It is with heartfelt regret that I need to inform you that the Harrow branch of Living Oasis is closing. Our last trading day will be Saturday 2nd April. Please find attached a poster to display on your Church noticeboard.
We believe that the Lord had a purpose and a vision for the shop and we have tried to take this forward but, unfortunately, the number of customers coming through the doors since the closure of Wesley Owen has halved and there is simply not enough trade for us to be able to continue.
I know of at least 13 Christian bookshops that have closed since the beginning of the year. The Harrow branch is the 8th Living Oasis shop to close. Please pray for the future of Christian bookshops and the ministry they provide and, also, for the staff here as we begin to seek the Lord for our futures and try to secure new jobs. Please also remember our loyal volunteers who have given their time and talents to support this work.
We are very thankful for the support you have given us during a difficult time.
ONLY TWO WEEKS after celebrating its first birthday, Living Oasis Harrow is closing down. The news emerged yesterday via facebook as staff and former staff posted status updates about becoming unemployed and expressing concern; local church leaders were notified by email. The branch ceases trading next weekend.
Living Oasis Locations as of 26 March 2011: only 12 stores will remain after next weekend
No official public announcement appears to have been made about either branch by Nationwide Christian Trust, the company’s owners, and rather than respond to my enquiries, Andy Twilley has taken the interesting step of blocking me on facebook and has instructed staff not to speak to me and to restrict my access to their facebook pages. Comments I left on the Leeds and Liverpool pages requesting prayer for staff at the stores facing closure have been removed and I have been blocked from leaving further comments.
Please Pray…
Please continue to pray for the staff affected by this turmoil as those who remain face continuing uncertainty whilst those whose stores have been closed or are closing face unemployment.
Please also pray for Andy Twilley, Ray George and all others at Nationwide Christian Trust as they seek the best way forward for the organisation.
Finally, please pray for me as I seek wisdom and grace both for my reporting and in my response to the information restrictions currently imposed by Living Oasis.
DESCRIBED BY THE PUBLISHERS,Darton, Longman & Todd, as written for “anyone who knows deep down that they would like to live and love differently, [Desert Wells] is a fresh approach: ten original short stories written to help us explore paths that deepen our humanity, such as slowing down, listening, forgiving – living in the present.”
I invited Alice Bates, the book’s author, to tell us what inspired her to write those stories. She writes:
Alice Bates
I’m nagged by the divide between our life-in-church and life-in-the-world as Christians; it seems to me that God never meant that divide to be there, and that God is nothing if not present and working in our everyday lives, the non-church days. And I’m sure that, ever since Jesus came to be a man on earth like us, God is incarnate in every leaf and twig of his creation — is everywhere — only we can’t see him there very clearly.
So how do you recognise God in ‘normal’, everyday life, in the people and things all around? Jesus told stories, usually not ‘religious’ stories, to bring the Scripture out of the synagogue and into the streets, into everyday life — to ‘earth’ it there. To heal that church/everyday life divide. Desert Wells is an attempt to do the same for us, in our world now.
So I’ve taken a verse from the Bible together with a concern we’re likely to share — such as how to listen, forgive, live in the present — and told a story in the light of both, which I hope has something to say about how we live now. The stories don’t mention God; that is part of the point; but I hope they speak of him.
In her foreword Jane Williams ended by urging people to ‘read (the stories) and start to pay attention to the people and things all around that an lead to freedom, growth and joy.’ That was precisely my aim, and I’m so thrilled she put it so succinctly.
Desert Wells
Alice Bates
Darton, Longman & Todd, 2011
9780232527902
£9.99
Trade availability: Direct from DLT, via STL, Gardners or any other DLT stockist.
HAVING BEEN RATHER BUSY with 5 Quid for Lifelast week, preparing for our inaugural meeting on Saturday 19th March, as well as updating our church website, it proved impossible to post this roundup at the end of last week, so this time around, for a change, a news roundup to start the week.
Thank you to everyone who has provided information for these updates: if you have news you’d like to see featured in the next roundup, please get in touch.
ON FRIDAY 18th MARCH Lion launched a live facebook interview with Andrea Skevington and Sophy Williams, author and illustrator respectively, to celebrate publication of The Lion Classic Bible, providing a fascinating insight into life behind the pages:
The Lion Classic Bible: a facebook interview with Andrea Skevington, author, and Sophy Williams, illustrator
Here’s an excerpt to whet your appetite:
LCB: Sophy, the stories are full of action and drama and I think the illustrations work really well with them, bringing them to life in colour. Which was your favourite illustration to work on? And Andrea, which was your favourite story to tell?
SW: Funnily enough it was the image you have used for the cover! The original design had been approved but when I started drawing it up I thought it wasn’t exciting enough. I had drawn it with Jesus in the foreground looking out towards the fishing boat but spontaneously changed the whole composition. I liked the image of the leaping fish. The animals leaving the ark was fun to do too… and I enjoyed doing David and Goliath!
AS: Hmm, favourite story… there are so many wonderful ones to tell. Perhaps the Prodigal Son was my favourite. I found it very moving to write. Each of the three characters carries such a weight of emotion. I was inspired by a wonderful dance production of the story, by Springs Dance Company. I called my version The Running Father.
LCB: Andrea, you obviously love words! Where do you get your inspiration from? Is there anything you particularly enjoy reading? And Sophy, are you inspired by any other artists or illustrators? Have you always wanted to be an illustrator?
SW: I have always loved to draw and ended up doing what I love as my job, although it took a while to realize that illustration was where I fitted best. There are so many very talented illustrators but a particular favorite is Shaun Tan with The Red Tree being one that everyone should go and find if they don’t know it.
AS: Inspiration comes from many things, like the dance that helped me look again at the Prodigal Son. Most especially, I find inspiration comes outside, and from nature. I love being in the garden, and walking through the quiet beauty of the Suffolk countryside. I love reading and writing poetry. Just last week I discovered a wonderful book of poems in the library by Kerry Hardie, and a collection of Mary Oliver is usually close to hand in the house! Both of these poets see such depth in ordinary things. It’s hard to choose among so many loved writers, but lately I’ve read Home by Marilynne Robinson, Charlotte Grey by Sebastian Faulks, and reading anything by Alexander McCall Smith is like spending time with a kind and witty friend.
If your shop is on facebook, why not hit that ‘Like’ button and add The Lion Classic Bible to your favourites? Then send the link to all your facebook friends and invite them in to buy it!
Christian Marketplace “is not going away”
ENCOURAGING FEEDBACK from Clem Jackson in his latest Christian Marketplace editorial (April 2011, p.4) responding to my recent observation about the magazine going from a monthly to a bi-monthly. Clem acknowledges that the “last couple of years have been challenging” but emphasises that
Christian Marketplace is not going away and the small team involved with its production will continue to provide a service to the Christian trade. I look forward to us journeying on together.
Sentiments with which I wholeheartedly concur — keep up the good work, Clem, and thank you.
Customer Care: Wise Words from Chris Jewell
CONTINUING WITH CHRISTIAN MARKETPLACE, Chris Jewell offers some wise words on customer service in his latest column, April 2011, p.18. Emphasising that every member of staff has a part to play in delivering “great customer care”, he writes:
If you don’t do this already, get together regularly with your staff, paying no attention to ‘rank’, and begin to brainstorm ideas and suggestions about practical ways of improving your customer care. This has the added benefit of all staff knowing they are working as a team with a common goal, not always apparent in larger organisations.
The failure to do this — to treat all staff with basic dignity and respect as human beings — is undoubtedly one of the factors that led to the collapse of the former SPCK bookshops under the Brewer brothers and which is causing ongoing difficulties elsewhere in the trade…
Life will most certainly not return to how it was. We have to move on and change – fast.
It seems to me that there are four incontrovertible facts that we must openly recognise and begin to accept;
The UK has become increasingly secularised and less open to Christian forms of spirituality
Delivery methods and channels – but not content – are changing almost on a daily basis
Consumers, and especially younger people, are not buying as many physical books as in the past
The Christian book trade is undergoing a serious and prolonged period of retrenchment
The mission and calling of distributing the word of God in various formats continues. We urgently need to develop positive conversations to determine how best to respond. By way of encouragement, I fully recognise that there are a good number of shops around the country doing a superb job and working against the odds. May God bless each one. As I’ve written elsewhere, we must provide encouragement and help to each other and eschew condemnation and recrimination wherever possible.
One respondent, Pete Slee, came back with four points of his own which the trade needs to get to grips with, finally posing this challenging question:
… do we need to take a deep breath and ask if, in 2011, the trade really understands how to communicate Good News to the present generation?
It’s a vital question, and the future of the trade hinges upon our response — not only upon our response now and at High Leigh when Eddie reiterates the question, but also upon our ability and willingness to keep the conversation going and develop practical outcomes from it. Last year there was a song and a dance to the tune of ‘Stronger Together, Weaker Apart’ but very little appears to have been done to follow that through as most booksellers and publishers, whether independents or parts of larger conglomerates, seem to have simply pressed ahead with doing their own thing, leading almost inevitably to the shop closures and job losses we’re now seeing.
If you’re going to High Leigh this year, why not make a pledge now, before you get there, to commit yourself and your company to exploring ways of keeping the conversations going afterwards? In the meantime, of course, irrespective of whether or not you can attend, you could join the conversation with Eddie, Pete, myself and several others…
STL do Comic Relief
MORE ENCOURAGING NEWS from STL: Customer Service staff were clearly determined that the company’s current difficulties wouldn’t be allowed to undermine their sense of fun as they joined in with Comic Relief on Friday. From the STL Blog, Today is a colourful day in Customer Services:
Red Nose Day 2011: STL do Comic Relief
There’s a lot more than fun and games going on at STL as well, of course: make sure you keep an eye on their blog to keep yourself up to speed with latest news on stock availability, new supplier agreements and much, much more…
IVP Vacancies, March 2011
Vacancies at IVP
AND FINALLY, for the jobseekers amongst us: IVP have some new vacancies, full details of which should be available at ivpbooks.com/vacancies from tomorrow, 22nd March 2011:
Commissioning Editor (Full-time or Part-time)
Editorial Assistant
IT/Web Intern (Salaried)
Web/Marketing Intern (Salaried)
Applications for all four posts close in May (some early, some late) so there’s plenty of time to prepare if you’re interested…
IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN — out come the dusters and the cobweb brushes as I make my annual (and always ongoing) attempt to bring all the UK Christian Bookshops Directory records up to date!
Over the last year we’ve seen a lot of shops come and go, as well as change hands, and at this point I need your help, please: if you own or work in a Christian bookshop, please check your entry — either via the Shop Name Index or the Town and City Index (the two are mirrored so it doesn’t matter which way you go in) — and let me know, either via a comment on this post or directly, if it needs updating.
If you’re a Christian bookshop customer, please do likewise: check the entries for your local Christian bookshop(s) and do two things if they’re not listed or the entry is out of date:
Call in at the shop and encourage them to check their entry
Leave a comment here or give me a shout
Every entry that has been updated within the last three years has a date against it. Entries with no date have not been updated within that period and my plan is to flag these up with a query if no information is forthcoming from either the shop owners, customers or other sources.
Last but not least: a FREE entry upgrade for every retailer who responds to this call! In the past, inclusion of a shop photograph has only been available to paying subscribers. This time around, if you send me — or supply the URL (web address) for — a photograph of your shop, it will be added to your entry free of charge. All basic entries and access to the Directory remain, as ever, free of charge.
Please note that UKCBD is a 100% voluntary project: there are no paid staff beavering away behind the scenes. It may therefore take some time to amend or add entries: please be patient!
The Hope Centre, is an initiative of Hope in North East Cheshire. It is based in the old Wesley Owen bookshop in Park Green, Macclesfield. It functions both as a coffee shop, and a Christian bookshop selling books, CD and other fairly traded goods. In addition to these commercial aspects is [sic] is designed to provide a beacon of hope to the people of Macclesfield.
Thirty nine churches in the area have come together to make the initiative possible and have been working on the project for the best part of a year now. From the minutes of a meeting held on July 18th 2010:
It is envisaged that the ground floor will contain a small coffee bar selling light refreshments, an information area where services and events in all churches and Hope in North East Cheshire will be available as well as access to other forms of help, a retail area selling cards, books, dvd’s, etc and a computer corner where people with no access at home can be helped online. The entrance to the shop will be made wheelchair accessible and there will be a disabled toilet on the ground floor with ramp where necessary.
The actual opening date has yet to be announced, but detailed plans have been drawn up and volunteers are being recruited: congratulations to all involved!
Screenshot of Hope Centre Plans: click through for a closer view
My thanks to Mike Norbury for alerting me to this story
MORE CONGRATULATIONS are in order, first of all to Living Oasis, Harrow, who celebrated their first birthday on Saturday 12th March with authors, guest speakers from London School of Theology, live music and much more — all backed up with homemade, fair trade cupcakes and tea & coffee.
Sadly I couldn’t be there myself, but if you made it, please leave a comment to tell us how it went — even better if you can supply some photos!
If Living Oasis Harrow is your local Christian bookshop, please use them — because if you don’t then we’ll lose them, and there’s been far too much of that over the last month!
Living Oasis Watford find new premises
Next up, congratulations to Living Oasis, Watford, who have at last managed to find new premises to move into. It’s sad news for That Burger which closed down next to Presence on the High Street, but great news for Living Oasis and for Watford’s Christian community.
We are so grateful to God for keeping us when other shops have sadly had to close due to lack of support. We desperately need Watford Christians to support the new shop. Steve Cardell has made this move possible and we are incredibly grateful to him.
The shop will continue to trade from Queen’s Road until 15th April: keep an eye on Christian Gateway Watford for news of the opening ceremony at the new site.
For Andy Twilley and Ray George as they face tough decisions about how to generate support and allocate limited resources
For staff at STL Carlisle, many of whom are former colleagues of Living Oasis staff, as they find their way through their current consultation period with impending redundancies
For grace and wisdom for all involved as relationships are inevitably strained…
BBC News, Lancashire: Christian bookshop in Preston gets lifeline
Covenant Books, Preston, Reopens
CONGRATULATIONS to all involved in the recent resurrection of Covenant Books, Preston!
The usual story of financial constraints ended with the shop’s closure on Christmas Eve last year, but the shop’s trustees have now agreed that the shop can reopen with volunteer help, subject to review after 6 months.
Describing the shop’s difficulties to BBC Lancashire, Annie Colbert, who founded and still runs the shop, explained the cashflow problems involved in having to stock up for Christmas as early as February but then having to pay for the stock in August, long before eventually selling the stock during the Christmas period. Suppliers, facing their own financial pressures, were largely unwilling or unable to wait until stock had sold through.
CONGRATULATIONS to Jacob’s Well, Beverley, on receiving sponsorship from J Marr Seafoods for their next container’s shipping costs to Ghana:
J. Marr (Seafoods) has strong trading links with Africa and particularly Ghana where the Jacob’s Well Appeal is working with a Ghana-registered NGO called FREED. They have asked for help in sending medicines and equipment to the Upper North West part of the country; it is the poorest part of Ghana and subsequently sterilisers, dental equipment, anaesthetic equipment and many other useful items and medicines were sent. Books and sports equipment were also provided for local schools in the area.
As I prepare this post, both are looking rather lonely with only 15 friends and 8 likes respectively, so head on over there, send your friend request and hit that like button: you know you want to!
Living Oasis prayer line
Neither the profile nor the page give any indication of who in the organisation is behind them or whether these particular facebook presences are intended for mutual support within the organisation, to garner prayer support from outside or to offer prayer support for others. It may well be all three: all are certainly needed and to be warmly welcomed.
Most, possibly all, Living Oasis stores now have their own facebook pages, with Leeds and Liverpool both using the new company logo but still reporting delays to opening as their “Phase Two” development and refurbishment works continue.
HELL HATH NO FURY LIKE AN EVANGELICAL SCORCHED, it seems, and John Piper, the USA’s guardian of evangelical orthodoxy, evidently felt the heat rising in his veins as he learnt about a video promoting Rob Bell’s forthcoming book from Zondervan/HarperCollins, Love Wins. Rob’s offence: to dare to suggest that God’s love might actually win out in the end, that God’s grace might reach further than Christian tradition would have us believe. Search Google for John Piper Rob Bell Love Wins and you’ll soon begin to feel the heat yourself as the message that emerges seems to be, “See how these Christians love to hate one another.”
Whether or not you believe Universalism to be a valid evangelical take on truth, the evangelical take on truth is far from universal in the Christian church. Only you, gentle bookseller, can decide whether or not to stock a book that has been so roundly condemned and yet which seems to hold out such an awesome message of hope for humanity. Personally speaking, I’d go for it and welcome the dialogue. To help you decide, however, some wise words from Krish Kandiah, a review by Greg Boyd, a suggestion for further reading, the video itself and, last but not least, full details of the book, due later this month:
AND FINALLY FOR THIS ROUNDUP, congratulations to St Mark’s Press, featured in a new section of STL’s weekly trade email, “Worth a Look!”
The section, which showcases some lesser known publishers, has been added to give retailers more information about the range of publishers STL carries. This time around the feature highlights Today’s Issues and Christian Beliefs by Simon and Christopher Danes: the original edition published by Lion sold over 100,000 copies; this new edition has been completely revised and updated to tie in with GCSE Religious Studies requirements.
Trade Announcement from John Ritchie Ltd 08/03/2011 (pdf, 53kb)
STL DISTRIBUTION, CARLISLE, have entered another consultation period with staff, this time in which up to 30 — just under one quarter — of the 124-strong workforce face redundancy as the company comes to terms with poorer financial results than anticipated over the last year.
All Carlisle based staff have had face to face meetings with senior management and departmental representatives are being appointed for ongoing consultations. It is hoped that a significant proportion of the reductions will be achieved through voluntary redundancy, but approximately 15% of the workforce is likely to face compulsory redundancy once the consultation period ends in April. For all concerned, however, the situation marks yet another traumatic phase in the company’s recent history.
In a trade announcement issued yesterday, CEO Ken Munro reviews some of the challenges faced by the company over the past year, noting that the trade overall is in a period of transition as it struggles with a continuing decline in high street sales combined with increased internet trading and the emergence of new technologies:
… the trade in which we operate is experiencing a period of very significant transition. A combination of a continued decline in overall High street sales, the proliferation of internet traders and the rapid evolution and implementation of new technologies have driven unprecedented change, challenges and opportunities within our sector.
In addition to the factors noted above the prevailing general economic climate combined with unusually harsh winter weather in December has exacerbated the many difficulties that the Trade was facing. STL distribution was not immune from these difficulties and as a result revenues for 2010 were less than planned. As a consequence we face important challenges as we enter the second fiscal year of ownership, challenges which will be addressed in order to secure the future success of the business.
In light of the issues outlined above we are throughout the month of March conducting a consultation with our staff to ensure that we effectively manage costs and importantly, align our business and competencies to a rapidly re-shaping industry landscape.
The company expects to emerge from the consultation in a strong enough position to rise to future opportunities with a clear focus on delivering the best possible customer service and supplier partnership.
The announcement closes with a call to prayer:
Please remember all staff within the group in your prayers as we move through this process.
My thanks to Pete Barnsley at STL for providing this information.
IN A REPORT POSTED YESTERDAY by the Bookseller, Ray George has spoken briefly about the current state of play at Living Oasis, dismissing concerns that staff were given little notice of the closures:
Five Living Oasis stores to close
Ray George, chairman of trustees for Living Oasis and head of the Nationwide Christian Trust, said that managers of the affected bookshops were warned in October that if trade didn’t pick up he would have no choice but to close them.
“We said the shops had to sustain themselves to be safe from closure, staff were well aware of that,” he told The Bookseller. “The shops that were closed were losing £40-50,000 each a year and we just cannot afford to keep sustaining that, we had to make that decision.”
Hope that trade would pick up in the weeks before Christmas was not borne out, he added.
The closures bring the number of Living Oasis stores nationwide from 19 to 14, with George adding that further closures would depend on the result of “dialogue” between Living Oasis and church leaders in the coming weeks.
The statement adds to the uncertainty hanging over the remaining shops apart from Leeds and Liverpool, where “Phase Two” developments are in progress.
Please pray:
For staff who have lost their jobs
For staff at the remaining shops as they face an uncertain future
For the churches which Living Oasis hopes to engage in “dialogue”
For increased transparency and clearer communications both within Living Oasis and in the company’s external relations
For suppliers to the shops facing loss of business
RT @notbovvered: #UKCBD Blog: Shaped by the Story: Hot off the press from BRF, Antony Billington introduces Whole Life, Whole Bible http ... 6 days ago
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