Blog Archive

Don’t Miss Out – Upcoming Events

We have a number of events coming up in the next few months, and we want to make sure you know before they fill up! On January 20th we have another Taste and See event with the Baltimore Washington Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. If you missed out on the last one, it […]

Tags: Events, Hatch-a-thon

Must Read – Seth Godin on Starting a Business with $1,000 and 90 Days

While definitely a click-baity title, this article and podcast by Louis Grenier featuring Seth Godin is a must read or listen for missional entrepreneurs at any stage. In it, he covers 5 fundamental principles that we would all do well to take to heart: Market with people, not to people Sarah Turner already did a great […]

Tags: How to Start, Missional, Seth Godin

Reimagining Young Adult Ministry

I knew this student who planted a church, almost on accident. He had gotten so connected at our church that, when he left to go back to school after a semester at home, he was sad to leave us behind. “There just aren’t any churches near campus that fit well for us college students,” he […]

Tags: Young Adult

Matt Overton: Should your social enterprise be for-profit, nonprofit or a hybrid?

This article was first published in Faith & Leadership on September 5th. You can find the original article here. This week’s post comes from our friend Matt Overton, associate pastor for youth and family ministry at Columbia Presbyterian Church in Vancouver, Washington and founder of Mowtown Teen Lawn Care and Columbia Teen Enterprises. In this article, he talks about why […]

Processing Harvey

This week’s blog post is from Meredith Mills, a 2015 Hatch-a-thon participant who started a great ministry called gastrochurch based in Houston, Texas. She was kind enough to write a post that talks about her experience with a non-traditional ministry in the midst of Hurricane Harvey. Gastrochurch is not a normal church. We don’t have a building. […]

Tags: Hatch-a-thon

Matt Overton: Why I started a social enterprise at my church

This article was first published in Faith & Leadership on April 18th. You can find the original article here. This week’s post comes from our friend Matt Overton, associate pastor for youth and family ministry at Columbia Presbyterian Church in Vancouver, Washington and founder of Mowtown Teen Lawn Care and Columbia Teen Enterprises. In this article, […]

Tags: Church, entrepreneurship, Ministry, motivation, social enterprise, youth ministry

Project Funding Within the United Methodist Church

For the last couple of weeks, we have been talking quite a bit about finding funding for your project. If you missed those posts, we talked about a couple different sources of funding. You can find those posts here and here. If you weren’t already aware, Ministry Incubators’ cofounder and Permissionary Kenda Creasy Dean, is […]

Tags: Church, Funding, Ministry, United Methodist

Need Help Finding Funding?

Finding funding for your project isn’t always easy, but we’re here to help! We absolutely love working with people at our Hatchathons and other events, but we particularly treasure the opportunity to take that relationship further. When we establish a coaching relationship with an individual or organization, one of the topics that we often discuss is […]

Tags: Funding, Ministry

Funding Your Project

So you have an idea. You have prayerfully considered the needs of those you plan on serving. You have gathered a great team to engage in your new venture. Now you need to work on funding. All too often projects get stuck in this phase. If you do not have a church or other ministry […]

Tags: Funding, Ministry, Missional

New Partnership with Indiana Wesleyan University

At Ministry Incubators, we are always excited to go beyond one-off interactions with ministry leaders. We have formed numerous partnerships with organizations around the world that allow us to engage with these leaders in ways that create lasting innovation. In that spirit of lasting innovation, we are excited to announce a new partnership with Indiana […]

Tags: Ministry, Partnerships

New Ministry Incubators YouTube Channel

We are excited to announce that you can now connect with Ministry Incubators on our YouTube channel! We are just starting to put up content, but check it out now to see a video about our Hatch-a-thons and to see two of Kenda’s lectures on missional entrepreneurship from the Payton Lecture series at Fuller. You […]

Tags: Hatch-a-thon, Ministry, Missional

The Three Phases of Launching a Church-based Social Enterprise

Starting a Christian social enterprise is difficult and passion-filled work. It comes with a ton of setbacks and self-doubt. And a ton of excitement. I believe that social enterprise — a business with a social good in mind — can offer a new way forward for the church.

Tags: Church, Ministry, social enterprise

Get Your Hands Dirty by Starting Lean

Do you have an idea that you feel in your bones is a great one? Maybe it will change the world or maybe it will simply change the world for 5 people. The problem is that while you know it is a great idea, you don’t actually know that it is a great idea. And, even if you did actually know that it is a great idea, you don’t have any clue how to get started.

Tags: Interview, Lean Startup, Ministry, Missional

Registration Open for Taste and See in DC!

Registration is now open for the Taste and See event in Washington DC on September 23, 2017! This event is designed to give you a taste of what is possible when you think about ministry outside the box. Our own Kenda Creasy Dean will be there, along with Shannon Hopkins, the Founder of Matryoshka Haus and […]

Tags: Church, Ministry

Find Your Team! Wisdom from a Fellow Missional Entrepreneur

We are continuing our summer blog series aimed at those who are either starting a missional enterprise or thinking about starting one. During this series, we will look at theological and practical concerns of missional entrepreneurs. This week’s post comes from Jessica Winderweedle with The Feed Truck in Kingston, NJ, with encouragement to incorporate teamwork […]

Tags: Church, Ministry, Missional, Team