Post-recession mainline church revenue: how a for-profit BBQ restaurant might transform a post-Christian ministry
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Citation
Abstract
The great recession of the late 2000’s amplified a decline in mainline Protestant church revenue impacting ministry roles, programming, and missional capability. Trends towards socially conscious corporate business and historical monastic for-profit business in Western Europe serve as practical and theological entry points for how mainline Protestant churches might experiment with alternative revenue sources to withstand market swings and declining giving. The thesis argues that establishing ecclesial for-profit businesses, such as a BBQ restaurant in partnership with the First Baptist Church of Raleigh, North Carolina, is one solution to the emerging problem of declining church revenue.