Evangelicals in the elite apply faith to jobs in different ways

August 25, 2010

Even leaders at prominent positions in the government and the nation's biggest companies bring their evangelical convictions into the workplace--some confidently and declaratively, some more subtly, according to research at Rice University.

Sociologist D. Michael Lindsay interviewed 360 evangelical leaders, including Houstonians like Republican politician James A. Baker III, former ConcoPhillips executive Archie Dunham, builder David Weekley and Enron whistleblower Sharron Watkins, about how their faith influences their leadership and decision-making.

"The working assumption is the American general public is committed to their beliefs but those in leadership really are not, and I'm finding that that's not true," said Lindsay, the author of Faith in the Halls of Power, about the rise of evangelicals in the American elite. the rest