Should churches own businesses?
Kathy Hernandez has an provocative post on this. She says:
Unlike a missionary, who may help indigenous people start their own businesses as a way to be self-sufficient, these businesses are designed to make money for the church. Assuming that the church pays appropriate taxes for their for-profit arms, it sounds like a good way for a church to raise money to do other good works besides just hitting up their members. (See the Wall Street Journal article The Backlash Against Tithing for why that’s getting tougher.)
And yet, something about this rubs me the wrong way. Perhaps it’s because it dilutes the mission of the church, or because it makes the church look like an exclusive investment club. Or perhaps it seems like a risky use of funds, but then again many churches by definition are a risky use of funds. It also bugs me that the church would compete against locals whom they seek to serve.
Weigh in with your thoughts.
November 27th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
I’m split on this one. I have been a part of two different churches that have had questionable methods of funding church ministry. One church could not get enough from the congregation to fund the church, so they decided to open a pre-school as a way of generating revenue for the basic budget of the church. My problem with that is that it freed the congregation from having to be financially committed to the advancement of God’s kingdom.
I think a Church could do a for-profit venture on the side as a way of expanding the ministry of the church beyond what the congregation can offer to the mission of the church. The first step is to get the congregation to give.
I don’t have a problem for the church competing with local organizations. First, because the churches who want to run businesses are rarely entering into a crowded pool, and second, that competition should elevate everyone’s game.
December 7th, 2007 at 8:24 pm
I think I agree with Eddy. The for-profit business model seems to release members of the church from the financial responsibility of carrying on the work. And in the circumstance of a particular church not being able to sustain itself (such as a new church plant, or inner-city church, I wonder if the greater church at large might be invited to provide the necessary support.