creative service

October 23, 2019

Celebrating ‘intrapreneurship’: The power of employee-innovators

In our pursuit of economic prosperity and progress, we tend to focus heavily on the role of the entrepreneur—and rightly so. Many of the world’s most transformative discoveries have come from people willing to take significant risks and endure painful sacrifices to bring new enterprises to life. Continue Reading...

August 30, 2017

Toward an economics of neighborly love

As a child growing up in rural poverty, Tom Nelson was constantly confronted by material lack and the social shame that sometimes comes with it, instilling an acute sense that economics mattered. Continue Reading...

April 10, 2017

Booker T. Washington on the beauty and dignity of work

“My plan was to have [my students]…taught to see not only utility in labour, but beauty and dignity.” –Booker T. Washington We live in a time of unbounding prosperity. Opportunities are wider, work is easier, and innovation continues to accelerate at a break-neck pace. Continue Reading...

March 28, 2017

The future of work: Arthur Brooks on human dignity and ‘neededness’

Although unemployment continues to hover somewhere around 4.7 percent, the labor-force participation rate offers a grimmer outlook, falling from 67% in 2000 to 63% today. With the continued acceleration of globalization and automation, the future of work looks increasingly uncertain. Continue Reading...

October 26, 2016

Why coffee tasting matters to God

Does the work of a coffee buyer have an impact that stretches on into eternity? Does coffee tasting matter to God? In a new video from Chapel Hill Bible Church, coffee taster and buyer Jeff McArthur shares how he came to see the deeper meaning of his work, both in the day-to-day trades and exchanges with his customers and community and in the relational ripple effects that reach on into the broader economic order. Continue Reading...

October 05, 2016

What an oxygen mask teaches us about the power of creative service

The oxygen masks dropped as the plane began to drop in altitude and lose cabin pressure. As he and his friends applied the masks, Reid Kapple began to wonder if the end was near. Continue Reading...

October 20, 2015

Raw Craft: The Art of Bookmaking and the Glory of Craftsmanship

Throughout its history, the American economy has transitioned from agrarian to industrial to information-driven. Given our newfound status, manual labor is increasingly cast down in the popular imagination, replaced by white-collar jobs, bachelor’s degrees, and ladder-climbing. Continue Reading...

October 15, 2015

Life in Exile: Bringing Peace and Prosperity to Rural New York

The Acton Institute’s latest film series is having a profound influence on churches and communities of all kinds. Hearts are being stirred and inspired, minds are connecting mission with culture, and as a result, the church is unlocking a bigger-picture vision of God’s plan for creation. Continue Reading...

September 10, 2015

These Prisoners Are Finding Purpose Through Welding (And So Could You)

With the rise of the information economy, many millennials have steered clear from blue-collar jobs and manual labor, often prodded by their parents to pursue a “real education” and “a better life. Continue Reading...

July 01, 2015

For This Car Wash, Autism is a ‘Key Competitive Advantage’

“We view autism as one of our key competitive advantages,” says Tom D’Eri of Rising Tide Car Wash in Parkland, Florida, which employs 43 employees, 35 of which are on the autism spectrum. Continue Reading...

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