Spiritual SMU

Vince Brewerton, director of the Centre for Spirituality and the Workplace at Saint Mary’s University, wants people to think about spirituality without the hang-ups that come with religion. (Credit: Samuel Ramos)

The Centre for Spirituality and the Workplace is a little-known place at Saint Mary's University. But its director, Vince Brewerton, is hoping to change that.

"The word spirituality is still a question or challenge for some people," says Brewerton. By raising spiritual awareness within the university and within Halifax, he's hoping more people will think about the word or at least challenge their original thoughts on the subject.

He would like people to think openly about spirituality without the hang-ups that come with religion. He never uses the word religion and is cautious about how he approaches the term spirituality.

"If people are given the opportunity to have an open conversation about this," says Brewerton, "they do have a lot to say. They really would like to talk about it with their peers in a secure environment where they won't be judged."

The centre, founded in 2004, claims to be the first of its kind in Canada. Its website states its purpose is to "positively and strategically influence the conversation and accomplishments about spirituality and the workplace globally."

Kinga Harsanyi, a 20-year-old commerce student at Saint Mary's, thinks of spirituality in a more practical sense. After she graduates she would like to work with renewable energy for the sake of her children and grandchildren.

"People would be better off if they would think more about not materialistic stuff, but more on what is actually valuable. Not money, not power, but what is actually what makes you happy."

Brewerton is delighted to hear that a student like Harsanyi is in tune with his message. Spirituality brings awareness to a workplace, prompting employees to question the impact of their decisions on their colleagues and on their children and the community, he says. And it is his desire to start this thinking at the university level.

"Those are though questions and they are reflective of a spiritual approach to business," says Brewerton, "because (employers are) asking the person to look at what they're doing from a bigger perspective. Not just how will this decision get me a bigger promotion or more money."

Brewerton's goal is to make the centre a prominent feature on campus, and students such as Harsanyi seem interested in finding answers to their questions on spirituality.

And from his small office in the Sobey School of Business, Brewerton is hoping to help them answer some of these questions.

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