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This Business is Ministry Essay Abstract Man of God, Ministry, Counselor, Pastor these are the typical titles associated with people who are working inside of a religious ministry, however one title not spoken of and yet is essential and plays a critical part in the success of the other titles is entrepreneur. Like myself, you may have never place entrepreneur amongst the list of titles, I understand, because until recent studies I never would have considered the life of a Pastor to also be the life of an entrepreneur and without question a very skilled one. This paper reflects upon the challenges and rewards of being an entrepreneur inside of what is typically a profession that most would never consider a business. The challenges that pastor’s face is the same as any other entrepreneur such as Financing your business, how to get customers and when to quit your day job! Without great challenges there would be no reward ministry has rewards such as helping others, however as a business that reward does not pay the bills and the challenge is to keep your passion and find ways to ensure that this passion sustains your everyday life. This Business is Ministry The first definition on entrepreneur was merely someone who developed something. In due course, it became someone who owned a business typically a a business that delivered goods or services, However the best definition, the one used most often today, is someone who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks for a business or enterprise. I believe that the evolving of the definition was due to the realization that untraditional service utilizes the basic model for business to survive thus saying that a business can be anything that needs organization, a system that needs to be managed and that assumes certain risk. How to Get Customers Finding customers can be a challenge if you do not have a good product or service. The challenge intensifies when your business is not a business that typically sells goods or provide services. If you have a good product or service then customers will come and a great marketing strategy will boost sales. Unfortunately, for Pastors such as David Grant of Covenant Keepers Christian Center people are not typically buying a good or service when they enter into a place of worship, many do not come to give rather they come to receive. These souls come for encouragement, motivation, and inspiration and often they are poor, unemployed, or unwilling to give money past a certain amount. Many never realize that the church needs consistent followers or customers in order to provide those needs of the people who enter into the place of worship. How can a church find customers? That answer is tricky because you cannot instead you must find a soul in need meet them where they need to be met, help play a pivotal role in their spiritual development or transformation and then if they continue to attend allow them to spread the good news about where they was and where they find themselves now. â€Å"This is known as testimony,† says Pastor David Grant but in business, we call it marketing. Financing your Business â€Å"People may not know or even see the church as a business, however a church must operate like a for-profit business,† (Grant, 2014) Overall, as stated by Stephen A. Kent, church can be seen as a multi-faceted transnational corporation that has religion as only one of its many components. (Grant, 2014) In January of 2008, Pastor Grant revamped his approach to ministry  after two failed attempts and began to understand the business side of his passion he opened up Covenant Keepers Christian Center Inc. only this time in Brooklyn New York. Armed with a new mindset, business courses, and a new plan of action Pastor Grant was ready to be an entrepreneur whose business was operating a church or place of worship. â€Å"Let’s face it, it takes money to successfully do anything, and church is no exception, have you ever tried paying your light bill by praying with the representative?† (Grant, 2014) Some of the churches finances come from donations from members and people in the community this system of voluntary giving is the Tithing and Offering system. The Tithing and Offering system is bible-based instructions on giving to God’s house, the amount you are expected to give which 10% of your gross income and by not doing so it explains that you are robbing God, however many spiritual blessings are rewarded to those who follow these principles. The bible based instructions first asks a question Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me.† But you ask, How are we robbing you? In tithes and offerings.† (Malachi 3:10). The bible gives instructions on how much each person is to give, â€Å"Bring one-tenth of your income into the storehouse so that there may be food in my house. Test me in this way, says the LORD of Armies. See if I wont open the windows of heaven for you and flood you with blessings. (Malachi 3 verses 8) Typically, these finances maintain the needs of the church and the Pastor of the flock, however in today’s economy many are unemployed or have low wages, those who give a tenth is usually not enough, and as a result many churches are forced to close the doors because of a lack of finances to finance the business and the dream. Today Pastor Grant is a successful business owner who has successfully turned his compassion for people into a successful small business that has many branches such as family counseling, marriage/pre-marriage counseling, drug addiction, motivational seminars, and of course pastoring his parish. When to quit your day job? The right time to quit your day job is when you have a surefire business opportunity or you have adequate money in the depository that will allow you to work on your business and allow you to have enough resources to maintain your daily living. As with any business, money is needed to survive and nothing less is expected when you have a  church. Pastor Grant is a hard working individual who maintained his mainstream job and major source of income and allowed that job to help support his vision some call this a sideline job. Pastor Grant is successful, however has not found enough comfort to quit his day job. â€Å"I will leave my job when I know the church is 100% financially independent on a consistent basis and will be able to maintain a yearly salary for those who it employees. Reflections Entrepreneurship is the art work painted by a visionary, The interesting moment for me was when the realization that a business is not only the traditional selling of goods and services, however an entrepreneur can bring to life a vision that he/she has and with the right tools in place open a business that is lucrative. The idea that you can be a business owner simply by bringing to the table virtually any passion and make that passion a source of income without the selling of goods and services only is a fresh idea and is one that should be explored further. Pastor David Grant understood that his business was in his passion and took his passion to help others and accomplished his task as well as established a full time business. Pastor Grant admits he has not accomplished all, however he dedicated to reaching his goal, and I look forward to updating the readers about the great businessperson. References Grant, D. (2014, September 5). Pastor. (M. Grant, Interviewer) The Holy Bible, containing the Old and New Testaments Newly translated out of the original tongues: And with the former translations diligently compared and revised. By His Majestys special command. Appointed to be read in churches. (1733). Oxford: Printed by John Baskett, printer to the University.