Passion for the Kingdom drives pastor-turned-contractor
CALGARY, AB—Some businesspeople like to separate their faith from their work. Merlin Bartel believes it is important to bring the two together.
Bartel is the president and CEO of Epic Roofing and Exteriors, Ltd., a roofing, eavestroughing and siding contractor serving Calgary and the surrounding area. Many of the people he works with at Epic have been in ministry themselves, and they believe in combining their faith and work by providing opportunities for spiritual conversations in the workplace, supporting mission trips the company's employees go on and contributing money to a variety of philanthropic ventures in Calgary.
"I function as much as a pastor here at work as I did when I was drawing a full-time salary" working at churches, says Bartel, who was born on a Mennonite family farm near Morris, Manitoba. He studied at Briercrest Bible College in Caronport, Saskatchewan, before spending 14 years in full-time ministry.
"I think there's an incredible need for strong spiritual leadership in the marketplace," he continues. "My job is to build disciples. I feel I can do a better job at that by spending time with [people] at work, play and in church, rather than just in church."
Epic's philanthropic ventures include supporting a Calgary organization that helps single parent and low-income families; building homes for the under-privileged in Mexico; fighting sex trafficking through the sponsorship of a theatrical production called "She Has a Name" and encouraging social consciousness by promoting the sale of fairly-traded goods through its annual in-house Christmas shop, entitled "More Than a Store."
At the beginning of June, PROFIT Magazine ranked Epic at No. 95 on its list of PROFIT 500, a ranking of Canada's fastest-growing companies. Epic made the list with a five-year revenue growth of 760 per cent. During peak construction season, the company employs more than 130 people as well as a few hundred contractors.
Many of Bartel's partners and employees have been church planters or missionaries themselves.
"We're all passionate about the Kingdom, not just growing our business," Bartel says, adding that from the very start, the company's vision has involved helping poor people in Calgary and around the world.
"It's very important for us to model a healthy commitment to that to the business community, be they Christian or un-Christian."
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