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Glite Dictionary
⛺ Making tents 🌍 Supporting missions by work 💼 Working while serving
tentmaking

tentmaking

7.9
Earning money from a normal job while doing religious work
  • noun
  • /ˈtɛntˌmeɪkɪŋ/
  • Jargon
: auto-sustento
  • Many missionaries use tentmaking to support themselves while serving in countries with limited resources.

Examples

  • The church encourages tentmaking as a way for members to combine their careers with ministry.

  • Her tentmaking job as an engineer allowed her to continue her volunteer work in the community.

  • Many missionaries practice tentmaking to fund their work.

  • Is tentmaking a common method for support?

  • Many missionaries use tentmaking to support themselves financially while engaged in religious activities.

  • Her tentmaking role as a software developer enabled her to pursue her missionary work in the church.

  • The organization promotes tentmaking so members can balance their careers with spiritual outreach.

Surface Forms

tentmaking singular
tentmakings plural

Morphology

tentmaking = tent + making (semi-transparent) = tent + making

Morphologically 'tent' + 'making', but the noun sense referring to self-supporting missionary practice is a specialized, non-literal extension.

Etymology

Tentmaking comes from the old job of making tents and from Paul in the Bible, who earned money as a tentmaker. So tentmaking is the practice of supporting religious or volunteer work by doing ordinary paid work.