Independent-run business on campus seen as ‘a great fit’ for both parties in tough times,

The economic downturn has turned the spotlight on what some believe may be a new model for Christian retailing, bridging the worlds of church and independent stores.

While church bookstores have been a growth spot in recent years, they have not been immune to recent financial pressures, with some closing and others reducing their hours of operation.

That has brought more attention to the unusual partnership that has quietly been forged at Christian Fellowship Church in Ashburn, Va., in the last three years. The church gives free space to former independent store owner Bill Tilley, who runs The Faithful Source there. With reduced overheads for him and no financial commitment to the church, both sides say it is a win-win scenario.

“Having a great bookstore is a value to us,” said executive pastor Phil Holliday. “It’s a convenience for our congregation, and it allows me to focus on ministry. I don’t know anything about buying and selling books.”

Tilley said he had received inquiries from others interested in taking a similar approach, and believed that the model’s time may have come. “There are so many independents out there who have had to close their stores who have the knowledge (churches need),” he said. “It’s a great fit.”

Margaret Umble, owner of J.O.Y. Bookstore in Sinking Spring, Pa., recently opened a bookstore at Spring Valley Church of God in Temple, Pa., after talking with Tilley about his operation. “It’s working reasonably well so far,” she said. “We are not seeing the sales in it that we would wish, but I think that’s just the name of the game today.”

As a long-time independent retailer, she said she was “not a fan” of churches operating their own stores, though she saw the need to have Christian products available there. “This might be the future,” she said of the Spring Valley partnership model.

Opened around services on Sunday and Wednesday, the new church store is managed by Michael Bennett, pastor of counseling at Spring Valley. With no other bookstores in the area, being able to provide resources for people at the church helped extend its ministry, he said.

Church-independent initiatives were “an excellent idea,” said Geni Hulsey, president of the Church Bookstore Network. “I think we will see more independents coming in to churches like this. It takes away the financial liability from the church.”

George Thomsen, manager of The Harvest Store at Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside Calif., and a CBA board member, said Tilley’s model was “an excellent option for a church that wants resources for its congregation on church grounds. The church gains the benefit of having good resources, but without the risk and hassle of running a retail business.”

Thomsen said his store had seen significant sales increases in the first four months of 2009 despite California’s having been hard hit by the economy—attributing the operation’s health to continuing to practice “the basics of above-and-beyond customer service, excellent inventory levels and selection, nice merchandising displays and a clean store.”

Hulsey told Christian Retailing she had heard of other church stores also seeing growth, while some were struggling.

The Potter’s Wheel bookstore at T.D. Jakes’ The Potter’s House megachurch in Dallas, has reduced its opening schedule to two days a week, around Sunday and Wednesday services. In Honesdale, Pa., the Free Methodist Church has decided to close the Salt Shaker Christian Store it had run in the town since taking over the former independent business’ inventory in 2007.

“It was an important ministry we wanted to continue, but it was just losing money,” said Dan Pahls, the church’s finance committee chairman. The decision to close had been made reluctantly, but sales were not at a level that made the business sustainable.

Meanwhile, Market Street Square Church of the Nazarene in Chesaning, Mich., has just opened Written Miracles Bookstore in the retail section of a former mall the congregation has leased, where other tenants include a jewelry and collectibles store, and an antique and fine arts shop.

Managed by church youth pastor Jeremy Mayer, the store is privately funded, with a portion of profits going to the church. “We have had a great response from the community so far,” he said. “Most of the people that I have seen so far have not been from the church.”

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