"We are not shutting down; what we are doing is closing our present location and transitioning to a new business model," he told Christian Retailing. "We will continue to serve our church/institutional accounts and others by face-to-face direct sales, Web site, e-mail and phone orders. We are also investigating other innovative avenues of marketing Christian retail product."

The day to close his 7,000-square-foot store has not yet been determined because "we still have a lease obligation in our shopping strip for several more months," said Whitaker, who owns New Life with his wife, Bonnie.

Whitaker told of competition from other Christian stores having impacted New Life, which has a LifeWay Christian Store and Barnes & Noble nearby. "What I will miss most is the daily interaction I have with the walk-in customers and the opportunity to minister to them on the spot," he said. "As part of our new business model, I will still have personal contact with some of those same customers through direct sales calls as I visit churches and other Christian institutions."

Whitaker, whose three-year term as CBA chairman runs through October 2010, added that "God has not withdrawn His call for my family and me to remain in Christian retail." "The only thing that is changing is our business model and the methods we use to sell Christian products," he said.