Here is an excellent example of entrepreneurship taking place in the world of religion. It is a ministry called 9 Marks intended to address the problem the leaders in this ministry see of many churches moving away from Biblical doctrine.
Here is an informational video about the ministry:
Regardless of what you think of their theology or religious perspective, it is hard to make the case that these guys are in any way irrational, unintelligent, mean-spirited, or anything other than sincerely concerned about the direction many churches are going. (Listen to Dr. Iannaccone's lecture for more about "The Myth of the Religious Right".) Their concern is not without reason -- just look at what's been occurring recently within the Episcopal Church.
Here is a summary of the 9 Marks this ministry is promoting in order for a church to be affiliated with them:
- Expositional Preaching
- Biblical Theology
- Biblical Understanding of the Good News
- Biblical Understanding of Conversion
- Biblical Understanding of Evangelism
- Biblical Understanding of Membership
- Biblical Church Discipline
- Promotion of Christian Discipleship and Growth
- Biblical Understanding of Leadership
They've even got "Church Search" -- a search engine to look for churches in your area committed to these nine principles. They also have many articles organized by topic comprehensive recommended reading lists for both pastors and laymen.
It will be interesting to see how impactful ministries like this will be for helping maintain traditional doctrine within affiliated churches. (What would be the appropriate metric to measure this? There is certainly a selection bias in that churches that associate with this ministry probably already share their values.)
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