Notes from 1st March: We were a motley crew of people working in City type jobs like banking, management consulting and mercenary headhunting plus one from the charity sector (for a bit of perspective!).

We acknowledged that the City, perhaps more than any other community, is characterised by the pursuit of money. Organisations seek to maximise their profits in order to provide the biggest return to their shareholders. Individuals seek it to show how successful they are, to gain respect and status and to secure themselves. The discussion centred around how we avoid being conformed to the culture in which we work. Its a big challenge because it is so easy to be influenced by peers and what they have. It is easy for our expectations to come into line so that we end up:

·         Getting caught up in worldly values – showing how successful we are, securing ourselves etc

·         Expecting to have as much

·         Expecting to work crazy hours

Given the values are a bit nuts it was suggested we have a great opportunity to be different. One member of the group described how he didn’t bad mouth management or get perturbed when bonuses proved to be very disappointing. It was surprising to his colleagues who had dedicated everything they had for the whole year to that one outcome. We looked at ways of avoiding being sucked in:

 ·         Stopping -  taking time in the day to regain God’s percepective. Reminding ourselves of our calling that wherever we are we are called to glorify God, not ourselves. For instance, putting a recurring reminder in email, going to a lunchtime service, eating a sandwich in one of the City’s many churches

·         Gratefulness  – practicing gratefulness, giving thanks for the plenty that we have and acknowledging where it comes from and so being content with what we have

·         Choosing to go without/fasting – in order to enjoy what we have more

(Sam Stephens)