At Made to Flourish, we believe the local church, as God designed it, is the hope of the world. Our team is committed to serving pastors and leaders, and together, developing flourishing churches who join God’s mission in the midst of his people.

Here's how it all started.

After years of pastoral ministry, Tom Nelson realized, with regret, he spent the majority of his time preparing Christians in his church for Sunday mornings, neglecting the rest of their lives as workers and participants in the economy.

Work needed a new story. The idea that work is a necessary evil isn’t new. God designed work, from the beginning of creation, to reflect his own work in the world and in us. The goodness of this design gives purpose to our daily lives, even when it is difficult. We separate our lives into what many call the "sacred" and "secular." Church on Sunday, work on Monday.

If God created us as whole persons — persons who live, move, and have our being in a physical world with physical bodies and spiritual needs — our faith converges with our places of work. The sacred and the secular also converge, and God cares about how we live both our spiritual and physical lives.

Closing the gap between Sunday and Monday is why Made to Flourish exists. When Tom realized he committed what he calls “pastoral malpractice,” neglecting to disciple his congregants in the whole of their lives, that sparked a desire to help pastors around the country avoid the same mistake. In 2015, Nelson and a team of church, business, and private sector partners launched Made to Flourish in order to “empower a growing network of pastors” to better engage, equip, and encourage each other as they integrate a more robust theology of faith, work, and economics into their churches.



As a pastor or church leader, you could be spending the majority of your corporate energy — worship services, discipleship programs, outreach initiatives — preparing the people in your church for the smallest portion of what God is calling them to do.

Like carpenters, plumbers, electricians, even teachers and artists, pastors require certain tools to do their job well. Pastors teach their congregations how to live as Christians, helping them better understand what the Bible says about how we live well in the world. But when it comes to Monday mornings either in the office, chasing toddlers, or in a technical field, pastors often lack the tools necessary to equip their congregants for where they spend most of their time every week: at work.

The outcome?

Vocationally Informed Discipleship

Pastors who engage with Made to Flourish will prioritize and strengthen liturgies, practices, tools, resources, and/or initiatives that equip congregation members to faithfully follow Christ in the everyday.

Vocationally Informed‍ Mission

Churches that engage with Made to Flourish seek the long-term well-being of their communities by utilizing the congregation’s skills.

Learn more at madetoflourish.org.