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GodTube.com, the Christian version of YouTube.com, recently won a $30 million investment from a big London hedge fund.
The investment came from GLG Partners, which has no known religious affiliation, and will be used to sustain the online Bible and prayer wall where users can post requests, according to The New York Times.
GLG’s investment takes advantage of the thriving faith-based market in the United States – a country where self-described Christians make up nearly 80 percent of the population.
Like its secular predecessor, GodTube offers user-submitted videos that are carefully screened to make sure they do not contain vulgarity, overtly sexual material, promotion of other religions, or an anti-Christian message. Sermons, theological debates, skits and Christian parodies of secular songs are popular content on the site.
One of the most popular GodTube video is a remake of Sir Mix-A-Lot’s “Baby Got Back,” which was renamed “Baby Got Book” by 34-year-old Dan Smith, a minister at a church near Cleveland.
In the video, Smith praises godly women and jokes about Christian culture. While wearing a gold chain with the letters KJV (for King James Version), the minister replaces the original lyrics –“butt” to “Bible” and “she looks like a total prostitute” to “looks like Mother Teresa.”
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He also raps: “Bless me! Bless me!/Teach me about John Wesley! I saw her praying, while I was DJ-ing/She got a pretty face, she ain’t going down to the bad place.”
Another popular video is “Jesus Back,” a parody of Justin Timberlake’s hit song “Sexy Back.” In the video, a group of good-looking Methodists from Texas sing: “I’m bringing Jesus back/All those sinners don’t know how to act.”
When GodTube was formally introduced last August, it was the fastest-growing Web site, as rated by comScore, drawing 1.7 million unique visitors for the month. Since that time, the site now boasts more than 100,000 videos with Christian themes.
“People thirst for more than just a once-a-week relationship with the Lord and Savior,” said Jason Illian, Big Jump Media’s chief strategy officer, according to The New York Times. “They desire something that they can live out 24/7.”
GodTube, owned by Big Jump Media, is valued at nearly $150 million after the investment, according to PaidContent.org.
