Eastview Christian Church store focused on ministries of evangelism and discipleship

Lorena Allen, manager of Harvest Bookstore in Normal, Ill., seeks to be a strong spiritual leader to her team of 32 volunteers. 

The twofold mission of the store at Eastview Christian Church demands that kind of leadership. 

“We are focused on the mission of discipling and the mission of John 3:16,” said Allen of what drives the store staff. 

Many of the staff at Eastview are challenged and encouraged in weekly meetings with their senior pastor, Mike Baker.

“During those meetings, we share what God has been doing in our ministry areas.,” Allen said. “He also leads us in a devotional and we pray together. One of the things he tells us frequently is we need to lead our volunteers and ‘sheep’ by being an example.”

Allen has taken that challenge to heart, in part by going on three mission trips since she became store manager in 2007.

“Our church partners with GO Ministries, and I have been to the Dominican [Republic] two times and once to the Amazon jungle,” she said. “A cool thing that came out of the trips to the DR was that we provided books for the Dominican Seminary, which equips Dominican pastors.”

Several store volunteers have gone on the trips, and some have been team leaders. 

“We often provide resources for the teams and to the pastors serving in these places,” Allen said. “Our church is made up of people who are studying, following, serving and being Jesus, not only at home, but abroad.”

At home, serving a church of 5,200 with four Sunday services, the store has an ongoing Bible giveaway at various events.

“We’ve given away about as many Bibles as we have sold,” Allen said.

The store also stocks resources for church Care Groups with focuses such as Boundaries or Military.

“We get people plugged into the places where they have a need,” she said, and those places might be one of the church’s many care groups.

“Our main focus is getting the resources into people’s hands, growing and discipling them,” Allen said. “We don’t focus solely on a profit or a loss. What I love the most is interacting with people and being able to share the Good News. We get to talk with people, pray with them, see and watch them on their journeys.”

Full-time coordinator ‘keeps an eye’ out for individuals who could handle specific roles

Retail Services Director Rose Seeley relies heavily on the 120-member volunteer team at Cottonwood Bookstore. Serving at the 1,400-square-foot church store in Los Alamitos, Calif., offers church members the opportunity to enjoy each other’s fellowship while investing in a ministry and serving customers.

“We are helping congregation members to feel more planted in the church, and it helps in their spiritual growth when they are making a commitment to serve,” Seeley said. “I can’t imagine our bookstore without them.”

Along with Seeley and full-time
Volunteer Coordinator Adela Crisologo, Operations Assistant Rhonda Coleman and Gift Buyer Cassy Assink are employed part-time.

The main thrust of Crisologo’s job is to recruit, schedule and train the volunteers. 

“Adela keeps an eye on who she thinks is suited for certain roles,” Seeley said. “Then we work together to try to get the volunteers in roles that they will enjoy and are good at.” 

The store offers continuous training for volunteers in individual and group settings. Volunteers often start out as frontliners, working on the floor with customers or at resource tables. Later, they may move into a cashier position. The store also has weekday positions, where volunteers do shipping, receiving, labeling and product placement.  

“Volunteers are involved in everything we do at the store, from tagging merchandise and putting it on the shelves, serving as a cashier and working resource tables at special events, to duplicating service messages and Bible imprinting,” Seeley said. 

Volunteers can serve on a bookstore team, a bookstore audio team or a special events team. There’s also a mix of those who serve in long-term positions and others who make a several-month commitment, working two to three times per month.

Open six days a week, Cottonwood Bookstore stocks a wide selection of Bibles, books, music, DVDs, apparel and gifts.

Staff aims to serve as ‘Jesus’ hands and feet’ to customers

Providing customers with life-changing resources is what drives the staff at Passages Bookstore. Located in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, the store has six locations that serve the 30,000-plus member congregation of Gateway Church led by Robert Morris, founding and senior pastor.  

“As Gateway Church says, ‘We’re All About People’ and we truly are all about people,” said Susan Wilson, manager of the main Passages Bookstore in Southlake. “Everybody that comes in is a guest. Built on an eternal perspective, we love to serve.”

The 2,100-square-foot store on the main campus is open seven days a week. It is positioned so that people see it when they first walk into the church.

“We are the face of Gateway,” Wilson said. “We get people literally running in.”

Whether it’s someone facing divorce, a job loss, an illness or an addiction, they turn to Passages for helpful resources.

“They don’t know where to go, and we are one of the first doors and the first people they see,” she said. “So we are a ministry even before we’re a bookstore.”

One aspect of the store is its benevolence, giving hundreds of complimentary products or resources each month to those in need. 

“We are able to minister that way because of the generosity of Gateway Church,” Wilson said.

She sees each product as a stepping stone that may lead someone to Jesus. 

“Everyone that comes in has a need,” she said. “They may not express it or let us know about it, but I believe that every step that they come in and make inside the bookstore is a step closer to finding a resource that can be a life-changer.”

The “Freedom” series based on classes held at the church is one example of such a resource. 

“We hear countless stories about people’s lives and how they’ve been changed,” Wilson said. “We hear story after story. We love to be Jesus’ hands and feet.”

Gateway has six store locations, including one at The King’s University, recently relocated to the main Gateway campus.

Store director appreciates being able to ‘help people live better lives’ in the community

A Memphis store serving the Church of God in Christ (COGIC) denomination sits in a prime location, about two blocks from Beale Street, the heart of the city’s famous blues music district. The Church of God in Christ Store benefits from its downtown setting, as  50% to 55% of the store’s walk-in traffic comes from tourists.

“Through the years, it has been so rewarding to be in an atmosphere, where you can help people live better lives and feel like you are doing good within the community,” said Sharon Miller, store director. “Every time there is a new convert, or you can remember the times when you sold a customer their first Bible, those are the things that have encouraged me to want to continue to good, not only within the church, but in the community.”

The store also has enjoyed many years of service from Sharon and her mother, Geraldine Miller. The two started working at the at the Main Street store on its opening day, Nov. 1, 1973. Geraldine also was involved in the store’s planning and development. Now 84, Geraldine retired from managing the store in 2000, and Sharon started at the store right out of high school.

 “When the store first opened, there was such an overwhelming response and my mom needed some help,” said Sharon about her start at store. “My mom influenced me so much in my life, not just in the business. She was such a spiritual-minded, stable woman. She always had a spiritual answer for everything, in the good times and bad. I admired that so much about her.”

Geraldine still visits the 1,800-square-foot store at least once a month. 

“She’s a customer now,” Sharon said. “I just sold her a Bible. Every time she comes in, I sell her something.”

Employing three full-time, one part-time and one seasonal staff member, the store mainly serves an urban market and averages about $1 million dollars in annual sales. It operates as a nonprofit under the Church of God In Christ, and funnels its proceeds back into the church to support various ministry endeavors.

Along with Sharon, the store’s staff—Ferrick Gale, Erin Johnson and Terrence Garner—said they look forward to continuing to serve the community in a faith-based atmosphere.