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At Festivals, Faith, Rock and T-Shirts Take Center Stage
MOUNT UNION, Pa. - By the third day of Creation East, the granddaddy of Christian rock festivals, Dave Lula could pick a winner among the merchandise he was selling. It was a $12 T-shirt of his own design that said "I Mosh for Jesus." The crowd was young, Mr. Lula figured, and this appealed to their sense of humor and independence.

Since the summer began, Mr. Lula has lived a nomadic existence, sleeping mainly in his van, part of a new mobile tribe of bootstrap entrepreneurs that has grown up along with the proliferation of Christian rock festivals, mixing creative capitalism with novel expressions of faith....

...T-shirts screamed or punned for attention. One shirt declared, "Body Piercing Saved My Life," and showed a hand with a nail through it. Other brisk-sellers said "Jesus Freak" or mimicked the Mountain Dew advertising logo, tweaking the slogan to read, "Do the Jew,'' meaning to emulate Jesus. Booths promoted Christian colleges, foreign missions and a DVD player that skips over racy material in movies. ...

..."I was never comfortable with the shirts in Christian bookstores," said Jeremy Limpic, 28, who is selling his own line of punk-themed T-shirts and hats at about 10 Christian festivals this summer. Having come to Christianity from punk rock, he found the goods in Christian bookstores too tame or pious. So he started his own company, One Truth, and began selling his designs at concerts and over the Internet.

Mr. Limpic, whose main business is Web design, said he was sometimes uneasy about the intermingling of faith and commerce at the festivals. "You come in these places and it's a major Christian marketing scene," he said. "There's a quick buck to be made for Christ. But the way I see it, I'm going to make money in a secular way or expressing my faith." ...

...As evening settled over the bands, three teenagers sat around a campfire, taking a break. A speaker earlier in the day had called for donations to missions in the developing world. At the end of a long day, the boys had come to regret their purchases.

"I spent all my money on five CD's," said Scott Hanson, 13, in a tone of self-reproach. "If I'd waited, I'd be able to spend that money on someone other than myself."

His friend Luke Beckmeyer came away with a similar lesson. He had been reluctant to come because he didn't like music, he said. But the band Pillar had converted him. "I came here hoping to get a new video card for my computer, but after doing small groups and hearing the music, I realize it's not all about me," he said. "The speakers really get to you. Too bad I spent all my money on a Pillar T-shirt and CD's."