Tim Hochstetler, currently at Koinonia Farm in GA and a memeber of the Bruderhof shares an overview of the first roundtable discussion in this blog post: A Merger of Capitalism and the Shared Life: Community Businesses and Christian Community
On January 30, a dozen folks from across North America joined the first virtual roundtable of NCN’s 2021 spring series for a conversation about starting and managing community businesses. A wide range of questions surfaced, but issues fundamentally revolved around the tension of balancing the demands of work with a shared life in Christian Community.
The session was co-facilitated by Tim Hochstetler (Bruderhof and Koinonia) and Isaac Sanborn (Church of All Nations). Isaac introduced several community business ventures that staff and members of Church of All Nations (CAN) have launched:
K-Mama Sauce, a Korean hot sauce company, that will soon be celebrating its 6th anniversary.
Uprising Bread Co. , an artisan sourdough bakery that operates out of the church kitchen.
Silver Lake Botanicals, launched a little over a year ago, selling personal care products and herbal teas from the permaculture project at CAN.
Femme Re•Tale, an online used clothing company with expertly curated items, the most recent addition to the collection.
CAN was active in each business startup, providing both financial support and human resources.
All of the roundtable participants introduced their respective communities and identified topics they hoped to discuss. Hannah Heddy from Newburgh, Oregon, shared how their new community bought an existing business, Prima Bathing Systems. Now, with the daily pressure and challenges of running a business, they are looking for advice on how to make enough time to grow their common life.
Genesis Community in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is considering using one of their community buildings as an AirBnB.
Bloomington Catholic Worker (Indiana) is exploring work options for their guests who are experiencing homelessness. They want to find a product that is simple yet will provide meaningful work. Profit is not a requirement.
Roberto Solis from Saltillo, Mexico, told how their church members recently made piñatas at Christmas and have begun a small scale poultry operation.
Isaac shared that through the first years of KMama Hot Sauce Distribution, they had to discover how to “weave our way through capitalism.” Early on they put too much trust in one of their distributors and ended up losing a good deal of money. Through this experience they realized that, while their team had to trust one another deeply, they needed to exercise more caution in extending the same level of grace to competitors and creditors outside the church family. By being “wise as serpents” in their business, they could minimize waste and maximize profits for the support of the church and its ministries. Individuals have been able to earn their own living as community businesses flourish, and the additional money has helped several members of the CAN family become debt-free.
In order to meet legal requirements and help the state understand their operations, Isaac explained, the businesses are "owned" by individuals. They are, however, communally operated. In similar fashion, some communities have found that their common houses are best owned by individuals, but not necessarily by the individuals or families living in the houses.
In summary, running a business in the unique setting of Christian community presents distinct challenges that are both challenging and rewarding. Prioritizing our love for one another over our work and appreciating what gifts each person brings to the workplace will allow a community business to be a blessing and a ‘demonstration plot for God’s Kingdom.’