In his book Thank God, It's Monday, William Diehl describes an unusual church. Above every door leading out is a sign saying "Servant's entrance." The signs are on the inside, precisely where most buildings would have a sign saying "Exit." The signs bear an important message: the real ministry of the church is not "in here" but "out there."

Diehl goes on to lament that in his 30-year professional career (as sales manager for Bethlehem Steel) his church never suggested to him that there should be any type of accounting of his on-the-job ministry to others. "My church has never once offered to improve those skills which could make me a better minister, nor was I ever asked if I needed any kind of support in what I was doing. There has never been an enquiry into the types of ethical decisions I must face, or whether I seek to communicate my faith to my co-workers. I have never been in a congregation where there was any type of public affirmation of a ministry in my career. In short, I must conclude that my church really doesn't have the least interest in whether or how I minister in my daily work."

Religious language and structures often suggest the work of the church is what goes on within the walls of the meetinghouse. When Christians talk of "lay ministry" they often mean lay involvement in liturgy. Paul Stevens in Liberating the Laity says there are two types of lay ministers, one in the world and one in the church. He calls these Type A and Type B, or outward and inward laypersons. The outward types are those who see their career as the "church in dispersion." Inward types are essentially voluntary clergy who are more concerned about the "church gathered." Church members get plenty of help with what Stevens calls "come structures" -- lay ministry training that teaches members to encourage others to "come and hear" or "come and see." What is also needed, he suggests, is "go structures" which dispatch Christians into the world to be the presence of the kingdom.

This, of course, means more than having a Bible in the lunchkit or witnessing verbally to co-workers. Christians who want to bear Christ's image to a needy world, an image of compassion, justice and redemption, will need more "go structures" to send them confidently into their places of work where they spend the bulk of their waking hours. That's where most Christians actually "confront the powers" (competition, conflict, injustice, to name a few). This kind of emphasis would, in Stevens's words, help thaw out "the frozen assets of the church," for if we are always focusing inward on a congregational or even denominational program, a large resource is left paralysed, hanging suspended in a block of ice.

John H. Redekop, writing in Faith Today, says the average worker spends 40 percent of his or her time on the job, and the average Christian spends less than two percent of his or her time at church during the working years. Yet the church pours most of its energies and finances into the two percent, directing almost nothing at the 40 percent.

A growing "ministry of daily life" movement is calling Christian workers to understand their work as part of mission. How can Christian educational institutions, including seminaries, encourage this movement? Seminaries, for instance, strive to equip ministers for local church ministry. Less clear is the extent to which they also encourage emerging pastors to understand the ministry of the church as something "out there," and not only as the liturgical activity of the congregation within the confines of the church building. By training pastors to equip working folk for "ministry in dispersion," they can further de-ice the assets of the church so that all workers -- blue-collar, professional and businesspeople -- see themselves as vital parts of the kingdom thrust.

While business and the church are not as polarized as they once were, they are not as close as they could be in the common pursuit of kingdom goals. Many clerics still regard the contribution of the business community primarily as a cash cow to fund church programs. Fewer are able to encourage businessfolk to infuse their world of work with the mind of Christ.

A survey a few years ago showed that businesspeople in general ranked clergy ninth, behind even "no one," when asked whom they consult in making decisions about business (including, presumably, those decisions having to do with ethics).

While serving as business department chair at Eastern Mennonite University, John W. Eby conducted a similar survey and found that only 9.4 percent of the businesspeople in his community would consult their pastors in dealing with financial difficulties. "That says something about our relationship to the church," Eby wrote. "It also says something about the church's relationship to business."

Pastors are often accused of not understanding the role of capital, return on risk, and the pressure of meeting a payroll in a competitive economy. Businesspersons are accused of being individualistic and unsympathetic to persons who cannot make money.

The reasons for these differences are myriad. One is that pastors and businesspeople often have basic differences in worldview. Their varying goals are not always equally measurable by the same yardstick (i.e. profit/loss statements, kingdom values). Pastors may be more comfortable with "process" while businesspersons may be more interested in measurable results. Pastors with a keen concern for biblical justice may speak the language of "wealth redistribution," while a businessperson with a concern for justice may speak of "wealth creation." A businessperson may disdain the dependency generated by "charity," preferring instead to alleviate poverty through the use of "productive capital."

How can pastors be encouraged to feel more comfortable in the world of the workplace, which is often their parishioners' most significant social reality? How can prospective pastors be encouraged to get to know their parishioners in the context of their work? Ministers are often taught how to make hospital visits, but how about workplace visits? Ministers learn liturgies for weddings and funerals; could they also learn liturgies to commission Christian teachers, plumbers, lawyers and businessfolk?

Affluent businessfolk are naturally expected to contribute generously to church coffers, and to serve on boards of trustees and building committees. But must their contribution stop there? Many businesspeople do not in fact make their best contribution in the "money areas" of congregational life. (Indeed, many pastors complain that businessfolk who are reputed to be innovative "risk-takers" in business can be stubbornly conservative when they sit on a church board.) Businesspeople may have other things to offer, such as the ability to evaluate and motivate staff, coordinate resources, and set goals.

On the other hand, some pastors may become so enamoured of business that they fall into the "let's be businesslike" syndrome. This is often most visible when a congregation's outreach plans become market-driven. "Let's give the people what they want" may produce temporary numerical growth, but carries the danger of diluting the gospel and turning the church into a religious supermarket. There is often a fine line between good church management and selling out to consumer forces, and prospective ministers need enough business savvy to know the difference. Is seminary the place to cultivate this savvy?

Curricula are already crowded at most seminaries, and there are endless add-ons that special interest groups could request. Nonetheless, perhaps room could be found for a seminary course on economics and finance, covering macro-economic issues as well as congregational and even personal finances.

Pastors can't be expected to become familiar with all the trades and professions in their churches. But they can realize that for most of their members, ministry doesn't end with the Sunday morning benediction. That's really where it begins.

Written by Wally Kroeker, editor of The Marketplace, published by Mennonite Economic Development Associates.  Content distributed by WorkLife.org > used for non-profit teaching purposes only.