Unlocking the Power of Open Source Class

1. Introduction

Framing the Problem:
U.S. churches spend an estimated $1–1.5 billion/year on software.
Much of this money flows to private equity firms instead of directly funding ministry.
Key Question: What if churches could break free from paywalls and use open-source tools that align with biblical values?

Private Equity Control
⚠️ Four firms dominate most church software.
Ministry Brands (Reverence Capital): 95,000+ orgs, 31 brands.
BGH Capital & Sixth Street Partners: 14,000+ churches (Pushpay, CCB, Resi Media).
Accel-KKR: 37,000+ churches (Tithe.ly, Breeze, Elvanto).
K1 Investment Management: Subsplash, The Church App, Pulpit AI.
Scale of Control
180,000+ churches under PE control.
$6.5B in charitable giving managed by PE firms.
Market projected to $31B by 2034.
Impact
Millions of ministry dollars siphoned into corporate profits.
Churches locked into contracts and hidden fees.
Dependence on vendors whose goals often conflict with biblical mission.

Acts 2:44 – “All the believers were together and had everything in common.” (Resource-sharing, not resource-hoarding)
Matthew 10:8 – “Freely you have received; freely give.” (Resources shouldn’t be locked behind high costs)
2 Corinthians 8:13–14 – “Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality.” (Levels the playing field)
1 Peter 4:10 – “Use whatever gift you have received to serve others.” (Dev/tech gifts freely shared)
Ecclesiastes 4:9–10 – “Two are better than one…” (Collaboration & community)

Before OBS: Churches, creators, and businesses had to pay thousands of dollars for proprietary broadcast and livestream tools. This locked out smaller churches and ministries that couldn’t afford the costs.
After OBS (Open Source): Released as free, open-source software.
Backed by a global developer community, constantly improving it.
Became the industry standard for livestreaming.
Even massive platforms like Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook Live integrate with OBS.
Many commercial solutions now build on top of OBS instead of competing with it.
Lesson: open source levels the field and accelerates excellence.

The Question for Leaders:
Do we want to fund Wall Street or kingdom work?
Will we remain behind paywalls, or embrace the biblical model of shared resources?
Call to Action:
Try open-source tools.
Share your resources freely.
Join the global movement of churches stewarding technology for kingdom impact.