Why Invest in Workplace Spirituality
What Becomes Possible When Workplaces Center the Sacred
The Fetzer Institute is cultivating a sacred-centered organizational culture with its longstanding Community of Freedom Gathering (COFG). Every Tuesday morning for three hours, all Fetzer staff members are expected to join the COFG and participate in a mix of collective, small group and individual spiritual development and learning activities. The ultimate aim: to build a sacred-centered organizational culture, and in so doing, to enact the Institute’s mission of helping build the spiritual foundation for a loving world.
As the Fetzer Institute experience has shown, dedicated and long-term investment in individual and communal spiritual formation at work can help foster:
- Individuals who are connected with their spiritual selves and are living the organizational values of love, trust, authenticity, and belonging.
- A purpose-driven, humane, and relational workplace where people can be the change they seek; at Fetzer, this means embodying the Institute’s mission to help build the spiritual foundation for a loving world both inside and outside the organization.
- Societal ripple effects. The individual and collective inner work radiates out into the world, becoming a fractal of the movement for shared sacred flourishing.
What is “sacred-centered”?
Fetzer understands the Sacred as the common source of the world’s religious and spiritual traditions. It is the infinite, creative energy that gives birth to the universe. It is Love that creates and sustains life. If a community or a culture is “sacred-centered,” this infinite, creative energy and love is the organizing force behind it.
What is “spiritual development”?
Spiritual development (alternatively called “spiritual formation” and “spiritual growth”) is the lifelong process of becoming more fully alive, aware, and aligned with one’s deepest values and callings. It is the intentional process of staying present to the sacred. Spiritual development is not about religious affiliation, but about the inner life than informs outer action (Forde, 2026).
Why Now: The Landscape for Well-being and Spirituality in the Workplace
At a time when the headlines are dominated by overlapping and accelerating polycrises — from political polarization and climate change to the rapid rise of artificial intelligence (AI) — widespread belief in the Sacred remains a bright spot. Most Americans believe in a force larger than themselves, whether a soul, a universal spirit, or a faith-driven force beyond the natural world (Pew Research Center, 2025).
Yet in daily life and at work, Americans struggle to find connection, contentment, and well-being. One in three adults in America report experiencing loneliness (Murthy, 2023), and the 2025 World Happiness Report showed that the United States fell to its lowest ranking ever — 23rd — after reaching as high as 11th in 2012. At work, stress levels remain at an historic high (Gallup, 2026). The situation is particularly acute for nonprofits, where, according to a 2026 survey, 89% of surveyed nonprofit CEOs report that their own burnout is a concern (Center for Effective Philanthropy, 2026).
And yet, a rich variety of spiritual practices are expanding to meet the difficulties of this moment. While Americans continue to tap into the power of the Sacred in traditional houses of worship (Pew Research Center, 2024), people are also accessing spiritual practice in diverse places — from Buddhist bars and TikTok to public parks, healthcare clinics, leadership development programs (Thurston, 2024), and even workplaces. Interest in workplace spirituality is growing. There is an increasing recognition that employees are driven by more than monetary compensation; many are seeking meaning at work and wanting to maintain their mental health and well-being (Wnuk and Charzyńska, 2025). Moreover, there is evidence that organizational support for religion and spirituality significantly buffers burnout, reducing exhaustion and cynicism among frontline workers (Goff et al., 2025).
There is a spiritual yearning in America, and workplaces like the Fetzer Institute have a powerful role to play in elevating inner work as an integral part of professional life.
How Fetzer Nurtures Sacred-Centered Community at Work
“Loving concern is the one ingredient that can make us successful. It’s the glue that binds us together. . . We simply must have love as an institution.” – John Earl Fetzer
The Fetzer Institute is animated by its mission: helping build the spiritual foundation for a loving world. John Earl Fetzer — a successful 20th-century businessman, a pioneering broadcaster, devotee of faith and spirituality, and generous philanthropist — founded the Institute in 1962. In the following six decades, the Institute has supported and incubated social solutions at the frontiers of science and spirituality. (Find more on the foundation’s history here.)
Today, the Fetzer Institute’s primary goal is to catalyze a sacred movement, inspiring collective action toward a more loving, interconnected, and flourishing world. The Institute does so by supporting and convening spiritually grounded organizations and individuals working in areas such as transforming civic engagement, guiding environmental stewardship and bridging science and spirituality. (Find more on the foundation’s work here.)