Jesus saves - lends, too: This Christian banker says the Lord is watching his bottom line (National Post article)
Posted: Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Chuck Ripka banks for the Lord.
Two years ago, the born-again Christian co-founded Riverview Community Bank in Ostego, a small town about 50 kilometres northwest of Minneapolis. It provides loans, mortgages and savings accounts -- the usual banking services -- but also offers customers more: Many come seeking spiritual as well as financial guidance.
The teller at the drive-through window routinely prays with clients. A Bible is sealed in the building's foundation, behind a cornerstone etched with the words "In God We Trust." And while Duane Kropuenske is the bank's president on paper, Mr. Ripka says Jesus Christ is its true CEO.
Riverview Community sounds more like a church than a bank as Mr. Ripka, its senior vice-president, settles into a cushioned chair to talk about it before giving a speech to Christian businesspeople at a Toronto luncheon organized by Christian Business Ministries Canada.
Indeed, he refers to himself as the bank's pastor and claims 70 people have been healed of physical ailments during visits. Another 119 have welcomed God into their lives.
The Lord, Mr. Ripka says, has an important role to play in the marketplace.
"People say money is the root of all evil. It's not really the money. It's the person using the money," said the 46-year-old.
He is trying to counter that trend by operating God's own bank. Customers and employees are not necessarily Christian, and prayer is not mandatory, but the bank's religious leaning is drawing investors and media attention.
When they came up with the idea, the founders needed US$5.5-million in seed money but were coming up short.
"I prayed, 'Lord, would you release your angels to go forward, to whisper into the ears of people that you want to be a part of your bank?' " Mr. Ripka said. "Within a week, people started calling us."
The bank opened in 2003 and now has US$116-million in assets and deposits -- a small amount in Canadian terms, where the big banks boast assets in the hundreds of billions, but notable among the thousands of community banks in the United States. Ostego is a town of fewer than 7,000 people and Midwestern Minnesota is not considered overly religious.
Mr. Ripka has long mixed religion and his professional life. He says he found God at an Amway convention when he was 21. About four years later, while he was working at a furniture store, God asked him to pray with a customer who was looking for a mattress.
"I got all nervous. I said, 'Lord, I can't. I'm on commission,' " he recalled during his speech, prompting chuckles from the crowd. As the men walked down the mattress aisle, the customer began telling Mr. Ripka about his
marriage woes. Then they prayed together.
"Something really important happened after that," Mr. Ripka said. "He bought the mattress."
God, Mr. Ripka says, has promised to take care of his bank's bottom line. Despite that assurance, operating as a business is still the bank's first priority. Not every Christian applicant qualifies for a loan.
"We're a bank first. We have to do business, we have to prosper," said Mr. Ripka, who worked as a mortgage banker for years before starting Riverview Community.
"Some people come in, they're in financial distress and they don't know what to do. They're seeking wise counsel. I'm limited in what I can do. I can't give them money ... but I can pray with them."
He says God advises him on which loan applicants to support in committee meetings. However, loan officers still make their final calls based on income, credit scores and an applicant's ability to repay the money.
Some people have called the bank for purely spiritual reasons, asking the receptionist if they have reached "the bank that prays with people." Tourists arrive to have their photographs taken outside.
A stocky, soft-spoken man, Mr. Ripka is now taking his bank's message to the masses. He has received invitations to speak in Canada, South Africa and France, among others. When he addressed the Ontario Club in Toronto's financial district this week, he wore a comfortable camel jacket and a maroon shirt, making him look more like a kindly father on his way to a Christmas pageant than a business tycoon.
After telling the bank's story, he asked the audience to pray with him to become closer to God. Everyone in the room heeded his request by standing, bowing their heads and repeating his prayer.
"The response was rather overwhelming for a business crowd," said Gerry Organ, president of Christian Business Ministries Canada.
"He simply is a man who experienced a business opportunity by trusting God and he wants to tell that story. It's so simple that people are impressed with the humility of a man who says he hears from God."
By: Mary Vallis National Post-Nov.18/05
PHOTO CREDIT: Peter Redman, National Post
Chuck Ripka, the co-founder and senior vice-president of Riverview Community Bank, says people often come into his Christian bank in financial distress. "They're seeking wise counsel," he says. "I can't give them money ... but I can pray with them."