Title: ELCA Publishing House to Relocate ELCA NEWS SERVICE May 1, 1997 AUGSBURG FORTRESS TO RELOCATE 97-17-049-AH LOS ANGELES (ELCA) -- Augsburg Fortress, the publishing house of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, will move to a new location in downtown Minneapolis based on an action taken by the board of trustees at its meeting here April 24-26. The publishing house will move to three floors at Fifth Street Towers, located at Marquette Ave. and Fifth St. The old Augsburg Fortress building in Minneapolis has been sold to Hennepin County for the site of a new jail. The board authorized staff to proceed into a final agreement on the space. Moving day is anticipated to be in early 1998. Augsburg Fortress will move the 235 current staff members to the new offices and it is planning for a staff of 260. The Rev. Marvin L. Roloff, president and CEO, said it will be "essentially a paper move," involving no furnishings and minimal equipment. The move, build out and new furnishings will cost about $2.8 million, Roloff said. Augsburg Fortress looked for "space that would provide an environment that is flexible, economical, supporting the increasing technology demands and business demands." It wanted to encourage team interaction among staff. Alan T. Seagren, Lincoln, Neb., who chairs the board, said, "This is a big step for the publishing house toward becoming an organization of the future. It is a significant factor in changing the culture of the organization to ready it for the challenges the future holds." Roloff said the staff is working on a new location for the Augsburg Fortress store somewhere in the Twin Cities area. The board discussed the strengths and the needs of inner city churches with leaders of New City Parish, a consortium of five ELCA congregations in Los Angeles' inner core. The ministry was formed in the aftermath of the 1992 civil disturbance to provide church-based outreach to some of the city's most economically and socially depressed areas. The Rev. Albert Starr Jr., Ascension Lutheran Church in the Crenshaw neighborhood, said, "We are manifesting the presence of Jesus and proclaiming the hope. God did not ordain and plant us in this place only to survive, but to serve and grow." Maria Paiva, a New City Parish board member from Angelica Lutheran Church, asked Augsburg Fortress to continue developing Spanish language materials. About 49 percent of the people involved in New City Parish are Hispanic. She praised efforts to publish Spanish worship resources. The Rev. James J. Lobdell, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, told the board, "We need materials that motivate creativity. Help us create materials that grow out of our community rather than impose upon it." Starr offered the resources of New City Parish to the church through Augsburg Fortress: "We have gifted writers, storytellers, actors and producers right here." The board also endorsed a proposed three-year strategic plan as a "work in progress." The Rev. Nancy L. Winder, Faith Lutheran Church, Seattle, praised the plan's emphasis on "healthy partnership." She said, "I find it really exciting, clearly showing partnership, coherence and access to resources." The plan includes some "major steps" such as a comprehensive overhaul of information systems; enhanced partnerships, ecumenical and within the ELCA; shifts in several areas of publishing; and a revised electronic publishing approach targeting Internet and CD-ROM applications. Carter Lindberg, Northboro, Mass., said the plan should reflect "our understanding of our role not only as a church business but also as business that is responsible to the church. We have to be conscious of the way the fulfillment of our mission is directed." Lois O'Rourke, Madison, Wis., called the plan "aggressive" and said it will provide "measurable success." The Rev. Lee M. Miller, bishop of the ELCA's Upstate New York Synod, expressed concern that the publishing house support scholarly and missional products as well as those that generate income. "I think it is possible to have products that make money and link with them products that don't," he said. The board reviewed a new retail strategy. Dana E. Dreibelbis, vice president for publishing, said the current system of retail centers "absorbs too many resources to reach too few customers for too broad and ill-defined a purpose." He said the new retail strategy hinges on the three-year strategic plan, "that is, we are the publishing house of the ELCA. We want to be more responsive to and more supportive of the Lutheran market. The retail strategy will integrate the activities of retail sales, church resource specialists, events, and trade sales. Todd P. Engdahl, Denver, was elected to chair the board for the coming two years. For information contact: Ann Hafften, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask] http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html