I’ve been dipping into the archives this week. Rev. Dr. Allen Reasons was pastor here at FAB for a long while following the turn of the 21st century. He wrote many great sermons, lessons, and letters. In one letter I read recently, Allen does a wonderful job talking about what I would call the “sacred peculiarity” of the church. “Church sure is a strange way to run a business!” the college business major pastor writes. He ain’t wrong!
Fifth Avenue Baptist Church has superb staff and wonderful facilities and properties. FAB has local and global missions commitments, supporting “hands and feet of Jesus” work here in Huntington through the likes of Cridlin, Recovery Point, and the Ronald McDonald House, and around the world through the American Baptist Churches USA. FAB “produces” knowledge like a liberal arts college, music like a teaching conservatory, and relationships like a community or senior center.
The Do Good Institute at the University of Maryland issues an annual report that is used by nonprofit and federal grant organizations. Their numbers are deeply related to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The 2026 Institute value for a volunteer hour in the United States is $36.14 per hour. In West Virgina, the value is about $6 lower than the national average at $30.37 per hour.
One of the things I admire about church is that pound for pound, a vibrant and active congregation like FAB creates mindboggling value in its local community. Some of my questions: How does a church account for member-to-member hospital and home visits? What about making the pie that was taken along? Trips to the store and to the church house for collection drives that benefit local people? Should we count prayers for others, especially if they lead to phone calls, visits, or some value in their lives?
I say rehearsals of the Chancel Choir and Cornerstone count. Volunteers create value that wouldn’t exist without their work. A 20-member music program rehearsing 1 hour per week 40 weeks of the year creates $24,269 in value in Huntington, WV. That’s just choir practice, just once per week, summers off. If
you count the choir’s Sunday worship leadership, that number roughly doubles to $48,592. Special services throughout the year and occasionally singing in the community pushes the number past $50,000. That doesn’t even count the value produced by Alex Lee and Jon Brannon as paid staff.
Dr. Reasons writes that church sure is a strange way to run a business. In exchange for all that it does, a church doesn’t tax, invoice, or charge admission or rent. Strange way to do business. He ain’t wrong. “The church,” Dr. Reasons said, “relies financially on the ongoing voluntary contributions from all of us. It’s a strange way to run a business!” And of course, Dr. Reasons knew well that church isn’t a business. “The church is first and foremost a group of believers, functioning as the body of Christ on earth, seeking to bring others into the family…at whatever cost.” Not a business, but definitely strange.
I’ve been dipping into the archives this week. Your college history minor pastor loves that kind of thing. I’ve been pondering all that is FAB, and all it takes to support that. Factoring in all the people, all year long, the value that FAB “produces” would be a staggering number that still can’t get it all. How do we
account for mercy shown, grace received, a life transformed for the better by God’s love.
The way I see it, what you and I give to support our church is a bit like a kid bringing a lunch bag along to a revival. He has five small loaves and two small fish. God feed thousands with it.
The way I see it, the church was and is God’s idea, and well of course, it’s a pretty darn good ‘un for doing good in this world that God still loves. I love being a part of that.
~ Rev. Zach Bay
