ABSTRACT
The Chamber of Commerce has represented the local business community by promoting economic and industrial development in Fairbanks. Led by the Chamber of Commerce, Fairbanks set about to woo the oil industry. While the business-dominated leadership of the community seemed to favor development at any cost, not everybody in Fairbanks agreed with those values. When conflicts in values between the Chamber of Commerce and other groups in the community became public issues, the business people asserted that the differences were borne out of ignorance. Emergence of the Social Concerns Committee in a role of political leadership ought not be interpreted as a case of the churches versus the Chamber of Commerce. The structure of the churches affected their theology. The churches which became involved in secular affairs in Fairbanks were those which belong to denominations with large national or international organizations, as opposed to those having small local congregations without outside affiliations.
