What does the Church have to do with Social Entrepreneurship? It’s all about relevance.

Neil Mancor (Congregational Development, Diocese of Montreal)

I can’t count the number of Church websites (mostly not Anglican) that say something like We aim to make our sermons relevant to everyday life. But then again I can’t count the number of Anglicans who complain that our liturgical tradition isn’t relevant anymore – as if putting on an ancient liturgy ever was relevant. My favourite was a missioner talking to me about setting up a student ministry at a local CEGEP and engaging with the students about the questions that are relevant to their lives, like evolution and creationism. Need I say more?

The problem I think is that we tend to think of relevance in terms of content. But true relevance for the Church now lies through connection. Churches that flourish particularly in the post-COVID world will be those deeply connected into their local communities. Churches that know the needs, sorrows, joy and aspirations of the people who live around them.

Imagine this: your church running a coffee shop, giving jobs & training to local young people. Or a carpentry business that is also an employment scheme. Or maybe setting up an affordable meal-kit programme. The possibilities are limitless if you allow your imagination to be met by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

One of the things we encourage all churches to do is to reach out into your local community to assess local needs and make partnerships with others who share your values. That will be different in different places. But wherever there are human beings gathered together you can be certain there are deep needs in every way. When was the last time you put on a community meal and got local people talking about their lives, aspirations and desires?

But the next step may just be the development of a social enterprise based out of your church that addresses the very real needs of your community. A great example of this is Outflow, a ministry based in St John, NB. It began as a simple street food ministry and has developed into a shelter, a coffee shop, a construction & renovation business and more. The focus upon training is to help those who find it hard to get into work to gain the skills and experience necessary. Their focus is to look for opportunities to reduce the unemployment, hunger, homelessness, and medical costs in St John. It began a mere 10 years ago when two guys named Jayme and Phil listened to what they thought the Spirit was saying and started handing out sandwiches on the streets of St John. Since then they have repurposed abandoned Churches and buildings and built a ministry in partnership with many others.

The point is, that is what God called them to do in their community. The question is: what might the Holy Spirit be prompting you to do in yours? Start small, because small is great. But churches that flourish will be those who take the time to figure out the needs all around them. And it might just be that creating a social enterprise that helps others will be the thing that brings to your ministry the truest relevance there is. Think about it. Check out: www.outflowsj.com

Watch the interview (Pew & Beyond) February 2nd / Facebook Live 2nd at 1pm EST