Dear Editor:
Editor Mark Wingfield’s opinion piece of February 23, “Should Everything Be ‘Run Like a Business,” echoes the growing frustrations of many churchgoing Americans — that the corporate drive for eternal profit and the political knife of efficiency to maximize it lack the patience and humanity to hold in tension the values of societal empathy, neighbor-focused love and human dignity at the core of Christian practice.
One mustn’t be a zealot to hope the church might bear witness counter to bloated corporate feasting. But as Wingfield points out, “because the church has been corrupted by being run like a business, we have little hope of the church modeling a better way for government (or, corporations).”
To be fair, these words elicited from me a healthy, “Amen,” but I’d like to invite the editor to spend a bit more time mining at the quarry of Christian practice. One place Wingfield might find this kind of business model is in the work of our monastic brothers and sisters who for centuries have lived beyond the dilemma of profit and grace in selling beverage, cheese, candles, vestments and locally raised meats. Scattered across Western Europe, these communities have long honored profit as a gift of one’s work to be shared in community rather than an entitlement to be hoarded. They’ve created and sustained thousands of jobs with benefits, provided millions to local schools and transformed local economies while operating from a place of deep prayer and love.
Here in America, we see the beauty of this Christian business model exemplified through the work of Spencer Brewery at St. Joseph’s Abbey in Boston and Mystic Monk Coffee in Wyoming, to name a few. And, too, a quick Google reveals Protestant examples of Christian business models emerging around the country.
I encourage the editor to use his voice and platform to exemplify ways American churches might embrace local, transformative capitalism by solving a real need in their communities — whether it be low-cost office space for young social entrepreneurs, affordable housing or fairly priced goods. In the post-church and bourgeoning post-democratic America, our most effective and transformative witness may in fact be running a business like a church.
For further reflections on church relationships to for-profit business, see “It’s Time for Innovative Partnerships between Churches and For-profit Businesses.”
David With, Raleigh, N.C.