Vennture2023-01-13T10:25:40-05:00

When faith meets work

all the hours

of our lives can be

infused with meaning

Vennture is bridging the gap between Sunday and the other six days of the week.

Do you find your work meaningful? Do you feel like you are able to use your God-given gifts to benefit others and promote flourishing in the world? Sadly, many Christians respond that they see their job only as a means to an end. Too often, Christians divide their life into the sacred and the secular.

We are inspiring and motivating individuals and groups to reflect God’s image through creative and innovative daily work and mobilize Christians to join God’s redemptive mission in the world through work. Vennture is part of a growing group of God’s people who believe transformation can happen when faith and work intersect. Our goal is to stimulate conversations, build connecting points and incubate new ideas about living out our faith, seven days of the week.

As followers of Jesus, our work matters to God and has eternal Kingdom value. Our work is a gift that provides us with an opportunity to participate in God’s redemptive work in our communities and our world.

HOW WE WORK

Vennture works in three strategic ways:

Formation

Vennture focuses on teaching, training, coaching, and mentoring of partners, local churches, and individuals, aligns with CBM’s strategy of Integral Mission.

Creation

Vennture works within a partner network and in a spirit of mutuality, to assist in the creation of transformational business that lead to human flourishing, and provide meaningful work for individuals.

Mobilization

Vennture is building networks in order to mobilize God’s people to see their work as mission and accept their role to help heal a broken world through it.

Our quarterly email will guide you in integrating your faith and your work so that all the hours of your life can be infused with meaning and make a kingdom impact, no matter what you’re doing.
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Vennture

Vennture

When faith meets work all the hours of our lives can be infused with meaning!

7 hours ago

Vennture
🎉 Vennture Conference 2023 is happening TOMORROW!! 🎉We are no longer counting down the days but the HOURS until our very first Vennture Conference! We are so excited to have Dr. Paul Stevens (Chairman, Institute for Marketplace Transformation) to share with you all! If you are in Moncton or nearby you won't want to miss this. If you haven't heard about this event yet, we officially invite YOU to Crandall University's Britton Auditorium at 7pm for the FREE public lecture titled "A Kingdom Vision for the Marketplace"! If you're at Crandall, you'll also get to hear Dr. Stevens in Tuesday's Chapel, and in a couple of classrooms this week! Let us know in the comments if we'll see you there? 🙋 ... See MoreSee Less
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Michael Waddell

Michael, a business enthusiast, loves helping people of all ages discover where faith meets work and businessEquipped with theological education and business training, Michael spent 14 years working in their family-run small business before joining CBM’s team in 2015He and his family spent 4 years in the Philippines leading people and partners towards an increased engagement in the marketplace through the integration of their faith with daily workSince returning to Canada in 2020, Michael has been co-leading Vennture, focusing on marketplace ministries with our Canadian and international network of partners.  

Photo of Senior Associate, Strategic Projects Brenda Halk

Connect with

Brenda Halk

Brenda is passionate about helping people become whole-life disciples by integrating their faith with their work. Brenda worked in education for many years before entering the business world, where she worked for more than 20 years, managing several small family businesses. She has extensive leadership experience in mission organizations and joined CBM in 2013. Believing that the marketplace is a strategic mission field, Brenda now co-leads Vennture, assisting and equipping partners to engage in the marketplace as a means of helping transform communities and bring lasting spiritual and social change.

Work as Worship Resources

This service resource package will help you unpack a theology of faith and work, and help you understand how you can join God’s mission and live out your faith, seven days a week.

Sermon Outline and Notes

These sermon notes explore and unpack How God uses Daniel’s skills and labour in a foreign country to bring glory to Himself.

Scripture Reading: Gen 1:26-28

Polisi Kivava reads to us from Genesis Chapter 1.

Scripture Reading: Daniel 1: 3-8, 17-20

Darrell and Laura Lee Bustin read to us from Daniel Chapter 1.

A Procession of Symbols

This Procession of Symbols is meant to be the first liturgical element of a service, but it can be adapted to fit at other points in your service as well.

Responsive Readings

This set of two responsive readings will bring your congregation into a time of call and response, where they can reflect on God’s provision.

Prayer for Vocations

Written by Steven Garber
Produced by Park Cities Presbyterian Church
Film by Collin Sims

Prayer for Work

Terry Smith leads us in prayer for Work.

Prayer for Workers

Brenda Halk leads us in prayer for Workers.

Prayer for Workplaces

Michael Waddell leads us in prayer for Workplaces.

Prayer for Work

Prayer points for work.

Prayer for Workers

Prayer points for workers.

Prayer for Workplaces

Prayer points for workplaces.

Song: The Blood is Still The Blood

Daniel Bashta, Kirby Kaple, Jonathan Jay, Kenneth Leonard Jr., Chandler Moore, Tasha Cobbs Leonard, Taylor Hill

Song: Yes I will

Eddie Hoagland,
Mia Fieldes,
Jonathan Smith

Promotional Video

Use this Promotional video to tell your co-workers, congregation or small group about Vennture.

Featured in

CBM Responding

In CBM Responding Issue 7, Director of Strategic Initiatives, Terry Smith gives us a global snapshot of what Vennture is and the impact it has globally.

If you are like me, you sometimes need to just make words up, combining two or more common words. They might look a bit strange, but they somehow just seem to fit together rather nicely. So here is one:

adventure: an unusual and exciting experience or activity.

venture: an uncertain or daring journey or undertaking.

Venn diagram: common elements of the sets being represented by the areas of overlap among the circles.

=VENNTURE 

Before I explain what this word means, let me take you on an “advennture” to Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia, to witness one of the most innovative ministries I have ever encountered. The Kale Heywet Church, with 10,000 churches and 10 million members is Ethiopia’s largest evangelical denomination. Pastor Yoseph Bekele was a youth pastor and owned several businesses. In 2017, Yoseph was appointed to be the Director of business and discipleship for the Kale Heywet Church. When he started, Yoseph shared that businesspeople were considered “sinful people” in his context. There was no understanding of a Christian or biblical perspective on work. His challenge was to help the church membership to understand whole-life discipleship, including worship and work as critical for Ethiopian Christians.

In three years, Yoseph and his team of trainers have reached nine of the eleven regions of Ethiopia with the message of faith and work. His teams of trainers help pastors and church leaders understand the call of the local church to equip all of God’s people for the work of the ministry from Monday to Saturday. They believe that every church should have a workplace ministry, just as they have a youth and women’s ministry. 

As part of the training, everyone learns the three Great Directives. The Great Commission’s (Matt. 28:18-20) outcome is proclamation.  Jesus tells us to go and make disciples, beginning in Jerusalem and reaching the whole world.  The Great Commandment’s (Mark 12:30-31) outcome is relational.  Jesus tells us that the greatest commandment is about loving God whole-heartedly and loving our neighbor as ourselves.  But the outcomes of the Great Commitment (Gen. 2:5), which are to fill the earth and steward it, are economic and ecological.  

Today, God is raising up a movement of Christians in Ethiopia who see all of life as an opportunity to live out their calling of discipleship – at home, at school, and at work.  

Our travels could take us to other far-reaching corners of the globe, where we could meet passionate Christ-followers who are demonstrating that faith and work are not separate boxes in life but converge together in acts of faithful service. In the Philippines and China, India, South Sudan, Lebanon, Bolivia, Cuba and throughout Latin America, these folks are a living testimony that church on Sunday (typically) is actually a place where God’s people can be equipped and enabled to be salt and light in the world for the other six days of the week.

So back to my word VENNTURE:

Many of our readers know what a Venn diagram is: two-overlapping shapes that demonstrate the logical relationship between two or more sets of ideas. It was named after a British mathematician, John Venn, in 1880, who was trying to help people understand how seemingly opposing concepts can actually be closely linked together. So a simple version could look like this:

Now hold that thought for a minute and let’s share what God has been showing us here at CBM.  For many years, we have seen the phenomenal impact that ‘ordinary church-goers’ were having on helping shape local communities, often through their daily work. They were teachers and health-care workers,  government employees, tradespeople, truckers and farmers, business-people, merchants, and day-labourers. They understood that God had called them to live out their faith in and through their work. And they innately knew that they were Christ’s disciples in the marketplace.  

But conversely, too often the church-leaders, usually pastors and evangelists, were sending a confusing message that God’s work was what was being done in the church; singing in the choir, teaching Sunday school, being a deacon, serving on a committee, or sometimes, just being a means of generating income for what they understood to be God’s work (i.e., in the church).  These people felt like they were second-class citizens in the kingdom, sometimes denigrated for choosing what was labelled as ‘secular work’ vs the spiritual work of the church.

With our partners around the world, we are developing a whole new focus, called VENNTURE, which seeks to help show the marvelous convergence of faith and work. As our new VENNTURE logo shows, we see that discipleship is the great integrator, the very heart of life as God’s people. It is where faith meets work and equips people with useful resources to live out their faith every single day of the week.

Our strategy is quite straightforward:  

1. FORMATION: Through teaching, training, coaching and mentoring, we will help equip the whole people of God to participate in God’s work and to bring about transformation.

2. CREATION: Vennture works within a partner network and in a spirit of mutuality, to assist in the creation of transformational businesses that lead to human flourishing and provide meaningful work for individuals.

3. MOBILIZATION: Vennture is building networks in order to mobilize God’s people to see their work as mission and accept their role to help heal a broken world through it.

In the next issue of CBM Responding, we will unwrap our FORMATION pillar and fill you in on how this is developing internationally and in Canada, as well as share opportunities for you to grow in your understanding of faith and work theology and the practice of whole-life discipleship.

In the coming months, you will be able to learn more about VENNTURE. We have a website, social media feeds, articles, courses, and sermon resources underway. We are excited to launch this important new work on behalf of CBM and our partners locally and around the world.

Our Website & Social Media

Our website will be a rich source of information on our partners, projects, and ministry staff. Be sure also to like our Facebook page, follow us on Instagram, and connect with us on LinkedIn for important updates throughout the week.

Email

Our monthly e-newsletter IN THE LOOP will provide you with curated content that will expand your knowledge and reshape your ideas of faith and work. More details and links for the resources will arrive in your inbox in the coming weeks so sign up!

Image of Build Your Own Sunday Logo

This service resource package will help you unpack a theology of faith and work, and help you understand how you can join God’s mission and live out your faith, seven days a week.

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