A NETWORK OF RELIGIOUS, BUSINESSES ENTERPRISES
While churches and synagogues are the most common types of religious organizations that function as businesses, there are many other organizations that make up a complex, religious, business network. Consider the following:

Religious books
It is very common for religious personalities to write books. After writing the book (that part may not be a business) they will engage a publisher to print and market the books (that is a business). Authors who sell many books receive royalties (profits) for their efforts. If they do all that for money, or fame, despite any other motives they might have, they are in business. The fact that they are talking about God, or Jesus, or some other so-called spiritual subject does not alter the fact that their enterprise is still a business.

Independent ministries
Think about independent, name brand ministries. These are usually the ones where the name of the evangelist, prophet, teacher, singer, or whatever, is the name of the ministry. Because they are well known, they get invited to churches or conferences, or evangelistic outreach events to preach or perform. Many of these personalities also write books and produce teaching dvds which they will sell at events where they are featured presenters. Unless they cover all their own expenses (few will do this), they will charge a flat fee or receive a percentage of a free-will offering for their efforts. If they get any money at all, it is fair to call what they do a business. There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of such ministries.

Ministry associations
You can be sure that a religious organization is a business when you discover that it belongs to an association of some kind. Organizations join associations to gain some kind of benefit from being associated with similar organizations that have similar corporate missions and similar operational issues. It always costs money to join an association. But ministries of various kinds are willing to pay because they see some kind of payback for belonging to the association. Time and space do not allow investigation or reporting here about the incidence of ministry associations throughout the world. If the reader has any doubts about these claims, we recommend a simple Internet search using key words such as “ministry”, “religious”, “church”, “business” and “association”.

Private businesses make and sell religious products
Religious products are big business. Books, clothing, wall plaques, music and jewelry are just a few examples of things that individuals and corporations create and sell to consumers of religious products. See these links for more examples of such products: Christian Retail search, Religion, Books, Movies, Music & Books; Bible Studies, Books, and Bibles; The Catholic Company: Catholic Store, Religious Store; CBA – The Association for Christian Retail Since 1950; Religious & Bible Crafts for Kids.

Religious educational institutions
Institutions that train pastors, missionaries, teachers and others for a career serving God in some kind of corporate organization are in the religious education business. They have campuses, maintenance staff, professional staff, and all physical and organizational features that any public or private university or college has. They have budgets and they charge fees for attendance. They may exist on paper to train people for careers in ministry, but they function like businesses.

Singers and musicians
The Christian music business is very big business. The only difference between these groups and secular groups is the content of the music and the religious testimonies shared between songs. They may draw somewhat different crowds, but they all function like a business. If they did not do business well, they would not survive financially and the presumed ministry function would collapse. Think about musicians and singers who make music dvds or perform in large auditoriums. A lot of business-like work is necessary to do just one of those events. An experienced business organization is necessary to do that many times a year for many years.

Missionaries and missionary associations
Missions are big business. All church denominations have mission outreach functions and there are other independent mission organizations with no denominational ties. They all recruit missionaries, assist them with development of a financial support network, provide supervision, serve as a manger of funds coming in and going out, and a host of other services necessary for the missionaries to do their work in the mission field (whether overseas or stateside). If these organizations did not provide these services, most missionaries would not work in the mission field. In exchange for the services these organizations provide to missionaries, they receive a percentage of the funds missionaries raise from their personal supporters.

Religion, business and government
Religious entities in the U.S.A. are legally organized as non-profit corporations. As such, they are required to file detailed annual reports of their financial activity. The IRS is very fussy about these reports. Thus, churches and ministries that are organized as non-profit corporations must maintain books of accounting and follow standard business practices just like for-profit corporations use for conducting and reporting business activity.

Religion and the media
In these modern times, nearly every religious organization has a website and an email network of supporters. They all routinely ask for donations and many of them sell products to which a religious value or meaning has been imputed. Some of them sell services that you can purchase online. They all represent that they are doing God’s work, and they have testimonies to affirm the good that they do. Advertising and public relations are necessary for religious organizations that depend on financial contributions just as they are necessary for strictly commercial enterprises.

Religious radio, television and movies
It is a well-known fact that religion has a large presence in radio, television and movies. None of this happens without money. If money is involved, there must be systems in place for collecting and spending the money. These systems and the people who run them are all involved in business.

Routine business between religious friends
Many religious people like to do the routine business of buying and selling non-religious products and services with people who share their religious beliefs. They do not always do this, but, whenever possible, they like to build relationships with others by doing routine business with them as either a buyer or seller of common, everyday  products and services.

There is nothing wrong with doing business with friends, of course, but there is a problem with exploiting a relationship for personal profit. Exploitation occurs when people who are engaged in legitimate, non-religious businesses advertise and promote their business by labeling (e.g. christian cross, being closed on Sunday, etc.) it as being owned and operated by people who have specific religious beliefs.

Exploitation also occurs when special discounts or considerations are given to people who share religious beliefs and when advertising is targeted to religious people. In these examples, business people use their religious identities to their advantage to attract customers and to elevate their status as entrepreneurs and as people of faith. They use their religious identities to convey to potential customers that they are trustworthy and sell nothing but the best products because they are religious.

Consumers of non-religious products and services similarly err by showing favoritism to people who share their religious beliefs. For them, buying a product or service is not just a business transaction. It has strings attached that are subtly presumed to earn favor with God and/or with the person who sells the product or service.