I’m a believer that when there’s connections between those who share Christ and the Culture around them that powerful stuff that can happen. Christ transforms culture, culture shapes the framing of the Christian message, and other forms of engagement.
But what about when there’s no cultural connections to be found? Does it hinder opportunities when we constantly read things from other cultures that do not share our ministry context? Does reading “Surfing for Jesus” make sense in North Dakota? Do Dollywood devotionals have the same impact outside of Tennessee?
Since moving from Oklahoma–the buckle of the Bible Belt–to Portland, Oregon, I’ve become increasingly aware of how abandoned my new mission field is by institutional United Methodism. So when I received the Spring Catalog of my denomination’s book offerings, I flipped through and wondered “How many of these people know my context? How many are writing from a place where Christianity looks more like the None Zone than the Bible Belt?”
And I decided to find out…
Regionalism in UMC’s Book Offerings
As readers know, this blog prides itself on doing the work. So numbers were crunched and patterns were found!
I focused on Cokesbury, the UMC bookstore, and Abingdon Press, the publishing brand of the United Methodist Publishing House. By narrowing to the UMC branded publishing and retail distribution arms, we can more clearly see their intentional resourcing approaches.
New and featured books will be getting the most press, push, and prominence in their marketing strategy from any book retailer. Drawing from Abingdon titles in the Cokesbury Spring 2015 “Books and Bibles” Catalog and the Abingdon 2015 Fall/Winter Catalog, I broke it down by the new (and featured) non-fiction books by authors living in (or predominantly in ministry in) the American regions of United Methodism. Click the image above to see the list, or just click here!
I probably missed a few (note: check out the comments for community edits)–and I intentionally excluded the non-USA authors–but here’s the breakdown of 77 authors with new books coming out in the next 9 months or so from Abingdon Press.
- North Central Jurisdiction: 18 (23%)
- Northeast Jurisdiction: 8 (10%)
- South Central Jurisdiction: 20 (26%)
- Southeast Jurisdiction: 25 (33%)
- Western Jurisdiction: 6 (8%)
The low Western/Northeastern quantities do hide some serious quality. Californian Mary J. Scifres co-edits the popular Music and Worship planner that a lot of Methodists use. Fuller’s Joel Green’s thumbprint on all things Wesley and Common English Bible is undeniable. And Eric Elnes lived for a while in Arizona (with significant impact through his Phoenix Affirmation), but has resided for some time now in Nebraska. So there are some heavy-hitters in the West–along with Leonard Sweet who spent decades in the Northeast.
In summary, the weight of the numbers is staggering: 59% of the new and featured authors from Abingdon Press come from the Bible Belt and the surrounding nations in those regions, while only 8% are from the West.
How this Regional Gap impacts Discipleship
Coincidentally, the regions with the lowest representation in UMC offerings for Sunday school discussion, guidance for our pastoral leadership, and individual Christian living inspiration are also the regions with the lowest rates of church attendance.
The latest Gallup poll of church attendance repeats the findings of previous demographic pollings: the states with the highest rates of church attendance are in the South, whereas the states with the lowest rates of church attendance are in the West and Northeast. Obviously, a lack of materials is not to blame for the lack of church attendance–that’s ridiculous. But what is compelling to me is to ask “why aren’t we pouring more resources into the mission fields and lifting up voices who are doing well here?” For a missional people devoted to evangelism, you would think the mission fields would have more focus!
A lack of voices from the American mission fields–the segments of United Methodism that minister to cultures that are most dismissive of Christianity–impacts its effectiveness in three ways:
- We are letting the market determine our discipling resources rather than the mission field. Like it or not, what sells determines what is sought out and sold. With a large chunk of American Methodism in the South, little wonder that most of the authors come from there–there’s even a disproportionate number of them who live IN Nashville, Tennessee where the UMPH is located (hmmmm). The South needs Jesus at the same rate that the West does: can Abingdon offer a better balance to help those of us in the trenches?
- One size does not fit all. Our culture influences how we view the Church. The cultures that are the most secular/post-Christian need different touchstones than the Bible Belt. Social location doesn’t impact validity of perspective but it does nuance it. Region, ethnicity, gender, age, and other demographics are considered for the makeup of boards across Methodism: why not discipling resources too charged with connection with the local congregations? Why doesn’t Abingdon lift those up for the mission fields?
- We need models. It is human nature to listen to others who have “made it” or achieved some kind of success in our cultures. I daresay that the people who achieve even moderate growth in antagonistic cultures are more relevant to my context than the megachurch pastors in Texas. Does Abingdon specifically look for models in the West for the West–or just those in the West that could have popular appeal elsewhere? Or is the entirety of the West made up of crappy ministers that cost too much?
No Church Left Behind?
This is not a pitch to get a book deal from Abingdon for me or anyone else.
This is a reminder to the rest of Methodism that the West is also held accountable for receiving new members, worship attendance, offering dollars, and people in small group study or mission. We are held accountable for the same things that the South is–but the South has more authors, visibility, resources, and voices at every level of United Methodism and it shows in the discipling resources being put out by the Church.
The entirety of United Methodism has an intense focus on building up the local church. But the local churches in the most difficult hard-to-achieve-quick-success segments of United Methodism have fewer resources that speak to and from their ministry context. How missional is that? How much more is this like “No Church Left Behind” where we reward “success” and take away resources from localities that need it most?
Let us see each other as partners in ministry, brothers/sisters in mission, and be willing to commit to more resources who may not pay UMPH’s light bill, but who will bring more light into the areas of the country where United Methodism does not yet burn brightest.
Thoughts?
Yep. I was informed by the editor of Abingdon in 2009 that they wouldn’t publish my, then unwritten, book “Kissing Fish” as she admitted that they’re a) publishing fewer books aimed at non-Christians; and b) focusing on books that sell well in the Bible Belt.
They are now under new leadership and I understand that they’re changing their ways. Time will tell.
Quick note: please leave any edits of people who I have left out. If you can reference the page # in the Cokesbury or Abingdon catalogs I referenced, that would be most helpful as that was my pool.
Already got: Leonard Sweet lives in Washington State, though I put him in the Northeast due to his leadership of Drew University for a good long while.
Len is also originally from upstate New York, and is a member of the West Virginia Annual Conference.
Good article. We might also note the gender and ethnic homogeneity of the authors – fewer than 1 in 3 are women, as far as I can tell. Another way to frame the problem is the narrowness of the “norm” for UMC authority and wisdom on these topics.
And with Anglos becoming a minority in the next 20 years, that doesn’t bode well.
I only counted 16 females (I could have miscounted) but think that is closer to one in five, not one in three. Like all non-sectarian book publishers, they are publishing what will sell, not what has the highest value. I do understand the need to bring dollars in. And women’s voices have as a rule not sold well, with a few well noted exceptions. But having noted that, I think Jeremy is right: the major mission fields are being sadly neglected.
Hi Jeremy,
Helpful article. However, David Bone lives/works in Tennessee as the executive director of the Fellowship of United Methodists in Music and Worship Arts. In your article, he’s listed as a Californian attached to the Western Jurisdiction.
Thanks for the help, David! Will update.
Jeremy, I appreciate your research and I agree that the areas where Christianity is not so much of a norm need our attention. I would also guess that the perception that Abingdon is more interested in sales than mission would be correct as well as the $/#’s decline anxiety is everywhere.
But as I looked at your percentages of authors broken down by jurisdictions, I also wondered if that was adequately represented by the numbers overall in those jurisdictions. In other words, how many UMs are in the various jurisdictions to draw from? Do the percentages match?
One of the most prolific writers from the West on United Methodist topics is blogger Jeremy Smith. Maybe you need to compile the Best of Hacking Christianity for a book deal – or at least see if Abingdon would go for that!
Sam makes brings out an important point. What if Western/N.Western writers have gone off of traditional publishing methods? Blogs and self-publishing are more in keeping with contemporary reading practices. The switch to e-books (which I believe Cokesbury and Abingdon are very pitiful about catching up with) would require more culturally savvy writers to follow the crowds.
That’s a good point, Todd (and Sam) that I hadn’t considered. Maybe it’s about traditional publishing methods v. non-traditional. That would be an interesting angle to look at. Thanks.
I know of one Western Author that was turned down by Abington and published by Wipf and Stock instead.
WHO?
If there are a bunch of would-be authors who have been turned down, then there is some basis for discussion.
Otherwise, less than 5% of the membership in the USA is in the Western Jurisdiction. So, there is a HIGHER proportion of authors in the WJ than members.
Getting published is not not an easy game. I have also received my rejections from UM publication for a progressive series on the lectionary. So far Wrestling Year A and Wrestling Year B are self-published. I may try again after the whole series is done later this year.
Speaking as a young clergy from the Western Jurisdiction, you do have some valid points. But you have to think that these authors are chosen because of their ability to speak to the majority of United Methodism, not just a certain segment of it. Yes, it would be nice to have a westward focused voice that speaks to the “none” dominated fields that some of us face. And yet, I find the more traditional voices help out immensely, even in places like Colorado.
Essentially, don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater here. The authors Cokesbury and others choose surely have something valuable to say to all churches.
Bryson, I agree with your points and I’m certainly not belittling the authors’ ability to speak to a broad audience.
However, I’m concerned when we think that the South should offer the majority word for the mission fields in another context. Can a majority of men speak about women? Can an Anglo population speak about Hispanic populations? Can straight people write about the LGBT experience? Of course they can–but should they be the dominant voice?
I don’t think they should in those demographic conversations, and I don’t think particular regions should be the dominant voice for other regions either.
Jeremy, on one of your points I think I would add a different perspective.
You ask if an Anglo population speak about Hispanic populations. I think that there is a place for just this type of writing. And Southern (in particular South Central) Anglo voices are needed to speak to other Anglo readers about how to do mission among Sub-USA peoples.
The churches along the border of Mexico have been working with these people groups far longer than anyone. If there is any group that can bridge the gap in helping other Anglo congregations see mission among these people groups, it would be the Anglo churches who have been successful.
Discipleship Resources (From the General Board of Discipleship) and resources from UMPH and Cokesbury are from different entities UMPH is charged with making money
I made the distinction in the second section, though I use the term “discipling resources” in the title, I am referring to books and publications, not the entity.
I’m on the list under Southeast. I live in Northern Virginia, which is technically the southeast, but certainly not the Bible belt, and I didn’t write with the Bible belt in mind. It might be easy to draw some conclusions just based on the list and the geographic locations, but I’m not sure that they would be completely accurate.
Thanks for the clarity, Sue. It’s hard to use the sometimes arbitrary divisions that the UMC has put upon the church. I went with Abingdon’s profiles, for the most part, so I allowed people to self-select where they are writing from.
Speaking as the former Seattle Cokesbury store manager, We always supplemented the Annual Conference offerings from the store due to regional differences. I also remember Cokesbury sending me the Excel file with the Annual conference booklist to adjust quantities (within certain guidelines). I’d minimize the number of books that were largely irrelevant in the Pacific Northwest, and maximize those that were very relevant. It is also important to keep in mind that Cokesbury carries books from publishers beyond Abingdon Press, and some of those books have relevancy to ministry in more “liberal” contexts.
Nevertheless, the bias you uncover with regard to Abingdon Press is surely correct. That doesn’t surprise me in the slightest.
At one time, before the stores closed, Cokesbury published the Good Books Catalog, and consulted with store managers regarding what books should be featured. I was one of those managers, and I can say that none of us were what you would call “conservative.” But Cokesbury laid off Renee Jenkins (who was responsible for the catalog), cancelled the catalog, and then closed the stores. That certainly diminished the diversity of voices available to Cokesbury’s marketing.
When they took the only Cokesbury store out of Kirkland (and other places), it was not appreciated – you couldn’t browse as easily on line to see the fullness of coverage in any given material. I still do order from Cokesbury online, but not to the extent I did when I could actually go to the store. But I don’t necessarily decide on material just because it is produced by someone in the Western jurisdiction – there are many resources that are great no matter where your location is. It might be better to look at the resources that have been purchased not just published, possibly.
I noticed this as well, specifically the authors they selected to represent the Pauline theologians. If Cokesbury wants to speak to Methodism, shouldn’t it speak to all of Methodism? All positions. All perspectives. There is a difference between these authors having value for all churches and being a publisher for the diverse community called Methodism.
What about these authors?
Pam Eisenbaum, Paul Was Not a Christian
Amy Jill-Levine, Feminist Companion to Paul
Borg/Crossan, The First Paul
So when are you writing a book Jeremy?
😉
I will not be edited.
Jeremy, we wondered if that was part of why our three books (2 of them bestsellers for Alban) were turned down by Abingdon. The kind, but clear rejection letter for each, was along the lines of “great book, but nobody knows who you are.” Part of their publishing decision is marketability and if you’re known, you sell better. I’m grateful to Alban for taking a chance and grateful to the Kirkland Cokesbury store for promoting them locally.
First off, your article resonates with me. I think you have helped explain the disconnect I feel between what the denomination offers for resources and what is relevant for us in our local church here in Vermont.
On the other hand, Jeremy, doesn’t this free us up to create our own resources? It’s challenging, engaging and at times even exciting to discover, discern and – when needs be – create the resources that work for us here. And what we create isn’t for mass marketing; it’s for utilization right here and right now.
(cross-commented on facebook) You missed me on the list! (pg 29 in small group catalog, pg 6 in Lent and Easter catalog)… in fact, check all the authors from the Converge series and you might find some more diversity there… they aren’t listed, but are pretty diverse.
I am from the North Central Jurisdiction, however. But, one of my primary audiences in writing are those who want to wrestle with questions and not be given answers and want a broader, more progressive view of what it means to be church. I don’t see that as being a geographically focused audience.
Sorry Katie, I obviously would have seen you. You aren’t included in the promos in the two catalogs I limited the study to–or I missed you! Sorry! Keep up the good awesome work!
One issue, that may have already been pointed out, is that the mission of Abingdon Press is not to simply supply the UMC with resources.
http://www.abingdonpress.com/about/
for quite a number of years now I have been dismayed with the official publications of the UMC. I get them and sort of read them, but one thing I read first is the little blurbs about who wrote what article. Rarely are there any authors from the north or other jurisdictions of the UMC other than south.
I have felt as if the Southern, Bible Belt jurisdictions of the UMC have a strangle hold on the rest of us. This segment of the UMC has departed so far from Wesley and the wonderful benefits and graces of Methodism that it is hardly recognizable. When I attended most of the sessions of the 2012 General Conference in Tampa, I was dismayed to see all the back slapping and glad handing that was going around among the right wing jurisdictions and delegates. It was quite disgusting. When one delegate equated GLBT people as engaging in bestiality and the Council of Bishops did NOTHING to stop such abuse, I was ready to bolt. For that reason I find solace in the mother church. The Pope is looking quite “christian” these days.
Whomever is running the UMPublishing house and editing our publications, there is definitely a slant away from representing the entire denomination and allowing voices from the Bible Belt and the south to be most vocal.
In a conversation with a clergy colleague the other day I made the statement that I “have lost interest in the UMC.” With sadness in his voice, he replied, “I know. I have too.”
BUT, “we” shall remain in order to be a squirrel under the pews of those who choose to depart from Jesus’ love and Methodism. When those seizing control of our beloved church run out of steam, we shall remain.
It is time the publications of our denomination and the UM Publishing house represent the entire church and not just those voices from the Bible Belt and southern jurisdictions.
Rev. Thomas L.Shanklin (Retired)
NE Conference and former conference secretary of Troy Conference.