Monday, Jan. 05, 2009

Firms mixing religion with business

MANATEE — At Bradenton Insurance, you’ll find literature on property insurance, liability coverage, flood protection and automobile insurance.

You’ll also find copies of the Bible in the company’s waiting room and in its office library.

Like all members of the C12 Group, a nationwide organization for Christian business owners, Bradenton Insurance President Alden Weichel operates his business using Biblical principles.

His company goes by the Golden Rule.

In addition, Weichel regularly reads the Bible in search of inspiration or advice he can apply to his company.

And once a month, Bradenton Insurance holds a meeting that Weichel said is voluntary for its 14 employees, to read a Bible passage and pray.

“We’re a group that treats other people the way we want to be treated,” Weichel said of the C12 Group, also known as Christian Twelve.

When former Apollo Beach resident Buck Jacobs founded C12 in 1992, businesses from the Bradenton and Sarasota area were among the first members.

The C12 Group has three local chapters: Bradenton C12, Manasota C12 and Sarasota C12 that have a combined 33 members.

And, the fee-based business network went from having about 270 members in 2003 to 681 members.

Monthly dues range from $500-$900 depending on the company’s size and annual revenue.

“We play by one set of rules at church, at home and at work,” said Don Light, chairman of C12 chapters in southwest Florida. “That’s to use Biblical principals in trying to operate our lives and our businesses.”

Chapters of the C12 Group meet once month where the business owners and managers share advice, analyze their companies costs, sales and bottom line, and receive business coaching.

In addition, the day-long meetings start with a devotion and a prayer, and owners discuss their business as a ministry.

“We try to help our employees become better employees, better husbands, better fathers,” Light said. “If they don’t know the Lord, we encourage that.”

Mixing religion and business in the workplace is a concept that Jacobs stands by strongly.

But it is also a dangerous combination through the eyes of labor and employment attorneys such as Wendy Smith, Tampa attorney for Fisher & Phillips.

“For most of us in the private sector, it’s not a good idea for an employer to push ideas on employees,” Smith said.

“Religious speech in the workplace, that’s something that really should be kept to a minimum out of respect of the fact not everybody has the same religious beliefs.”

C12 and its local business members say they adhere to federal laws that prohibit employers from making an employee feel coerced into religious activity.

In addition, C12 businesses say they adhere to anti-discrimination laws in their hiring practices.

“It’s not a group that’s pushing the Bible down anyone’s throat,” Weichel said.