From the Article:
It’s a hard, awkward truth: The churches most of us attend on Sunday mornings are businesses.
I realize this is difficult for us to admit. (I’ll address some of these biases toward the end of this article.)
Although religion in the United States is a $1.2 trillion dollar industry, I’m not making this case just because churches and other religious institutions bring in a lot of money. Churches meet many more criteria for being considered businesses.
(In this article, my goal is to refrain from drawing conclusions about whether it’s a good or a bad thing that most of our churches are businesses. As a business owner, I happen to believe business is an ideal place for Christian ministry. However, I do believe it’s disingenuous to operate a business and attempt to convince its stakeholders that it’s something somehow more noble and spiritual than a business.)
1 – Churches offer the same services people pay money for in the marketplace.
People pay billions of dollars to experience great music and great public speaking, which are two primary things people are pursuing when they attend a worship service on Sunday morning.
2 – Churches are legal entities.
When I say “church” in this article, I’m not talking about the universal “Church”, the sum total of God’s people around the world who confess Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and have repented of their sins (i.e., the “Bride of Christ”).
I’m talking about “church, Inc.”, legal entities located at a particular address (usually located within a few miles of another church), that typically host a gathering on Sunday mornings that includes rehearsed music and a speech delivered by a financially compensated public speaker, during which there is usually a collection of money requested from the attendees.
3 – Churches generate profit.
When churches reach the requisite $23.80 in revenue per attendee each week, do they stop taking offerings? Of course not. Why? Because they want to become as profitable as possible.
4 – Churches create jobs for local economies.
Because there are so many church job openings to fill, there are dozens of employment agencies that specialize solely in recruiting staff members for churches.
5 – Churches use tax loopholes to maximize profits.
Wise entrepreneurs take advantage of every tax loophole to avoid paying any more taxes than are absolutely required.
It just so happens that churches typically have the most lucrative tax classification possible: complete tax exemption. They pay zero taxes on any revenue they bring in.
6 – Churches are strategic about generating revenue.
I believe the main reason churches don’t charge admission–or make more forceful appeals for money–is to avoid deterring visitors, who are the prospective members and givers who will ultimately contribute extra funds to help grow the church. It’s a “taste and see” approach.
7 – Churches compete.
Many churches require new pastoral staff members to sign non-compete clauses to prohibit those pastors from starting a “competing” church across the street.
But, hey … that’s business.
8 – Churches that succeed financially typically scale that success through planting new churches that generate additional revenue.
The dream of most church entrepreneurs/CEOs I have met is to govern more than one church campus. This may occur through having “satellite campuses” where the preacher’s sermon is live streamed into church meetings at other geographical locations.
Why is it hard to admit that churches are businesses?
I think there are many reasons, but I’ll share three of them here.
1 – We generally have a low view of business as a tool for social and spiritual impact, and we want to assume that our churches are above businesses on the mythical sacred-secular hierarchy.
Some church entrepreneurs/CEOs go as far as to refer to their church buildings as “the house of God”, implying that every other institution outside the church building is something less than the house of God. Of course, this is unbiblical as the New Testament makes it clear that God’s people are the house of God, His temple made without human hands.
2 – We don’t want to threaten the financial engine of charitable giving that allows churches to host gatherings on Sunday mornings by threatening its tax-exempt status or by subjecting our churches to the same consumer-driven scrutiny faced by all other small businesses in the marketplace. (But that’s where we are in the 21st century. We’ve already created a highly consumer-driven church industry.)
Church entrepreneurs/CEOs typically instruct their congregations that 100% of his/her tithe should be “paid” to his/her local church … no questions asked. On one hand, the funds are solicited as something like a tax to sustain the Sunday morning operations based on the size of one’s income; on the other hand, church entrepreneurs/CEOs appeal for funds as a generous act of charity, usually framing the appeal around a cause like disaster relief, homeless ministry, or something other than the normal operations of the church on Sunday morning (which is the only way 95% of the attendees engage with the church on a weekly basis). But all of these funds typically get commingled in the same pot.
Because there is no New Testament requirement for tithes to be paid to a local church, it is typically suggested that the Old Testament’s system of tithing to the temple applies today because the church building is said to be the modern-day temple. Again, this concept of the temple in the New Testament is unbiblical.
3 – The “business” aspects of church are hidden from most members of the congregation.
What does it cost your church for you and your family to attend on Sunday morning?
How much money and other compensation does your senior pastor make?
How much do guest preachers get paid when they come to preach at your church (and when your pastor goes to preach at that other church)?
Is your church involved in any legal disputes?
Approximately how much does your church spend on advertising?
Most of the business questions never get asked because we’d rather not think of our churches as businesses.
Why Most Churches Are Businesses - Theology of Business Institute
It’s a hard, awkward truth: The churches most of us attend on Sunday mornings are businesses.
I realize this is difficult for us to admit. (I’ll address some of these biases toward the end of this article.)
Although religion in the United States is a $1.2 trillion dollar industry, I’m not making this case just because churches and other religious institutions bring in a lot of money. Churches meet many more criteria for being considered businesses.
(In this article, my goal is to refrain from drawing conclusions about whether it’s a good or a bad thing that most of our churches are businesses. As a business owner, I happen to believe business is an ideal place for Christian ministry. However, I do believe it’s disingenuous to operate a business and attempt to convince its stakeholders that it’s something somehow more noble and spiritual than a business.)
1 – Churches offer the same services people pay money for in the marketplace.
People pay billions of dollars to experience great music and great public speaking, which are two primary things people are pursuing when they attend a worship service on Sunday morning.
2 – Churches are legal entities.
When I say “church” in this article, I’m not talking about the universal “Church”, the sum total of God’s people around the world who confess Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and have repented of their sins (i.e., the “Bride of Christ”).
I’m talking about “church, Inc.”, legal entities located at a particular address (usually located within a few miles of another church), that typically host a gathering on Sunday mornings that includes rehearsed music and a speech delivered by a financially compensated public speaker, during which there is usually a collection of money requested from the attendees.
3 – Churches generate profit.
When churches reach the requisite $23.80 in revenue per attendee each week, do they stop taking offerings? Of course not. Why? Because they want to become as profitable as possible.
4 – Churches create jobs for local economies.
Because there are so many church job openings to fill, there are dozens of employment agencies that specialize solely in recruiting staff members for churches.
5 – Churches use tax loopholes to maximize profits.
Wise entrepreneurs take advantage of every tax loophole to avoid paying any more taxes than are absolutely required.
It just so happens that churches typically have the most lucrative tax classification possible: complete tax exemption. They pay zero taxes on any revenue they bring in.
6 – Churches are strategic about generating revenue.
I believe the main reason churches don’t charge admission–or make more forceful appeals for money–is to avoid deterring visitors, who are the prospective members and givers who will ultimately contribute extra funds to help grow the church. It’s a “taste and see” approach.
7 – Churches compete.
Many churches require new pastoral staff members to sign non-compete clauses to prohibit those pastors from starting a “competing” church across the street.
But, hey … that’s business.
8 – Churches that succeed financially typically scale that success through planting new churches that generate additional revenue.
The dream of most church entrepreneurs/CEOs I have met is to govern more than one church campus. This may occur through having “satellite campuses” where the preacher’s sermon is live streamed into church meetings at other geographical locations.
Why is it hard to admit that churches are businesses?
I think there are many reasons, but I’ll share three of them here.
1 – We generally have a low view of business as a tool for social and spiritual impact, and we want to assume that our churches are above businesses on the mythical sacred-secular hierarchy.
Some church entrepreneurs/CEOs go as far as to refer to their church buildings as “the house of God”, implying that every other institution outside the church building is something less than the house of God. Of course, this is unbiblical as the New Testament makes it clear that God’s people are the house of God, His temple made without human hands.
2 – We don’t want to threaten the financial engine of charitable giving that allows churches to host gatherings on Sunday mornings by threatening its tax-exempt status or by subjecting our churches to the same consumer-driven scrutiny faced by all other small businesses in the marketplace. (But that’s where we are in the 21st century. We’ve already created a highly consumer-driven church industry.)
Church entrepreneurs/CEOs typically instruct their congregations that 100% of his/her tithe should be “paid” to his/her local church … no questions asked. On one hand, the funds are solicited as something like a tax to sustain the Sunday morning operations based on the size of one’s income; on the other hand, church entrepreneurs/CEOs appeal for funds as a generous act of charity, usually framing the appeal around a cause like disaster relief, homeless ministry, or something other than the normal operations of the church on Sunday morning (which is the only way 95% of the attendees engage with the church on a weekly basis). But all of these funds typically get commingled in the same pot.
Because there is no New Testament requirement for tithes to be paid to a local church, it is typically suggested that the Old Testament’s system of tithing to the temple applies today because the church building is said to be the modern-day temple. Again, this concept of the temple in the New Testament is unbiblical.
3 – The “business” aspects of church are hidden from most members of the congregation.
What does it cost your church for you and your family to attend on Sunday morning?
How much money and other compensation does your senior pastor make?
How much do guest preachers get paid when they come to preach at your church (and when your pastor goes to preach at that other church)?
Is your church involved in any legal disputes?
Approximately how much does your church spend on advertising?
Most of the business questions never get asked because we’d rather not think of our churches as businesses.
Why Most Churches Are Businesses - Theology of Business Institute
