Like Amazon Buying Facebook, Only Religious
Cha-ching Jesus
We may have separation of church and state in this country (in all areas except marriage, of course) but the line between church and business is a lot more fuzzy. God is big money in this country—there's music groups like Petra and the Orange County Supertones (evangelical versions of Metallica and Mighty, Mighty Bosstones respecitvely), food (In 'n Out burger prints Bible verses on their packaging), and more self-help books than one can possibly imagine (think Joel Osteen's crazy, huge smile).
But in most of these cases, there's an obvious line—churches only maintain their tax-exempt status if they don't run a profit. So the religiously-themed ventures of pastors and parishoners are kept more or less separate from the actual faith-groups inspiring the business. But now, it seems, mergers and acquisitions are darkening the door of God's House. Local mega-church Mars Hill runs The City, a social networking site for its members. Today Zondervan, publisher of Christian romance novels, devotional books, and the best selling version of the Bible, announced it acquired The City. They plan to expand church networking nationwide. The terms of the deal weren't disclosed—Zondervan is a private company and Mars Hill is a church, so they don't have to say how much The City went for. But don't be surprised if Mars Hill expands again soon. If the Facebook and YouTube sales taught us anything it's that the financial benefits of selling a networking site are much higher than anything a collection plate brings in.
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