Tom Cancelmo and Chris Murray, two Wayne marketing partners, launched Fans of the Kingdom, an online Catholic and Christian sportswear brand, earlier this year.
The company sells T-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, hoodies and a golf collection through its website at fansofthekingdom.com. Each item features a Crown of Thorns logo.
Both are die-hard Eagles fans.
That fandom, Cancelmo told Main Line Media News reporter Bill Rettew in an Oct. 9 interview, sparked the idea. He had spent freely on Eagles gear but owned nothing that expressed his Catholic faith.
"We are big fans of our sports teams, but some things are more important," Cancelmo said.
Cancelmo and Murray also run BTC, a marketing communications firm in Wayne. Murray said the skills they use for clients, including logo design, web development and promotion, translated directly into building the new brand. The pair describe Fans of the Kingdom as a mission and ministry rather than a purely commercial venture.
A portion of each purchase goes to Paradisus Dei, a Catholic ministry founded in 2002 that runs evangelization programs in more than 1,000 U.S. parishes and dozens more internationally, according to the brand's website. The specific donation percentage is not listed.
Cancelmo said he sees interest among younger people looking for a faith-based connection. Murray pointed to the growing number of professional and college athletes who publicly express their beliefs, saying the brand gives everyday people a similar way to do so.
Fans of the Kingdom operates entirely online, with no local pop-up events or brick-and-mortar store announced.
