Business as mission.

Detailing vehicles is our business, planting churches is our mission.

We love WNY, we love cars and most importantly we love people. We believe that the best way to be a good neighbor in our “City of Good Neighbors” is to care for the people around us, physically and spiritually. Dan has always been in love with cars, motorcycles, and anything with an engine. Christ came later. That love for Christ brought Dan to Buffalo to share the gospel. After some serious prayer and planning with other local churches, we decided to launch Neighbors Automotive Detailing in Hamburg, NY as our “tentmaking” (the Apostle Pauls’ trade described in Acts 18). Not out of necessity, but as a preference. This business allows us to be out in the community instead of a church office, making connections and sharing the love of Jesus with people around us. This is called co-vocational church planting.

For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

-Galatians 5:14

Co-vocational Church Planting FAQs

So does this mean you have a church also?

We will! Our plan is to get the business going, start a small group in Hamburg, NY and love our neighbors through radically ordinary hospitality. We like to say “planting the gospel”, instead of planting a church. We want to go out to our neighbors instead of expecting them to come to us. Eventually, only when the time is right, we will start a Sunday worship service.

Why would you choose to work two jobs?

Simply put, “missional engagement”. We want to become a part of the local context here so we can truly understand the values and interests of the people. It is difficult to really love and serve the people God has sent us to from a distance. This business isn’t a hindrance to what God is doing; it’s actually an advantage to engaging God’s mission.

What is the difference between bi-vocational and co-vocational?

Bi-vocational means that someone has two jobs, unrelated to one another. Because we do not desire that they be unrelated, we use the language of “co-vocation.” The prefix “co” means “together” or “in common.” English words like cofounder, copilot, or companion are examples of words that denote partnership and equality. Co-vocation demonstrates the reality that if a person is called to be a dentist, a teacher, or an automotive detailer; and at the same time is called to start a church, the different callings are not isolated, instead they are interlinked and equal. The language of co-vocation pushes against the temptation to compartmentalize different aspects of our lives. When we begin to understand that each of our callings are legitimate and necessary we see that they can be leveraged together for Gods purposes.

Is this business funding you, or the church?

This is a for-profit business that supports our family. The church will be its own separate entity with no official ties to Neighbors Automotive Detailing. Churches ran this way tend to have a stronger financial base because they do not need to worry about full-time salaries and benefits and can put more money into missions and community engagement.