Fordham Notes: What is Entrepreneurial Discipleship?

Friday, November 19, 2010

What is Entrepreneurial Discipleship?

A new model of the church that harnesses collective innovation, community-based initiative and creativity to respond to the calling of Christ.

WHO: Robert Brancatelli, Ph.D., visiting professor at the Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education, and David Gautschi, Ph.D., dean of the Graduate School of Business Administration.
WHAT: A lecture discussing Entrepreneurial Discipleship
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 29
WHERE: St. Francis of Assisi Church at 135 W. 31st St.

The lecture is sponsored by the Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education. For more information, visit www.fordham.edu/gre or call (718) 817-4800.

3 comments:

Mariaelena said...

This is a note I wrote to a friend of mine after attending the November 8th presentation that was held at the Rose Hill Campus:
Last night we had a gathering of interested folks and I wish you could have been there since the discussion was vibrant and helped identify more
precisely the Entrepreneurial Discipleship "vision". Professor Brancatelli and Dean Gautschi are forging paths where business and church activities collaborate
to reveal new meanings for both, which consequently has the potential of strengthening and healing many aspects of our society including;
social justice, economic stability, public services, and ecological issues. The rules of operation are founded on and in response to
the call, "Kerygma" of discipleship, rooted in the teachings of Christ that also form the standards of doing business in a global community.

The "entrepreneurial spirit" is brave, courageous, and risk taking based on the entrepreneur's vision and congruently, the passion they bring
to their vision.

So to promote and to market an entrepreneurial venture means to do "risky" business.
The ED vision proposes that there is a need for people in the market to be "evangelized" or in other words to rediscover the "value" of the love of God relevant for today's culture.
This is directly linked with "offering new ways of being church". The "new model" of church includes "new ministers" of the church:
we are the church united in Christian community and in this community business happens meeting the needs of the
people who comprise the 21st century market place.

This is also a conversation that goes further into understanding the nature of not-for-profits and for-profits working successfully together and
of further understanding the "marketplace".
For me this is somewhat reminiscent of guilds in forming community net-works of like minded people who manage their own small businesses
yet collectively provide a cohesive infra-structure of community support.

This is a project in the making! Brancatelli, as you can see from my post, will be teaching ED as a course during the spring term at Fordham University.
He intends to have the program "project oriented" as much as a directive for the individuals who attend the program
as it is for "growing the vision".

Mariaelena said...

Professor Brancatelli and Dean Gautschi are forging paths where business and church activities collaborate revealing new meanings for both, which consequently has the potential of strengthening and healing many aspects of our society including; social injustices, economic instability, inefficient public services, and critical ecological issues. The rules of operation are founded on and in response to
the call, "Kerygma" of discipleship, rooted in the teachings of Christ that also form the standards of doing business in a global community.

The "entrepreneurial spirit" is brave, courageous, and risk taking based on the entrepreneur's vision and congruently, the passion they bring to their vision.

So to promote and to market an entrepreneurial venture means to do "risky" business.
The ED vision proposes that there is a need for people in the market to be "evangelized" or in other words to rediscover the "value" of the love of God relevant for today's culture. This is directly linked with "offering new ways of being church". The "new model" of church includes "new ministers" of the church:
we are the church united in Christian community and in this community business happens meeting the needs of the people in the 21st century market place.

This is also a conversation that goes further into understanding the nature of not-for-profits and for-profits working successfully together and of further understanding the "marketplace".
For me this is somewhat reminiscent of guilds in forming community net-works of like minded people who manage their own small businesses yet collectively provide a cohesive infra-structure of community support.

News Blog said...

Mariaelena, thanks for the thoughtful comments.