ELCA NEWS SERVICE

May 6, 2008  

Sales of Worship Resources to Impact ELCA Publisher in 2008
08-057-JB

     MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) -- Sales of the pew edition of
"Evangelical Lutheran Worship" (ELW) for the first quarter of
2008 were slightly more than half what was projected by Augsburg
Fortress, the publishing ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA).  The ELCA publisher expects this trend
to continue for the remainder of the year and revised its pew
edition sales forecast to about $3.4 million for 2008, down from
the $5.5 million in sales it originally projected, said John A.
Rahja, chief financial officer, Augsburg Fortress, in a report to
the board of trustees which met here April 25-26.
     Augsburg Fortress is the publisher of ELW resources, which
were introduced in 2006 to the ELCA and the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Canada.  The resources are available in both print and
in electronic form.  More than 1 million copies of the ELW pew
edition have been sold since it was introduced in October 2006,
said Beth A. Lewis, president and chief executive officer,
Augsburg Fortress.
     For the first three months of 2008, Augsburg Fortress posted
a net loss of $206,000, Rahja reported.  Overall first quarter
sales were $728,000 below forecast, all due to decreased sales of
the ELW pew edition, he said.  Operating expenses were $729,000
less than budgeted.  Rahja attributed the lower expense total to
new product development expenses which are likely to be incurred
later in 2008 than expected.
     For the 2007 fiscal year Augsburg Fortress reported $2.5
million in net income, much of it driven by stronger than
anticipated sales of ELW resources, Rahja said.  This money will
be reinvested in 2008 to improve the infrastructure for the
organization and in the development of several new faith
formation and worship resources, Lewis said.     Augsburg
Fortress entered 2008 with a plan to improve and upgrade its
information technology systems. The board was told of the
progress of the project, which is aimed at making all of the
publisher's systems compatible.  So far Augsburg Fortress has
improved or replaced systems for collecting customer information,
created a central repository for its image library and overhauled
its intranet systems, said Sandy Clifford, director of
information technology and marketing, Augsburg Fortress.
Significant system upgrades and improvements are still to be
completed over the next several months, she said.  Augsburg
Fortress has allocated up to $2.3 million for the entire project,
Clifford said.
     Janet Thompson, board vice chair, Eagan, Minn., told the
board that a decision had been made to put "on hold" fundraising
through the One Mission Endowment Fund, established by the
trustees in 2006.  The fund is still open to receive gifts, but
staff will focus greater attention on other priorities, she said.
     Augsburg Fortress has several new faith formation and
worship resource projects in process, said Tim Blevins, senior
vice president, sales and marketing, Augsburg Fortress. These
include an adult Bible study curriculum; new Sunday School
materials; new Web-based contemporary worship materials;
sacramental resources; new textbooks; and a Lutheran study Bible,
part of the "Book of Faith" initiative adopted by the 2007 ELCA
Churchwide Assembly.
     Blevins said the Book of Faith initiative has resulted in
strong relationships and regular consultation between Augsburg
Fortress staff and staff at the ELCA churchwide office, Chicago.
Board members discussed specific concerns about the ELCA
publisher's role in the Book of Faith initiative, and they
appointed a task force to address those concerns. The task force
was asked to work with Lewis and the Rev. M. Wyvetta Bullock,
executive for administration, ELCA Office of the Presiding
Bishop.
     The board also discussed details of the publisher's 2008-
2010 strategic plan in closed and executive sessions.
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     Information about Augsburg Fortress is at
http://www.augsburgfortress.org on the Web.

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