Best Christian Workplaces for 2012 Announced

By Eryn Sun, Christian Post Reporter Friday, January 06, 2012

After surveying thousands of employees nationwide, the BCWI released their latest list of the best Christian companies to work for in United States for 2012, which included several reappearances from notable organizations like The American Bible Society and MOPS International.

Analyzing factors such as job satisfaction, Christian witness, teamwork and management, the Best Christian Workplaces Institute sought to uncover which companies, with a Christian mission and/or values, were continuing to excel in nurturing their employees by confidentially asking employees to respond to more than 50 questions addressing specific topics.

Out of a pool of 67 certified organizations in the U.S., 22 were chosen to be among the best.

Those included: American Bible Society, Apartment Life, Ben Lippen, Briarcrest Christian School, Coalition for Christian Outreach, Church Web Works, English Language Institute/China, Free Will Baptist Bible College, Heritage Christian Academy, Joni & Friends, Santa Fe Christian Schools, SpringHill Camps, Upward Sports, Wheaton Academy, Whitworth University, World Harvest Mission, KSBJ, Lake Ann Camp, MOPS International, Olivet Nazarene University, Phoenix Seminary, and Samaritan Ministries.

Sixteen of the 22 organizations were reselected by the BCWI, which made their return to the list from 2011. They include Apartment Life, American Bible Society, Briarcrest, MOPS, and Samaritan Ministries.

“We salute this year’s Best Christian Workplaces for doing far more than just surviving despite the challenging economy,” Al Lopus, President of BCWI noted in a statement.

“These organizations set the bar in terms of employee engagement and serve as an inspiration for all. While overall survey trends indicate employee engagement is struggling to recover from the shock of the financial recession, these leaders recognize the importance of nurturing healthy organizational cultures to better achieve their vision. They understand that healthy organizations are fruitful.”

Andrew Hood, who serves as the creative director at American Bible Society, spoke to The Christian Post about what made his company unique and special, having been recognized for several consecutive years by BCWI.

“The environment at American Bible Society is electric,” he explained. “That is one of the reasons I was drawn to work at American Bible Society. Its 200 passionate people working towards the same urgent goal – to share God’s Word with the world. American Bible Society is nearly 200 years old, but you’d never know it from day-to-day life here.”

Describing ABS as a fast-paced, positive, and a creative place, Hood enjoyed seeing creativity and expertise brought together in many powerful ways at the company. He also shared that witnessing the results of their work was contagious.

“We all share this same call from God, and that bonds us together almost like family,” he added. “It is fun to work for an organization that stands out as the go-to source for all things Bible.”

Apartment Life, another recognized faith-based organization that helped apartment owners create authentic community, shared what made their company a particularly great place to work for.

“We see culture and people as key,” Ginny Fowler, the National VP of AL told The Christian Post. “An organization is only as strong as its people. So we delight in our people. We make decisions with our people and celebrate various aspects of Apartment Life culture overall and then celebrate and build into team (regional) culture very intentionally. In short, we love to be together and work together.”

“What we have seen this year is that we are cohesive,” she stated. “Our staff sees humble leadership, great people being brought on at Apartment Life, and involving staff in decisions that affect them as drawing everyone into a cohesive team.”

Like the employees at American Bible Society, Apartment Life workers are passionate about their mission to help see communities and lives transformed.

“We have the immense privilege of being valued for our calling to Apartment Life and seeing that calling play in harmony with other staff members.”

Fowler hopes that in the coming years, Apartment Life will set the example in organizational culture, developing and investing in staff, and prioritizing people inside and outside their organization.

“After 10 years, our values, passion, and mission have not expired,” she celebrated. “They have only grown in reach and deepened in heart. That has transformed people's lives in apartment communities!”

In addition to the selected U.S. organizations, Compassion Canada was voted to be the Best Christian Workplace in Canada for 2012. Last year’s Canada list included Focus on the Family and Bethany Community Church.

The BCWI survey has been conducted in the United States and Canada for the past 10 years and made its debut in Australia last year. The institute has surveyed over 100,000 employees to date.

Helen Lee and Al Lopus founded the Best Christian Workplaces Institute, a human resources research and consulting firm with the mission to make Christian organizations the best places to work in the world.

BCWI created the first Best Christian Workplaces survey in 2002 working in partnership with Christianity Today.

Since then, the firm has been committed to “creating cultures of excellence” in the Christian workplace, helping numerous organizations gain a clearer picture of their workplace environment and take steps to be better stewards of their human resources.

To view more of the surveys conducted by BCWI, click here.