Jeff Greer, pastor of Grace Chapel in Mason, Ohio, admits he was “aggravated by the inability to fund outreach ministries," when God “thumped” him with this reality: “Jeff! I've given you a clear vision, and business people with amazing skills surround you. Use their God-given abilities to drive the dreams!"

Jeff realized he had free access to incredible minds, one of which belonged to church member Chuck Proudfit, founder of the highly successful consulting firm SKILLSOURCE®. When the two men merged their business acumen and ministry hearts, the concept of BIZNISTRY® was born. (Read Chuck's story)

Chuck explains that no longer are the greatest material resources locked up with kings, as in Bible days. Today, the money, talent and equipment are locked up in the marketplace. With God's empowerment, the BIZNISTRY® team picks those locks, throws open the doors, and changes lives.

They integrated their efforts with an organization Jeff's church had already formed called SELF-SUSTAINING ENTERPRISES® (www.sseinc.org) As God brought the pieces together, the success of the merger was stunning.

Claiming the Campus
Chuck already was implementing BIZNISTRY® principles in his own company's philanthropic arm, AT WORK ON PURPOSE®. With the addition of his unique expertise, Grace Chapel turned a five and one-half acre, 85,000 square-foot former manufacturing plant into the BIZNISTRY® campus to fund ministry in the community and beyond.

Each proposed BIZNISTRY® had to clear four hurdles:

1. Simplicity. "What you want is something you can easily expand," says Chuck.
2. Affordability. Seed money requirements must be minimal; otherwise, those responsible for raising the funds will feel overwhelmed.
3. Profitability. "You want a bullet-proof idea that will quickly generate profits and sustain ministry purpose," Jeff says.
4. Reproducibility. "The word ‘franchise’ must find a comfort zone in church terminology," says Chuck.

Just three years in, four successful BIZNISTRIES® are flourishing on the Grace Chapel campus:

• New2You Thrift Store (thrift retail) Unlike the average thrift store, which takes several years to turn a profit, New2You was profitable in its first year. Now in its second year, New2You already is being franchised. The Cincinnati-based stores are projected to reach $20,000-$30,000 in profits this year, and $60,000 and upward in years three and beyond. Profits support widows and orphans in underdeveloped countries.
• Special-T Shop (T-shirts with color-transferred images) Profits support orphans in Mexico and Nigeria.
• Steadfast Studios (graphic art services for businesses) Profits support a variety of local and international ministry endeavors.
• The Sports Complex (indoor team sports) Profits support local ministries of Grace Chapel.

The Big Buy-In
BIZNISTRIES® pool the talents and skills of Grace Chapel church members and Ohio business leaders who find the merger of marketplace and ministry fascinating and invigorating.

Through BIZNISTRY®, church members live out what they believe in a way the non-Christian world understands, using their gifts and diminishing the separation between their work and church lives. The BIZNISTRY® model also provides a natural inroad to the hearts of business leaders.

"BIZNISTRY® enables me to bring God's love into the marketplace in a non-threatening way," says Jeff. "It gives me a talking point with CEOs and other highly skilled people. We have a natural link, and then I can share the love of God."

Sweat Equity
Creating a successful BIZNISTRY® is not without its share of sweat equity.

The campus of Grace Chapel is located on the site of a former tool and die factory. So, each building renovated for BIZNISTRY® requires cleaning decades of grease and grime. Then, BIZNISTRY® teams determine how they can launch best practice ventures with little seed money. For example, during the New2You Thrift Store launch, church youth scrubbed rusty window frames, rather than buy new ones, while volunteers stripped copper wire for resale.

Bobby Owens, a former manager with retail giants Lowe's and Target, now runs the highly successful New2You Thrift Store. "It's obvious that God was preparing me for this exact job at this time in my life,” Owen reflected. “Now I get to show my retail team how to be very profitable and be a servant of the guest—not just for their dollars but also for their very hearts. I know folks who are now attending Grace Chapel because of the thrift store, and I was able to help lead a woman to Christ.

BIZNISTRY®, it seems, is not a 21st century concept after all. It's a biblical concept that was active in the time of Christ and got lost along the way.

It's the ministry approach modeled by Jesus himself when he chose his disciples from the marketplace—fishermen, a doctor, a tent maker—and melded with them to first meet felt needs: healing the sick, feeding the hungry, raising the dead. As a result, the dynamic church was born.

"The early church did not separate marketplace and ministry; it seamlessly integrated them," says Chuck. "They took the resources at their disposal and deployed them for the greater good. As a result, they found their best selves, and some of the greatest miracles of the church took place. By following their example, we, too, can find our best selves—with miraculous results."

To learn more, please visit www.grace-chapel.com.

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