In her book, Garland (2016) presents a collection of stories told by Christians and connected to social work. These stories vary depending on narrators’ cultural and social background, but all of them provide guidance for the discourse and practice of social workers. The first lesson of this book is that social work should be multifaceted to meet the specific needs of people, and it should consider the opportunities that every person has.
Therefore, a social worker is expected to integrate faith in his or her career at various levels, including families, communities, and individuals (Garland, 2016). It is important for social workers to find motivation and stay engaged in their profession as they need to show empathy to reach out the people. Another lesson is that a Christian social worker should not limit his or her views and methods to Christianity, while it is better to apply a broader understanding of social challenges and ways to overcome them.
Personally, I consider that the latent model of integrating social work and faith describes me best. I do not think it useful to always speak with people from the point of Christianity since some of them can be far from it (Oxhandler et al., 2021). However, even though I am not consciously relating Christianity to my service, its values and principles still find a way to reach a person (Garland, 2016). At the same time, I use the calling model if I see that a person needs a direction and that faith can be a good foundation for his or her further development. In this case, the calling model helps those, who struggle to find a new way to live, which was not considered by them earlier.
References
Garland, D. R. (2016). Why I am a social worker: Twenty-five Christians tell their life stories. North American Association for Christians in Social Work.
Oxhandler, H. K., Chamiec-Case, R., Wolfer, T., & Marraccino, J. (2021). Integrating social workers’ Christian faith in social work: A national survey. Social Work & Christianity, 48(1), 52-74.