IN AMERICA,

WE ARE FREE

TO CHOOSE

HOW WE BELIEVE

THE BUSINESS OF RELIGION

“Hey, Zach,” yelled Bryan, “Zim’s here.”

“Come on in, Zim,” said Zach. Zim was Jack Zimmer, a wealthy and influential businessman known for creating businesses that grew and flourished. He had made his millions, and was now content to pursue only those projects that interested him personally. Zim and Zach had worked on earlier projects together, helping to expose some of the corrupt actions in Washington politics. The government had been talking about finance reform – again – and Zach, with the help of Zim and some other knowledgeable insiders, provided much of the information needed to make meaningful changes.

So Zim was back, this time to provide some commentary and insight into the notion of religion as big business. Even before Wayne Titus has encouraged Zach to look into religion as big business, Zach had been investigating that avenue. Just how has religion (legitimate or not) used sound business practices to build itself into a multi-billion (trillion?) dollar industry worldwide?

“Hey, Zach. Let’s get down to business.” As always, Zim was all business.

“Okay, Zim. Like we discussed last week, many people have the notion that religion is big business. Part of the film I’m making will explore how religion is like a business. You know business, so I want you to explain in a way that people can understand just how religion is like, or unlike, big business. I don’t want moral judgments from you. Just facts, comparisons, analysis. I want people to come to their own conclusions.”

“Sure, Zach. Just the facts. People are always looking for a way to get rich, to gain and hold power. Before we even talk about religion, let’s look at the ingredients of a successful business.”

Pulling out his laptop computer, Zim brought up a list to look at:

INGREDIENTS OF A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS

1. Find an existing demand and/or create a demand
2. Be one of the major suppliers of a product in demand (limit or eliminate competition)
3. Convince people they need your product – something good will happen if they have it
4. Convince people that if they do not have your product that something bad will happen
5. Insure a healthy profit margin - revenue exceeds expenses
6. Create a product that produces a continuous stream of profits with numerous repeat customers
7. Have a marketing plan to increase sales
8. Employ an effective sales force that is effective and has responses prepared for anticipated objections
9. Limit overhead costs
10. Build an infrastructure that will continue the business far into the future
11. Have powerful, persuasive, enthusiastic, credible, dynamic leadership

“Some examples of effective businesses that at one time or another fit most of these criteria include: Wal-Mart, Exxon Oil, General Motors, Microsoft, Oracle and America Online. Oh, ya. We’d be negligent if we forgot to mention organized religions, with the Catholics, Muslims, Baptists and Mormons being a few great examples.”

“So we have these basic ingredients of successful businesses,” said Zimmer. “Not every business has all these ingredients, but to be successful you have to have some of them. The more you have, the better your business will be. Now, through the centuries, religious leaders, kings and queens and conquerors have been striving to gain power and control over other people. In effect, they have been building their businesses. So how do they get their slice of the pie, and then some?”

“Let’s take each one of these and talk about how religion has, or has not, been successful in each area. Now, I’m going to be using Christianity for most of my examples since I was raised Baptist and know more about Baptists and Christianity than other religions. But most of the examples would fit any organized religion. And being somewhat of a history buff, I’ll throw in some historical references where they seem to fit.

1. Find an existing demand and/or create a demand
Bingo! Religion gets an A+ for this one. First of all, many people seem to have an internal need for believing in some sort of supernatural, all knowing, all-powerful being. I don't know if people are born with this need or if it just becomes part of them from their life experiences, but regardless of how the need got there, it's there. That’s the existing demand. But where religion has really succeeded is the corollary – creating a demand. Look what they’ve done. They’ve taken old writings, written some new ones, and have crafted a compilation of “inspired” writings - the Bible, the Koran, the Bhagavad-Gita, and many others. In these books people are told how they should act, how they should believe, and what they should do with their money and belongings. In Christianity, they have created a scenario where the demand for the product - forgiveness, eternal salvation, and the love of God - is both an internal demand and an externally created demand.

2. Be one of the major suppliers of a product in demand
Microsoft is a great example of becoming a major - almost the exclusive - supplier of a product in demand. For all practical purposes, Microsoft is the only supplier of operating systems for personal computers. Religion has also done a good job here. A large percentage of people in the world are believers in some faith, and for many their religion is the exclusive supplier for their faith-based demand. To be sure, there are some atheists, agnostics, and other non-believers, but there certainly is a large market of ‘believers’. What religions must do is figure out how to attract a sufficient portion of the ‘believers’ to support their cause. Almost every religion will try to convince its followers and the masses that its religion is the one and only true religion, that only by believing in their god, and practicing their faith, can one be saved. One example in religion is Christianity’s claim that only by accepting Jesus Christ as their savior can people be saved. If in fact this is true, then Christianity is the exclusive supplier for those who want to go to heaven and escape the fiery flames of hell. Other religions make the same claim.

3. Convince people they need your product – something good will happen if they have it
Obviously, religion has done a great job here as well. Many people believe that they need religion, they need to be saved, they need forgiveness, they need the guidance of their religious faith and leaders, and they need eternal salvation. Many are convinced if they get baptized, if they go to church, if they follow the teachings of the Bible, and if they tithe to their church, they will receive forgiveness from God and entry into the gates of heaven where they will enjoy eternal bliss with other believers.

4. Convince people that if they do not have your product that something bad will happen
This is the opposite of number 3. If you do not have the product - in this case Christianity and all that goes with it - you will go to hell and burn for eternity. God also may make you suffer or do bad things to you while you are here on earth. Christianity’s done a great job here - either you believe as they tell you, or you will burn in hell forever - not a pleasant thought.

5. Insure a healthy profit margin - revenue exceeds expenses
In religion, revenues include contributions from members - mostly tithing and gifts - along with fund raisers such as carnivals, bake sales, flea markets, bingo and so on. Many churches also earn interest on investments and revenues from businesses. Expenses include the cost of the buildings, utilities, staff salaries, books and materials, charitable causes, missionary work, and other miscellaneous expenses. For a church, like any other business, to remain solvent, revenues must exceed expenses. If a church gets their asking price, normally a 10% of income tithe, plus periodic gifts from members, churches get a pretty steady flow of revenues coming in. A religious organization’s revenues are also tax-free, so that’s a big savings churches get that businesses don’t. Also, often volunteers will do much of the church’s work for free, which limits the amount paid out for staff salaries. Therefore, since expenses are low and revenues can be substantial, most successful churches have a healthy profit margin.

6. Create a product that produces a continuous stream of profits with numerous repeat customers
The product of salvation is great from the viewpoint of repeat business from each customer for the rest of their lives. Once a person joins the church, it is expected that they immediately begin paying the 10% tithe, and to help out with other church fund-raising activities. Take an average working member making $50,000 a year. Tithes would amount to $5,000 a year each and every year, so if this new member tithes from the time he is 25 till age 75, around 50 years, the church would be receiving about $250,000 from this one person. Multiply that by several hundred or thousand people, add in interest, and you’ve got a sizable stream of money coming in.

Take a church with 500 tithing families. If the average income for each family is $50,000, tithes would bring in $2,500,000 each year. I’m betting the expenses for the church is not 2 1/2 mil. Of course, this is just one example. There are bigger and smaller churches, and more and less affluent churches than I mention here. There are people who give more than 10% and people who give less. There are also outright gifts, some incredibly large and generous. But the example gives you some idea of the power of repeat customers giving continuously.

7. Have a marketing plan to increase sales
Do churches have a marketing plan? You bet your bottom dollar. Some are very simple and basic, others are very complex and intricate. As one example, a church I once attended had a great marketing plan. Here are just a few of the things they do. First of all, they want to attract new members. So current members are encouraged to bring friends and family, and the pastor personally visits each and every prospective member. When a guest attends, the church gets the names, addresses, phone numbers, and other information so they can be contacted and visited. Deacons voted on by the church are given members they are responsible for - they each have their ‘accounts.’ The deacons are to keep in contact with the accounts, be available to help, pray, and answer questions. They even had a ‘Director of Planned Giving,’ to help with tax strategies and to give advice on how to plan their giving while they are here on earth as well as after they’ve passed away.

Special events such as Fall carnivals, Easter worship services, Christmas plays and musicals, Vacation Bible Schools, various fund raisers and other events are held to educate and entertain current members and attract more. Mailing envelopes are provided for each member to place their offerings in, conveniently labeled and coded for easy giving and recording. And, of course, close tabs are kept are how much and how regularly each member is giving. Deacons may periodically contact members to remind them to be ‘Obedient to God.’ Lessons and sermons on tithing, giving to God, and being obedient regularly make their way into the church. We’ve all heard ‘the Lord loves a cheerful giver.’

Most religions also have a plan for expanding their business. They may add on to existing buildings, replace old churches with newer, often bigger churches, or they may add new churches where none currently exist. Churches are constantly raising money. I recently received some literature from the local Catholic diocese asking for my donation toward their $70 million fundraiser. They were asking me to donate at least $3,000 above my normal tithing - or more if I could afford it. Churches are like Wal-Mart - they want to be anywhere there are people – and money.

8. Employ an effective sales force that is efficient and has responses prepared for anticipated objections
Nothing helps a business grow as much as a dedicated, enthusiastic, zealous sales force. Everyone in a church is part of the sales force. Christians are constantly told about the virtue of evangelizing and saving the world, as in Mark 16: 15 – 16, where Jesus addresses his followers: ‘And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16: He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.’ The pastor, the priest, the deacons, the lay people - all assume responsibilities for saving the unsaved, for converting the heathens, for showing the way. For true believers, the blessings of bringing more people into the church are real and powerful. They are prepared with the best lines from the church, which over the years have been tweaked until church members know just what to say to the questions and topics such as, ‘How can I be saved?, Why would God love a sinner like me?, How can I gain entrance into heaven? Why does God let bad things happen? and the power of prayer.’

9. Limit overhead costs
The church can limit costs tremendously because they are not taxed on revenues and because many staff volunteer their time and talents to the church. Not many businesses can be run as inexpensively as the church.

10. Build an infrastructure that will continue the business far into the future
Lastly, you need to build a solid, permanent infrastructure that will continue into the foreseeable future. There must be a means of ensuring leadership continues without creating a break in the functioning of the church. If the pastor, or a deacon, or Sunday School teacher, or other church position is vacated, provisions must be made for that position to be filled. The church needs a steady meeting place, strong church leadership, fiscally responsible leadership, and emotional and financial investments. Think of the church buildings throughout the world as being religious franchises, and the worship services, evangelizing, key passages from the Bible, and ceremonies - baptisms, Christmas and Easter celebrations, Passover, and so on - as the standard operating procedures. Many well-established religions have strong, powerful infrastructures.

11. Have powerful, persuasive, enthusiastic, credible, dynamic leadership
As in business, most, if not all, successful religions and individual churches have great leaders. Whether it is Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, Billy Graham, or the local priest or preacher, a dynamic personality is required to build and sustain a successful church. Just as a successful business must have a dynamic CEO, a church must have dynamic leaders.

“So, you see,” said Zim, “religion has many similarities with big business. Through the years, just like businesses, churches have learned what works, and what doesn’t work. They have learned from their own experiences, and they have learned from the experiences of others. Although there are many differences between religion and business, many of the major concepts of building a successful business also apply to successful churches. In a sense, most churches are franchisees of the main church headquarters or central office or controlling body of leaders. Of course, there are successful independent churches, too, who have learned from the big boys and have copied what works.”

“Financially, how successful is religion?” Zim asked. “Let’s take a look at the Catholic Church in the U. S., for example. Not only do they take in annual revenues of $7,500,000,000 – yep, that’s 7½ billion dollars of revenue, and that’s only here in the United States – but they also have tons of assets.”

Zim continued. “Look at the $130,000,000 Boston Cardinal’s home, which includes a 60-acre urban site with the chancery and a seminary. Look at the $18,000,000 golf and conference center owned by the Detroit diocese, and the $10,000,000 Chicago Cardinal’s residence. Then there’s the Aldrich Mansion owned by the Providence diocese, who rent out this 75-acre site for parties. It’s valued at $22,000,000. The Catholic Church even owns radio and television stations, like the $31,000,000 television station owned by the Boston diocese.”

“And there is much, much more. And remember this is just one religion, and just in the U. S. Worldwide, the Catholic Church and other religions control billions and billions of dollars in various assets.”

“Is religion big business?” Zim asked.

“You bet it is! BIG BUSINESS!” he said in answer to his own question.

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