ELCA NEWS SERVICE
January 13, 2005
ELCA Publisher Reduces Staff, Expenses, Focuses On 'Core'Resources
05-004-JB
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Augsburg Fortress, the Minneapolis-based
publishing ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA), announced in a Jan. 11 news release that it is reducing
24 staff positions, discontinuing product lines and consolidating
select overhead costs.
The decision means the company will focus on "core ministry
resources for the ELCA and the wider Christian community," the
release said. The core products include key resources in the
areas of education, worship, music, leadership and church
supplies. This new focus will result in a reduction of the
overall product offerings from Augsburg Fortress, the publisher
said.
"We want to concentrate our energy on promising new product
lines in core ministry areas, and that means we need to
discontinue new development in other selected product lines,"
said Beth A. Lewis, Augsburg Fortress president and chief
executive officer. "Augsburg Fortress, although a unit of the
ELCA, is funded solely through the sale of our products. While
our bottom line has improved since 2001, revenue has been
declining for over a decade, and we continue to incur operating
losses. Putting our resources to work in a more focused way will
help us serve the church and be financially stable."
Prior to these changes, Augsburg Fortress employed 168
people at its Minneapolis headquarters and 67 people at other
locations in the United States and Canada. Affected employees
will receive severance and job placement packages, and some
employees will qualify for an early retirement program, the news
release said.
"Making these difficult staffing decisions has weighed
heavily upon all of us on the executive staff, but we must reduce
our expenses in order to provide financial strength for the
future," Lewis said. "We are committed to assisting the affected
employees in their career transitions as much as possible."
Lewis said new ministry resources for 2005 and beyond are an
adult Bible study program, "No Experience Necessary," a
confirmation program featuring "A Lutheran Handbook," and
electronic and print worship resources developed in collaboration
with ELCA worship staff.
"By focusing on these core resources, we will provide the
crucial tools that our ministry partners in the ELCA and the
wider Christian community have been requesting," Lewis said.
"The Augsburg Fortress Board of Trustees has approved the
strategic and financial plan being implemented by the Augsburg
Fortress executive staff," said James "Jim" Myers, board chair,
Kailua, Hawaii. "These changes are necessary to ensure the future
of the publishing ministry of the ELCA at Augsburg Fortress. They
will enable the Augsburg Fortress staff to build on its recent
outstanding work in developing new resources such as the popular
Davey & Goliath vacation Bible school program, the Lutheran
Voices book series, and Introduction to the Hebrew Bible with CD-
ROM."
Lewis added that while the decisions "were not easy to make,
we believe they will insure that Augsburg Fortress remains a
vital and important publishing ministry for years to come."
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Information about Augsburg Fortress is at
http://www.augsburgfortress.org on the Web.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
