Scott Cheatham’s Weblog

Pass the cheddar if you want your church to grow!

I’m all for free market capitalism but I have to ask, why are some well known pastors charging a small fortune for their “kits”? If you are in church work, you know what I mean.  There are kits on how to grow your church, kits on how to retain visitors, kits on the biblical discipleship of others, and soon I’m sure we will have kits on how to make kits!

I don’t begrudge someone for selling an idea they came up with but how am I going to benefit by spending $200-$300 (or more) on a “kit” to retain visitors?  Aren’t their some good books on this topic already available for under $20?  If these well-known pastors were truly wanting to grow the kingdom this way, wouldn’t the kits cost under $100 so that any church could afford it?  If I were offering my stuff that I wrote myself, I would likely go the Anthony Coppedge way and charge under $10 for an ebook or something of that nature.  I guess I’m just thinking out loud as I read my blogs.  One pastor whom I’ve followed for years has gradually built up his “brand” and is now selling his stuff while his name is hot.  Good for him.  I really mean that.  I just wish that we could see a more “open source” type of market for this stuff.  I mean really, it was all drawn from the bible anyway so who gets the royalties there?

I write many bible studies, discipleship studies, and follow up lessons for new converts.  I’ve looked at others’ materials for this and have written and adapted my own unique sets for each area.  I guess I could fancy these up on CD and provide full-color graphics and sell them as kits but it seems they wind up on my thumb drive and I give them away to other pastor friends while loading up some of their stuff.  This “open source” sharing is ideal for spreading ideas.  Even on this site, I have a limited copyright for my writing as long as it’s not repackaged for profit by somebody else.

Better still is the work it takes for you to research and write these types of materials yourself.  Read your bibles daily.  Pick up a guide like Jerome Smith’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible and use it thoroughly to research topics and write your own material.  That’s what I did.  This July, I will be taking a few weeks away from the pulpit to focus my writing (no vacation!) on new lessons we will be teaching on how to use our bibles and related study tools more efficiently and effectively so that our congregation’s collective biblical literacy will rise.  Along with this, my church and a few of my friends’ churches are meeting to consider the idea of a “Bible Summit” day long conference that will focus on this very issue.  Our hope is to offer the material and seminar for free or a love offering only so that we can share ideas, build relationships, and grow our churches without paying a small fortune.

What kinds of materials could we put together if we worked collectively on such ideas?  I would be willing to hear your ideas on an “open source” site to share such “kits” and help each other.  Perhaps “thinking out loud” has its benefits.  I’ll be looking forward to your response.