With a little diligence and determination you can start your very own religion. Below are four steps that will guide you smoothly toward your goal of a thriving new church established by you and with you at the titular head.

Before looking at how to start a new religion, let's examine briefly the question of why. Why start your own religion? Why not just join an existing religion? Why not take up a hobby like golf or mahjong? The answer comes in one simple word: power. As head of the religion you answer to no one, not possible by joining an existing church. As leader you gather power that is bestowed upon you from the members of the religion. They grant you at least some limited, and in some cases almost absolute, power over their lives (including their finances). This power is cumulative. The more members, and the more power they grant, the more powerful you become. Given that people in power relinquish it very reluctantly, it is much easier to start your own religion than it is to try to take over an existing religion with people already in power at the helm of the existing church.

What you do with that power is up to you. It bears keeping in mind the ancient adage: Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. History is replete with examples. The point of this article is not to give instruction on what to do with the power you accumulate for leading your own religion. The instructions here are merely guidance for those that aspire to have their very own ministry to run as only they see fit.

Start with an original concept.

The basis of your religion must be absolutely original. It is perfectly all right for it to be ridiculous by any reasonable standard, but it must not in any way resemble an existing religious principle. Note that is is permissible to use an accepted scriptural text as long as your interpretation is sufficiently bizarre that there is no chance that it will be confused with teachings of another church. The simple "God is Good" has been done a million different ways but if you can find a completely different wrinkle on it then it should be good for another go-around. "Jesus (Mohammed, Buddha,...) is Good", been done. "God is Bad"... been done. Even "vegetables are good", you gather a group of a few hundred vegetarians and at least two of the bunch can be found that have raised it to a religion. Care must be taken to chose this original basis for your new religion.

The reasons for this originality are two-fold:

• Your church must attract members that feel that they have no other place to go for the type of spiritual guidance you offer. They must be made to feel that your church is absolutely unique, which it will be. Those members you attract will be more committed. Also by not having similar religions lurking about you remove the temptation for members to stray to competing religions, if only to try them out for a while. It is best to set up your religion from the beginning to eliminate that option.
• If you are lucky enough to be successful in growing your church and there are similar religions in existence to yours that means competition of the worst sort. The more successful you become the more your competitors will resent you and your success. If you are completely different they will view you as misguided and perhaps a bit of a nut case. If you are similar they will view you as a threat, luring members away from their own church and power base, taking contributions meant for their own tills and greedily lining your own pockets. They will stop at nothing to discredit and destroy you, for their existence and basis for all of their power demands that they do so.

These reasons also dictate that you not be affiliated with an existing church. Its a quick way to get started in the beginning but you will quickly run afoul of the existing power structure if you try to exercise any true control, any true power over your congregation. For an easier route to overall success give careful thought to the unique basis for your new religion.

Start your new religion in California.

You must start in California. Move there if you don't already live there. This is not a slam against the good folks of California. Nor is it to say that you absolutely cannot succeed anywhere else. But your chances are so much improved by starting your religion in California it makes little sense to attempt it elsewhere. People in California are much more open to new and even bizarre ideas. People in the northeast United States are far too cynical and will not sign off on your new unique concepts of religion. People of the southern part of the United States will laugh at you, albeit usually politely. Never mind that little BarBQ Janet Reno had down around Waco. That was an aberration. Still, it probably wouldn't have happened in California. Without studying other regions or countries you need only look at the success of bizarre ideas, fads, and religions in the history of California to see that it is the perfect incubator for this type of project.

Advertise

Your advertisement can be quite simple and inexpensive. Cheap flyers announcing prayer meetings handed out on street corners may gather a few members to start. After that you can depend on word of mouth (and your web site). Quality counts more than quantity here so hire a decent graphic artist to design your flyer if you can. Many computers come pre-packaged with all of the tools necessary to produce quality flyers except for the most important two: training and talent. Many a church has been started, however, by little more than a loudmouth on a street corner, so don't let a lack of an advertisement budget stand in your way. Just advertise, advertise, advertise any way you can. Later in its development word of mouth will assist you in building your church. Even later you can use some of the proceeds you have gleamed from your followers to buy television time.

Establish yourself as God's liaison.

You can choose to do this directly or indirectly. Both have advantages and disadvantages. Both methods can be combined, but you must use at least one method. Directly means that God speaks to you (whether he really does or not matters not) and you then tell your flock of sheep what God has said. Indirectly means you take something like a piece of literature that your church has deemed holy (by you) and interpret a passage in such a way as to tell your people what you want them to think God is saying. Note here that it doesn't really matter what you have chosen for holy scripture, as long as it is well established in your church. It becomes established by your constant reference to it. You may pick a conventional text such as the bible as long as you interpret it in a completely different and obscure way (for the reasons previously discussed). On the other hand you can pick Shakespeare and claim the works were written in fact by divine inspiration (how else could a mere man produce such majestic works). Shakespeare, like the bible, has such a wide variety of tragedy you are sure to be able to find passages you can bend around to make whatever point you decide you want to make. It doesn't even have to be a text. It can be the result of say, the direction smoke blows, just to give an example. You will probably find it easier to convince them with some sort of text, and in this electronic age any self respecting church deserves a web site. Even a church that disavows itself of the technological could and should employ such devices to reach the unenlightened.

The direct approach, just telling them what God says, has the obvious disadvantage of not being quite as believable up front. Running around telling people that you hear the voice of God may get you some very devoted attention of the sort that you do not want. Start slowly. Confide in a few close and trusted members of your young church when its just a small devotional group you've gathered. You may couch your inspirations from God in terms of a dream. When you are insulated from the outside world by a throng of believers you can shout long and hard that God speaks to you directly, and it is suggested that you do so at that time. Your church will be more likely to believe you if you say it often and loud, and you want to maintain your absolute control over their spiritual input. You want them to believe that you are their very link to God. As such your power over them is immense. This method also has the advantage of requiring less imagination. There is no interpretation of perhaps unrelated text, bending it and molding it to fit your purpose. You just flat out tell them what you want them to hear, as simply or obliquely as you deem fit.

The advantage of the indirect method is that it is easier to sell a believable scenario since you do not have to become directly connected to God. The disadvantage is that since your members may be less committed, it takes more of them to effect the same degree of power. Under the indirect method a member of your chosen may be agreeing with your interpretation, rather than believing in only you. You are still powerful in that you are their leader, but not in the same way as being their direct link to God. Another disadvantage is that it takes somewhat more preparation and imagination to implement this tactic since a presentation of your message must be chosen to be hidden in a text , or as the result of some seemingly random ceremony.

So there you have it; four simple steps to establishing your very own religion. These steps will not guarantee you success but followed faithfully should help you avoid many of the pitfalls. Good luck. And may God (however you choose him) bless!