Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

7.3 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Off Alaska Coast. No Danger to California

17 hours ago

Federal Immigration Crackdown Threatens California’s Historic Housing Reforms

21 hours ago

US House Clears Procedural Hurdle on Cryptocurrency Legislation

22 hours ago

Fresno County Lifts Evacuation Order for Max Fire Near Pine Flat Lake

23 hours ago

Newsom Calls Trump a ‘Son of a B***h’ Over ICE Raids and Guard Deployment

23 hours ago

Trump Indicated to Republican Lawmakers He Will Fire Fed’s Powell, CBS Reports

1 day ago

Wall Street Steadies as Investors Assess Inflation Data, Earnings

1 day ago

Trump Administration Sued by US States for Cutting Disaster Prevention Grants

1 day ago

Open Mic Contest Offers Fans a Chance to Perform at Outside Lands 2025

1 day ago

PBS and NPR Mount Last-Ditch Fight to Save Federal Funding

2 days ago
More US Firms Are Boosting Faith-Based Support for Employees
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 5 years ago on
February 11, 2020

Share

NEW YORK — It has become standard practice for U.S. corporations to assure employees of support regardless of their race, gender or sexual orientation. There’s now an intensifying push to ensure that companies are similarly supportive and inclusive when it comes to employees’ religious beliefs.

“Corporate America is at a tipping point toward giving religion similar attention to that given the other major diversity categories.” — Brian Grim, founder and president of the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation
One barometer: More than 20% of the Fortune 100 have established faith-based employee resource groups, according to an AP examination and there’s a high-powered conference taking place this week in Washington aimed at expanding those ranks.
“Corporate America is at a tipping point toward giving religion similar attention to that given the other major diversity categories,” says Brian Grim, founder and president of the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation that’s co-hosting the conference along with the Catholic University of America’s Busch School of Business.
A few companies have long-established faith-in-the-workplace programs, such as Arkansas-based Tyson Foods, which deploys a team of more than 90 chaplains to comfort and counsel employees at its plants and offices. That program began in 2000.
However, Grim says most companies — over the past few decades — have given religion less attention in their diversity/inclusion programs than other categories such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and disabilities.
Grim is an associate scholar at the Religious Liberty Project at Georgetown University and a former senior researcher with the Pew Research Center. From 2015-16, he served as chair of the World Economic Forum’s global agenda council on the role of faith.

The Top 10 in the Rankings Featured Some of America’s Best-Known Companies

Grim’s foundation, founded in 2014, recently completed a detailed analysis ranking the Fortune 100 companies on their commitment to religious inclusion as part of those programs.
The top 10 in the rankings featured some of America’s best-known companies – Google’s parent company Alphabet, Intel, Tyson Foods, Target, Facebook, American Airlines, Apple, Dell, American Express and Goldman Sachs.
Tyson won points for its chaplaincy program; most of the others have formed either a single interfaith employee resource group or separate groups for major religions such as Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Google’s interfaith group, the Inter Belief Network, has chapters for those faiths and for Buddhists, while Intel has a group for agnostics and atheists, as well as groups for major religious faiths.
One employer, the Internal Revenue Service, has a group specifically for Christian fundamentalists.
Grim says several other high-profile companies — including Walmart, the largest U.S. employer – have recently decided to launch faith-based employee groups.
One of the fastest growing faith-based groups, called Faithforce, was launched by Salesforce in 2017. Its founder, Farah Siddiqui, says more than 2,600 employees have signed up since then, joining 17 regional hubs on five continents.
Siddiqui, a Muslim whose family is from Pakistan, said the group now includes Sikhs, Hindus, pagans and humanists, as well as followers of America’s largest faiths.
“We’re a very inclusive group,” she says. ”If someone has something interesting to share, we share it. There is no proselytizing.”

Photo of Brian Grim, president of the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation
Iin this Jan. 12, 2016 photo provided by the Freedom Forum Institute, Brian Grim, president of the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation, speaks at the launch event for the Corporate Pledge on Religious Freedom in Washington. Grim says most companies — over the past few decades — have given religion less attention in their diversity/inclusion programs than other categories such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and disabilities. (Freedom Forum Institute via AP)

Chaplains Are Trained to Provide Empathetic Pastoral Care to Employees

Siddiqui said Faithforce, in somber fashion, proved its value after a string of deadly attacks on houses of worship in far-flung parts of the world – notably the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, three Christian churches in Sri Lanka and two mosques in New Zealand.

“When I pastor, I only represent my denomination, my faith tradition,” she said. ‘”As a chaplain, I can support people who come from very different backgrounds…I ask them how their beliefs are helping them cope with what’s going on.” — Karen Diefendorf
“We had healing circles after each of those tragedies,” said Siddiqui, who recounted in-person visits by a rabbi and a Muslim scholar.
“What we’ve done is support our employees of those faiths to show that the rest of us are here for them,” she said.
At Tyson Foods, the team of chaplains includes one Muslim, but is overwhelmingly Christian. However, the team’s director, Karen Diefendorf, says the chaplains are trained to provide empathetic pastoral care to employees and their families regardless of what faith – if any – the workers belong to.
Diefendorf, whose career includes stints as a United Methodist minister and a U.S. Army chaplain, said there’s a key difference between pastoring and chaplaincy.
“When I pastor, I only represent my denomination, my faith tradition,” she said. ‘”As a chaplain, I can support people who come from very different backgrounds…I ask them how their beliefs are helping them cope with what’s going on.”
Often, the chaplains are sought out by employees struggling with difficulties at work or at home, but Diefendorf said her team members sometimes act proactively – for example, finding tactful ways to signal to a supervisor that his or her management practices are causing problems for workers.

The Faith-In-The-Workplace Movement Has Mostly Escaped Harsh Criticism

Her advice to other companies considering a chaplaincy team: “Making the right hire is critically important.”
“You want a person who has maturity, who is secure in their own faith but not spiritually conflicted in allowing others to pursue their faith,” she said.
Formal theological training is an asset, but not sufficient in itself, she added. “They can have all the training in the world, but if they don’t have the right compassion in their heart, they aren’t worth a plugged nickel.”
Thus far, the faith-in-the-workplace movement has mostly escaped harsh criticism. Brian Grim has taken pains to argue that faith-based employee resource groups are not a threat to LGBTQ employees, and instead should be viewed as a sign of a corporation’s overall commitment to diversity and inclusion. American Airlines is evidence of that: Its presence high atop the new religious-freedom rankings come after many years of accolades for its strong support of LGBTQ employees.
“The perception out there is that religion is a dangerous topic, but some companies have found the opposite — that it reinforces the other things they care about,” Grim said.
Nick Fish, president of American Atheists, said companies considering faith-based initiatives should strive to ensure they are inclusive.
“Creating a work environment that is exclusionary of non-religious staff or members of religious minorities is a recipe for disaster,” he said via email. “I’d urge any employer who is considering this sort of action to instead ensure that their workplace is religiously neutral and welcoming to staff and customers of any religious belief or those who are non-religious.”

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Wall Street CEOs See Some Tariff Impact Filtering Into Customer Behavior

DON'T MISS

US House Poised to Send Stablecoin Bill to Trump After ‘Crypto Week’ Drama

DON'T MISS

Manhattan Prosecutor Who Handled Epstein Cases Is Fired

DON'T MISS

Why California Ag Is at Odds Over Converting Land to Solar Farms

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Irrigation District Pitches 137% Fee Hike for More Kings River Flood Water

DON'T MISS

Trump Says He Is Ending Government Funding California’s High-Speed Rail Project

DON'T MISS

Bakersfield Tax Return Preparer Pleads Guilty in $25 Million Fraud Scheme

DON'T MISS

Congressional Hopeful Lorenzo Rios Says No to PBS Funding. Once Led Local Station

DON'T MISS

US Attorney Beckwith Dismissed by Trump Admin, Replaced With Sanchez

DON'T MISS

Trump Says He Would Love for Fed Chair Powell to Resign

UP NEXT

Age Is Just a Number: 80-Year-Old Conquers Death Valley to Mt. Whitney Ultramarathon

UP NEXT

Is US Democracy Threatened? Majority of Californians, Including Republicans, Say Yes

UP NEXT

US Senator Seeks Safety Reforms After Fatal Collision Between Army Helicopter, Regional Jet

UP NEXT

PBS and NPR Mount Last-Ditch Fight to Save Federal Funding

UP NEXT

Elmo’s X Account Gets Hacked, Posts Antisemitic and Racist Messages

UP NEXT

Fire at Boston-Area Senior Living Facility Kills at Least Nine

UP NEXT

Arizona Governor Wants Investigation of Federal Handling of Grand Canyon Fire

UP NEXT

Record Numbers of Americans Say Immigration Is Good for Country: Gallup Poll

UP NEXT

Skydance in Early Talks to Acquire The Free Press, NYT Reports

UP NEXT

State Department Starts Firing More Than 1,350 Workers

Why California Ag Is at Odds Over Converting Land to Solar Farms

1 hour ago

Fresno County Irrigation District Pitches 137% Fee Hike for More Kings River Flood Water

3 hours ago

Trump Says He Is Ending Government Funding California’s High-Speed Rail Project

15 hours ago

Bakersfield Tax Return Preparer Pleads Guilty in $25 Million Fraud Scheme

16 hours ago

Congressional Hopeful Lorenzo Rios Says No to PBS Funding. Once Led Local Station

16 hours ago

US Attorney Beckwith Dismissed by Trump Admin, Replaced With Sanchez

16 hours ago

Trump Says He Would Love for Fed Chair Powell to Resign

17 hours ago

Trump Says Coca-Cola Agreed to Use Real Cane Sugar in US

17 hours ago

7.3 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Off Alaska Coast. No Danger to California

17 hours ago

US Renewable Power Transmission Project Under Fire From Farmers

17 hours ago

Wall Street CEOs See Some Tariff Impact Filtering Into Customer Behavior

NEW YORK – Some top executives at Wall Street banks have been showing concern about higher inflation and potential deterioration of th...

32 minutes ago

The U.S. flag is seen on a building on Wall St. in the financial district in New York, U.S., November 24, 2020. (Reuters File)
32 minutes ago

Wall Street CEOs See Some Tariff Impact Filtering Into Customer Behavior

49 minutes ago

US House Poised to Send Stablecoin Bill to Trump After ‘Crypto Week’ Drama

Maurene Comey, Assistant U.S. Attorney and prosecutor on Combs' case, arrives at the Federal courthouse during the Sean "Diddy" Combs' sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy trial at U.S. court in Manhattan, in New York City, U.S., May 21, 2025. (Reuters File)
52 minutes ago

Manhattan Prosecutor Who Handled Epstein Cases Is Fired

Sheep Graze Next to Kettleman City Solar Farm
1 hour ago

Why California Ag Is at Odds Over Converting Land to Solar Farms

3 hours ago

Fresno County Irrigation District Pitches 137% Fee Hike for More Kings River Flood Water

A drone view of a California High-Speed Rail Bridge where it crosses through Fresno, California, U.S. June 8, 2025. (Reuters)
15 hours ago

Trump Says He Is Ending Government Funding California’s High-Speed Rail Project

16 hours ago

Bakersfield Tax Return Preparer Pleads Guilty in $25 Million Fraud Scheme

16 hours ago

Congressional Hopeful Lorenzo Rios Says No to PBS Funding. Once Led Local Station

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend