In a recent Tuesday night in Midtown, a group of young models sipped sodas, compared handbags, and passed around a model’s book. It was a typical New York scene but for one thing – their conversation about careers, fashion, and city life was peppered with an unusual topic for their industry: faith.

All of the models were members of Models for Christ, a faith-based group for professionals working in the fashion industry. Their meeting took place in a conference room, and Christian rock played over the stereo system.

“You can talk about God with other people here,” said Shea Pizzolatto, a lanky 17-year-old model who recently signed with Elite Model Management. “People here have morals and you know they are trustworthy.”

With the goal of guiding Christians through the sometimes unscrupulous fashion industry, Models for Christ was founded by husband and wife Jeff Calenberg and Laura Krauss, who met while modeling for Elite in New York in the early 1980s.

The group is an anomaly in the fashion world, where for the hip and beautiful, enlightenment is more often found in a yoga studio than a church.

But whether it’s dealing with issues of body image and self-esteem or turning down drugs, alcohol, and sex, there’s no question that the devout working in the fashion industry face particular challenges.

“This business certainly shakes your values,” said Mr. Calenberg, who has left modeling and now works as a freelance photographer for Burberry. “It’s very exterior-oriented, all about having fun, making money. As someone who is trying to follow Christ’s example, you can run into some difficult situations.”

The group’s first meeting, held in 1984 in Ms. Krauss’s Upper West Side apartment, drew four participants. Twenty years later, Models for Christ has a mailing list of about 500 members in New York, and chapters have sprung up in Los Angeles, Miami, and Houston. Members traveling to Milan, London, and Paris will also find Models for Christ affiliated groups.

In New York, the group holds weekly prayer meetings, does volunteer work (most recently visiting a homeless shelter on the Bowery), and invites guest speakers to their monthly meetings.

About 70 members turned out for a recent buffet dinner to hear an executive at an accessories design company speak. As he dropped some of the biggest names in the industry, the group was clearly impressed.

Christ and a little careerism seemed to go hand in hand here, but having faith does seem to provide a much-needed sense of confidence in an industry largely based on rejection.

“It’s a tough, competitive business,” said Ms. Pizzolatto’s mother, Flora Pizzolatto, who’d driven in for the meeting from Brick, N.J., with her daughter. “The models learn that they get some jobs, but they aren’t going to get others.”

She recalled a time when her daughter was up for a modeling gig at Jane magazine: “She came to me and said, ‘Mom, I’m not going to get it, I’m up against 300 other girls.’ And so I said, ‘Let’s pray. If it’s God’s will, then you’ll get it.’ And she got the job.”

The group’s median age of about 25 lends a youthful, positive energy to the meetings, which draw a wide spectrum of members, from those interested in religion to the extremely devout, according to Mr. Calenberg. Some models who attend refuse to pose in advertisements for cigarettes, alcohol, or lingerie, while others aren’t bothered by such photo shoots.

The group occasionally draws newcomers less interested in salvation than in hitting on models.

“Guys are bad,” said Stein Willanger, a 25-year-old member. “It happens.” Dressed in a trucker hat, ripped jeans, and a white T-shirt, Mr. Willanger, who has appeared in advertisements for Perry Ellis and Budweiser, looked better suited for hitting the bars in the East Village than attending a meeting about faith.

But Mr. Willanger said he freely talks about his faith with the non-religious fashion crowd.

“I don’t compartmentalize my faith with the rest of my life,” he said. “I’ve invited people from the industry here, and I’ll talk about church with others.”

Another member, the guest speaker, who asked to remain anonymous, noted that if he came out as a Christian, “it would mean the death of my career.”

“All you hear about is the Christian … – and I don’t want to say “right” – because there are people who have conservative views here,” he said.

“But the country is very polarized right now,” he added later. “You’ve got the extreme left, which hates religion, and then the extreme right, telling gays they are going to burn in hell.”

Asked whether some members of the religious group felt uncomfortable in an industry where many of the leading fashion designers, makeup artists, and photographers are gay, Mr. Calenberg said the subject rarely comes up.

“Sexual identity is not one of our key issues,” he said. “We deal with more sexual issues, like are you being sexually tempted because of this industry – is your body being used as a sexual temptation for others?”

Misconceptions about the group within the fashion industry have slowly dissolved, according to Mr. Calenberg. Booking agents often mention the group as a way to assure new models and their parents that a Christian outlet is available in New York.

“Agents are all about business, so they’ll use us as a bargaining tool,” Mr. Calenberg said. “They know what we do and they know that we’re sincere.”

Still, he believes most people think of Christians “as geeky and out of date,” and hopes that one day, the group will have a larger, global presence in the fashion world.

“It’s definitely against the mainstream to hold traditional values and beliefs in the fashion industry, which is all about creating a new image,” he said. “But it also takes great courage to take a stand, and do so under fire.”