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Contrary to some readers' impressions, Christianity Today staff—as versatile as we may be—do not actually conduct the survey. Best Christian Workplaces Institute, a human-resources consulting firm, does.

After the institute solicited self-nominations from Christian workplaces, employees in each organization filled out a confidential online survey. Administrators provided details of human-resources practices from workplaces that have a Christian mission statement.

To avoid the unfairness that goes with, say, comparing an 18-employee public-relations firm with an 80-employee nonprofit, the participants were broken up into 11 categories. The survey polled more than 8,403 employees from 84 organizations. After independent judges weighed the data in a "blind" process, the list of 40 emerged. (The names of the nonfinalists are confidential.) Because some categories were larger than others, the list names the number of finalists proportionate to the size of each group.

The panel of judges included Olan Hendrix, ceo, Leadership Resource Group; John Pearson, ceo, Christian Management Association; Ken Smitherman, ceo, Association of Christian Schools International; and Helen Lee, who approached Christianity Today several years ago with the idea of conducting the survey and later cofounded the Best Christian Workplaces Institute.

Products and Services (90 or more employees)
1Alliance Defense Fund • Scottsdale, Arizona
2 Evangelical Christian Credit Union • Brea, California

Products and Services (89 or fewer employees)
1DeMoss Group, Inc. • Duluth, Georgia
2 MPower Systems • Plano, Texas
3 Christianity.com (now Silas Partners) • Alexandria, Virginia
4 Partners International • Spokane, Washington

Higher Education (300 or more employees)
1Bethel University • Saint Paul, Minnesota
2 Cedarville University • Cedarville, Ohio
3 Olivet Nazarene University • Bourbonnais, Illinois
4 Columbia International University • Columbia, South Carolina

Higher Education (150 through 299 employees)
1Evangel University • Springfield, Missouri
2 California Baptist University • Riverside, California
3 The Master's College • Santa Clarita, California

Higher Education (149 or fewer employees)
1Phoenix Seminary • Scottsdale, Arizona
2 The Master's Seminary • Sun Valley, California

Private Schools, K-12 (70 and more employees)
1Evangelical Christian School • Cordova, Tennessee
1Scottsdale Christian Academy • Phoenix, Arizona
2 Briarcrest Christian School System • Memphis, Tennessee
3 Fredericksburg Christian Schools • Fredericksburg, Virginia
4 Indian Rocks Christian Schools • Largo, Florida
5 Friends Christian School • Yorba Linda, California

Private Schools, K-12 (69 or fewer employees)
1Stoneybrooke Christian Schools • San Juan Capistrano, California
2 Desert Christian Schools • Tucson, Arizona
3 Wheaton Academy • West Chicago, Illinois
4 Covenant Life School • Gaithersburg, Maryland

Media (150 or more employees)
1Zondervan • Grand Rapids, Michigan

Media (149 or fewer employees)
1Howard Publishing, Inc. • West Monroe, Louisiana
2 Xulon Press, Inc. • Fairfax, Virginia
3 InterVarsity Press • Downers Grove, Illinois

Churches, Parachurches, and Missions (120 or more employees)
1Coalition for Christian Outreach • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
2 Kensington Community Church • Troy, Michigan
3 Church Resource Ministries • Anaheim, California

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May 2005, Vol. 49, No. 5