“Holding God’s hand”: religious organizations and support to entrepreneurial initiatives

Abstract

The article investigates mechanisms offered by religious organizations to support entrepreneurial initiatives. We examine two organizations, one catholic and one protestant, using a qualitative case study design. The comparative assessment was based on three dimensions of support that appeared as a result of the data analysis, that we called spaces of information, formation, and motivation. The dimensions are considered as possible important research results and were used to investigate the impact on the traditional stages of the entrepreneurial process of the mechanisms made available by the two religious organizations. The analysis indicates certain similarities between the two cases: church membership assists in the creation of social capital that impacts various economic dimensions, as well as provides religious support to the economic motivations. However, the differences between the two churches become evident in the religious interpretation of economic success and in the articulation and closure of their social networks.