MacRae Richardson on Faith, Work, and Holistic Formation

"There is no room here for a dichotomy between what is secular and what is sacred, for everything about people created in God’s image belongs to God–that is, it is sacred.” This quotation comes from Arthur F. Holmes’s The Ideal of a Christian College, a text I was assigned as part of my onboarding at the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. Holmes goes on to argue that education is then more than it is an accumulation of vocational skills; rather, he suggests that education should be about learning how to think and express oneself. While the fellows program is not a Christian college or university, it does follow Holmes’ proposed model of what holistic Christian learning should look like.

The very model of the fellows program suggests that there is more to life than this accumulation of skills Holmes writes about. While working a resume-worthy internship is a part of our weekly schedule (and admittedly the element that initially attracted me), it remains a small piece of our nine-month program. Work is a good, God-given thing, but it is not our chief end. Anyone can learn workplace skills and become a good employee, but not everyone takes the time to develop the whole person. We are learning what it means not only to be good employees, but also thoughtful Christians, active members of the church, and part of a family. Most importantly, we are learning how these categories overlap. Church impacts family, which impacts work, and so on.

Our learning is supplemented by unique opportunities to hear from other Christians who have wrestled and are still wrestling with these same ideas. For example, this past week we put on our best suits and gathered on the top floor of the Museum of the Bible to hear from a community of Christian politicians at Faith and Law’s 2026 Evening Forum. Throughout the evening, we heard from several congressmen and staffers seeking to live out their Christian faith in the traditionally secular sphere of politics. The keynote speaker was The Honorable Glenn Youngkin, 74th Governor of Virginia. He described how every aspect of his professional career was and is interwoven with his faith.

In his interview, Youngkin recounted a period of his campaigning where he daily encountered a family supporting a child with a developmental disability. These families were waiting to receive their promised Priority One Waivers that they needed to support their children. Youngkin saw these regular encounters as a sign from God. Once governor, he prayerfully worked to reallocate his budget to fund the waivers. Throughout his tenure as governor, Youngkin looked to God as a guidepost, saying, “That is part of, I think, why you have to bring your faith into your workplace, and I don’t care where you work.” He recognized that he could not simply worship on Sundays and leave his faith at the door on Monday morning. Rather, he claimed, “I am a better servant when I have the Lord with me than when I don’t.”

Governor Youngkin’s testimony reflected the themes discussed by Holmes and explored within our fellows cohort. It was a blessing to have the opportunity to attend the Faith and Law Forum in tandem with the conversations we have been having and will have throughout the duration of our fellows year.