Methodist Publisher Makes Aggressive Changes to Counter Sales Drops
More Christian publishing companies are beginning to struggle amid dropping church attendance, dwindling Sunday school classes, and competition with secular vendors.
One such company, the United Methodist Publishing House, has felt the brunt of this trend, having sales dip over the past 35 years. As a result, the publisher for the United Methodist Church is attempting to make a radical change to their business to counteract the recent drift.
"Long-term changes in attendance patterns have caught up with us and they've caught up with every denominational publisher that is part of the Protestant Church Publishers Association," says Neil Alexander, publisher and CEO of the company, according to the United Methodist News Service (UMNS).
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Over the years, declines in church attendance, which have also led to fewer Sunday schools, has resulted in fewer sales.
A drop in children's curriculum sales has been most damaging to the Methodist group as they are the largest part of the agency’s business. Reports from publishers show a 30 percent decline in dated curriculum in the last 6 to 8 years.
A trend that has come about over the last years has shown less loyalty to denominational lines. For instance, a Methodist will not exclusively buy Methodist materials - a common tendency in the past. Now, people are more willing to go to a wide variety of sources across the Christian realm.
This can account for the successes of such books such as Rick Warren’s “Purpose Driven Life” and Joel Osteen’s “Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential.”
The Methodist publisher must also out-compete with other Christian outlets such as online bookstores and non-Christian “big box” stores, such as WalMart, which can offer materials at much reduced prices.
Despite all the factors, the publishing company is optimistic about their future, focusing on the positive aspects.
The company is still not losing money. Many of the gross salaries in the company have been cut down, but they have carefully spent the money that they have made, allowing them to come out ahead nine out of the last ten years.
The company has had enough money to support the United Methodist clergy pension fund, which comes from their net revenue. It gave more than $10 million for these pensions in addition to the $5 million in benevolence publishing projects.
The business feels that it will prove to have a more successful future following its upcoming changes.
Last fall, the company’s board of directors met to vote on a new initiative to meet the changing situation, an “environment in which the United Methodist Publishing House lives is dynamic, shifting and, in many ways, unpredictable at this stage," according to their marketing committee.
The publishing group is initializing an aggressive research and development program which will spend $3.2 million, or 8 percent of their average market value over the last 16 quarters.
“We recommended a funding mechanism that allows us to be experimental and flexible rather than locking us into a particular approach," says Rev. Deborah L. Pritts, a board member from Windsor, N.Y., according to UMNS. "Christian publishing is very important to people and will continue to be a very strong industry."
More important than anything, the United Methodist Publishing House puts their faith in God, feeling that it is their duty to offer high quality scripture resources to people around the world.
"What keeps us pumping and going is the Spirit of God at work to help us fulfill the mission," explains Alexander.
Through their projects and God’s guidance, the publishing company will attempt to determine what congregations and their leaders require to help believers grow in faith and, thus, boost sales.
