Charis 'sets the bar high' for store events

 A church bookstore has been singled out as a model for hosting author events.

Diane Moody sang the praises of Charis Christian Bookstore after visiting the outlet at First Baptist Church of Indian Rocks in Largo, Fla., to promote her first book, Confessions of a Prayer Slacker (Sheaf House Publishers).

Moody contrasted the stellar effort of the store with the reception she had received elsewhere, including at a “major bookseller” in her Nashville hometown where her name was misspelled on the last-minute sign put up to promote her visit.

Writing about her experiences in a blog posting, 'Book Signings: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” Moody told how staff at Charis contacted the distributor ahead of time to ensure the store had plenty of copies of her book and promoted the event at the church in its newspaper, on TV screens and in the bulletin.

In addition there was an endcap display in the heart of the store, a table for signing copies and a place for signing books when she spoke to women's groups elsewhere in the church later.

Moody's previous experiences had been less happy, including visiting a conference center bookstore where the staff “wasn’t the least bit interested in making the event successful.” There was no signage or advertising, and the manager turned down an offer of bookmarks to hand out in advance. “She set up our table in the most off-the-path location on campus” and scheduled the event during the dinner hour.

At First Baptist Church of Indian Rocks, Moody sold 85 books at the in-store signing alone. She applauded Charis Manager Martha Brangenberg for “setting the bar high.”

Designer takes over store 

The man who helped design an award-winning church bookstore has taken over the running of the operation.

Longtime design consultant Barney Paradise is the new Director of Resource Ministries at Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas. The church's Passages store was named Mid-Sized Church Bookstore of the Year for 2010 by The Church Bookstore magazine.

Paradise has taken over the leadership of the bookstore ministry—which includes a location on a satellite campus and plans for another—from Bobby Williams. A former regional director of the Church Bookstore Network, Williams has been named Director of Gateway Publishing Create for the growing church.

Through his own Design Identity consultancy and previous work with other design groups, Paradise has been involved in designing around 300 Christian retail and church stores. Paradise has assigned the day-to-day running of his business to two staff, but will be involved in new projects from time to time.

Paradise said that he was excited by his new role, which he was invited to consider when Williams, with whom he had worked on the new Passages store, moved to another ministry in the church.

“I think that the church bookstore is developing into the true retail ministry arm of the church,” Paradise said. “It's making sure that the proper resources that are going to empower and edify people in their growth with Christ are getting into their hands.”

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