Church Planters Inside the World of Religion Entrepreneurs

Starting a new organization is risky business. And churches are no exception. Many new Protestant churches are established without denominational support and, therefore, have many of the same vulnerabilities other startups must overcome. Millions of Americans are leaving churches, half of all churches do not add any new members, and thousands of churches shutter their doors each year. These numbers suggest that American religion is not a growth industry.

On the other hand, more than 1000 new churches are started in any given year. What moves people who might otherwise be satisfied working for churches to take on the riskier role of starting one? In Church Planters, sociologist Richard Pitt uses more than 125 in-depth interviews with church planters to understand their motivations.

Pitt's work endeavors to uncover themes in their sometimes miraculous, sometimes mundane answers to the question: “why take on these risks?” He examines how they approach common entrepreneurial challenges in ways that reduce uncertainty and lead them to believe they will be successful. By combining the evocative stories of church planters with insights from research on commercial and social entrepreneurship, Pitt explains how these religion entrepreneurs come to believe their organizational goals must be accomplished, that they can be accomplished, and that they will be accomplished.

Richard N. Pitt is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of California, San Diego. A scholar of both religion and higher education, he is the author of Divine Callings: Understanding the Call To Ministry In Black Pentecostalism and Double Majors: Influences, Identities, and Impacts.
His research has been supported by the Ford Foundation, the Louisville Institute, and the National Science Foundation.

Acknowledgments

Introduction
1 Introduction
2 Church Planting: A Bird's Eye View

PART I: BECOMING RELIGION ENTREPRENEURS
3 “God, If You Want Me To”: The “Spiritual” Origins of Church Planting
4 “Pack Up Your Office and Go”: Social Structure and Religion Entrepreneurship

PART II: BEING RELIGION ENTREPRENEURS
5 “Missions and Momentum”: Recognizing Social Change Opportunities
6 “Time, Talents, and Treasure”: Mobilizing Social Change Resources
7 “Butts, Budgets, and Behaviors”: Framing Social Change Success, Failure, and Competition

PART III: CONCLUSION
8 De-Sacralizing Religion Entrepreneurship

Tables
Notes
Appendices
References
Index