Spirituality at work

How can religion fit in at the office?

That's a central question being taken up by authors, professors, business owners, and executives this week at the Third International Symposium on Spirituality and Business at Babson College in Wellesley, Mass.

Participants should have plenty to chew on. Many US business leaders are now encouraging the growth of spiritual values in the workplace.

Companies like Tom's of Maine, Timberland, Whirlpool, and Intel Corp., are trying to promote social responsibility by encouraging religious diversity and local community service.

"We are trying to be more conscious of diversity in general, realizing that respecting diversity also means respecting a diversity of ideas," says Whirlpool spokesman Mark Crumpton.

A cover story on religion in the workplace in the Nov. 1, 1999, issue of Business Week reported:

*48 percent of working Americans said they had discussed their religious faith at work in the past 24 hours.

*51 percent feel modern life leaves them too busy to enjoy God or pray as much as they'd like.

*78 percent feel the need to experience spiritual growth (up 20 percent from 1994).

*60 percent say they have absolute trust in God.

For more information about the symposium, which runs March 22-24, visit www.babson.edu/chapel/SpiritBus.html or call (781) 239-5631.

(c) Copyright 2000. The Christian Science Publishing Society