Background
After thirty years in business and government I am interested in the relationship between the church and the business community. In my personal experience I have seen precious little real engagement of this kind and now, as an ordained minister in the Anglican Church, I find very little capacity within the Church for engagement. There are few church members, ordained or lay who are working actively in the business community and there seems to be little doctrinal support for anyone interested in engaging. I would be  looking for case studies for engagement, methodologies or theology of the relationship between the Church and the working world.

Research Task
The research task I have set myself is to check and validate my anecdotal impressions. I have joined the University of Divinity in Melbourne as a PhD candidate.

My research question is:
What models of business mission do Churches and religious organisations use to engage  business organisations and business communities? What formational theologies and philosophies of mission are used by them for these engagements? How does the formational theology of the mission influence the structuring and approach of the engagement? How do theology and engagement structure influence the setting of the mission’s goals? How do theology, engagement structure and goal setting influence mission outcomes? What works, what does not work?
Can model engagement structures be derived from research data that provide guidance for future mission development?
More generally, my work so far is taking me into questions of whether religion, the Church or matters of faith have a voice in the public sphere? Does the Church have authority in this space and where secular authority seeks to deny the religious voice, is it valid to do so and what are the arguments from both sides of the debate? Is business a public matter and if it is, does the voice of faith have any authority to participate in influencing how business works? What theology and missiology can the Church bring to the business community and for what purposes and benefits?

Approach
My research design is evolving, but broadly my approach is to look initially at Church documents which set out programs of engagement with business. My aim is to identify the mission planning approaches, the theology and missiology which underpins the plans, the method of engagement, and the outcomes. From these I hope to identify a set of case studies for a more detailed investigation.
If you or someone you know is interested in participating in this research, I would be pleased to hear from you. I can be reached at: richard@goodbusinessproject.org.