Daily Work Spotlight: Corinne Nelson
Tell us a bit about your daily work. What do you do?
My work runs on three rails. As Director of Co-Labor, I work at building this Baptist faith and work initiative. That means vision and planning, partnerships with churches and ministries, speaker and event coordination, and lots of writing and communication.
I’m also a Ph.D. student in theological ethics (University of Aberdeen). Most evenings are for reading, research, and writing on Christian flourishing—or lack thereof, martyrdom, and moral formation.
Finally, I am an adjunct professor of Christian ethics, where I am trying to keep the classroom a hospitable place for rigorous thought and honest questions.
It’s a full life of leading, learning, teaching, and loving—all aimed at helping people love God and neighbor in their real work.
How does your work pursue truth, create beauty, and/or do good?
In the classroom, I pursue truth by training students to reason carefully, read charitably, and test claims against Scripture and the Christian tradition. In research, I’m seeking truthful accounts of flourishing that can bear the weight of suffering and limit-talk, not just idealism.
With Co-Labor, “doing good” looks like dignifying ordinary work and offering practical tools for Monday through Saturday. We want to design events and resources that are excellent—hospitable spaces, thoughtful visuals, and stories that honor workers.
In what ways are you reflecting the Lord’s character in your daily work?
I think this is more of an aspiration but I long to be sacrificial in each of my roles. God’s primary love is people, and I want that to be my primary love as well. The end of each of my roles is helping people but on the day-to-day I can get lost in the emails and citations. I want to image Christ in giving myself to the Lord and to my neighbor because that’s what He has called me to do, and it’s how He is working in the world.
How do you see your work as a response to the cultural mandate (Genesis 1:28)?
I see research and teaching as part of the cultural mandate. God gave us raw materials not only in soil and stone but in ideas. My work cultivates that field: I study and test philosophical views about the good life, sift what is true and life-giving from what is thin or harmful, and I seek to shape it into wisdom the church can use.
As Director of Co-Labor, that means creating practical tools for workers; as a Ph.D. student, subduing the ideas of the world and trying to find the true, the good, and the beautiful; and as a professor, forming students to love God and neighbor in their vocations. I’d like to think I am cultivating the world of ideas so people can better cultivate their corner of the world.
How is your work meaningful as an expression of your faith?
The Lord has given me gifts and desires within academia and has opened the door for me to utilize them in different spheres. I see my work as a stewardship calling from the Lord, in obeying Him in the spaces He has called me into.
Academia organizes value by achievement, and this is not how Christ sees me. When I am working in a field that only sees my worth in my output of papers or presentations, I take joy and encouragement in knowing I am not researching and writing for my salvation, but from my salvation. Christ has given me this work, and it is my responsibility and joy to do it unto Him.
When you become a Christian, mission work and church life does not destroy your previous work—it transforms it.
What encouragement would you give to someone who feels their work is disconnected from their faith?
Three initial encouragements come to mind. The first is duty and obedience to the Lord; from cultural mandate, it is our job to work well unto the Lord. In the same way that we obey the Lord in other areas such as fleeing temptation and pursing purity, we should see our work as a part of our moral formation as well.
The second is the real connection to the cultural mandate. Humanity has a divine command from the Lord, and your work is a part of advancing the common good across the globe—that has great significance.
Finally, grace in all things. Theres an old church saying that is “Grace doesn’t destroy nature, it perfects it.” When you become a Christian, mission work and church life does not destroy your previous work—it transforms it. All of life now becomes grace and an expression of what the Lord has done in your life.
As the Director of Co-Labor, why are you excited about this initiative and how are you hoping it will grow and develop.
When I begin to share with others about Co-Labor, the response I normally get is: “this is such a need.” I think Co-Labor meets a real need by coming alongside Baptists in their everyday work. This isn’t a conversation for CEOs or pastors only—it’s for teachers, electricians, nurses, students, and retirees. The faith and work discussion is for everyone.
My team and I envision Co-Labor growing in simple, practical ways: local gatherings and church partnerships, hands-on trainings, and shared network clusters that connect people across vocations. Through it all, we’ll keep our mission at the center: to equip Baptists with practical wisdom and thoughtful resources so they can connect faith and work in ways that are meaningful and accessible.
As we grow, my hope is that Christians in every kind of daily work feel seen, resourced, and sent—to love their neighbors, contribute to the common good, and reflect Christ in the work of their hands.
Daily Work Spotlights are part of a series of conversations with believers who are pursuing excellence in their daily work while seeking to honor God in all they do. Through these interviews, we aim to show how faith shapes the way we approach our vocations, from the decisions we make to the way we serve others.
Each story offers a glimpse into the lives of men and women who see their work as more than a job. They are connecting faith to their daily tasks, striving to reflect Christ in their industries, workplaces, and communities..