confident taking their faith to work.”

Craig Macartney
Spur Ottawa Writer

“There are between 50,000 and 100,000 Christians in Ottawa. How could our city and workplaces be transformed if our faith manifested?”

This question is what inspired Jennifer Parr and One Way Ministries to launch the Workplace Network. The network aims to help Ottawa’s Christians connect and support each other as they walk out their faith in the workplace.

“Living out your faith in the workplace can be challenging and can often feel lonely. As a result, many Christians leave their faith at the door. We want to change this,” Parr explains. “Our heart is to have a city full of Christ followers who are comfortable and confident taking their faith to work and using it to make their workplaces better, stronger, and more Kingdom oriented.”

Parr is not simply talking about evangelism. She is challenging believers to start by examining their own hearts and behaviour at work, and to model Christ’s love in their interactions with colleagues. Whether an office environment is open or hostile to discussions about faith, Parr says, there are always ways Christians can live out their faith.

“We would like to see the number of workplace prayer groups multiply.”

“Just the other day I had someone tell me that their boss is a real bully. So every day before work, they pray for their boss and for the people he is bullying. Nobody knows this person is taking prayer into their workplace, but they are.”

Prayer is a focal point where the Workplace Network seeks to encourage believers. They officially kicked off on January 20, during City on our Knees, with nearly 100 people gathered a for a virtual summit praying for Ottawa workplaces.

Even before the network officially launched they hosted two virtual silent retreats to help business leaders deepen their relationship with God through listening prayer. The events’ success encouraged them to organize another for late February. They plan to make it a staple event, held several times each year.

The network also wants to support the many prayer groups that already meet in workplaces across Ottawa.

“We want to encourage marketplace people that they are not alone,” says Doug Sprunt, another of the network’s leaders.

“We would like to see the number multiply and want to provide support to help make this happen,” Parr adds. “We are in the process of identifying groups that exist so we can link more people into them. We also want to identify people who would like to start or join a workplace prayer group so we can support them.”

The network organized an event, scheduled for March 2, for individuals leading a workplace prayer group. The event will help connect leaders so they can learn from each other’s successes and challenges.

“The intent of this event is to provide leaders a home where they can share and learn and find support from one another. It is also our prayer that we will attract those in the workplace who feel the calling to lead a prayer group or a bible study so they can find encouragement in such a meeting.”

Sign up for the Workplace Network newsletter to find out more.