I am concerned that the bulk of our income comes from within our congregation, our yearly pledges. We have no regular external sources of funds save the yard sale and strawberry booth and this year Foundry Day was cancelled, thanks to COVID-19. We are limited to the resources of our members, and it occurs to me that if we had more money we could attract more members and pursue more effective social action.

Many churches use a business-type activity to help with funding. I am thinking of one local church with a food truck. I am also thinking of the Taizé monks, who generate revenue by composing and publishing music.

If we could develop a sustainable “business” model, it would relieve some of the pressure on the congregation’s wallets.

This is not to say I have any kind of instant, magic solution to the problem. Far from it.

But I believe there may be viable solutions and I am qualified to help us explore the subject. I have started and run perhaps 20 businesses, some of them successful. J

I am seeking a few people for a short meeting, via Zoom, perhaps two hours, to talk this over and decide if it’s worth exploring further. If we decide to continue, we will need to do a lot of research and brainstorming.

Do you feel this is worth taking a few hours to assess its feasibility? Would you like to help us think outside the box (assuming you’re not a cat)? If so, please contact myself or Pam.

Joseph Osborne (jo@osbornej.com)