So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas,a]”> and said to them, ‘Do business till I come.’ Luke 19:13
I met a Caribbean colleague for the first time at Compete Caribbean’s strategic regional dialogue on private sector development in the Caribbean and the Compete Caribbean regional consultative forum two weeks ago. He had met me through my weekly column and enquired as to the topic of my latest column to which I readily replied “The Church is a Business”, indeed the column was published that same day. He predicted that I would get much feedback on that column. So right he was. In today’s column, I decided to share the following feedback with readers so that the dialogue may continue.
1) “I sent it on to our new Anglican Bishop Berkley (Trinidad & Tobago) – a wonderful man!
2) “Very interesting discussion. I agree that the body of Christ has to manage all of its resources through the exercising of spiritual wisdom and understanding and revelation knowledge in making wise choices to continue to promote the divine purpose and mission of Christ. Legalism will not do it. There is so much more that can be said on this. 3) “I found your article interesting and was struck by a deja vu moment. I actually wrote a 2-part article for The Pulpit and the Pew magazine of the St Barnabas Anglican Church in the last quarter of last year and the first quarter of this year. The title of the article was ‘Does the Anglican Church mean Business?’ I was careful though not to label the church as a business because I think a very clear distinction must be made and understood by Church administration, both at the parochial and local level, and by the general public at large. Indeed you made the point in your article but it could have been more forcefully made. So the main objection I have with the article was its title and the subtle suggestion that the Church is a business – since the Church is definitely not a business as the core objective of a business is to make a financial profit. If there are those which see themselves as businesses, well…The Church will definitely benefit if it adopts a business model and principles. However, the mission of the Church must not be lost on the public – that of winning souls for Christ. The point I made in the article was that the Church could benefit from a Strategic Plan developed with and involving the congregation. It could also benefit from adapting and adopting marketing principles as well as concepts like human resource development – just a few ideas. Great minds think alike!”
4) “People need to read their scriptures … Look what Jesus said: Luke 19:13 ‘So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, Do business till I come’” 5) I received a response from none other than Senior Pastor Rev. A.R. Bernard of the New York Christian Cultural Center to which I referred in my column…“Great article and thanks for the ‘shout out’. Please let me know if ever there is an interest in having me share the success of our model with these groups.” 6) “I hope Mr. Basil Springer realises that his declaration that ‘The Church is a Business’ has very important implications. He needs to think again, as there is a distinction between the Church and Church-based organizations. His statement is true of the latter. And as a business, as he points out, such organisations will do well to understand the nature of organisation and seek to operate them efficiently. The Church is not an ‘Eklesia’ as the Kings James Version puts it (the called out ones), but ‘Kuriacos’ (belonging to the Lord). It is about Christ and His body. And that was why Jesus pointed out: My Kingdom is not of this world. Church-based organisations are human constructs just as the template (the organisation) is. They are run as businesses and will have to deal with the implications. Thanks for your leadership. I read your column every time it is issued”.
7) “The church is the body/members of Christ, true. But we loosely refer to church organisation as the church. What is important is that Jesus called his members to “do business until I come” … that needs to be revealed to many …” 8) “You must be right about the state of the Anglican Church finances. They are obviously being mismanaged. Why don’t they either use Bishop’s Court for example or sell it or develop it. The same goes for the Anglican administrative centre which is in a prime area and is practically derelict. The state of St Michaels is clearly due to the neglect of its fabric over many years. It is only now that they are appealing for funds when they should have been making regular appeals. Why do they not charge for entrance to St Michael’s and make an effort to attract tourists to come to the Cathedral of Barbados and view the history it exemplifies…” 9) “Rather interesting my friend. They are ecclesiastical entrepreneurs.” May the dialogue continue!
On Wednesday May 08 Nik Halik, the founder of Financial Freedom Institute, will speak at the Acquatica in Barbados. He is a global wealth strategist, successful entrepreneur, international speaker, astronaut, high adrenalin adventurer and best-selling author. Please contact globaleventplanners@gmail.com for details.