wfn.org | Curriculum publishing finances lag $189,000 below expectations

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Note #6200 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

23-September-2000
00338

Curriculum publishing finances lag $189,000 below expectations

Bible Quest, Present Word profits up, Covenant People' s down

by Bill Lancaster			

MONTREAT, N.C. -- For the first eight months of 2000 sales of two new lines
of curricula have exceeded expectations while one new line has lagged
behind, the Congregational Ministries Division Committee (CMDC) told the
General Assembly Council (GAC) Sept. 23.

	Sales of "Bible Quest" and "Present Word" curricula exceeded budgeted
expectations by $240,000 through Aug. 31.  Sales of the "Covenant People"
curriculum have fallen below budget by $384,000, or 31 percent.

	The reasons for the slow sales of "Covenant People," the flagship line of
Congregational Ministries Publishing, involve the complexity of ordering
this flexible, multi-faceted material and limitations in order systems,
according to Sandra Moak Sorem, publisher.

	Sales of all lines have exceeded budgeted expectations by $308,000, or 13.1
percent.  But gross profits are only $35,000 or 3.5 percent above
expectations because of the high cost of sales, development, and cost
overruns for "Bible Quest" and "Covenant People."  Further shortfalls of
$309,000 were offset partly by reduced staffing costs of $85,000.

	The price of some "Covenant People" items was set below cost to make it
more affordable for churches, resulting in a loss on each sale.

	In an interesting twist, sales of two discontinued lines, "Bible Discovery"
and "Celebrate," continued strong and contributed $467,000 in revenues.

	The bottom line of all this is that curriculum publishing profits fell
about $189,000 below budgeted expectations.  Sorem expects sales and profits
to increase as publishing moves through this first curriculum cycle.

	In other business, CMDC reported:
  
* The publication Reformed Liturgy and Music is undergoing a major revamping
by the Office of Theology and Worship, publisher.  The Rev. Joseph D. Small,
coordinator of this program area, told the Division that the spring issue
will be 365 pages long and will include lectionary-based resources for
preaching, worship and music.  This issue will cover the entire church year
that begins in Advent, 2001.
	
* The paper, "A Stewardship Theology," was presented to the CMDC as a
revised version of the paper that was sent to the 1999 General Assembly and
referred back to the division for further revisions.  It will be brought
back to the GAC at a later meeting, The Rev. Lynn Shurley, CMDC chair,
reported to the GAC.
	
* The Division sent a letter to GAC chair Peter Pizor from the Peacemaking
Advisory Committee (PAC) affirming the Rev. Dirk Ficca's presentation at the
Presbyterian Peacemaking Conference.  Ficca's speech generated controversy,
and the PAC wished to weigh in his support.

* The loan for the Montreat Conference Center is being restructured, and
Montreat is in the process of purchasing the Glen Rock Inn near the Barn at
Montreat. In 1997, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) restructured $1.5
million in debt into a 6 percent loan amortized over ten years.  Finances at
Montreat have improved, and conference center plans to pay down the
principal amount by at least $350,000 by the end of 2000.  Acting as the
PCUSA Corporation, the body approved the restructure that would continue the
payments on the reduced principal balance at 6 percent with equal monthly
payments and with the remaining balance due on January 1, 2008.
	
* A paper, "Entrance into Pastoral Ministry" is in process of being refined
and will come to the February GAC meeting.  The CMDC reviewed the paper,
which examines every area of the process people follow in becoming
ministers, including presbytery, seminary and General Assembly
responsibilities.  Dottie Hedgepeth, theological education coordinator, is a
resource person for the workgroup writing this paper.

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