wfn.org | Presbyterian Publishing `Pipeline' To Deliver Ideas Left and Right

[PCUSA NEWS <pcusa.news@ecunet.org>]

26-May-1999 
99204 
 
    Presbyterian Publishing `Pipeline' 
    Will Deliver Ideas from Left and Right 
 
    by Evan Silverstein 
 
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -  The Presbyterian Publishing Corporation (PPC) recently 
launched a new enterprise that will market and distribute books produced by 
groups as theologically diverse as the More Light Churches Network and the 
Presbyterian Lay Committee. 
 
    The idea for the new service, to be called the Presbyterian Pipeline, 
came from the Presbyterian Lay Committee, which publishes the conservative 
"Presbyterian Layman" newspaper and a confirmation curriculum it prefers to 
that of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). 
 
    "We are querying organizations on the left wing and the right wing and 
the center of the denomination ideologically, theologically," said Davis 
Perkins, PPC's president and publisher. "I think we're going to have a 
striking balance in terms of the resources that we put into this program." 
 
    The Pipeline, which for now has an agreement with only the Lay 
Committee, will serve up books and resources that are independently 
produced by organizations within, or related to, the PC(USA). The new 
program will include wholesale and retail marketing, distribution, product 
advertising, cataloging and warehousing. 
 
    The Pipeline concept originated more than a year ago, Perkins said, 
when members of the Lay Committee and Presbyterians for Renewal approached 
PPC about collaborating on publishing efforts. Before long, he said, the 
idea of a marketing and distribution service "mushroomed" and "blossomed" 
during further conversations with the Lay Committee. 
 
    The Pipeline has a fan in the Rev. Parker T. Williamson, executive 
editor of "The Presbyterian Layman." 
 
    "We believe that this partnership will serve a rapidly growing market 
for evangelical resources," Williamson told the Presbyterian News Service 
via e-mail. "And while PLC Publications will continue to market its 
materials independently, we are grateful for this opportunity to serve 
congregations through denominational channels as well." 
 
    Thirty to 40 invitations to join the Pipeline have been sent to 
Presbyterian entities that are "across the spectrum" theologically, Perkins 
said. "We're optimistic that we'll receive a number of positive responses." 
 
    The Presbyterian Center for Mission Studies, a Pasadena, Calif., 
organization that publishes mission-related books, has a Pipeline 
application pending. Other groups, such as the Coalition for Appalachian 
Ministry, have expressed interest. 
 
    Overall, organizations from Presbyterian activist groups to seminaries 
have been asked whether they have publications that could go into the 
Pipeline. A dozen or so of the denomination's  larger churches have been 
invited to participate, as has the More Light Churches Network, a year-old 
merger between More Light and Presbyterians for Lesbian and Gay Concerns. 
 
    Also receiving invitations were the Witherspoon Society, which 
publishes a newsletter focusing on justice-related concerns; Presbyterians 
For Renewal, a group advocating a spiritual and biblical focus for the 
church; and the Covenant Network of Presbyterians, a group of pro-gay and 
lesbian ordination Presbyterians that says it represents the theological 
"center." 
 
    "Our position is that this is a very diverse church and that it's our 
responsibility as denominational publishers to publish for a broad 
constituency and beyond the scope of our own publishing program," Perkins 
said, "and to offer a diverse array of resources to parts of the church 
that are not served in any other direct and meaningful way by the national 
church." 
 
    With a publishing heritage that dates back more than160 years, the PPC 
is the official denominational publisher of the PC(USA) and also publishes 
under the trade imprints Westminster John Knox Press and Geneva Press. 
 
    Participants in the Pipeline program are expected to be actively 
involved in developing and/or publishing books or resources that appeal, or 
have the potential to appeal, to a significant national following of 
Presbyterians. Program coordinators for the Pipeline will help determine 
the level of service to be provided and the financial arrangements. 
 
    "It's not for us primarily a money making proposition, simply making 
these materials available with a modest charge to cover our marketing, 
promotional expenses," Perkins said. "We're actually just hoping to serve 
all parts of the church, including some parts the evangelical wing of our 
denomination, the right wing conservatives, evangelical churches that are 
not currently being served by publication entities of the national church. 
We will be able to achieve that with the Presbyterian Lay Committee being 
in the Presbyterian Pipeline." 
 
    For more information or to request an application, please contact Tom 
Vandergriff, PPC's congregational resources manager, at (502)569-5072. 

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