Christian Lifestyle, Commerce Website iBelieve.com Launches

Posted on January 28, 2000

iBelieve.com has launched a Christian lifestyle site. The site is segmented into five main areas -- My Faith, My Life, My Community, My World and My Store -- aimed at helping Christians enrich their spiritual lives, communicate with like-minded individuals, and purchase products and services online. The site will also include interactive elements such as chat rooms, bulletin boards, author and artist events, and an online prayer request system.

"Our efforts and investment have paid off as we come out of the box with the depth, breadth and technology to be the premier site for Christians and families on the Internet," said Jef Fite, president of iBelieve.com .

Grand Rapids, Mich.-based iBelieve.com is a stand-alone sister company to Family Christian Stores (FCS), a chain of 346 Christian retail stores in 39 states. iBelieve.com teamed with $4 billion private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners and Andersen Consulting's Global Retail/E-commerce Practice to build the content, community and commerce site.

"We set out to create the best site for Christians and families on the Internet, not by measuring ourselves against others in our niche, but by developing a comprehensive strategy that would put us among the best sites -- like a Yahoo!, AOL or Amazon.com -- on the web," Fite said. "Now the real test begins, and we're ready to step up and serve the large and growing online Christian community."