Saturday, April 18, 1998

Bureau brings Christian businesses, Christian consumers together

By Karen Auge / Knight Ridder Newspapers

COLLEYVILLE, Texas -- Joe Tanner thinks he may have found a guy who can kill roaches and stamp out termites and who believes that Jesus Christ is his savior.

Tanner has a Christian financial planner but could use a devout dry cleaner or a pious restaurant owner or two.

And, of course, he is always scouting for church-going Christians who want to be customers of those businesses.

Tanner, a resident of the Fort Worth suburb of Colleyville, is the Texas representative for the Christian Business Bureau. For an annual membership fee, the bureau will link Christian-owned businesses with Christian consumers.

"When they (consumers) need the services of, say, an accountant or financial adviser, they call the toll-free number and ask for financial advisers and they are given names and phone numbers of financial advisers in this area," Tanner said.

Consumer members pay $49 a year for individual memberships or $69 for family memberships. They must sign statements professing their Christian faith and are asked to provide the names of their church and pastor. The pastors are frequently called to vouch for applicants' character and devotion, Tanner said.

In exchange, individual members usually get a discount or other incentive from the businesses, along with the comfort of dealing with a fellow Christian, Tanner said.

Member businesses pay $199 a year and must have "passed the strict guidelines of possessing a history of conforming to Christian practices," according to a brochure for the company.

Tanner, a former Tandy Corp. executive, said he had wanted to start a company such as the Christian Business Bureau but was put off by the challenge of creating computer software to operate the network.

"Then I stumbled across these folks who had started it up in Alabama," he said.

"These folks" are David Lyons and his wife, Helen, who started the company near Mobile, Ala., and began selling licenses to area representatives in January.

David Lyons said he has four licensed representatives nationwide, including Tanner. And, if Lyons' research is correct, they will have their work cut out for them.

A 1996 survey by Word Publishing, a Christian company based in Nashville, Tenn., indicated that there are 74 million Christians in the United States, Lyons said. Many of those, he said, are business owners.

"And 90,000 Christians come to the Lord every day," he said.

Lyons couldn't say how many Christian members have come to his referral service, but he estimated that more than 100 businesses have signed on.

The company has advertised nationwide for member businesses but has cut back on that effort, Lyons said. "We are now implementing programs nationwide through other ministries," he said.

The bureau hasn't received complaints that it is exclusionary or discriminates, and Lyons said he doesn't expect to get any.

The premise is that there's nothing un-Christian about making a profit, Lyons said. All he expects of businesses that sign up are basic ethics, he said.

"We're looking for people that are honest, that do the work, do the service they promise," Lyons said. "That is Christian behavior. You don't have to give everything away because you're Christian, but perform the service or give a product the same way you'd want it given to you."

Ten percent of the profits from each of the licensed outlets go to Christian Business and Consumer Ministries, a nonprofit arm of the company, Lyons said.

The ministry has initiated no specific programs, Lyons said. But he said he is considering one that would bring food, clothes and the gospel to cities served by the Christian Business Bureau. In the meantime, he said, the company has donated to organizations such as Mission of Mercy, Speed the Light and Save a Life, Lyons said.

Tanner, like the bureau, is feeling his way in his endeavor. He said a half-dozen individual members and one business have signed up with him. But Tanner said he is confident that the business will be good for him and for those who might use it.

"This affords me to have the opportunity to have something I can be involved in that helps other businesses be successful and make sure family stays a priority in my life," he said.

(c) 1998, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

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