ELCA Publisher, Churchwide Unit Relationship Improving, Board Told

MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) -- Leaders of Augsburg Fortress, publishing house of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), and the ELCA Division for Congregational Ministries (DCM) have agreed on a strategy to improve the working relationship of the two units, according to the Rev. Marvin L. Roloff, president and chief executive officer of Augsburg Fortress.
Roloff offered a progress report of the strategy to the Augsburg Fortress board of trustees, which met here Oct. 25-27. A formal progress report, written by the ELCA Department for Research and Evaluation, is to be presented the ELCA Church Council when it meets in Chicago Nov. 9-11. It summarizes factors affecting the working relationship and strategies to improve the relationship.
The strategy, which focuses on planning and the role of resource management teams, is the result of actions of the DCM board in February 2001 and the ELCA Church Council in April 2001. The DCM board authorized the division's executive directors to "investigate alternative" means of "publishing, producing and distributing resources" designed to assist congregations in carrying out their ministries.
The DCM board also requested that the Planning and Evaluation Committee of the ELCA Church Council "review the relationship between Augsburg Fortress Publishers and the ELCA churchwide offices, particularly evaluating the effectiveness of the current partnership with the Division for Congregational Ministries."
This spring, the council requested that the ELCA Office of the Presiding Bishop establish a task force to review the relationships between Augsburg Fortress and churchwide units, particularly DCM. The task force will work to determine whether or not the present relationships best serve the ministries of the ELCA, the council said.
After a series of meetings of leaders from both units, Roloff said, considerable progress has been made to build the relationship of DCM and Augsburg Fortress.
"We want this to work," he said of the DCM relationship and relationships with other ELCA units. "We've made a commitment to make this work. Not everything is broken."
The leaders agreed that education and worship are the top priorities for Augsburg Fortress and DCM, Roloff said. Resource management teams, consisting of key people from both units, will make decisions on budgets, staff and time lines for materials to be produced, he said. Working relationships -- who connects with whom from the other unit -- have been established, Roloff added.
Both units will emphasize joint market research and analysis, discussion of priorities and goals, funding and resource allocation, and limitations, Roloff said. Leaders of both units will continue their discussions. Ongoing issues to be addressed are cost-sharing and revenue-sharing, efforts to introduce resources and the services provided by the Augsburg Fortress office in Chicago at the ELCA churchwide offices, he said.
"We feel this is a first, right step to take as far as issues with DCM are concerned," Roloff said. "I think it's going well, and we've worked hard to get it this far."
The board of trustees also discussed or learned about other issues related to Augsburg Fortress:
+ Augsburg Fortress operations in Canada, which account for a small portion of the company's overall sales, are to be reviewed. Augsburg Fortress works cooperatively with Concordia Publishing House of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, to provide resources to Lutherans in Canada. Revenues are "flat," expenses are too high, and the Canadian operation is losing money, said Bruce Keil, Augsburg Fortress vice president for operations.
+ Overall Augsburg Fortress inventories are too high, Keil reported. The increases in inventory are a result of the company's effort to establish "strategic business units," which it abandoned when it reorganized in July. However, the inventory is "viable" and can be sold, he said. Keil said he is working closely with company management to reduce inventory.
+ Subscription rates for The Lutheran, the magazine of the ELCA, will increase $1 to $7.95 annually for those on congregational plans, reported James M. Huber, publishing director, The Lutheran. Individual subscription rates will rise from $13.90 annually to $15.95. Subscription rates have remained steady the last four years, he said. The rate increase is needed to meet rising costs, Huber added.

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