Churchs members mix belief with business

Places of worship have long been informal breeding grounds for business relationships and deals among people who become close friends or professional allies.

And although not everyone might think church is an appropriate place to form such alliances, members of one Prince William County church have started a group expressly for that purpose — to harness the church’s networking potential and foster business relationships while delivering a dose of spirituality.

Organizers of the Park Valley Business Fellowship, made up of congregants of Park Valley Church in Haymarket, wanted to provide a more formal networking opportunity.

The group got started in July and has grown from some 30 members to about 80 at the last meeting, said Lonnie Plaster, one of the organizers.

The monthly meetings have have become more crowded as people have spread the word. Group members contribute $5 to pay for the events — held at the church and other sites — and there is time for networking and worship.

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Park Valley is a nontraditional, nondenominational church, pastor Barry White said. The church has grown to 1,500 members, and its success is rooted in a new age evangelical approach that connects with young families, White said. In that way, the networking group makes good sense, he said.

“We’re trying to boil it down to, what is it that people need?” White said.

Plaster said he was increasingly hearing about problems related to the economy, such as lost jobs, hours being cut and bad work situations. Anyone is welcome to attend the networking events, and, Plaster said, many outside the church are getting involved.

“It’s a very simple idea, just trying to connect people and empower people in this crazy economy,” said Plaster, who works at Long and Foster. “We live in a very affluent area, and a lot of us assume that our neighbors and the people in our community are not hurting. But the reality is, they are.”

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The group’s goals go beyond networking, Plaster said.

“At the same time, we want to minister to people,” he said. “You need that connection with someone else, and some of these other networking groups are not as personal. This provides a real personal connection with the community.”

During its last meeting, the group brought in Justin Exner, who works in the residential mortgage business for Fairway Independent Mortgage. He told the group that before his current job, climbing the corporate ladder threw his life out of whack and that it took him a long time to realign his priorities correctly. He took a chance with going to work for Fairway, he said, but the company’s emphasis on a work/life balance drew him in and sustains him, he said.

“To be happy in business you have to have a happy personal life,” Exner said he told the group. “You have to have balance between the two. What I learned was, while my business life was very strong, my life at home was out of balance.”

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Exner said he has realigned his priorities over the past year and is much happier as a result. It is one key difference that separates the church’s business networking group from other such organizations.

"Your money fades away," Exner said. "Your relationships ... never fade away. What it comes down to is your relationships with people."

The group's meetings are open to all, and those wishing to join can find out more on Park Valley Church's Web site at www.parkvalleychurch.com.

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