Companies turning to chaplains to encourage workplace spirituality

Published: 2006-10-10

LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- Though workplace spirituality might seem to be an oxymoron in a country that prides itself on separation of church and state, many U.S. workers and companies are benefiting from corporate programs that nurture the soul. It is a phenomenon that has accelerated in a post-Enron world, said Jesuit Father Mark Bandsuch, a Loyola Marymount University business law and ethics professor who has been watching this development since the movement took off in the 1990s. As co-author of "Integrating Spirituality Into the Workplace: Theory and Practice," Father Bandsuch said the national corporate environment is more amenable to workplace spirituality practices than ever before. "There's this movement to try to counteract society's scandals with values-based solutions," said Father Bandsuch. With such a high percentage of Americans professing belief in God, he pointed out, values in this country are based on a person's spirituality which usually comes with a moral code differentiating between right and wrong.

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