Word: christianly
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...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...
...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...
...Christian pitch won over Nancy Pitz, 56, a manager at Northrop Grumman. She liked the equipment at This Is It! Christian Fitness for Ladies in Pasadena, Md., and going there fit her schedule. But what really grabbed her were the King James Bibles and the wall that read, "And herein do I exercise myself to have always a conscience void of offense toward God and toward men." A bulletin board in the lobby posts a prayer list with such intentions as "safe and healthy weight loss"; the sound system plays hymns mixed to an aerobic beat. The gym is "about...
This Is It! is the year-old brainchild of Irene Trammell, 39, an $80,000-a-year software saleswoman who walked into a loud, flashy gym one day and heard a voice telling her to start her own. She has marketed heavily to Christians with listings in the Shepherd's Guide and ads on a local Christian radio station. Gym membership has grown to 221, with each person paying $29 to $49 a month. While most members are Christian, Trammell insists her doors are open to those of other faiths--or no faith. She does, however, reserve the right...
Religious hard sells like Trammell's can "absolutely risk alienating" non-Christians, says Irene Dickey, a Christian branding expert. When Mark Gadow of Preston, Md., registered his Christian Faith Driving School at the Department of Motor Vehicles, a worker there urged him to change the name. Gadow, a burly former policeman, persisted, painting giant fish on the sides of his Hyundai Tiburons. But when he dropped off applications at a public school, he later found them tossed in the trash. And one student angrily denounced God in class...