Many pastors, missionaries, and laymen understand the Kingdom power held in the relationships of church-on-mission or business-as-mission. However, many fail to acknowledge the power that can be unleashed when churches embrace the concept of church-as-business. In fact, the concept that a church would be run like a business may feel unnatural, uncomfortable, and even sacrilegious to some pastoral heads and laymen.
People love church-on-mission, because the idea gives them a warm, fuzzy and satisfying feeling of doing good, being charitable, and aligning with the mission of the Gospel. Most Christians think of mission as helping people in need, servicing the poor, making disciples, showing Jesus’s love, and preaching the Bible. The concept of mission conjures up serving locally or through short-term mission trips across the globe. Churches readily partner with missionaries, providing regular financial and prayer support to people who are called into full-time mission. Churches extend their congregations’ reach by investing in those who are called to be the hands and feet on the ground.
In more recent times, the concept of business-as-mission has grown in awareness and popularity, as churches realize the Kingdom impact of helping third-world families and leaders develop sustainable businesses that bring economic health to impoverished communities. The goal is to give someone a hand-up versus a hand-out—give a man a fish and he will eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he will feed himself for life. Therefore, churches are sending teams into third-world countries to teach business skills and sometimes providing micro-loans with the hope of helping men and women start or improve their business acumen, build sound business plans, and grow their enterprises.
Church-as-business provides a third, yet important side of the triangle—a side that has been overlooked and missing from many churches. Inclusion of church-as-business can propel church growth. Why the general taboo in thinking of churches operating as businesses? I have only theories. One theory reasons that with most pastors and church administration educated in theology—not business, marketing, operations, and finance—they lack knowledge or exposure to understand the value of business principles at play within the church. Another theory, is the cultural taboo associated with church and business—people should not talk about religion in the workplace, so perhaps the backlash is they do not talk or associate business with church. A third theory is the preconceived ideology that church and business are compartmentalized enterprises with nothing in common. Faith followers operate in businesses Monday through Friday, sometimes on Saturday, and Sunday is reserved for church service and other religious and social activities. Our culture supports the separation of church and business based on old Biblical standards such as honoring the Sabbath, Blue laws and practices of not talking about religion at the workplace.
I contend that churches and businesses have more similarities in how they work and what they want to achieve than people may initially want to admit. If my argument rings of any truth, churches can flourish by embracing many of the best practices identified, deployed, and further refined by businesses. Although the product manufactured by a church may be different than a business, the strategy and processes are fundamentally the same. With churches commissioned to grow disciples and businesses chartered to increase revenue/profit, churches can learn best practices in new business development from successful businesses.
For those who are not yet convinced that churches can learn from the business world, the table below defines the structural and operating elements which are unarguably similar between them with the only significant difference their output.
| Focus Area |
Church |
Business |
| Enterprise Purpose |
Grow disciples |
Grow revenue/profit |
| Human Capital |
Members/Pastors |
Employees/Management |
| Compensation |
Salary/Bonus/Reward |
Paycheck/Bonus/Incentive |
| On-boarding Process |
Membership Classes |
Employee Orientation/Training |
| Human Capital Deployment |
Service/Discipling |
Job Responsibilities |
| Finances |
Tithing/Expenses |
Sales/Expenses |
| Infrastructure |
Church Facilities |
Offices/Plants/Warehouses |
| Consumers |
Community Members |
Customers |
| Marketing |
Sermon Series/Missions |
New Products and Offerings |
Do you see the similarities in the building blocks and processes between a church and business? Many churches, just like businesses, grow and then lose traction, slow down, and in some cases, go bankrupt. Autopsy of a Deceased Church (Rainer, 2014) estimated that healthy churches account for only 10% of the church population, 10% are dying, and 80% are sick or very sick. Rainer (2014) studied churches to uncover what makes certain ones thrive and what are some signs that a church is sick or dying. Key signs of sickness include a congregation’s attitude that the best days are past, decline in worship attendance and tithing, programs and ministries which focus on members rather than outside the church, and no true sense of disciple-making. Busyness and activity replaces meaningful purpose. With these sobering statistics, I would expect a church to have an on-going self-evaluation process and focus on implementing best practices.
Don’t these key signs of sickness sound familiar to when a business struggles? Employees adopt a bad attitude, unmotivated employees frequently call in sick, management becomes increasingly focused on retaining employees with programs and rewards to the detriment of its customers. Employees lose focus on the business purpose and in cultivating customers. Businesses grow through innovation and a customer focus through knowledgeable, aligned, and motivated employees who understand and believe in the business vision and purpose. They know their role in the organization and how they contribute to the goals. Churches attract members when they focus on serving others, making disciples, and living out the mission of the church.
On the other hand, businesses suffer as customers leave and take their purchasing-power elsewhere; churches suffer when members take their tithe money and time to another church or at worst use it for personal consumption. In the business world, studies run the gambit in identifying and quantifying the impact of best practices. What can churches learn about best practices from these business studies? Although an internet search would likely provide handfuls of articles on best practices, I have my own list cultivated from my more than 30 years working and developing new product lines and businesses.
Leadership cannot lead unless they can define and clearly articulate for its employees and members the purpose and direction they plan to take the company or church. First, leadership must develop a vision and mission statement as well as define the operating values that support the purpose of the church. The vision must be detailed enough that it differentiates itself from other churches and provides a clear sense of direction for its members. On the other hand, the vision must not be too specific that the boundaries constrain how God wants to empower and use its members. Just as God designed individuals with specific spiritual gifts, so too has God breathed life and gifts into various churches to accomplish a purpose. In my opinion, the weakest mission statements are those which are “motherhood and apple pie,” which deliver a feel-good message that no one can argue with and which appeals to everyone who passes through its doors. An example would be “Making disciplines who are making disciples.” No one would disagree that should be a job assignment of every Christ-follower. However, I expect with this vision many members would not feel equipped or understand how they will achieve that mission. They do not even understand how they will know if the church is achieving its mission. With so many questions, people feel left to their own devices and at worst never become truly engaged in the church’s vision, just taking from the church what satisfies their curiosity and spiritual need.
The vision and mission are critically important so people can make an informed decision to join the church, because that vision/mission resonates with them. The church should set an expectation that all are welcome where they stand and will grow spiritually by supporting the defined vision and mission. All churches cannot be all things to all people. Better for a church, which is functionally its members, to define how God has called them to serve in this fallen world. Churches are most effective when they can define what fits and what does not. The vision/mission becomes the referee on how they will direct their resources when bombarded with endless opportunities and demands. What would be a solid and compelling vision and mission statement for a church? If I had to describe what I would be most attracted to as a Christ-follower, below is what I would be called to join.
Vision
Build a transforming Christian army to love the world as Christ loves all
Mission
Coach leaders to crush their limiting beliefs, love who they are, and discover their identity in Christ. This mission will be accomplished through the following:
- Self-exploring to identify lies that are holding back personal identity and service and replace with the truth
- Driving on world service in ways that show Jesus’s love to others and honors personal spiritual gifts and talents
- Meeting people whether they are in their personal spiritual journey and providing information and encouragement to purse Christ as their personal savior
- Developing and encouraging future world changes to organize and move out in service
The above vision/mission is detailed, yet flexible enough to move in many directions. Visitors would have a clear understanding of what the church stands for, how it operates, what they could expect from the church in terms of support, and what would be required of them. Hopefully, it would inspire versus confuse them!
The second most important church practice is to assimilate its members who are the human capital that fuels the outreach in the community and grows the church. Many churches have a bunch of social and crisis-intervention programs for the congregation that attracts membership. Caution! All these services can be beneficial to support the rough spots in the lives of its members as well as attract others to Christ in the process, but leadership must be canvasing the landscape to ensure a healthy balance of services with their mission. An imbalance can be a sign of a sick church.
Many churches host membership classes for those who are interested in learning more about the church or becoming members. These classes typically provide a history of the church, explain what it is doing in its community, ask one to be part of the church, and then want to sign one up to a life or small group. I believe a more sustainable method of attracting members is to provide the full landscape and plan, explain what the church expects of its members, and then explain how the church will partner with them to contribute. Share the story that they are part of the story to create change and make an impact! However, the message cannot be held at a high level. Sell the story with enough granularity that they can see themselves as part of the team or solution. Once they see themselves part of something bigger than themselves, the church can equip them or convince them they are equipped for action. When people feel part of a mission bigger than themselves and buy in emotionally, their resources of time and money will follow. Their excitement builds.
Many churches may successfully develop their vision, mission, and values, but fail to equip the congregation. As in business, many strategies have been dead-on best in class, but the execution fell apart, and management blamed the strategy for failure. Churches are not immune from the same malady. Visioning and missioning is tough but relatively much easier than execution. Visioning takes a finite amount of time and culminates in a final statement—it has an end; whereas, execution is an on-going fight for growth. The process is fundamentally endless, and leadership may tire in trying to keep the execution ball moving forward towards the pins without it going into the side-gutters.
Many pastors preach from the pulpit on what is required by the congregation to meet its vision and mission. First, there are requests, then more forceful pleas. No one in the congregation disagrees, but they fail to act. Using the former mission statement example of Disciples making disciples, everyone would agree that is an important vision for any Christian church, yet despite the pastor’s encouragement, the majority sitting in the pews feel ill-equipped to have conversation with non-Christians about their faith and Jesus. This post-modern world does not provide an environment conducive to Christians sharing the Good News with non-believers. Most Christians are uncomfortable discussing their faith even if it means the church body does not grow (Rainer, 2014). Carter (2012) found that despite 80% of Christians feeling sufficiently knowledgeable to communicate their faith and believing they have a personal responsibility to share the Gospel, more than 60% have not shared the Gospel even once with a non-believer in the previous six months. Some have never shared their faith. These studies make the case that churches need to empower their members (employees) and provide tools, ideas, and perspectives that allow them to be more comfortable in talking about their faith and overcoming the barriers of inaction. Soul Whisperer (Comer, 2013) is a must-read for the current age. Comer’s (2013) message breaks the long-held paradigms of evangelism and introduces more relevant coaching for Christians to share the Good News. Build a relationship, start where they are and not where you are, read what they need, and show them how God is helping you now, are all powerful ways to share the Gospel.
In addition to discipleship, members can grow in their spiritual walk by serving others. When someone asks me, “How can I find myself,” I have one and only one answer. “Go serve. You will find yourself in serving.” Therefore, churches should have a variety of outlets for service. By service, I do not necessarily mean greeter, parking guide, worship and service child provider. Although these are important functions and membership needs to help with these services, the church should have service opportunities outside of the church that are aligned with the vision and mission. These options should focus at a minimum within the local community, because this is the source of your new membership. However, if the church’s mission supports a cause such as sex-trafficking or orphan care, the outreach opportunities should have no boundaries.
Does the church offer members a spiritual gift inventory? Are there opportunities for members to apply them? As the church grows, leadership should empower individuals and teams to carry the torch on various initiatives—similar in how businesses launch project teams with internal sponsorship oversight. Success stories should be shared from the pulpit as a means of stimulating the quest for service. Members are the lifeblood of the church, they are the church, and empowering them in a way to bring in new members by serving in their communities and sharing the Gospel is what the church should focus on. Do we need another sermon from the pulpit to add to our knowledge or just encouragement to learn Jesus through serving? Too many times I have heard, “Just one more Bible study and I’ll be ready to serve.” We are all equipped to serve in one way or another exactly where we stand. Our stories of service are our most powerful tools and what we use to harvest and feed ourselves. Instead of being a spectator in the pew, be a world changer in the field.
Next, I will discuss my business thoughts in building a personal church brand and marketing.
References
Carter, J. (2012). Study: Most churchgoers never share the gospel. The Gospel Connection. Retrieved from https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/study-most-churchgoers-never-share-the-gospel
Comer, G. (2013). Soul whisperer: Why the church must change the way it views evangelism. Eugene, OR: Resource Publications. ISBN: 978-1-62032-183-6.
Rainer, T. S. (2014). Autopsy of a deceased church: Twelve ways to keep yours alive. Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing. ISBN: 978-1-4336-8392-3.
40% performance differential from motivated versus unmotivated people. How does a leader get more passion? Passion is typically inspired by a dream, outrage, or extreme frustration which forces one to become an unstoppable force to create change. When you put on your ruby red eyeglasses, how filled is your passion bucket? Are you satisfied with the passion you have in life and how you are leading in your workplace and family? If you are not satisfied, what are you going to do about it? After all, it is the leader’s job to fill his own passion bucket and no one else’s. If you don’t know where to start, pick up a book of interest, go to places that stir your soul, or hang out with passionate people. Passion can be contagious! Help just one person, and you will be surprised how your passion bucket begins to fill.
For those who may never have heard of GLS, let me briefly describe the value of this annual two-day personal investment of your time? In a nutshell, GLS brings together leaders, who are moving forward, learning, struggling, and succeeding in their fields of leadership, who have a servant heart, and who desire to share with the world their knowledge, so people can become better at leading themselves, their families, colleagues, and their communities. As such the speakers come from diverse backgrounds and cover leadership in faith-based organizations, political arenas, businesses, and other non-profit government organizations (NGO). There is something for everyone. The messages transcend religion, culture, and lifestyles.
did, when he checked the felony box on the application he is immediately disqualified. What would you do? I expect you are saying to yourself, “Well, he shouldn’t have gotten himself involved in crime to begin with?” Honestly, there is a part of me that wants to sympathize with that statement, but the other part of me knows a different story. My other half will suggest that the difference between you and an ex-felon can be the simple fact of just getting caught. How many times have you had one too many drinks, been legally intoxicated, and yet chose to drive home? For those who made it home safely, we breathe a sigh of relief—no one was hurt or killed. If you didn’t make it home, you might be in prison for intoxicated manslaughter.
u were wondering whether this program works, recidivism is < 7% after 3 years for those graduating from this program. For the fifth consecutive year 100% of the graduates secured their first job within 90 days. Since PEP’s launch in 2010, 211 businesses have been started with 6 now generating over $1 million/year revenue. That’s not failure—that spells S-U-C-C-E-S-S!
Shine Crossings Ministry 