I just finished reading a commentary on www.faithandfinances.org about Christian Business Missing Demand for On-Demand Media. The article struck a cord with me. When I was “called” into ministry I set aside my desire to be a part of the business world and went to college to prepare to become a pastor; however, since that time, I have pastored and am now in a Christian business.
In my short life (I’m only 28) I have realized that business and ministry are two worlds that are forced together, but the two rarely seem to focus on the other. It is a sad truth that the Christian world still approaches things in an old-fashion way. Take for instance a retreat or event at a church. Rarely do they break even due to the mentality that Christians don’t have or won’t spend money to go to one. This in turn dampens the quality of the event that can be held and makes it even less appealing or valueable to the church member. But in reality the same Christian parent who wants to send their kid to a sports camp that can cost upwards of $500 or more complains about church camp fees costing $100 or more. Or even better is what the article mentioned above is the failure for the church to move into the new methods/models of business. Please note, I have not one time mentioned changing principles or doctorine, merely the way business is done.
We expect preachers to be able to manage in some cases multi-million dollar corporations without any formal training in business. Not that they are not capable of it, but why not let a business person run the business with ministry in mind and let the spiritual leaders run the spiritual side of things?
In my four years at a bible college I did not have one human resource class that dealt with the legal ramifications of hiring and firing employees. The training for finances and accounting were minimal; actually I did not have to take one math class to earn a degree (only a few reasons I am now having to return to earn a BS in Business Administration). The world expects churches to handle their finances with integrity and for the most part they do, but there is also the expectation that the money will be spent with wisdom and good business sense.
The good news is that the churches that have realized the value of spiritual leadership (Senior Pastor) and business leadership (Executive Pastor) are succeeding all over. It is the ones and sadly the majorities that want to continue to do things the way they’ve been done or just trying to catch up to the 1990’s that are the ones who will eventually be too outdated to be effective. Just because it has worked doesn’t mean it can’t be better or will continue to work 10 years down the road.
So can a balance be struck? Yes, the truth is every ministry is a business and should be run like one. The great thing is that “church business” is for the purpose of eternal value, so why not run it with the most effective business methods to do that? That question I leave up to you to answer.
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