New-Time Religion

Gifts of the spirit move into the mainstream.

By Meredith Schwartz -- Gifts & Decorative Accessories, 1/1/2001

Americans are as religious as they've ever been. But the way that they practice religion is changing. Emphasis on traditional denominations, church attendance, and Bible reading are down, while church switching, New Age practices, and inspirational book sales are up. More than one in three people have left or switched away from the denomination in which they were raised, write Richard Cimino and Don Lattin in "Choosing My Religion," in the April 1999 American Demographics. "Most still believe in God, but now they are looking for a personal spiritual practice, mixing and matching religious beliefs and practices that resonate with their own life experience."

According to a MacArthur Foundation survey, seven out of ten Americans say they are religious and consider spirituality to be an important part of their lives. But half attend religious services less than once a month, or never. In its 1996 article "The Big Picture: Angels Rising," American Demographics reconciled this seeming contradiction by pointing to Baby Boomer nonconformity. "Boomers are popularizing religious expressions that are more individualist, less reliant on institutions."

The bottom line is an extension of the consumer culture into religion, where people choose what works for them based on individual goals, experiences, and self-expression. For example, witness spiritually rooted pop culture phenomena like the TV show Touched By An Angel or talk show diva Oprah's magazine.

In a world where spirituality can no longer be measured by church attendance, book sales become a good clue as to what Americans are thinking about religion. The Book Industry Study Group's 1999 consumer research study on book purchasing found that religious-themed books had the third largest share of the book market at 9.3 percent. However, according to Lynn Garrett, religion editor of Publishers Weekly, those figures did not include the growing "Christian fiction" category. Together, the two categories reach a 16 percent market share, which would rank religion second only to popular fiction.

Praise Be!

It's little surprise, then, that inspirational product is one of the fastest-growing categories in mainstream gift retailing today. Although New Age material makes up a substantial portion of that market, and other religions from Islam to Buddhism have their niches, the majority of the U.S. inspirational-products market is Christian-focused.

Consumers who are asserting their independence from organized religion are still drawn to products that express religious values, but they are unlikely to shop at Christian-product-only retailers. On the other hand, more traditional Christians, while continuing to patronize Christian bookstores for specialty items, have long shopped in general gift stores for their other needs, and are receptive to items with a spiritual bent no matter where they are sold. With such a large and interested audience, inspirational product is no longer just a niche market.

Faith Meets Fashion

Home decor, candles, jewelry, and the teen and tween markets are just some of the categories in which you'll find inspirational product today. Just about every category found on the pages of Gifts & Dec includes inspirational product. And that's the idea. Rhonda Sholar, managing editor of Inspirational Giftware magazine in Lake Mary, Florida, explains, "It used to be that inspirational products would be what you'd call "Jesus junk": trinkets with smiley faces, crosses, and angels. Now you're seeing different types of products. More products that are doing well in the mainstream are doing well inspirationally."

Louise Grimm, marketing director for Bob Siemon Designs, agrees: "Home decor is probably our biggest area for development in the inspirational gift market, just because home decor as a category is doing so well. One of our biggest categories is the fashion jewelry market, with inspirational costume jewelry targeted at teens. Teens are very fashion-conscious, they want everything to express their style and their faith. For example, we introduced zebra- and leopard-print Bible cases."

The Softer Message

Not everything in the inspirational market has a Bible verse emblazoned on it. Broader themes and aspects of religious values are important as well. "The message on inspirational products has broadened to include a wider variety of consumers," says Sholar. "Suppliers are trying to reach not only Christian consumers, but also people who just want to give a gift to make someone else feel good, or to celebrate nature."

Janie Feltzer, a pastor's wife and owner of Hidden Life, planned her three-year-old business with that concept in mind. "There are so many people in America that have that spiritual bent that they desire to be able to buy this product in a general store and not have to go to a CBA [formerly Christian Booksellers Association] store. My desire has been to enter the general market in a subtle yet honest fashion and I've accomplished that by mixing inspirational and occasion and not being too much in-your-face."

Louise Grimm notes: "We started as an inspirational gift company with Bob's vision to bring the Christian message to the world. We lightened it [when we] moved into the general market, so the message isn't a deterrent. It's not that we're watering it down; it's more how it is interpreted. For example, you might see a Feng Shui display mixed with Christian product. Crosses are huge in the mainstream, and some people wear them because they mean something and others wear them because they're fashionable."

Where to Shop

The main trade organization for Christian-based products is the Nashville-based CBA. According to Nancy Guthrie, of CBA media relations, the organization includes 2,500 stores and 650 suppliers. "A large percentage of the suppliers sell to both the mainstream and the Christian sales outlets," Guthrie commented. She estimated that Christian music suppliers are split evenly between Christian and general sales outlets, while publishers and gift suppliers vary more by product. Within the CBA, the importance of the gift category is growing. The organization's name change from Christian Booksellers Association to the acronym alone reflects this, as does the CBA's recent survey, which reported that 30 percent of member stores' total proceeds came from gifts alone.

While major suppliers like Brownlow and Dayspring are the backbone of the Christian market and the annual CBA trade show, they also exhibit at general gift shows to capture the growing number of gift retailers looking to add inspirational product.

Rhonda Sholar of Inspirational Giftware explains, "A lot of the CBA Christian retailers are choosing the mainstream shows rather than the CBA show, because the mainstream suppliers are offering new products that are not at the CBA show. The CBA show comes to Atlanta every few years, and I don't know if they're trying to purposely overlap on the date, but the retailers love it when they're there at the same time." (This year, the CBA show, July 7-12 at the Georgia World Congress Center, overlaps the Atlanta Gift Show.)

Crossover Hits

The biggest name in inspirational products right now is probably Veggie Tales, the Christian children's show. If you don't have small children, you may not yet have encountered the pious asparagus. But you already know-and may even carry-other big names in inspirational product. Licensed artists with strong crossover appeal include Thomas Kinkade, D. Morgan, Debbie Mumm, Audrey Jeanne Roberts, Sandy Lynam Clough, and Susan Winget. And then there's WWJD (short for "What Would Jesus Do?"), based on a book by Stanley Sheldon. The merchandise was a hit in the Christian market in 1997, and has recently caught on in the mainstream. As for manufacturers you may already do business with, Ty has its Holy Bears. Goodwin Weavers' line includes Thomas Kinkade and Joy-Marie Heimsoth. C.R. Gibson has come out with inspirational candles with scents from Biblical times. And Russ Berrie has a whole inspirational catalog, and even appointed a former Christian retailer as head of its inspirational division.

Americans may be changing the way they practice their religion, but they are still a religious people. They continue to incorporate religious values in their everyday lives, which is why mainstream giftware with inspirational themes is becoming so popular.