Hallowed Gaines

What's the role of religion in business? Can the Gospel inspire good advertising?

These were just some of the questions that hundreds of church and spiritual leaders discussed in New York last week. The Fermi Project, an Atlanta-based Christian organization, hosted the meeting — the Q Conference, which was a bit like TED with an explicit religious theme — at Gotham Hall in midtown Manhattan. The point was to hear experts in media, business, and science discuss life's bigger questions.

Q: The Video

Addressing the flock were MTV producer Owen Leimbach, talking about social entrepreneurship and the current evolution of the "Me" into "We Generation;" New York Times reporter Michael Luo gave insight into the topic of faith in the presidential race; and Dr. Francis Collins, pioneer of the Human Genome Project and director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, explained his theory on how the Bible's creation story and evolution are not incompatible.

Q founder and Fermi Project director Gabe Lyons, the author of the book Unchristian, a look at the stigma of Christianity in pop culture, said he based Q on the exclusive TED conference as well as the Clinton Global Initiative.

Those events, he said, "shaped our thinking on intentional collaborations and the power of placing great leaders around a table to work through key issues facing society."

Of the 500 attendees, 14 percent came from the world of business and finance, 9 percent worked in media, and 6 percent were in the arts and entertainment.

This is only the second year for Q. Next year's conference is scheduled for Austin, Texas.

by Andrea Chalupa

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