Megachurches Add Local Economy to Their Mission

In Anchorage early in October, the doors opened onto a soaring white canvas dome with room for a soccer field and a 400-meter track. Its prime-time hours are already rented well into 2011.

Nearby is a cold-storage facility leased to Sysco, a giant food-distribution corporation, and beside it is a warehouse serving a local contractor and another food service company.

The entrepreneur behind these businesses is the ChangePoint ministry, a 4,000-member nondenominational Christian congregation that helped develop and finance the sports dome. It has a partnership with Sysco’s landlord and owns the warehouse.

The church’s leaders say they hope to draw people to faith by publicly demonstrating their commitment to meeting their community’s economic needs.

“We want to turn people on to Jesus Christ through this process,” said Karl Clauson, who has led the church for more than eight years.

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Posted in * Religion News & Commentary, Evangelicals, Other Churches

4 comments on “Megachurches Add Local Economy to Their Mission

  1. azusa says:

    Anchorage megachurch, eh? Many are cold but few are frozen.

  2. Timothy Fountain says:

    Interestingly, we posted a thought about Christians and commerce on “Black Friday”…
    http://northernplainsanglicans.blogspot.com/2007/11/are-you-praying-on-black-friday.html

  3. Milton says:

    I suppose Anchorage would be an economical place to run a cold-storage facility!

  4. Harvey says:

    Trying to attract people with THINGS instead of the Word of God.