A group of men from seven area churches has created a unique way to “rub” a little faith in the area. Scott Rupp (left) and Tim Slye with the Pettisville Man Cave Ministries told Archbold Rotarians how they have created and marketed a product — Kingdom Seasonings — to rub on all kinds of meats to raise money to support the ministry’s programs.
Beyond regular Bible studies, the Man Cave Ministries have organized free community Christian programs featuring speakers who have filled Founder’s Hall. They also do volunteer yard work and small scale home improvements for single moms and widows.
And, they also plan activities such as 3 on 3 basketball and shooting matches as a fun opportunity that also gives them a chance to share their faith. So, last summer Scott and Tim were thinking of what they could do to raise money to support their activities.
From that, Kingdom Seasonings was born. For six months, they combined their passion for barbecue with the creation of different rubs for poultry, beef, pork and fish.
Since both men have fulltime jobs and families, their daytime hours and early evenings are pretty well filled. That leaves late night for their seasoning business hours, which usually start about 10:30 p.m. and wrap up sometime around midnight to 1 a.m.
They develop and fine tune seasoning combinations to test on their family and friends. Once it makes the grade, it goes into production.
They currently have six different rubs with a goal to create a new one about every three months.
Since their rubs are mixed in Scott’s basement, they are considered a “cottage food business” and can only sell their product in Ohio. Their bottled rubs retail for $8 and are currently sold at three locations — Ace Hardware in Wauseon, Pettisville Meats and Sunday’s Market in Pettisville.
Their next goal is to get a certified kitchen licensed so they can expand to on-line sales that aren’t limited to Ohio.