Every successful ministry should be:
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One Part Social Club: |
Your primary goal should be to bring people together to
have a good time. The more ways you can find to do this, the bigger your
ministry will get and therefore the more resources you will have at your
disposal. It's best that you plan activities that are family friendly and
accessible to all, but some goals and beliefs are understandably limited to
specific ages and people. |
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One Part Charity: |
The causes and issues that you support say a lot about why
your ministry exists and are often what drives people to become ministers and
join ministries. |
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and One Part Investment Opportunity: |
You want to illustrate to people, through your causes and
dedication to them, that when they invest in your ministry by either
volunteering their services or providing donations that they are providing a
valuable service to their community. The more services you provide the more
of a benefit you are. |
People always flinch when they hear the word 'Ministry' and there are always
questions and concerns, so let's get those out of the way first:
Is this some kind of a cult?
My answer to that is Yes! But let me clarify: Every new belief system as
it's introduced into a new environment starts off as a cult. Before the
introduction of Christianity, Catholicism was a cult of mono-theists among a
majority of polytheists (today's Pagans).
People have problems with cults and cultism because of the cults that have
tucked themselves away in order to do things that scare people and hurt people.
So, my suggestion is: If you have a problem with being called a cult, don't
tuck yourself away and don't hurt anybody. (Scaring people is okay, so long as
it's in good fun)
It's to your best advantage to stay as open and accessible to everyone anyway,
since we're talking about Ministry as an investment opportunity and nobody can
invest in your ministry if they don't know that it's there.
What if I'm an Atheist or an Agnostic?
As I point out elsewhere on this website, all
religions are based on traditions, and since Atheists and Agnostics have
traditions of their own, then they are religions themselves--for they are based
on the traditions of living beings rather than gods. This means that you do not
have to believe in a superior being to start or take part in a
Ministry--especially one that you're building as an investment opportunity.
What if I don't share your religious beliefs?
I don't care what you believe, to be honest with you. My ordination is from the
Universal Life Church, which
means all beliefs are okay to me. I'm not going to try to get you to believe
anything you don't want to believe in so long as you don't try to get me to
believe in anything I don't want to believe in.
This webpage (and in a sense, this whole ministry) is based on the process of
building a ministry on the skills and beliefs that are unique to you. I don't
want everyone to believe like me, it would be a boring world if everyone did.
All I really endorse is that everyone should be free to choose what's most important
to them and to put these things at the center of their lives. What you do with
your ministry is up to you--since you're the minister--this is why I stress the
importance of self-governance.
Establishing a ministry around what's most important to you allows you to
embark on ministry as a career and by giving you the tools
to build your ministry we can work together to improve our communities. And
that, in a nutshell, is my one and only goal: Community Improvement through the
construction of new and interesting ministries.
How you decide to improve your community is up to you. This is simply here as a
suggestion. Because people seem to be under the impression that starting a
business, holding a full time job and maintaining a healthy economy is the only
way to do this.
Ministries seek to improve their communities through tradition &
heritage:
Every ministry starts with a minister that is knowledgeable as to the skills
and traditions that make their people unique.
The role of ministers within their communities is to maintain these traditions
and share these skills in order to assist in the survival and preservation of
their community.
There are Knowledge Based Ministries and there are Faith Based Ministries:
Everyone's aware of Faith-Based Ministries--they're institutions that have been
around since the beginning of time and are based on beliefs big and small,
popular and unpopular. But the key to most faith-based ministries is that they
tend to limit their services to a select clientele of people that share their
beliefs.
Which is fine if you belong to a belief system that has a huge amount of
people. Not very useful, however, if you're a pilgrim.
If you want to come up with a belief system of your own, continue with your
current belief or even revive an old one that hasn't been seen in awhile,
that's fine--all the power to you.
I like the Arcadian Belief of sharing
knowledge and skill with anyone that will listen, which is why I got into this
business in the first place. It's also what makes my job fun. Anything I know
how to do I'll let you learn, and if I don't know how to do it I'll find out
and share it with you anyway. I encourage anyone else that wants this lifestyle
to take part in it--as I believe that it's the free and unconditional sharing
that makes us a community.
That's what I like about being Arcadian--there are no secrets with me. I've got
nothing to protect because I have nothing to lose. Everything I am you have
access to, that's my vow.
Knowledge-Based Ministries are a little more rare, but they do exist. Countries
all over the world have ministries of art, science, defense, journalism,
information. Anything you want to know about you can build a ministry on.
I recommend building a ministry on Knowledge rather than Faith, because even
though faith can take you everywhere and give you strength like no one has ever
seen, building a ministry on knowledge means that you don't have to limit
yourself to people that share your theology.
And we are talking about an investment opportunity. The more you limit
yourself the smaller your market is. What you want is for your Ministry to
appeal to as many people as possible so that you can do as much as you can.
But knowledge-based ministries have their flaws too--not all skills are
marketable to all environments. A Ministry of Scuba Diving would do little good
in a place that's land-locked and surrounded by desert. Just like a Ministry of
Mountain Climbing would be of little use to people that live under water.
So my suggestion is to keep your knowledge-base as broad as possible so you can
acquire as many skill sets as you can.
My skills and knowledge are pretty much centered on the creative arts and I
can't find anyone that shares my particular views on what it means to be
Arcadian, which is why this is a Ministry of Art & Music. Because until I
find other Arcadians, it's just going to be me.
Even though I use Arcadian Beliefs (i.e., sharing) as a blueprint for the
organizational structure of the ministry, it is a Ministry of Art &
Music--meaning that I don't care what your beliefs are--if you want to learn
about the creative arts feel free to come down and learn.
Ministries are teaching organizations:
Here's the key difference between running a ministry and running a business:
Being a business means that you carve a niche for yourself, you probably have
trade secrets that need to be kept and something unique to your business
that--should everyone else start doing it--the market would become saturated
and you'd start losing money, and hence, your ability to survive.
You need to keep your business to yourself and you need to own it--shackling
yourself to your wares and your skills if you're expected to be a successful
business person.
Ministry doesn't work that way. Ministries are owned by their community and run
by people that are acting in the best interests of that community. Ministers
are paid servants of the community--their job is to take everything their
community gives them and employ it to their best ability. So the more of them
you have around you, the better you're able to do your job. Think of your
fellow ministers as business partners, people who share your goals and ideas and
are willing to contribute equally towards their fruition.
Ministries aren't about making a profit, they're about growth and survival. You
may not always have the money in the bank, but so long as the bills are paid
and you're alive the next day and people believe in what you're doing, your
Ministry is successful.
When you're running a Ministry, the more people that know what you know and are
willing to help you share it, the better you're able to do your job. Because
knowledge (and faith) never runs out. It doesn't cost any money to acquire it
and it's always there. Your resources are limitless.
And if everyone is coming there to learn and be together--especially from a
diversity of backgrounds--you are able to do more for your community. And the
more you're able to do for your community, the more your community is going to
be able to do for you and for each other--and that's the most important thing.
Because the role of a minister in any community is to bring people and families
together.
Traditions can teach:
And this is what Ministry means. When you get people together on a regular
basis to share their skills (whether they're coming together because they
believe a certain way or because they all want to learn the same thing), you
have the makings of a Ministry.
The job of a minister is to organize those people and divert those skills
towards projects that are important to their community.
How much do you know?
How much do you want to know?
Do you want everyone to know what you know?
These are questions every minister should ask. If all you want to do with your
life is make money and help yourself, by all means, start a business. If you
feel you'd be good at it, all the power to you.
But communities are built on families. So if what you want to do is care for
families and help communities, if you've got a community to care about (one
that may need to be rebuilt because our government is failing us). And if
you've got the drive necessary to motivate people into being a part of that
community, then you have everything it takes to be a Minister.
Need more?
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Business |
Ministry |
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Thousands of dollars in collateral, loans, credit checks, investors, a limited demographic and therefore a limited capacity for growth. |
A few hundred dollars in paperwork, one person with an idea, an unlimited demographic and an unlimited capacity for growth. |
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Having to write a business plan and have it approved by someone else before you can get started. |
Grants, charities and people that are ready and willing to help. |
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Limiting your goals to making a profit and acquisition of property. Succumbing to greed and materialism. |
Being able to support friends, families and other businesses. The potential to start schools, create new jobs and improve life in residential areas. |
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Doing nothing with your life but getting bigger and acquiring more, watching yourself become more successful while everyone around you loses out. |
Being a benefit to your community, helping others in any way you can. Building something that's important and valuable in ways that can't be measured with money. |
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Having to start off by acquiring a business property, supplies and always having to worry about making a profit and running out of what you need. |
Starting in your living room with a group of like-minded individuals, building on what you've got to slowly work your way up to larger projects when you're good and ready, only having to worry about getting up the next day. |
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Having to go to the same place day after day, never going anywhere or doing anything until (even if) your business becomes successful. |
Having the freedom to take your Ministry anywhere. Knowing right away, every day, that you're good at what you do because the ministry is built on something that you're good at and that people want to take part in. |
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Taking big risks at the chance of unmanageable losses. Not being able to recover from the effects of bad decision making. |
Taking big risks for issues that are important to you. Having a group of people that always have fresh ideas and new motivation. Being able to cut your losses and keep what you have. |
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Competing with other businesses, having to worry about corporate takeovers and neighboring businesses encroaching on your market. |
Sharing everything that your Ministry owns and being a benefit to your community, knowing that even when other people know what you know and do what you do that you've done your job and you're being successful. |
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Having to trust your business to someone else after you're sick or dead, wondering if your assets are in capable hands. Wondering if your business will be there to take care of your children. |
Knowing that your ministry is in capable hands because it belongs to a community that supports it. Knowing that Ministries always survive so long as you and your children believe in them. Being able to teach your children that belief, tradition and heritage are important. |
Do the math...
To know more about what this Ministry is doing, please visit my Yahoo! Group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/arcadianfields/
To schedule an appointment with Brother Pateticus: