The Theology of Work, Teleseminar with William Messenger & Al Erisman

William G. Messenger is the Executive Editor of the Theology of Work Project, Inc., an international organization dedicated to researching, writing, and circulating materials about how the Christian faith can contribute to non-church workplaces. Its materials are available free of charge at www.theologyofwork.org. The TOW Project also helps faith-and-work organizations, pastors, and Christians in the workplace work more closely together to equip their members for meaningful and fruitful work in the world. It intends to complete its first phase of research and writing during 2013.

Will was the Director of the Mockler Center for Faith and Ethics in the Workplace at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary from 1999 to 2008, and an adjunct faculty member there. He created and led the seminary’s doctoral and master’s degree programs in workplace leadership and business ethics. He presently serves as an adjunct faculty member of Laidlaw-Carey Graduate School (Auckland, New Zealand) and a guest lecturer at Holy Cross College (Worcester, MA). He was previously an adjunct professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy, NY).

Will is a member of the Board of Directors of ArQule, Inc., a biotechnology company near Boston, where he chairs the compensation, nominating and governance committee and is a member of the audit committee. He previously worked as a sales representative at IBM, corporate finance associate at Goldman Sachs, consultant at McKinsey & Co., and vice president of sales and marketing Advanced Metabolic Systems. Will is ordained in the Episcopal Church and formerly served as pastor of Charles River Church in Boston and assistant rector of All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Belmont, MA. He was awarded a B.S. in Physics from Case Western Reserve University, an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, a Master of Divinity from Boston University School of Theology and a Doctor of Ministry from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Will was born in 1960. He lives in Belmont, MA, with his wife and their two daughters.

Albert M. (Al) Erisman is the Executive in Residence and the past Director for the Center for Integrity in Business at Seattle Pacific University (SPU). He teaches business ethics and business and technology subjects at SPU and also edits Ethix magazine (www.ethix.org).

In April 2001 Al completed a 32 year career at The Boeing Company, where for the last 10 years he was Director of R&D for computing and mathematics. In this capacity, he managed a staff of 250-300 scientists with the objective of bringing new technology to Boeing's processes and products. He was selected as one of 11 inaugural Senior Technical Fellows of The Boeing Company in 1990. He has a Ph.D. in applied mathematics from Iowa State University

Al has been on numerous boards for science and technology including projects for the National Academy. He is also a board member for several startup companies. He has a passion for issues related to faith and work and serves on the board of advisors for Theology of Work project and Kiros, a Christians in Business organization in the Seattle area.

Al has been married to Nancy for 48 years and they have four children and nine grandchildren. They attend Westminster Chapel in Bellevue.