MICHAEL-ANN ASKS:
Businesses like Hobby Lobby and Chick-fil-A overtly follow Christian principles and thus promote Christianity. Is it profitable for them to have this ‘brand,’ or do you think the CEOs have some deeper evangelical goal?
THE RELIGION GUY ANSWERS:
These two remarkable corporations are the largest in the U.S. that operate on an explicitly “Christian” basis, and both have been in the news lately.
The Hobby Lobby craft store chain won U.S. Supreme Court approval June 30 of the religious right to avoid the new federal mandate to fund certain birth control methods the owners consider tantamount to abortion.
September 8 brought the death of S. Truett Cathy, billionaire founder of the Chick-fil-A fast-food empire. His “New York Times” obituary said that to some he was “a symbol of intolerance” and “hate.” Such journalistic labeling stemmed from Cathy’s son and successor Dan criticizing same-sex marriage on biblical grounds in 2012. Afterward, the firm cut donations to groups that back traditional marriage. No-one claimed Chick-fil-A discriminates against gays in hiring or customer service.
With both companies, Christian commitment is accompanied by prosperity, and the question suggests their religious image may be calculated for “profitable” advantage. But The Guy concludes that the companies’ unique cultures result only from evangelical Protestant convictions. Both firms surrender huge revenues by closing all stores on Sundays, and give away sizable profits to charity. As privately-held family operations they’re free to do such things with no need to appease public stockholders. No question the self-conscious Christian stance gives these firms a special responsibility to uphold ethical business practices and by most accounts they do so.
Truett Cathy, a devout Georgia Baptist who taught 8th grade Sunday School for 52 years, was named for George W. Truett, a venerable pastor of the First Baptist Church in Dallas. Cathy opened a small restaurant following U.S. Army service in World War Two. He launched his first chicken outlet in 1967 and the company has posted sales gains each year since. It counted 500 restaurants by 1983 and 1,000 by 2001. In 2012 Chick-fil-A bypassed KFC to become America’s top chicken chain in sales.
Cathy always practiced Sunday closing, a somewhat common practice when he instituted it in 1946 but rare today. The company explains that all its employees “should have an opportunity to rest, spend time with family and friends, and worship if they choose to do so. … It’s part of our recipe for success.”
A 1982 plaque at Atlanta headquarters proclaims the firm’s purpose: “To glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us. To have a positive influence on all who come into contact with Chick-fil-A.” Optional devotions are held at the building each Monday. Chick-fil-A has donated some $68 million to 700 charities. In 1973 the firm started giving employees college scholarships, for a total of $32 million to date. Its WinShape Foundation aids youths and families through 13 foster care homes, camps, and marriage retreats. Chick-fil-A also gives medical grants and its people often turn up with free food during emergencies.
Hobby Lobby’s similar self-definition says “we value our customers and employees and are committed to honoring the Lord in all we do by operating the company in a manner consistent with biblical principles.” It adds, “We believe that it is by God’s grace and provision that Hobby Lobby has endured.”
The Oklahoma City-based firm was founded in 1972 by David Green, part of a noted Pentecostal clan and the son of a Church of God of Prophecy pastor, though his son and company president Steve is Baptist. Revenues from its 640 stores are in the $3 billion range. The growing company donates 10 percent of profits to charity, and pays a minimum wage of $15 an hour compared with the federal minimum of $7.25.
In the 1990s the Green family began a new focus on Christian outreach through the company, buying full-page newspaper ads to celebrate Easter and Christmas with toll-free numbers for spiritual help, distributing 380 million copies of its “Book of Hope” to present biblical teaching, and purchasing $200 million worth of properties for churches and other non-profits. Hobby Lobby supports a 640-bed homeless shelter, promotes Bible study in public schools, and in 2017 will open a museum near the U.S. Capitol for the Greens’ impressive collection of historic biblical texts and artifacts.
Numerous smaller firms also conspicuously apply religious ideals. On The Guy’s own northern New Jersey turf we find the unusual Atlantic Stewardship Bank, which states that it “stands on solid Christian principles.” The bank’s 13 area branches have $674 million in assets. Devout business executives created the bank in 1985 with the purpose of donating 10 percent of profits to Christian and community non-profits. The firm has given out $8 million to date and does well by doing good, prospering in bottom-line terms. Something more businesses might emulate?
Chick-fil-A site: www.chick-fil-a.com
Hobby Lobby site: www.hobbylobby.com
Washington Post on Greens’ Bible museum: www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/hobby-lobbys-steve-green-has-big-plans-for-his-bible-museum-in-washington/2014/09/11/52e20444-1410-11e4-8936-26932bcfd6ed_story.html
N.J. bank’s tithing plan: www.asbnow.com/home/about/tithing
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