Carol and I opened a business (The Bead Company) in October 2008 and this has meant a major shift in my responsibilities with the church but also how we live our faith in Glasgow and through our church Mosaic. If you want to see the shop, you can visit our website. The business is a ‘bead shop’ and we teach people how to make jewellery. We also supply one of the largest selections of materials for people to make jewellery in Scotland. We employ 1 full time member of staff and 6 part time staff. The business has been paying the bills during a most difficult economic climate and for that we are thankful. There are many resources out there about being bi-vocational but the gist of what we do is this: As Christians we try to be a blessing not only on Sunday but also through our workplace. With customers, staff, suppliers, everyone we encounter. Sometimes this is direct – praying for customers and letting them know of our faith – other times it is indirect such as how we handle a complaint or how we strive for excellence as way to honour God with our talents.
At one point I had started a blog to document our journey in business and discuss the missional side of our work…..but the demands of the business, family and being invested in a church were too much to keep it going! I think the resource page is still helpful and you can visit it here if you want more information on how you might be able to use your skills to be a Christian presence in the workplace.
Please get in touch if you have more questions or would like to engage with us about being Christians in the workplace.
