Christian-style capitalism grows in the South

On the suburban cusp of this quiet Piedmont city, the First Assembly of Concord Baptist Church has made a bold move: It's bought a whole shopping mall.

The "megachurch" recently purchased and overhauled the Village shopping center within view of the main church's imposing spire.

With its unusual move into commercial real estate, the congregation has become one of a growing number of Christian groups trying to transfer the Bible's message from the pulpit to the retail rack.

Whether it's giant Baptist churches, evangelical ministries, loose associations of churches, or even individual developers with a religious bent, Christian capitalism is taking root everywhere from small towns to the sprawling centers of Dallas and Atlanta.

The developers' pitch to busy modern Christians: Get all your spiritual – as well as shopping – needs fulfilled at one central location. On a deeper level, though, the Christian malls seem to be responding to a desire to establish self-sustaining – what some critics call insular – religious communities that extend beyond Sunday morning communion.

"This has happened before, especially at the turn of the century, where large wealthy liberal churches tried to make up for what they saw as a lack of community in anonymous urban settings," says Laurie Maffly-Kipp, a religion professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. "There's a concern with the whole person rather than a place to save souls, seeing church as a place where you form community."

America's Christian entrepreneurs are indeed creating minimall sanctuaries with distinctly "safe" Christian themes and values.

• In Houston, a conglomeration of churches has just bought and fixed up an old Wal-Mart store, turning it into a Christian shopping mecca.

• In Asheville, N.C., Ann Hardman Ministries of Columbus, Ga., is putting another spin on the church as retailer. With her brand-new ladies' boutique, Bishup's Design, Ms. Hardman is paying her staff higher-than-average wages as part of her Christian mission. "Business is great," the store manager says.

• In Los Angeles, a megachurch recently took over an old Department of Defense complex. It is now part church sanctuary, part shopping mall.

• And at a proposed Christian theme park and mall planned in Asheboro, N.C., the developer plans to mix biblical imperatives with some good Christian fun: Batting cages, a minigolf course with a "parting of the Red Sea" hole, and a huge pool room where a sign will declare: "No cussin', no fussin.' " Local ministers have promised to go "racin' for Jesus" on the go-cart track to raise money for charitable causes.

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