Book Discussion Group for Working Professionals: Workplace as Worthplace

Book Discussion Group for Working Professionals: St. Benedict’s Guide to Improving your Work Life, Workplace as Worthplace.

Discover a meaningful way to nourish your spirit and transform your work life by joining our 12-week lunch-hour book group and retreat experience based on St. Benedict’s Guide to Improving Your Work Life: Workplace as Worthplace. Each week invites you into practical, uplifting conversation rooted in Benedictine wisdom—helping you reimagine your daily work as a place of purpose, dignity, and spiritual growth. Whether your “workplace” is an office, a ministry, a home, a pause, or a caregiving role, this series will offer gentle insights, shared reflection, and a supportive community to help you find greater balance, meaning, and joy in daily living. All are welcome—come as you are, bring your lunch, and give yourself the gift of a sacred pause in the middle of your week.

Details:

Tuesdays, 11:45am-12:30pm (April 21-July 7)

Cost $25 (Book is $11, $14 covers the program)

Facilitated by Travis Salisbury, OblSB

Schedule:

Week 1: The Workplace Context (April 21)
Exploring the landscape of modern work—its pressures, possibilities, and the deeper questions beneath our daily labor.

Week 2: Work as a Calling — Maturity and Stability (April 28)
Discovering a grounded vision for work: what it means to approach our tasks with purpose, rootedness, and resilience.

Week 3: Working Together — Work and Community (May 5)
A vision at work that honors collaboration, shared mission, and the bonds that sustain healthy workplaces.

Week 4: The Golden Rule in the Workplace — The Dignity of Our Colleagues (May 12)
Practical ways to embody respect, compassion, and justice in everyday interactions.

Week 5: Enlightened Leadership and Decision-Making (May 19)
Reflections for those who guide others: fostering vision, transparency, and wisdom in organizational life.

Week 6: The Art of Listening — The New Obedience (May 26)
The employee’s path of attentive presence, active listening, and wholehearted contribution.

Week 7: Openness to Creativity — The Spirit of Curiosity (June 2)
Cultivating wonder, imagination, and the freedom to innovate.

Week 8: The Pursuit of Excellence — Building Worth (June 9)
How Benedictine values invite us to offer our very best—not perfection, but wholehearted craftsmanship.

Week 9: Being Present vs. Presenteeism (June 16)
Understanding the difference between true attention and merely showing up; nurturing presence that matters.

Week 10: Being True to Self and the Roles We Play (June 23)
Exploring authenticity, vocation, and the integration of who we are with what we do.

Week 11: The Big Picture — Employee Engagement and Organizational Excellence (June 30)
Seeing how individual contributions weave together into a flourishing whole.

Week 12: Crafting Our Own “Rule for Life” (July 7)
Drawing on the wisdom of the series to reflect on our work lives and shape a personal Benedictine-inspired framework for the future.

Book Author/Study Guide: Michael Rock of St. Benedict’s Guide to Improving Your Work Life

Michael Rock is a retired professor with a Doctorate in Adult Education from Indiana University. He has been a professor and consultant in human relations, organizational behavior, business ethics, and emotional intelligence studies for over 35 years. His work has been recognized with a Doctorate in Adult Education from Indiana University. Rock’s book, “St. Benedict’s Guide to Improving Your Work Life,” is a result of his seven-year study of workplace disengagement and his personal life journey.