Church of Scotland publishing house Saint Andrew Press, possibly best known as publisher of William Barclay’s Daily Study Bible series and several of Bishop Nick Baines’ books, is under threat of closure as the Church of Scotland seeks to address a major budget deficit of £1.2 million, according to a report posted on Tuesday this week by Ian Swanson in the Edinburgh Evening News:
A ROW has broken out over plans by the Church of Scotland to shut down its publishing arm as part of a cost-cutting exercise.
The Saint Andrew Press, which publishes general as well as religious books, is under threat from the Kirk’s mission and discipleship council, which is trying to address a £1.2 million budget deficit.
But the move, part of a cuts package involving ten job losses, is being opposed both inside and outside the church. The former Bishop of Edinburgh Richard Holloway said it looked like the Kirk was “pulling up the drawbridge”.
- Full report: Book thrown at the Kirk over plan to shut publishing house
- Update, The Herald, 26/05/2010: Former PM Brown’s brother quits over axing of church publishers
Nick Baines’s Blog | Nick Baines on twitter
May 13, 2010 at 10:18 am
Though I can understand the need to address the deficit what seems most sad is that it seems publishing real books that inform and educate no longer seems to be within mainstream churches idea’s of mission, and yet once the idea of education and sharing of knowledge was at the heart of the idea of mission and outreach – hence the reasons the publishing houses were set up.
For me the need is not less now with modern methods of communication and the internet but increased as the idea’s get diffused and confused due to hopskip reading (of which I am emminently guilty) amongst other things, and you know despite what everyone says there is a big difference between something stored digitally and something stored hard copy, after all thats why we invented writing, in some ways storing something digitally is pretty similiar to passing info along by word, it has the possibility of becoming corrupted and being lost over time.
Add to this may I return again (as I have done in previous posts) to the great overwhelming issue that so many seem at pains to ignore or brush over in the realm of publishing/ebooks and downsizing and that is the cost to lives and the increasing trend to redundancy, unemployment etc and how this has a direct effect not only on the individuals and families effected but on the wider community both locally and globally, this is bad enough when it’s secular folk being blind to the cost and then promoting things like fair trade and eco-care values but when it’s Christian’s that are in some ways failing in this way then one does begin to wonder with what definition of Christian are we working, are we perhaps missing something integral to our faith and is this why our mission and outreach don’t work so well any longer.
Now don’t get me wrong this is not aimed directly at the Church of Scotland because I am quite positive that like all the many other Christian companies, churches and organisations that have gone before them and those that are also considering taking the same or similiar actions they will do right by their employee’s and follow all legal requirements and make the assigned fair settlements – but is this all we are called to do?
Does this really perform our Christian obligation… does the end really justify the means… and with these actions are we justifying our our end?
These to me are the important questions and the ones for which I am finding no answers forthcoming that deal adequately with them.
My thoughts and prayers go out to all those working at St Andrews Press as they face this time ahead, these are the real ones being balanced, these are our brothers and sisters.
May 13, 2010 at 10:36 am
Sadly, the Church of Scotland and St Andrew Press seem to be going the same way as the Church of England and Church House Publishing. CHP has been absorbed into Hymns A & M, and some jobs saved, but the publishing programme appears to be depleted.
August 31, 2010 at 7:33 am
[...] Andrew Press was faced with the threat of closure earlier this year as part of a controversial cost-cutting exercise by the Kirk which led to John [...]