A man who once worked for a major multinational company said something that stuck in Scott Gerger’s mind. He said the top boss at that company instructed managers to squeeze absolutely as much as possible out of each employee until he or she gave up and left.

“We don’t want to be that way,” Gerger said.

“We” refers to members of the new Christian Business Forum, a group that had its beginnings in the Johnston Evangelical Free Church and held its first meeting in March.

Organized business owners that they are, they soon created a statement of the group’s purposes:

“To provide a forum for Christian church business people to:

1. effectively engage in business within the Christian community that recognizes of ‘first importance’ the health of interpersonal relationships within the body of believers and the representation of Christ to the world

2. generate awareness of the choices of businesses within the Christian community

3. share business development concepts, ideas and methods

4. grow business as an outreach of Christ.”     It was Tom Noteboom’s idea to see if Gerger and Brad Smith would be interested in getting together to talk about the possibility of forming a group. Noteboom, who has worked for several companies, began working independently as a business coach Jan. 1 of this year. Gerger started Leverage Technology Corp. last fall. Brad Smith is the veteran business owner of the three, having operated Preferred Pest Control Inc. for more than 20 years.

The statement of purpose makes clear that they want to help Christian business owners find one another and work together. “If somebody is in business and goes to our church, we’d like to know that and do business with them,” Noteboom said.

“The church is our family, and I would naturally call someone in the family first,” Gerger said. “I think there’s a natural affinity there; people know I’m not going to take them to the cleaners.”

However, “at some people from outside the church will come in to network,” Gerger said. “That’s fine, too. If God brings in people who aren’t Christians, great.”

A number of similar organizations have sprung up around the nation, but the Johnston group operates independently. The three founders estimate that the 1,200 members of the Johnston Evangelical Free Church include about 35 business owners; they see that group as the foundation for their efforts.

“We wanted to walk before we ran,” Gerger said, “so we started within the church.” About a dozen people attended their monthly meeting in May.

The forum is an extension of the influence they hope they have in routine business activities. “I have had employees come to me wanting to know where to go for family advice,” Smith said. “Hopefully, that happens because I’ve been living out my core beliefs within my business. I started the business in 1985, and from day one, that’s what I wanted to do.”

Smith traces his devotion to Christianity to his days as a fraternity member at Iowa State University. While he concentrated on having fun, Smith noticed a fraternity brother who was an avowed Christian and had “a sense of peace and happiness.”

Smith started listening to Christian radio, reading the Bible and attending Bible study classes. Soon, he “started being happy for the first time,” he said.

Gerger also found his religious path in college. He had grown up in the Lutheran church, but stopped attending services while attending Michigan Technological University. But “there was a definite point in time when the future became a lot more sure,” he said. One night some fellow students “with a lot more on the ball” invited him to pray with them. “I prayed out loud and asked God to make me what he wanted me to be. They said they had been praying for two years for me to come to that point.”

Noteboom remained firmly in the Christian tradition from childhood through college, but he too points to one moment that clarified everything. More than 15 years ago, he wrote “My Life” on a blank piece of paper, signed it, and considered it “a contract with Christ.”

“It was a clear shift in my life,” he said.

Each of the men has his own way of putting Christian practices into his business.

Smith’s long-held goal has been to make his business sufficiently profitable so that he can pay employees wages that are high enough to support a single-income family. Gerger has written into his strategic objective statement that he will give 10 percent of his net profits to charitable organizations – but that will have to wait until he achieves a profit. Noteboom’s operating policy says he will always have one pro bono – no charge – client.

The three meet every week to coach one another and share ideas. “We challenge each other,” Noteboom said, “to be fully committed to the work of the church.”