Working with Spirit: Engaging Spirituality to Meet the Challenges of the Workplace

A.J. Pell is editor of the Canadian Evangelical Review and an instructor
of Liturgy, Anglican Studies Program, Regent College, Vancouver.

Like most offerings in the Path Books series, Working with Spirit is a
well-ordered and attractively designed volume. Part 1, The Challenges of
the Workplace, looks at the history of work and workplaces in our
society, and the issues and challenges facing 21st-century workers. Part
2, Simple Gifts, examines how individuals can bring positive changes to
their work lives by employing spiritual resources from religious
sources. Interspersed throughout the text are questions intended to
provoke thought and reflection in the reader.

The authors, an Anglican priest (Reid) and a sociology professor
(Evers), are both affiliated with the University of Guelph. Although
their book is aimed at a general audience, it reads like an academic
work: long on research and theory, short on practicalities, and
strangely detached from the work world of many people. Another problem
with the book is that, notwithstanding the religious (and
denominational) publisher, the authors appear hesitant to address the
specific needs of Christians. By trying to provide something for
everyone, Reid and Evers end up neglecting their primary readership.