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If you haven’t been on our site in a while, check out our members only pages. It explains how to use the fantastic feature of sending an email to member stores for info about products and services to help you grow your store and ministry. There are some other helpful best seller info.
As always, the EBA community is here to help support each other. We’d love to hear from you!
Save the Dates!
2022 Annual Meeting
Friday, June 17, 6 p.m. Eastern
Join the Board and member stores on Zoom for the Annual Report, Roll Call and check-in, sharing of best practices, and a presentation by Sarah High of Bookshop.org about specific ways to enrich your online presence and increase earnings.
Sign on with your favorite Friday beverage, and we’ll have a toast to the dedication and determination the Episcopal Bookstore managers and volunteers have shown over the last year, as well as a blessing for the upcoming year.
Booksellers’ Market Supper
Friday, July 15, 6 p.m.
In addition to discovering new products for the upcoming season, plan on some good camaraderie at the Atlanta Gift Show. We’ll have an informal dinner gathering on Friday evening to further share ideas and enjoy welcome fellowship with EBA friends old and new who are attending.
During these challenging times, we are stronger together, and EBA is here to support you!
Save the dates and look for invitations with more specifics to come!
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds — Hebrews 10:24
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up the other; but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help. — Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
In Christ’s love,
Lucy Chambers, EBA President
It became apparent that the main reasons most of the churches in our Diocese did not come to the Cathedral Bookstore were parking and time of travel. With the aid of faithful volunteers, the Cathedral store was open every Sunday.
So, with the Bishop’s blessings, we started traveling each Sunday to the churches. It soon became a great success. When the Cathedral closed the store in order to use the space for the youth program, I continued providing books to our Diocese with no store front. The road show included the following ministries:
Daughters of the King, Cursillos, Order of Saint Luke, Retreats, Lutheran School Fundraisers, and, in several churches, Fall Fairs.
Prior to COVID, I traveled to Northern California each year, as well as Yuma and Prescott, Arizona. I will resume that schedule in the fall. I presented via Zoom to Province VIII Daughters of the King, and now I enjoy customers from all five states. I also have begun speaking and presenting to local chapters of Daughters of the King.
It is truly an honor to be a part of EBA. My membership and the power of prayer have given me strength and courage to move forward into new aspects of the ministry, involving all the churches through a website and online orders. When the website gets finalized, I will continue to participate as before, but in the event that my health were to fail or other unlikely events occurred in my life, the ministry will live on.
I will be happy to speak with anyone regarding further details or email is fine as well.
Prayers always,
Kathryn Bunch
KB Books
San Diego, CA
EBA in partnership with our member stores
invites you to a Live Conversation with New York Times bestselling author
Anne Lamott
April 8, 2021
7:00 P.M. Eastern Time
This is a free Zoom event but you must register.
Contact an EBA member store to register and to purchase Anne’s new book
Dusk Night Dawn: on Revival and Courage
Episcopal Booksellers Association
in partnership with our member stores invites you to:
Live Conversation with
The Most Rev. Michael B. Curry
author of
Love is the Way: Holding on to Hope in Troubling Times
Thursday October 8, 2020
7:00 pm Eastern Time
Presiding Bishop Curry will offer a soul-searching conversation one which tells and shows us how loving one another can help us to heal in these times. Walk the path of love with one of the warmest, most beloved spiritual leaders of our time as we learn how to put faith into action.
TICKETS: Purchase Bishop Curry’s new book, Love is the Way: Holding on to Hope in Troubling Times from an EBA member bookstore. The bookstore will collect the necessary information to send you a Zoom invitation to the conversation. Questions for Presiding Bishop Curry may be sent by October 2 to info@episcopalbooksellers.org. Stores will receive the Zoom link information on October 6.
One new initiative we have started is a weekly EBA member store ZOOM meeting since the middle of April. The calls started as a way for stores to share information and support each other. We had about 9 stores on this past week's call.
Our annual meeting this year also will be virtual and will be held on July 17 via ZOOM. It was discussed by the Board, and it was decided that it would not be beneficial to either the supporting vendors or member stores for vendors to attend the virtual meeting.
Instead, the Board voted to start a weekly "Meet Your Supporting Vendor” series featuring a new vendor each week meeting with our store managers on Zoom.This system will be a good way for each vendor to meet our stores, discuss new products, any EBA specials, etc. These new calls will begin this Tuesday, June 23 at 5:30 PM Eastern time. We have asked vendors to consider sending out a handout ahead of time for stores to have as a reference during each call.
We know that a number of our stores are still closed physically. Some stores have continued to operate with online business and local delivery or contactless pickup. These summer vendor calls will be more informational and a great opportunity for stores who have reopened or are on the verge of reopening to learn of each vendor’s new products, and ideas of products to order. For stores not yet open physically and who may have an online presence, this could be an opportunity to increase their online business.
We also are asking vendors to discuss any opportunities for stores with an online presence to feature their products online with drop shipping merchandise directly to the customer from the vendor.
We meet on Tuesdays at 5:30 PM Eastern time for about an hour. We would plan for the first 15 minutes to have participating stores introducing themselves and checking in with the group. The remaining 45 minutes would be for the vendor to present and then take questions.
If you have any questions, please email or call me on my cell number at 904-370-0076.
Blessings,
Kathryn Bissette
Executive Director
director@episcopalbooksellers.org
On the first day of summer when I was a little girl, my next-door neighbor would gather all the kids from our block and take us to the library. She’d sign us up for the summer reading program—charts and suggestions and prizes, and mostly all the wonder of books. For the rest of the summer, she would take us back once a week to get new books and check in with the librarian about our progress. The dusty cool shelves provided respite from the hot Houston humidity, and the new friends we met between the book covers became permanent additions to the language of our neighborhood group—Max from Where the Wild Things Are, Harold with his purple crayon, Curious George getting into mischief of all kinds, and on and on.
Last summer, many decades later, when Christ Church Cathedral began Cathedral Reads, it brought back all that summer reading joy. Our dean, Barkley Thompson, chose Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird as the book for kids and adults. We set dates at the end of the summer for a congregation-wide conversation, a movie night, and a deeper dive into the book with the dean.
Throughout the summer we featured parishioners “getting caught reading” on social media, I filled the bookstore shelves with related titles like Harper Lee biographies, the children’s book Alabama Spitfire and Casey Cep’s Furious Hours.
On a hot August morning, well-over two-hundred people gathered between services to discuss the book. The dean gave an overview, and then at tables of ten with a facilitator and five questions, over coffee and cake, we brought our different perspectives on the book to the table. The following week, we ate popcorn and pizza as we watched Gregory Peck’s 1962 Academy Award winning version of the movie. Afterward, the dean lead popcorn theology, and we compared the book and the film. The program wrapped up at a special version of the Dean’s Book Club, with triple the average monthly attendance.
The shared experience of the book created new friends, engaged old friends, and gave everyone an entry to conversation. Differing viewpoints were presented respectfully, and we all came away understanding ourselves—individually and as a group—a little better.
Throughout this past year, people kept coming into the bookstore asking what the next Cathedral Reads book would be. The dean took suggestions, considered many titles, and finally chose two books: A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving for adults, and Wonder, by R.J. Palacio for kids, youth and adults who may not have read it yet. The books are linked by the concept “What Does Brave Look Like” and the discussions will focus on identity, courage, kindness, and faith. Both books will have Zoom reading groups throughout the summer to discuss questions regarding the reading to date, and the Dean will facilitate two larger Zoom conversations on Owen Meany. Then, circumstances permitting, we’ll meet up for a larger discussion and to watch the movie Wonder together, before the program wraps up again with the Dean’s Book Club.
We’re none of us sure what this summer will look like, but we know it will be hot. And I know that having the shared experience of books to read in the cool of the air-conditioning will take our minds off the news and help us to understand ourselves—individually and as a group—a little better. Just like the library’s summer reading program used to do way back when.
Booksellers’ note: I ordered the mass-market edition of the books so that they were as accessibly priced as possible. For To Kill a Mockingbird, I also ordered the large-print and graphic novel editions. We have a Spanish speaking congregation, so we had copies of Matar un Ruiseñor as well. We sell used books as well as new, so some books were read quickly and returned to the $1.50 stack, and Pastoral Care provided some books as well, when the price was a hardship. This summer, I am selling the Cathedral Reads titles on our website, and I will carry other Irving and Palacio titles as well.
Lucy Chambers
Manager, Cathedral Bookstore, Houston, TX
In the beginning, 1981, St. Paul’s Bookshop started as a sole card table set up on Sunday mornings with a small inventory of greeting cards and some prayer books. Our shop was run by volunteers with its stock stored in the kitchen between Sunday services. Through the support of our clergy, our parishioners, and our visitors, we now have our own four-walls within the church and a part-time manager who is a member of St. Paul’s. We are open throughout the workweek during lunchtime hours thanks to our volunteers. The Bookshop still stocks the same items that got us started, and we now include inspirational books, gifts, and jewelry. Notably, in the age of the internet and Amazon, we have survived by gearing our merchandise around the Episcopal Church, and key events such as baptisms, confirmation, marriage, childbirth, death, and other life changing spiritual occurrences. Our parish’s small groups order their books from the Bookshop, and we stock books discussed during Christian formation. We also sell items to other parishes in the area at reduced prices. “St. Paul’s Parish Light”, our weekly e-newsletter, features books in our inventory. We remind customers that our profits go to St. Paul’s Outreach, and this helps our sales. No big box store, or internet competitor, can offer the customer service of a small store run by members of our church which is what defines the St. Paul’s Bookshop.
Caro Humphrey
Bookshop Manager
St. Paul’s Bookshop
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
Winston-Salem, NC
EBA stores are meeting virtually each Tuesday at 5:30 PM on Zoom to share information and support each other during this difficult time. Email Kathryn Bissette at director@episcopalbooksellers.org for more information! Another reason to join EBA—we are here to support each other!!
Marking Time: The Book of Common Prayer
“Marking time” sounds like a stagnant activity. In fact, in the military it describes a step in which soldiers march in place, moving their legs as in marching without stepping forward.
However, in the church it describes an ancient practice of Christian devotion using The Book of Common Prayer, where daily prayers mark the times of the day and the traditions of a praying community. It is anything but stagnant, as there is a community prayer service for five different times in the day as well as services for individuals and families. And on top of that, if you read the appointed scripture readings for each day, you will read through the entire Bible in three years!
For example, the readings for each day morning and evening are called the Daily Office Lectionary. They are arranged in a two-year cycle, years One and Two. Year One begins the First Sunday of Advent preceding even-numbered years. (Thus this year we are reading Year Two readings because last year was an odd numbered year. In Advent this year we will be in Year One.)
Three readings are provided for each day, two to be used in the morning and one in the evening.
The Sunday Lectionary is arranged in a three year cycle, with Year A beginning on the First Sunday of Advent in years evenly divisible by three! (This year which began in 2019, divisible by 3, is Year A.) The Psalms and Lessons appointed for the Sundays are read at the morning services. Yes, you read correctly. We Episcopalians have assigned reading for everyday of the week, thus enabling us to read through the entire Bible in three years! And some say we are not Biblically based enough!!!
Where might you find all these services and scripture readings? In The Book of Common Prayer. You will also find prayers for all sorts of pastoral needs, joys and griefs, as well as the Catechism otherwise known as An Outline of Faith – what we believe and why we believe it. And if you are interested in the history of why we do what we do, the Historical Documents of the Church are towards the back of the Prayer Book, and they include documents from as far back as 451 AD.
To top it all off, there is a Prayer Book/Hymnal available which includes our entire hymnal beginning with all our service music (so you can follow along with the chants and the canticles.)
The Book of Common Prayer is our handbook, our guidebook, our manual for marking Kairos time – God’s time, time that transcends Chronos time, sequential time. The prayer book is anything but stagnant. It is in every way dynamic and full of the Divine.
Buy yours today from an Episcopal Bookseller near you!
Submitted by Owene Courtney, Director Formation and Spirituality
St. John's Cathedral, Jacksonville, Florida
Save the date for our annual meeting in Atlanta July 17-18!
Winged with Longing for Better Things
Sylvia Sweeney
Nov/2019, 192 Pages, PAPER, 5 x 7
ISBN-13: 9781640651425
$16.95
Rather than classical penitence, this book emphasizes intercession, solidarity, and preparation. Its aim is to help readers learn to view the world incarnationally and sacramentally. In rejecting one's own embodiment and the natural world, the earth is being irreparably harmed by our destructive actions. The book invites readers to move beyond sympathy for those in strife into action and advocacy on the behalf of the earth and its less powerful inhabitants. Photographs and poetry enhance the daily devotional readings.
From Church Publishing
Remember Me: A Novella about Finding Our Way to the Cross
Sharon Garlough Brown
Nov/2019, 144 Pages,
HARDCOVER
ISBN-13: 9780830846702
$20.00
In this sequel to Shades of Light, Katherine Rhodes finds her own grief tapped by Wren Crawford's struggles with depression and loss. Katherine reflects on the meaning of Christ's suffering and shares her own story of finding hope, while Wren moves forward in her commitment to paint the stations of the cross. Readers are invited into a similar journey of reflection through Katherine's words.
From Intervarsity Press
Wild Hope: Stories for Lent from the Vanishing
by Gayle Boss, illustrated by David G. Klein
Jan/2020, 128 pages, PAPER, 7x8
ISBN: 9781640601994
Pangolins and polar bears, olms, lemurs, and leopards. We share this beautiful blue-green globe with creatures magnificent, delicate, intricate—and now vanishing at a faster rate than at any other time in Earth’s history. Spend Lent with twenty-five of these wild ones. Vivid descriptions of their lives will fill readers with wonder—and grief at what they suffer on a planet shaped by human choices. Their stories thaw our stiff hearts and wake us to greater compassion—which is what Lent, meaning “springtime,” has always been for. These stories also wake in us a wild hope that from all this death and ruin, something new could rise. The promise of Lent is that something new will rise. In fact, as these stories also attest, our hope, though wild, is not impossible and is already loose in the world.
From Paraclete Press
READS
New! Christian Living Summer Reads
June 13, 2019
What better time of the year is there to dive into a great book? Summer provides the perfect setting for losing yourself in a really good Christian Living book. There’s nothing quite like grabbing yourself an ice cold drink, sitting under the shade of a big tree and whiling away the hours. So, to help you discover your next great read, we’ve chosen one to begin your Christian Living summer reads we think you’ll love this season!
The Next Right Thing, by Emily P. Freeman
New Summer Reads - The Next Right Thing When we have a decision to make, what we want more than anything is peace, clarity, and a nudge in the right direction. If you have trouble making decisions because of either chronic hesitation or decision fatigue, Emily P. Freeman offers a fresh way of practicing familiar but often forgotten advise: simply do the next right thing. With this simple, soulful practice, it is possible to clear the decision-making chaos and finally decide without regret or second-guessing. Whether you’re in the midst of a major life transition or are weary of the low-grade anxiety that daily life can bring, Emily will help you create space for your soul to breath – so you can live life with God at a gentle pace!
From Baker Publishing
Here some tips about attending your convention:
Ø Know ahead of time volunteers/staff availability. Have volunteers/staff to manage your table efficiently and effectively
Ø Complete your registration, paying all necessary fees
Ø Pack your merchandise and equipment for the event
o Take a variety of merchandise that will move – religious – books, pocket tokens etc - jewelry, home décor (you’ll know your customers)
Ø Advertise throughout the Diocese that the shop will have table at the convention
Ø This was a first for me this year, but it was very helpful and I’ll do it again as we have gone from a two day convention to a one day convention. It was emailed Diocesan wide by the Communication officer
o Preparing a pre order form, pick up at convention. This was very helpful in expediting the process as time was not our best friend
Making this event a realty is a labor of love, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world when I see the smile on a customer’s face who finds the perfect gift, or one who would not otherwise make the trip to the Cathedral and was delighted that we brought the shop to them. This makes it all worth the effort and hard work that goes into making it a realty.
Andrea John, Manager and Vice President, EBA
Trinity Cathedral Altar Guild Shop
Trenton, NJ 08618
.
Our annual meeting, is again in New York and it is going to be better than last year. It is the weekend of August 10 and 11 in conjunction with the NYNOW Gift Show. It goes through Wednesday if you want to extend your stay.
Our Hotel this year is the Wyndham New Yorker. Great rates and still only three blocks to the Javits Center. With a stay at The New Yorker, you'll be centrally located in New York, steps from Madison Square Garden and 7 minutes by foot from Macy's. This 4-star hotel is 0.5 mi (0.8 km) from Empire State Building and 0.6 mi (0.9 km) from Times Square.
Metro Queen Room single $159.00 , Metro Double Room $169.00 Our link for making reservations is: https://www.wyndhamhotels.com/wyndham/new-york-new-york/wyndham-new-yorker-hotel/rooms-rates?checkin_date=08/09/2019&checkout_date=08/12/2019&group_code=08096961EB
This year we will have our business meeting on Saturday afternoon at Holy Apostles Episcopal Mission House. It is scheduled for two hours where we will have discussion and visit with other member stores. We will break and meet later for dinne. This year we are having our dinner at the historic Landmark tavern. Just a 10 minute walk from the hotel.
In 1868 Patrick Henry Carley opened his Landmark Tavern, an Irish Waterfront Saloon. In those days there was no 12th Avenue, just the shores of the Hudson, on which his Tavern sat. Mr. and Mrs. Carley designed their new saloon to also be a practical home for their children on the second and third floors. This remained as such until prohibition forced them to turn the third floor into a speakeasy. As one of the oldest continually operating establishments in the City today, The Landmark Tavern still retains its classic old New York charm. We will be able to meet with our Supporting Vendors and have an evening of fun and fellowship, Sunday we meet at the Javits Center, site of the New York International Gift Show, NYNOW, where our Supporting Vendors will have set up their merchandise in our private meeting space. At noon everyone will be able to begin shopping the market. Seven blocks to the Hote!
NY NOW is the largest wholesale trade show in America all under one roof, giving retailers, buying groups, interior design firms, , access to more than 2,300 leading brands in design, bringing more unique, never-before seen product to retailers than any other platform. Held twice per year in February and August, NY NOW is where brands come to stand out and buyers come to set their business apart from the competition. Our brands represent products across all categories across home and lifestyle, from gifts and fashion to furniture and kitchenware, with more than 400 of our companies featuring 100% handcrafted products of exceptional design from the U.S. makers and around the globe. With eleven product categories organized into three collections, HOME, LIFESTYLE and HANDMADE, buyers of all types can discover the best products for their business with ease. Seven blocks to Javits
Be sure to plan on making this meeting. Make your plane reservations now to get the best rates.
In 1996 a dozen Episcopal booksellers participated in an informal meeting during the Religious Booksellers Trade Exhibit in St. Charles, Illinois. By 1997 about 35 stores were participating in a brainstorming session where it became very clear that Episcopal bookstores have a unique market niche and need to make their presence more obvious to publishers and others in the book trades. The Episcopal Booksellers Association grew out of these meetings and was incorporated in May 2002.
As a very unique market, our member stores are committed to communicating with and supporting each other. Today the Episcopal Booksellers Association has over 50 member stores and 15 supporting vendor members.
EBA is directed by a volunteer Board of Directors and a part-time Executive Director. EBA meets annually for fellowship and business
