New Year, New Faithful Business Course

Looking to invest in your education in the new year?

Our next online, instructor-led course, Serving Employees, begins January 9 and continues for eight weeks (March 5, 2023). This course will examine business practices through the ethical lens of the Christian faith, incorporating themes from our Faith & Co. films and learning from recognized thought leaders.

Our Winter quarter Faith & Co. course will be led by John Terrill, former Director of the Center for Integrity in Business (now Center for Faithful Business) at Seattle Pacific University, former Pollard Scholar, and current head of the Stephen & Laurel Brown Foundation (SLBF) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“I am thrilled to again have the opportunity to guide participants on the ‘Faith & Co: Serving Employees’ journey,” John writes. “The Faith & Co. resources have been transformative to me. So much so that I have led multiple cohorts of students through the material in Madison, Wisconsin, where I live and work. The Christian study center I lead on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus has made Faith & Co. a prioritized resource for business students and practitioners alike. Please consider joining our SPU cohort as we explore the creative ways that organizational leaders are drawing on their Christian faith to engage, serve, and honor their employees.”

Here is what some of our past students have shared about the Faith & Work course:

“I was thrilled to be a part of a diverse group of participants, from many locations, industries, and backgrounds.”

“The films and reading materials are fabulous—thought-provoking, artistic, and provocative.”

“I so appreciated hearing from others about how they carry out their faith in the workplace.”

“I deeply appreciated how this cohort highlighted what organizations are doing to promote a servant leadership philosophy in daily operations.”

“Amazing!”

With our Faith & Work online course, you will earn three hours of academic credit for only $99, or you can register for the free non-credit class, from the Center for Faithful Business at Seattle Pacific University.

Our instructor for this course, John Terrill, currently guides the overarching vision and strategy for the Stephen & Laurel Brown Foundation, which includes Upper House and Dottie’s Ranch. Based in University Square in the heart of the UW-Madison campus, Upper House is a Christian study center that provides multi-experiential space and programming expertise, where people, faith, values, ideas, and the arts come together in a dynamic environment that fosters spiritual, intellectual, and cultural formation.

The Foundation also serves the larger Madison faith-based community by offering its retreat center—Dottie’s Ranch—located approximately 15 miles outside of Madison for reflection, team building, and leadership development purposes. John appreciates the entrepreneurial nature of his work and relishes the opportunity to build a healthy organizational culture.

Prior to this role, John served as director for the Center for Integrity in Business at the School of Business, Government, and Economics at Seattle Pacific University (now Center for Faithful Business). Before that, he worked with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA as the National Director for Professional Schools Ministries, as well as a campus minister at Harvard Business School and InterVarsity’s National Director for MBA Ministry. Before InterVarsity, John consulted with Hay Group, an international management consulting firm, and served with Bank of America as a real estate lender. John is a graduate of Indiana University (Bloomington), holds an M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management (Northwestern University), master’s degrees in theology and religion from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. from Seattle
Pacific University in industrial and organizational psychology.

John currently serves as a board chair for Religion News Service and Religion News Foundation and as an advisory council member for the Emerging Scholars Network. He enjoys writing and speaking on issues related to the academy, business, faith, and culture. He and his wife, Vanja, love to travel, read, take long walks, and encourage students and young professionals in their spiritual journeys. They have one young daughter, Elena, who helps John get his recommended 10,000 steps per day.

We look forward to you joining us for our next Faith & Co. course, and learning with you! Please contact cfb@spu.edu with any questions.