Christian consumers

Published in The Post-Star (D1)
7/10/06

Flip through the "Churches" section of the Yellow Pages, and you'll notice that Christians represent a major chunk of the local population.

From a marketing perspective, that represents a major chunk of change.

Realizing this, some local businesses have started to offer special events that target Christian consumers.

At The Great Escape theme park in Lake George, July 1 was "Glory Day," an all-day festival of Christian music. Groups from about 50 area churches flocked to the event, paying between $22 to $40 per person to mix holy rock and rollercoasters.

"This is the third annual Glory Day, and the driving force behind this is really the Christian community," said Jeff Bartone, general sales manager for the park. "We wanted to provide them with a place to get together and join in a day of praise and worship...and it's always a lot of fun."

Holy rolling is also popular at The Fun Spot, a rollerskating rink and entertainment complex in Queensbury that recently began hosting a monthly Christian-music skating night called "Momentum" during the school year.

"It's kind of a market that isn't really tapped a lot, which is why we were interested," said Steven Duckett, a manager at The Fun Spot.

The events coordinator for Word of Life Bible Institute in Schroon Lake doubles as a DJ on Momentum nights, and picks out a playlist heavy with heavenly hits from the likes of Casting Crowns, Toby Mac, and Barlow Girl.

It's a concept that's been around for years, at roller rinks throughout the nation. But earlier this year, a rink in Accord, N.Y., about an hour south of Albany, got a slap on the wristband for featuring "Christian skates" on Sunday afternoons.

According to The Associated Press, Skate Time 209 received a letter from the state Division of Human Rights warning that it was breaking human rights law because playing exclusively Christian music was allegedly discouraging non-Christian customers.

Duckett said he thinks places like Skate Time 209 and The Fun Spot are simply responding to customer demand, not trying to push anyone out of the rink.

"I don't really see it as discrimination -- all of our sessions are open to the public," he said. "Anything we can do to get people in here seems like a good idea to me."

Skate Time 209 owner Len Bernardo told The Associated Press he's hoping the "strange situation" will resolve itself soon.

The company has changed the name of the sessions to "spiritual skate," and their Web site now states in bold yellow lettering: "We would like to reiterate that everyone is welcome, and we wheelie mean it!"