18/09/2022
BUSINESSES A MINISTRY CAN ENGAGE IN WITHOUT BEING DISTRACTED FROM THE WORK OF THE MINISTRY
.. Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?
Luke 2:49
..Engage in business until I come back.
Luke 19:13 HCSB
A call to ministry is a call to business. Ministry is business, nay, serious business. Apostle Paul admonished the brethren not to be slothful in business but to be fervent in sprit, serving the Lord.
A minister is a businesses man. He is in the business of saving the lost; establishing the saints; preparing the established and matured saints for the work of the ministry and transforming individuals, families and societies at large.
It therefore takes a business approach to have an impactful ministry.
Money is needed to have an impactful ministry. Therefore, while being engaged in the business of souls, a ministry must of necessity also be engaged in the business of legitimately making money.
A ministry can engage in the following businesses without being distracted from the work of the ministry instead of depending on tithes and offerings alone:
1. Education and Training
- Daycare
- Nursery School
- Secondary School
- Bible College
- Conference
- Seminar
2. Events
- You can rent out your hall for events
- You can hire your ushers for events.
- I did my wedding reception in a hall belonging to a Church 9 years ago and I paid N60,000.
- I once hired our hall in Uyo for an event of 2 hours for N20,000.
3. Hiring
- You can hire ministry equipment like chairs, generator, etc.
4. Canteen
- Food is a basic necessity for human beings.
- The same person that gives N100 for Church offering can likely spend N1000 to buy food in the church canteen.
5. Bookshop
- Sell your books and ministry training materials.
- You can also sell other good books that align with the doctrines and dogmas of your ministry.
6. Shop
- Sell the items people will generally need, especially while in Church.
- Envelopes, snacks, handkerchiefs, communion items, bottles of oil, etc.
- You can get individuals or companies to supply them in large quantities and you sell and remit the money and keep the profit.
7. Studio
- You can turn the Church console or control room to a studio and do photography, audio and video recording for people.
8. Computer services
- Printing
- Laminating
- Photocopying
- Typesetting
- Spiral binding
9. Farming
- If the Church has space in the land or undeveloped land, the Church can engage in farming and sell the farm produce.
10. Recreation and Tourism
- You can set up a museum to display old ministry artifacts.
-- You can create a recreation park or playground where people pay money to access.
11. Hospitality/Property
- Build guest houses or rental properties where people can lodge or live.
- You can start with building one room and grow from there.
- sometime ago, I lodged in a Church guest house inside a Church compound and it was N5,000 per night and I stayed for 4 nights and the guest house has 10 rooms. Imagine if the Church has a week long program and all the rooms are fully booked, that will be N350,000.
I have equally lodged in a Church guest house at N4,500 per night for 4 days during a program and all the 100 rooms were fully booked, that amounted to N1.8m in 4 days.
12. Car wash
Note that most of these business can be run within the Church promises with little cost of startup or operation.
If you have between 20-50 consistent adults, you can start any of these businesses within your premises.
Conclusively, Dear Pastor, engage in the business of soul winning and engage in the business of fund raising through commercial activities in the ministry.
When you hear a man say we don't raise money in this Church, he is telling you the truth because he has already raised the money through the businesses of the ministry.
Wisdom is profitable to direct.