For the fifth year in a row, Jason Ingram has been named Christian Songwriter of the Year at SESAC's annual Christian Music Awards. During the performing rights organization's 2010 ceremonies, held Feb. 24 in Nashville, Ingram was recognized for writing "Light Up the Sky," which was recorded by The Afters. Ingram also wrote "Healing Begins," which was recorded by Tenth Avenue North, and "Keep Changing the World," recorded by Mikeschair.   ?

An excerpt from Unplanned (Tyndale House Publishers) by former Planned Parenthood Clinic Director Abby Johnson was read aloud on the U.S. House of Representatives floor Feb. 18 by Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), who urged members to vote to defund Planned Parenthood. After hours of debate, the House voted 240-185 to block federal funding of the pro-abortion organization. Johnson's memoir shares her dramatic, controversial journey from pro-choice to pro-life in 2009. Released in January, Unplanned is now in its fourth printing.   ?

Thomas Nelson and EMI CMG Label Group have partnered on Jesus Calling: Songs Inspired By.TheMarch 8 release features three new songs from Luminate, Matthew West and Robbie Seay Band, as well as tracks from Chris Tomlin, Hillsong United, Mandisa, Sanctus Real and Steven Curtis Chapman. The project capitalizes on the popularity of Sarah Young's devotional Jesus Calling, which has sold more than a million copies since it was published in 2004.   ?

Standard Publishing's "Happy Day" book line has sold more than 4 million copies. Including titles such as I'm Glad I'm Your Mother, My Story of Jesus and God Made Puppies, the line comprises early-reader books on everyday values and virtues, seasonal books and Bible storybooks. The 70-plus item line, launched more than 30 years ago, has been expanded to include board books, digital books and compilations.

Chain says customers had 'hardly any interest' in its 'Read With Discernment' advisory program

LifeWay Christian Stores has dropped its "Read With Discernment" program, which labeled books the chain regarded as espousing "thoughts, ideas or concepts that could be considered inconsistent with historical evangelical theology."

The warning label was placed on several titles, including William P. Young's The Shack (Windblown Media/Hachette Book Group USA), Rob Bell's Sex God (Zondervan) and Donald Miller's A Million Miles in a Thousand Years (Thomas Nelson). 

The decision to drop the advisory labels was made because there had been "hardly any interest" in the practice among customers, according to Thom Rainer, president of LifeWay Christian Resources—the chain's parent company, Baptist Press reported. LifeWay officials declined to comment to Christian Retailing.

Some had criticized the program, which began in 2007. In an October 2010 blog post, Christian musician, author and speaker Shaun Groves wrote that he was so annoyed by the warning he found on A Million Miles in a Thousand Years in a LifeWay store that he walked out and bought the book at Barnes & Noble across the street instead.

"I felt that it was duplicitous to warn me on the one hand that what I wanted to buy was not orthodox evangelical theology, but on the other hand to profit from selling it to me anyway," Groves told Christian Retailing. "But I also realized (that) we all exercise selective discernment, reading certain books fearfully and carefully, while giving others a free pass."

Meanwhile, LifeWay Christian Stores marked its 85th anniversary in February. 

Started in 1925 with the purchase of Baptist Book Concern in Louisville, Ky., the Nashville-based chain now has more than 160 locations in 27 states, with approximately 4,500 employees.

Family Christian Stores' 'joint adventure' supports projects such as building homes and orphans care

The country's biggest Christian retail chain has launched a new initiative recruiting customers for missionary service.

Good Goers, described as a "joint adventure" of Family Christian Stores and its The James Fund charity has announced 16 service trips taking participants to Mexico, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic and rural Oklahoma.

Centered on service projects such as building homes and working in orphanages, the trips are being led by Family personnel from the boardroom to the backroom.

Good Goers was established to further the work of The James Fund, which since it was founded in 2003 has sponsored mission trips with staff and given more than $2 million to organizations and projects supporting the care of widows and orphans.

"By God's grace, more customers are engaging with the mission," says the new effort's Web site, www.goodgoers.com. "Vendors are graciously helping to raise more funds; even artists are lending their voices to the cause."

The first trips listing runs through October, with teams visiting children at an orphanage in Monterrey, Mexico, building houses in Chichicastenango, Guatemala; and serving at Oaks Indian Mission in the Cherokee Nation in Oaks, Okla. Open to those aged 13 and older, the trips cost from $500 to $900, excluding travel.

Among Family personnel profiled as experienced trip leaders at the Web site is president and CEO Cliff Bartow, who has made almost 20 mission journeys. Good Goers "provides the opportunity to tend to the needs of the less fortunate, share the love of Jesus Christ and have a great adventure as well," he says at the Web site.

Also spotlighted is Peggy Hibbs, a merchandise systems manager and 26-year veteran of the business. Her two James Fund trips to the Dominican Republic "drastically changed my perspective on retirement and the things that I hold on to," she says.

According to the Good Goers Web site, the initiative is part of Family's desire for "a great role in ministry. Helping customers find, grow, share and celebrate their faith through our stores is incredibly enriching. However, we began to see that we were called to do more. For years, we prayerfully considered new opportunities to enter deeper into ministry life."

Meanwhile, Family has hired a leading e-commerce developer to design and develop a strategy to better sell products through its online store. Grand River will design and develop the Family Web site using Magento's Enterprise Edition 1.9—a system that offers a scalable, cost-effective, online retail solution with rich features, functionality and flexibility, company officials said.

"We chose Grand River based on their success developing multi-channel e-commerce solutions for retailers," said Derek Kloostra, director of e-commerce for Family Christian Stores. "It's our goal to provide the best selection of Christian lifestyle resources to help people find, grow and share their faith. We want to create an experience that delivers world-class service and fosters the Christian community."

The new Web site will make it easy to search, shop and buy products, as well as support The James Fund, the primary philanthropy of Family. Family has nearly 300 brick-and-mortar locations and more than 4,000 employees in 36 states. 

Thomas Nelson's large display 'creates a lot of buzz' at National Religious Broadcasters convention 

There were not as many Christian publishers exhibiting at this year's National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) 68th annual convention, but the event still had a strong publishing emphasis, thanks to a large exhibit of historic Bibles that spotlighted the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible (KJV).

During the Feb. 26-March 1 event in Nashville, Thomas Nelson unveiled its The Living Legacy of the Bible exhibit as part of KJV400—"400 Days of Celebration" commemorating the historical, religious and cultural impact of the KJV Bible since its publication in 1611.

Occupying 10,000 square feet in one of the ballrooms at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center, the exhibit—showcasing more than 4,000 years of Bible history—featured artifacts such as Dead Sea Scroll fragments, cuneiform tablets and numerous historic Bibles, including an original 1611 KJV Bible. The exhibit also featured a 6-minute sneak peek of KJB: The Story of the King James Bible, a new film by British filmmaker Norman Stone and narrated by actor John Rhys-Davies that dramatizes the birth of the Bible. 

The exhibit "created a lot of buzz" at the convention, NRB Vice President of Operations David Keith told Christian Retailing. "It was a museum-type setup. (Nelson) did a reception, program and scheduled interviews during the convention in that space."

Carla Ballerini, vice president of Thomas Nelson's Bible marketing, said that the exhibit was seen by millions through 17 live satellite television segments, which broadcast footage of the display around the world. Nelson was "exploring additional opportunities to showcase the exhibit" at other venues, Ballerini said.

Thomas Nelson's Director of Key Accounts and Ministry Development Brian Bishop said that the publisher's booth was half the size from previous years. "But since our booth was an extension of the branding of the exhibit, we felt it still gave us a good presence," he said. "The exhibit was something new, and seemed to add some buzz to the convention."

Nelson hosted six authors for book signings at the event, including Jack Countryman, Beth Ryan, Larry Stone and Pete Wilson. "NRB provides a valuable platform for networking, meeting and learning about new and trending ministry needs," he said. "Having most of our major clients present allows for us to economically share with them the products that we feel will benefit them most."

Final attendance figures for the convention were not available at press time, but Keith said that it would probably be 4%-5% more than last year's event. Down from 12 publishing houses in 2010, approximately half a dozen publishers exhibited at the convention—including Harvest House, Charisma Media, Nelson and Tyndale House Publishers. 

"There was a minor shift (in exhibitors), but (it was) not just a publisher issue," Keith said. "We view publishers as one of the partner groups for media development and distribution. All (publishers) serve a valuable role in our convention and association."

With the theme "Extend Your Reach Through Media" for the second year in a row, the convention provided a place for interaction with station managers, producers and guest coordinators, vendors and ministry representatives, according to Tyndale House Publishers Corporate Publicist Mavis Sanders.  

NRB "is also an opportunity to identify with Tyndale authors" who have broadcast ministries—including Erwin Lutzer, James Dobson and Randy Carlson, she said. 

Featured speakers at the event included Tyndale authors Gracia Burnham (In the Presence of My Enemies) and Charles Swindoll ("Paws & Tales" children's DVD series, which launched this spring).

During the convention, best-selling author and radio and television Bible teacher Kay Arthur was honored with an NRB Hall of Fame Award. Meanwhile, Harvest House Publishers author nd radio host June Hunt was recognized with a NRB Board of Directors Award.  

"Networking is the major aspect of the convention for us, as it allows us to continue building relationships and explore new projects," Harvest House Senior Publicist Christianne Debysingh told Christian Retailing. 

Retail channel awareness effort gets extended for second year, providing longer promotion window

For its second year, the national event promoting Christian retail will become Christian Store Week, Oct. 1-10. The channel awareness effort will also have broader involvement, with lead sponsor CBA anticipating all the major chains participating.

The extended time frame will provide a longer promotion window that covers multiple weekends, plus the Columbus Day holiday, "which is typically a high-traffic day at retail," said CBA Manager of Strategic Partnerships Eric Grimm.

In its debut effort Oct. 23 last year, Christian Store Day raised $60,000 to aid in relief efforts for Haiti through a compilation benefit CD. Almost 500 stores took part in the event, which included giveaways, specials and in-store appearances by local authors and artists.

A task force of industry vendors and retailers was finalizing event details in preparation for a late April announcement to include details of promotions from major vendors. The task force includes representatives from Family, LifeWay and Berean Christian Stores, Cokesbury, Mardel Christian & Education and Parable, Munce and Covenant groups and the Association of Logos Bookstores.

Plans for 2011 involve making it possible for more suppliers to participate. "Different levels of participation are being identified that will help support proposed advertising and promotion of the event, while offering greater consumer exposure for sponsors," said Grimm. "The key goals are to raise awareness of Christian stores and their ministry role in their local communities and drive new customers to stores."

Going public early with details for Christian Store Week—along with news of a new ministry partner—will give retailers time to maximize store promotions, complete store planning "and begin to engage their communities," Grimm said.

The Christian Store Week initiative is being led by CBA in association with the Christian Music Trade Association and the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. Nashville-based Propeller consultancy is again acting as facilitator.

"We found last year that those retailers who planned ahead, promoted the event, created store excitement and worked in partnership with local churches, ministries and other outreach programs had the most success," Grimm told Christian Retailing. "More than 70% of participating stores reported sales gains over the previous year. Through ministry partners and online partner advertising, the campaign generated more than 1.5 million advertising impressions."

Non-CBA-member stores are being invited to join the campaign. "We recognize that some stores have great business challenges now, which is why we are working to drive traffic and new customers to stores," Grimm said. "CBA changed its store-locator policy last year so all Christian stores would be listed on the store-locator to help consumers find Christian resources and materials."