Spirituality, Leadership and Sustaining a Caring Workforce (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781922449078)

Christians understood from the first that you cannot worship God without serving those in need who are created in God's image. What was true in the beginning is still true, even though government now provides care that was unimaginable in other times. But government cannot do it all. The care offered by Christians remains essential, and these pages show why. As a response to the Gospel, it is both different and complementary. Its source is spiritual, which is why we speak of a spirituality of care as this book does. It embraces the whole human person and is grounded in a particular understanding of what it means to be human. It also includes care of the carers, so that their work will energise, not exhaust them. This will mean grounding them spiritually in a culture where leadership is service and care is not a commodity but an act of love. The symphony of voices found in Spirituality, Leadership and Sustaining a Caring Workforce will surely help to build that culture in this complex and troubled time.

+Mark Coleridge, Archbishop of Brisbane, President, Australian Catholic Bishops Conference

Spirituality, Leadership and Sustaining a Caring Workforce distils key principles for all mission driven social service organisations, arguing that care staff and care staff culture is at the heart of the aspiration of social impact through application of Catholic Social Teaching, concepts such as a workforce "sanctuary", which counters the cult of busyness, the risk of vicarious trauma and the cost of emotional labour on social service employees.

-- A/Prof Martin Laverty, Deputy Chair Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission Advisory Board

Director, National Disability Insurance Agency, Director, Caritas