Dr. Kenneth J. Barnes (MATS ’89), alumnus and Mockler-Phillips Professor of Workplace Theology and Business Ethics and director of the Mockler Center for Faith and Ethics in the Public Square at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, has been appointed to the founding board of the Christian Investing Council (CIC). The CIC is a newly launched nonprofit dedicated to cultivating clarity and accountability in Christian faith-based investing.

The CIC brings together financial and theological leaders from across the breadth of Nicene Christianity to educate investors, establish shared standards, and provide independent evaluation of investment products marketed to Christians. Its Statement on Christian Investing calls members to commitments, including to “avoid investments that hinder the integrity of our faith . . . engage opportunities to use our influence as investors for God’s purposes . . . embrace investments that align especially well with the shalom God intends for his world.”

Dr. Barnes’ appointment is a natural extension of the Mockler Center’s core mission and its three-decade legacy. Founded in 1994 by Joanna Mockler in memory of her late husband Colman Mockler, CEO of Gillette and a man of deep faith and business integrity, the Center has long served as a bridge between the seminary, the marketplace, and the public square. Under Dr. Barnes’ leadership since 2016, that focus has expanded from the Faith at Work Movement into the broader intersection of faith, work, and economics—the precise terrain the CIC was created to address. His book Redeeming Capitalism (Eerdmans, 2018) and the Center’s peer-reviewed scholarship and conference work has positioned Gordon-Conwell as a sought-after voice as the CIC assembled its founding board alongside scholars from Oxford University and Catholic University of America.

“This appointment is a direct result of the Mockler Center’s leadership in the evolution of the Faith at Work Movement to the Faith, Work and Economics Movement,” said Dr. Barnes. “The primary purpose of Gordon-Conwell’s center is to be outwardly focused and to build bridges between the academy, the church, and society. The Christian Investment Council is an exceptionally high-impact organization, and it is both an honor and a privilege to be at the heart of its work.”

Learn more about the Mockler Center at gcts.edu.