Praying For Profits

Mark Gadow was successful in starting a Christian driving school using distinctively marked cars

DAVID PETERSON FOR TIME

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Christian entrepreneurs feel confident that their time has come. "In these days the Lord is trying to wake up people, and I think he's raising more people that are Christians in businesses," says Griffin. "He's given Christians favor because they do listen to him." Philip DeLizio, a real estate broker in Glen Burnie, Md., felt the time was right to join a network of Christian real estate agents: "Ever since 9/11, I think America as a whole has become maybe a little more religious or spiritual. I'm not going to say that was the reason we went into it, but the Christian community became more of a presence. We got the idea that since we have something in common with these people, why don't we try to work with them." Steven Skow, ceo of faith-based Integrity Bank, has been encouraged by President Bush's emphasis on Christian values: "We're starting to see faith become popular, right up to our leader, the President of the U.S."

Since biblical times,moneylenders have mixed markets with ministry, and Skow, 57, wanted to do so long before he had Bush's endorsement. A 1991 Promise Keepers stadium revival inspired him to begin Bible-study groups at the bank he ran in Minnesota. When the bank was sold in 1998, Skow decided to open a Christian bank. He and his wife researched 122 high-growth markets and came down to Las Vegas and Alpharetta, Ga. They chose Georgia. "I didn't want to go to Sin City, but it's too bad now when I think of it," says Skow. "It probably would have been a good choice to convert a lot of people." He raised $10 million in capital and opened in November 2000.

Skow begins every business day praying with the top officers at his Integrity Bank. At the main branch in Alpharetta, a wood carving of the Prayer of Jabez hangs over the entryway, and Bibles are stacked up in the boardroom. But to attract customers, Integrity doesn't rely on prayer alone; it offers higher-than-average interest rates on CDs and checking accounts and reimburses atm fees charged by other banks. Some 10% of the bank's real estate loans are to churches--which don't get a special deal. Integrity, with $590 million in assets under management, went public in August 2004, its stock shooting up 108% to $24 in late July. "We've been blessed with fast growth and profitability," says Skow, who earned $215,000 last year. "It's not me--it's the people and God's will that have made this thing successful."

The Christian brand doesn't hurt. Skow keeps albums full of letters from customers, evidence of the powerful loyalty that a Christian affiliation inspires. While many Christian entrepreneurs want to do good for their fellow Christians, advertising faith is also a clever branding strategy, says James Twitchell, author of Branded Nation: The Marketing of Megachurch, College Inc., and Museumworld. "It's all part of a narrative that you buy or sell," he says. "How else do you separate interchangeable products--and what is a more powerful brand than faith?"