The Church is full of entrepreneurs. But they’re struggling alone

Christian entrepreneurs live out the very faith the Church preaches each week. But Derek Hughes says the Church is failing to recognise it, let alone make space for it

£50 a month. Sold out in 48 hours. The waiting list is still growing.

A Christian entrepreneur built it. A room for people like him, people trying to make something out of nothing. He didn’t build it to get rich. He built it because he couldn’t find it anywhere else. Somewhere to admit the launch flopped and the cash ran low. Somewhere to find someone who had been there too.

He’d sat in church for years. Sung the songs. Shaken the hands. Never once heard anyone name the weight he carried the rest of the week. So he stopped waiting for the room to exist and made it himself.

They paid £50 to say it out loud.

He’s not unusual. Nearly half of UK adults earn money from a side hustle or a business. The people building things are no longer at the edges of the congregation. They are sitting in the middle of it. The church has thought long and well about mission and ministry, it’s even started to support people in workplaces. But all of it assumes a salary, a manager, a role that exists whether or not you are any good that month.

The entrepreneur lives somewhere else entirely.