ABOUT Worship for Workers

If you lead worship, this site is for you. Launched in 2023, this project began releasing new songs, prayers, and blessings that are specifically designed to help worshippers speak honestly with God about their daily work. These resources can be directly used or contextualized to fit your congregation’s worship. Our deep hope is that as you engage what is available on this site, vocationally-conversant worship will begin to organically take root in your worshipping community. Please join us in filling up this library! If you’re interested in writing, contact us.

Worship for Workers is a project of The Institute for Theology, Work, and Public Life.

Our Vision

Worship that engages our daily work

Our Mission

Gathering songwriters and artists, pastors and professionals to create worship for workers

Our Craft

Music – Composing congregational songs on the themes of work and vocation

Prayers – Writing prayers for workers (confessions, blessings, laments, and thanksgivings)

Art– Creating visual art that reflects the importance of work

Liturgies – Sharing creative ideas for work-oriented worship services

Training – Equipping church leaders to better integrate work and worship.

Our Craft

The modern divide between Sunday worship and Monday work has had a devastating impact on the church. Christian workers report that worship in church feels completely disconnected from their work in the world. Their worship seems to have nothing to say to the realities of their daily work. Consequently, their work often feels miles away from the presence and mission of God. Living their lives in pieces, both sides–worship and work–lose their integrity. It doesn’t have to be this way.

Sunday morning worship can actually engage our daily work in the world. Through songs, prayers, and blessings workers can begin a transformative conversation with God about the triumphs and trials facing them in their daily work.

The songs, prayers, and blessings that we provide are “conversation starters” between workers and God. Some of these resources gather workers into the presence of God, others scatter workers into the mission of God. Gathering songs and prayers encourage workers to carry their working lives before their God in worship. They help workers articulate their weekly victories and confessions, their harvests and their heartbreaks, to a God who truly cares about their working lives. Scattering songs and prayers send workers out into their daily callings with a sense of mission and purpose for the week that lies ahead.

This is our “why.”

Worship that gathers and scatters workers.

Our Story

In 2020, after years of research, writing, and leadership in the world of faith, work, and marketplace ministry, Dr. Matthew Kaemingk and Dr. Cory Willson published the book Work and Worship: Reconnecting Our Labor and Liturgy. In the wake of this new book, a series of conversations began to emerge with churches and marketplace ministries around the country. A need had been identified. Pastors and worship leaders wanted to equip and send people into their daily work with a sense of calling, purpose, and mission. While these churches could preach and teach about how God cares about workers, they lacked songs, prayers, and blessings that reflected and reinforced this message. Who would provide those resources?

Launched in 2023, “Worship for Workers.” is a nationwide coalition of songwriters and worship leaders, marketplace ministries and worship organizations partnered together to create “worship for workers.” Together with our partners we produce songs, prayers, blessings, art, and liturgies that deeply engage the realities of people’s callings and careers. Our mission is to freely share these resources with diverse congregations and organizations who care about reconnecting the work and worship of God’s people. In the coming months we will continue to expand our library of resources as new partners join the effort.

“If my work truly matters to God, that theological assertion needs to be reflected in my community’s worship. Daily work should “show up” in the community’s prayers and sermons, its songs and benedictions, its testimonies and sacraments. Theologies of work matter, but they need to be sung and prayed. We need to find ways for our theologies of work to inhabit more than our brains – they need to enter our bones.”

– Cory Willson and Matthew Kaemingk “Work and Worship”

Our Team

Program Lead

Dr. Matthew Kaemingk

Dr. Matthew Kaemingk is the coauthor of Work and Worship: Reconnecting Our Labor and Liturgy (Baker Academic, 2020). Matthew has been researching, teaching, and leading in the area of marketplace ministry for the past 15 years.

Program Director

Katie Roelofs

Katie Roelofs is a minister in the Christian Reformed Church and has been involved in music and worship ministry for 17 years. She previously served a congregation in Washington, DC and now works both with Worship for Workers and as a worship consultant.

Operations Director

Falon Barton

Dr. Falon Barton is a minister, educator, and researcher whose work focuses on spiritual formation, vocational discernment, and the integration of faith into daily life. Falon has a Doctor of Ministry in missional and spiritual formation from the Hazelip School of Theology at Lipscomb University and an M.A. in theology and ethics from Pepperdine University. She has more than a decade of experience as a university minister and Bible professor, with particular interest in vocational and spiritual formation among emerging adults and college students.

Music Director

Isaac Wardell

Porter’s Gate Music

Project Team:
Web Design – Leslie E. Thompson
Art and Graphics – Brittany Fan