Between Faith and Commitment: The Work-Life Balance of the Volunteer Members of the Seventh Day Adventist Reform Movement Church

Absztrakt (kivonat)

Voluntary work is one of the most powerful tools that religious organizations have to expand their principles, organize filial churches worldwide, and perform social projects that are usually focused on offering social help. Furthermore, those who provide free labor to the church's cause must devote time to this activity in addition to numerous work and non-work activities that are part of the daily routine. This paper explores the work-life balance (WLB) of eight members of the Seventh Day Adventist Reform Movement who regularly perform voluntary work in the religious context to find out the influence that volunteer work has on the planning of work and non-work activities. Through semi- structured interviews, the information obtained shows that: 1. Voluntary work was perceived by them as a commitment of high responsibility, to which time and planning must be dedicated. However, the time allocation for the voluntary work was different between male and female participants. 2. Most of the voluntary activities are performed during the Sabbath, which this community considers a holy day. Therefore, a conviction of faith is linked to helping others and growing spiritually while carrying out this task. 3. The church environment offers a safe place where the participants are allowed not only to perfect their professional knowledge but also acquire new skills, which can be useful for their workplace or other situations. 4. Among the participants, voluntary service to the church was considered to build a concept of “balance”. It helped volunteers in planning the amount of time dedicated to work and other non-work activities.