The Institute for Theology, Work, and Public Life
Our mission: To empower Christians to live out their faith at work and in public life.
The Institute pursues its mission through two initiatives:
Worship for Workers: We empower the church to bridge the gap between Sunday and Monday, worship and work. To this end, we provide churches and parachurch organizations with new songs, prayers, and blessings for Christian workers. We also provide training opportunities and resources for pastors and worship leaders who wish to design and lead worship for workers. Finally, we continue to deepen our understanding of the (dis)connection between work and worship through continued research on the topic.
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Global Thought Leaders: The global church is facing an array of complex public issues and challenges (in business, politics, media, the arts, economics, and more). Global churches are in desperate need of biblical wisdom on matters of public concern. We exist to resource and support these churches with a new generation of Christian scholars and thought leaders who are committed to biblical faithfulness and wisdom in the public square. Towards this end, we provide critical support to emerging scholars and research projects focused on connecting the gospel and public life.
We are centered on Christ, grounded in scripture, and focused on the mission of God in the public square. Our research is marked by biblical faithfulness, scholarly excellence, and cultural wisdom.
Our Team
Program Lead
Dr. Matthew Kaemingk
Dr. Matthew Kaemingk is an award-winning author, speaker, and Christian ethicist whose work focuses on the intersection of faith, work, politics, and public life. He is the coauthor of Work and Worship: Reconnecting Our Labor and Liturgy (Baker Academic, 2020) and Leading Worship for Workers: How to Design Liturgies for All of Life (Baker Academic, 2026). Matthew serves as Professor of Public Theology at Theological University Utrecht, Senior Fellow at Center for Public Justice, and co-director of the Templeton Pluralism Fellowship. He is the founding director of Worship for Workers and an ordained minister in the Christian Reformed Church who has spent the past 15 years researching, teaching, and leading in the area of marketplace ministry and Christian spiritual formation for workers.
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.
