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Religion and Money--A Sure Attraction
HAIRY
Member Posts: 23,606
Business finds its sacred side
Church program teaches ethics of making money
By Adrienne P. Samuels, Globe Staff | May 31, 2006
The teacher starts the class with the parable of the rich fool, the New Testament story of a man who plans to hoard his bumper crop of grain and ``eat, drink and be merry" for the rest of his days. God reminds the man that life might end abruptly and adds that earthly savings do not always count in heaven. Such a discussion might normally kick off Bible study, but in this case it's the beginning of a business class.
``We told you at the beginning that we were looking for millionaires," the Rev. Gerald Bell said to the two-dozen students who gathered recently at Southern Baptist Church in Roxbury for an intensive course on how to run a business while using Christian principles. ``But we're not talking about creating millionaires as the world defines."
The class is in the basement, where large reprints of the Beatitudes, Jesus's Sermon on the Mount, line the walls.
Sometimes, the muffled sounds of a choir practicing reverberate through the ceiling.
During the 12-week course, the first of several that organizers plan to teach quarterly, students learned business basics such as accounting and marketing, while putting together detailed business plans infused with moral lessons and prayer.
While secular classes might include market models for pricing products, a classroom analysis in this case dwelled on Christian principles of fairness. Students were urged to ask God to reveal their purpose on Earth, and students were taught that a business should ultimately bless, or enrich, the life of the customer.
High-pressure sales tactics that might influence someone to buy something he or she does not want -- or can't afford -- are out.
``It might not be what business is, but it's what business should be," said Leonardo Radomile, a Harvard Divinity School student and a former venture capitalist who is teaching the class.
Such marriages of business and religion have been popping up across the country, particularly in some evangelical churches preaching how faith in God can lead to prosperity, both in this life and the next one.
Some clergy are also taking an interest in business startups as powerful tools for reasserting control of communities long neglected by outside business and political interests.
The Boston program was developed by a new nonprofit organization, ``Put Faith to Work," a program of the Black Ministerial Alliance. Bell and Radomile said they had launched the program to stimulate development in neighborhoods such as Roxbury.
The program also seeks to ``combat the apathy associated in the inner city with a lack of opportunity," said Bell, 46, a pastor and a mortgage banker who described the program as a solution to joblessness and hopelessness. Several professors at Harvard's schools of divinity and government are advising the program.
``This is the answer to abject poverty," Bell said. ``. . . This is the American dream, when you're able to fight and put your own business together."
Radomile has drawn on personal experiences for his teaching. He once worked with a group of California lawyers called The Alliance, who in 1994 were convicted of bilking insurance companies out of millions of dollars. Radomile served 30 months in a California prison, became ill, and spent time at the Mayo Clinic before realizing that God wanted something better of him, he said.
``What some people think is the American dream is really the American nightmare," said Radomile, 60, of Cambridge. ``Materialism. Individualism. Ruthless self-exploitation and the exploitation of others. For me, jail was a real wake-up call."
Radomile and Bell started by asking students to meld their talents and passions with a product or service that could benefit the world. A person's God-given purpose usually coincides with a good business idea, they said.
The course is designed to give students a working knowledge of legal issues, finances, credit, target markets, and sales strategies.
Instructors guide students in making business plans and creating a 60-second ``elevator pitch" and place them in a business prayer support group.
The students who took the recent course ranged in age from their early 20s to middle 60s. They hailed from Hyde Park, Dorchester, Roxbury, and Mattapan, and they had business interests that ranged from real estate to the sale of African-inspired textiles.
One student, Darlene Smart, already had a small business making award plaques and etching Bible verses in mirrors in her Dorchester house. The 33-year KeySpan employee calls her talent for glass etching a gift that she wanted to use for a higher calling. She also wanted to improve her business plan.
``I came away from there being a little bit more focused and being more strong in my commitment to go to the next level in my business," said Smart, 50, who is a member of Grace Church of All Nations.
She had heard about the class from another artisan friend, who also believes in God.
``I have faith already. I go to church. I love the Bible," Smart said. ``I just wanted to see what they were preaching and teaching, as far as why they called it faith-based, putting your faith to work. I didn't go to school, but God gave me this talent."
Keno Mullings, 29, of Dorchester, said he had signed up with ambitions for creating more affordable housing in the state.
A software engineer who works part time at a real estate office, he wants to renovate dilapidated houses and sell them at affordable prices. He has sold two houses and wanted to fine-tune his business skills while also honing his ethic.
``We're not trying to get rich," Mullings said. ``All of our businesses have this ministry side that will be the key to our long-term success. We're not just taking from the community. We're giving back to it. Sincerely."
A summer session of the course will begin in late June at Jubilee Christian Church in Mattapan.
Adrienne P. Samuels can be reached at asamuels@globe.com.
c Copyright 2006 Globe Newspaper Company.
Church program teaches ethics of making money
By Adrienne P. Samuels, Globe Staff | May 31, 2006
The teacher starts the class with the parable of the rich fool, the New Testament story of a man who plans to hoard his bumper crop of grain and ``eat, drink and be merry" for the rest of his days. God reminds the man that life might end abruptly and adds that earthly savings do not always count in heaven. Such a discussion might normally kick off Bible study, but in this case it's the beginning of a business class.
``We told you at the beginning that we were looking for millionaires," the Rev. Gerald Bell said to the two-dozen students who gathered recently at Southern Baptist Church in Roxbury for an intensive course on how to run a business while using Christian principles. ``But we're not talking about creating millionaires as the world defines."
The class is in the basement, where large reprints of the Beatitudes, Jesus's Sermon on the Mount, line the walls.
Sometimes, the muffled sounds of a choir practicing reverberate through the ceiling.
During the 12-week course, the first of several that organizers plan to teach quarterly, students learned business basics such as accounting and marketing, while putting together detailed business plans infused with moral lessons and prayer.
While secular classes might include market models for pricing products, a classroom analysis in this case dwelled on Christian principles of fairness. Students were urged to ask God to reveal their purpose on Earth, and students were taught that a business should ultimately bless, or enrich, the life of the customer.
High-pressure sales tactics that might influence someone to buy something he or she does not want -- or can't afford -- are out.
``It might not be what business is, but it's what business should be," said Leonardo Radomile, a Harvard Divinity School student and a former venture capitalist who is teaching the class.
Such marriages of business and religion have been popping up across the country, particularly in some evangelical churches preaching how faith in God can lead to prosperity, both in this life and the next one.
Some clergy are also taking an interest in business startups as powerful tools for reasserting control of communities long neglected by outside business and political interests.
The Boston program was developed by a new nonprofit organization, ``Put Faith to Work," a program of the Black Ministerial Alliance. Bell and Radomile said they had launched the program to stimulate development in neighborhoods such as Roxbury.
The program also seeks to ``combat the apathy associated in the inner city with a lack of opportunity," said Bell, 46, a pastor and a mortgage banker who described the program as a solution to joblessness and hopelessness. Several professors at Harvard's schools of divinity and government are advising the program.
``This is the answer to abject poverty," Bell said. ``. . . This is the American dream, when you're able to fight and put your own business together."
Radomile has drawn on personal experiences for his teaching. He once worked with a group of California lawyers called The Alliance, who in 1994 were convicted of bilking insurance companies out of millions of dollars. Radomile served 30 months in a California prison, became ill, and spent time at the Mayo Clinic before realizing that God wanted something better of him, he said.
``What some people think is the American dream is really the American nightmare," said Radomile, 60, of Cambridge. ``Materialism. Individualism. Ruthless self-exploitation and the exploitation of others. For me, jail was a real wake-up call."
Radomile and Bell started by asking students to meld their talents and passions with a product or service that could benefit the world. A person's God-given purpose usually coincides with a good business idea, they said.
The course is designed to give students a working knowledge of legal issues, finances, credit, target markets, and sales strategies.
Instructors guide students in making business plans and creating a 60-second ``elevator pitch" and place them in a business prayer support group.
The students who took the recent course ranged in age from their early 20s to middle 60s. They hailed from Hyde Park, Dorchester, Roxbury, and Mattapan, and they had business interests that ranged from real estate to the sale of African-inspired textiles.
One student, Darlene Smart, already had a small business making award plaques and etching Bible verses in mirrors in her Dorchester house. The 33-year KeySpan employee calls her talent for glass etching a gift that she wanted to use for a higher calling. She also wanted to improve her business plan.
``I came away from there being a little bit more focused and being more strong in my commitment to go to the next level in my business," said Smart, 50, who is a member of Grace Church of All Nations.
She had heard about the class from another artisan friend, who also believes in God.
``I have faith already. I go to church. I love the Bible," Smart said. ``I just wanted to see what they were preaching and teaching, as far as why they called it faith-based, putting your faith to work. I didn't go to school, but God gave me this talent."
Keno Mullings, 29, of Dorchester, said he had signed up with ambitions for creating more affordable housing in the state.
A software engineer who works part time at a real estate office, he wants to renovate dilapidated houses and sell them at affordable prices. He has sold two houses and wanted to fine-tune his business skills while also honing his ethic.
``We're not trying to get rich," Mullings said. ``All of our businesses have this ministry side that will be the key to our long-term success. We're not just taking from the community. We're giving back to it. Sincerely."
A summer session of the course will begin in late June at Jubilee Christian Church in Mattapan.
Adrienne P. Samuels can be reached at asamuels@globe.com.
c Copyright 2006 Globe Newspaper Company.