The Discernment Process

We are launching a beekeeping social enterprise! A social enterprise is a business that has a social mission; in this case, the potential of employing at-risk youth.

We have received a grant from the InVocation Project to explore the theme of vocation as a church, and we choose to take a corporate approach: how can we use the collective vocational strength of our church to launch a social enterprise? The grant funds give us seed money to launch the enterprise and engage our church community along the way. Finally, we'll create a short, user-friendly template for other churches who are interested in launching a social enterprise for their community. 

Don Rewa, Partner here at Tabernacle, has kept bees for many years, and he will lead the way from the beekeeping side, while others will manage the business aspects of the enterprise, including product development, marketing, financials, etc. 

Over the course of the last 6 weeks, Pastor Winfred and Melita Powell led our team through a discernment process, alongside critical aid from our new friends at The Call to Work. They operate using tried and true consulting techniques, but they also incorporate "spiritual attunement" into their work with entreprenurial teams. They help teams attend to the presence of God throughout the entreprenurial process, imagining that each step is a call from God and an opportunity to align with his will for the business. We were able to create several open spaces for imaginative development for our team, and they facilitated a process to bring clarity to the enterprise's focus and mission. We're grateful and encouraged by the fruit produced and the work ahead. 

Pastor Winfred and Melita will move forward with the first implementation phase, testing ideas we developed during our time with the Call to Work. 

If you are interested to hear more about this enterprise or use your skills toward building it, reach out to winfred@tabernaclecommunity.org.