Free catalogs, online sales support offered

Discovery House Publishers in Grand Rapids, Mich., has launched a free new service to help church bookstores.

The Ministry Partnerships Program being presented in conjunction with umbrella organization RBC Ministries--publishers of the long-established Our Daily Bread Bible reading notes--can provide free catalogs for church stores and offer online sales services.

With three levels--silver, gold and platinum--the new service offers free, custom catalogs of Discovery House materials mailed free to church members that can also be made available for distribution in-store, and telephone, Web or mail-in order options on which participating church stores earn 6% commission on sales.

"Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing."

1 Thessalonians 5:11, New International Version

The 2008 Pew Forum survey showed that about half of the "nones" actually considered themselves religious. In other words, it appears that most of the unaffiliated individuals are not atheistic or anti-religious in any activist sense, but are rather apathetic toward organized religion and reluctant to join any particular denomination or sect. Perhaps an appropriate term to describe such individuals is "apatheist," a person who is not interested in trying to prove or disprove God's existence or any other religious dogma.'

-Baylor University researcher Konstantin Petrenko, responding to one of the many recent surveys citing a shift in the American spiritual landscape (religiondispatches.org, 3/19/09)

-Ministry Today magazine, www.ministrytodaymag.com

Sometimes our services run way over time, making it difficult for bookstore volunteers who have other commitments to get to later in the day. What do you suggest?

With volunteers, you must be flexible in your expectations. Their time is a gift, and they should always be appreciated for whatever time they are able to give.

If your store is full of customers and the time grows late, you could consider:
* Seeing if paid staff members can pick up the slack so that volunteers can be excused.
* Polling your volunteers to see if any with no pressing commitments can stay longer, if needs be. If one can help this way, be sure to thank them personally. Write them a thank-you note.

Product knowledge is an essential for church bookstore staff—and it doesn't have to be a chore. Vacation Bible School suppliers gave a hands-on introduction to their 2009 programs and some of the fun activities included during a special presentation at The Gathering 2009.

Selecting products for a church bookstore that do not oppose the doctrine of the church "requires an acute awareness of the materials and the publishers," said Pat Baur, manager of The BOOKstore at McLean Bible Church in McLean, Va. "There are hundreds of new titles released every month, and thousands of titles are currently available to us."

The BOOKstore collaborates with the church's ministries to build and maintain its stock of core titles. "Since we are here to support the broader vision of the church, and the specific needs of each ministry, we partner with our ministries to develop our core titles," Baur said.

Since that very first meeting at Strang Communications' offices in Lake Mary, Fla., I've had the opportunity to network and share ideas with a great group of church bookstore managers and volunteers. We recently held our first Detroit area Gathering and had a great time.

Luane Bastianelli and the team at Kensington Community Church in Troy, Mich., hosted our day and arranged "goodie bags" from several of their vendors. We spent the first part of our day getting to know one another and talking about some of our common issues-like P.O.S. systems and how to maximize sales. We also were given a tour of the Kensington Bookstore and campus.

A message from Geni Hulsey, president of the Church Bookstore Network:

Welcome to the first edition of The Church Bookstore Newsletter. What an exciting way to stay connected, find out about new products and events in the industry, and to learn more about how to effectively manage a church bookstore ministry.

In late January I was told that Houston's First Baptist Church would be closing the bookstore I had managed there for 15 years. Since then, I've heard of a number of churches deciding to either cut back on the size of their bookstore or eliminate it altogether.