We are all familiar with franchises in our society. The franchise model is one which has become increasingly common in recent years in western capitalist societies. No longer do you need to start your own business or come up with your own ideas. Instead, you can capitalise on the good products or previous success of someone else.

Generally, you pay a fee for the benefit of using the name, product and reputation of the franchisor, and then comply with the strict guidelines set down by the franchisor about how you should operate your business. In exchange, the franchisor is responsible for marketing the product or service to the public. The more successful the franchisor is, the more successful you are. The more successful you are, the happier the franchisor is.

Once the almost exclusive domain of fast-food stores and other retail enterprises, franchising has boomed. You can buy into a franchise for a multitude of businesses: from lawn-mowing to baby-sitting, from shoe stores to signwriters, from travel agencies to fitness centres.

A quick survey of many Christian leadership or church development/growth literature available in recent years shows an increasing similarity to franchising models. This approach to church has led to the birth and growth of an understanding which is far removed from the teachings of Jesus.

Ministries of our churches, such as MOPs and Alpha are openly franchised. MOPs (a ministry for Mothers of Preschoolers) began in the US in the 70s, and has now been exported to thousands of churches in hundreds of countries. A church agrees to certain theological statements and particular practical guidelines and in exchange is entitled to use the MOPs trademark, and receive other MOPs training and resources. Alpha is a “basics” course to Christianity. It is conducted over a series of weekly sessions, using resources and materials prepared by the organisation as a complete pre-packaged seekers ministry. Churches may even conduct the course by way of video which ensures that the input and content is presented by a qualified alpha presenter.

However, the franchising fever has also hit churches themselves. Churches can join the Willow Creek Association, and avail themselves of the resources, training and marketing opportunities of one of the world’s largest protestant churches. Here in Australia, church leaders can attend conferences such as Hillsong, and learn how to put into practice the secrets of one of the country’s largest churches.

This franchise model as it applies to churches shouldn’t be taken as a commentary on the individual ministries or initiatives (that is an entirely different debate). However the application of these commercial models to churches is a worrying trend. Many of the things that make a commercial franchise successful contradict elements which are essential for a healthy church.

This is part of an article I am in the process of writing, and as I fill out some of the outline, I will post some further thoughts about the impact of franchising on our churches.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 17th, 2003 at 8:26 pm by dan and is filed under challenges for the church. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.