Scott Moore, co-founder of Trident Technology Solutions, was attending a weekly Bible study with several local business owners when he began to feel convicted to give more of his business back to God. He was already tithing personally, but at that time Trident was strictly a for-profit business.
Moore decided that needed to change.
After the discussion at his Bible study, Moore felt compelled to stop profiting financially when working with Christian organizations. “I spoke with my business partner, Tad Kuvik, and was surprised at how readily he accepted the idea,” said Moore.
“I was happy with the idea as soon as I heard it,” Kuvik said. “Churches and ministries do so much to help people without asking anything in return. I think serving the church is one of the best ways to give back to the community.”
On April 1, 2013, Trident, a full-service information technology company in Wake Forest, reached out to their current Christian nonprofit clients and reduced their pricing immediately. From that point Trident has only charged Christian organizations for the market cost of their products and services. They make no financial profits from these relationships.
Conviction came again a few years later as Moore was listening to his pastor, Jimmy Carroll at Journey Church, one Sunday morning. Moore decided he wanted to do more. On top of eliminating profits from their current Christian clients, Trident was going to specifically seek out opportunities to serve Christian nonprofits despite the fact that those business relationships would not directly benefit the company’s finances.
“In 2015 we decided to bring on a new sales executive, Robert Thomas, and have him spend a portion of his time focusing on assisting Christian organizations with their technology requirements allowing them to spend more time and money growing God’s Kingdom,” said Moore.
Thomas, who had recently graduated from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (SEBTS) in Wake Forest, led Trident to look not only at saving churches’ money, but also to guide them to make information technology (IT) decisions that are gospel-focused.
“My job is to be an evangelist for Trident,” said Thomas. “I oversee our efforts to give back to churches and Christian organizations. As a guy who grew up in Christian ministry, I think it’s pretty cool that I get to stand with a foot in both circles. I get to hang out with church leaders and help them think theologically about technology, and I also get to work with businesses to help them find the best solution available to meet their needs.”
Some of Trident’s recent clients have included Richland Creek Community Church, Wake Forest; North Wake Church, Wake Forest; SEBTS; Truett McConnell University, Cleveland, Ga.; Celebration Church, Raleigh, and Welch College, Nashville, Tenn.
“Trident is an invaluable partner,” said Wayne Jenks, SEBTS director of information technologies. “They have assisted us in choosing the appropriate technology for our institution.”
Q: How can churches and ministries benefit from a belief-based perspective on technology?
A: Making IT decisions can feel like a mundane aspect of business administration – outside of the realm of ministry. Often churches base their decisions on budget or trends alone.
“God reigns over all parts of the world,” said Thomas. “If Christ is truly the Redeemer of culture, then we should be seeking to infiltrate Christian thinking into everything we do. Shouldn’t we let our theology drive even the way we make decisions regarding technology in our organizations?”
Trident has provided churches with check-in computers, projection screens, public Wi-Fi, Internet security and more.
Moore explained that, “Many churches leverage the expertise of their members in specific areas, but they may not have a full understanding of technology and communications as a whole. Because of this, we often see a hodge-podge of manufacturers and solutions that often increase the complexity and reduce the performance of their network or communications infrastructure. Trident has the expertise on staff and desire to help Christian organizations with their overall technology plan – again freeing up both time and resources for them to focus on Kingdom growth.”
“It has been so cool to watch the company evolve,” said Kuvik. “It started as four guys working from their houses, and now we own two buildings. We’re in a position where we can really give back and benefit the Christian community.”
“Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary has partnered with Trident since 2008 on a variety of different projects,” said Ryan Hutchinson, SEBTS executive vice president for operations. “It is great to work with a company that understands and supports our mission, since we both have the goal of seeing Christ’s Kingdom advance.”
Q: Is there anything wrong with profiting from Christians?
A: Moore knows eliminating profits from Christian organizations is not something that every company can or even should do. He readily admits there is nothing mandated in the Bible that prohibits Christians from doing profitable business together. It is a personal conviction, and he has seen God honor his obedience.
“It’s an exercise in faith,” he says. “I believe when God calls you to do something, he will also provide a way to accomplish it.”