The Official Newspaper of the Diocese of Little Rock
   
In Conway, St. Joseph Catholic Books & Gifts sells more religious items than books. The store uses Facebook to market its merchandise. Even though the business has changed dramatically thanks to e-books, physical stores like this one at Christ the King Church in Little Rock still give congregants access to resources to deepen their Catholic faith. Christ the King's store is one of a handful to keep regular business hours; other parish bookstores are only open after Mass or by appointment.

Big or small, bookstores an able ministry to faithful

Items such as Bibles, rosaries and crosses are often more popular than books

Published: August 24, 2013      

By Marilyn Lanford
Little Rock Correspondent

At St. Scholastica Monastery Gift Shop in Fort Smith, Sister Barbara Schroeder, OSB, assists a customer with her purchases.

With changes in the publishing world brought on by social media and technology, Catholic bookstores today reflect these differences in a myriad of ways. Bookstores and gift shops in parishes around Arkansas still serve individual customers but must also contend with rising shipping costs and competition from the Internet.

Arkansas’ oldest religious goods and bookstore, Guardian Church Goods, was established in 1950 by Msgr. Thomas Prendergast for Arkansas Catholic, then known as The Guardian. Today’s owner, Michael Lipsmeyer, said “These current problems — the cost of freight and the Internet — have had an impact on businesses everywhere. Shipping costs continue to go up.”

In order to compete, the store has created an online catalog for its customers.

Today, larger parish bookstores and gift shops also have taken to the Internet, especially on Facebook, to reach more Catholics. St. Raphael Catholic Book & Gift Shop in Springdale now has its own Facebook page to display items that include books, Bibles, catechisms, rosaries, icons, medals and holy cards.

Manager Dee Lea said, “We sell books daily in both Spanish and English. These include the latest releases and bestsellers from publishers like Ignatius Press, Liguori and others. By carrying only Catholic items, we have a unique shop for Catholics in our area and within our parish.”

In Conway, St. Joseph Catholic Books & Gifts also uses Facebook to market its religious items. Its Facebook page highlights such events in the church community as baptism, confirmation, first Communion and graduation

Manager Debra Massey said books are not their biggest sellers.

“Bibles are big sellers, but not books. Maybe this might have something to do with the technology age we live in today. Now people can download books onto their iPads, phones, notebooks, etc. But a very popular book that I do carry is ‘The Imitation of Christ.’

“In general, my bestsellers are religious items like rosaries, medals, crucifixes, auto sacramentals, along with baptism,  first Communion and confirmation gifts.”

Now that self-publishing is proving so strong, local Catholic authors often view church bookstores as an opportunity to reach the public with their writing. Massey said Jean Leffler, author of “Spirituality at Sunrise” and a parishioner at St. Joseph Church, displays her book in the store for parishioners while working on a second book.

The St. Scholastica Monastery Gift Shop in Fort Smith has its own resident author Sister Macrina Wiederkehr, OSB, a popular retreat leader.

“Whenever she does a retreat here at the monastery, her books sell very well here in the bookshop,” said Sister Patricia Bolling, OSB, one of the store managers.

Nearby at Subiaco, the Coury House Bookstore’s online catalog provides a long book list with titles by local Benedictine monks. Such familiar authors as Abbot Jerome Kodell, “Life Lessons from the Monastery,” Father Hugh Assenmacher, “A Place Called Subiaco,” and the late Father Placidus Eckart, “What Did You Say, Lord?” are included on the website.

Blessed Sacrament Church in Jonesboro will host a book signing Aug. 24-25 for Holy Angels Convent chaplain Father Udo Ogbuji after the weekend Masses. He served 13 years with the Diocese of Little Rock before a car wreck tragically changed his life. His book, “The Peace I Know,” is the story of this painful experience, dealing with its many challenges. The Blessed Sacrament Gift Shop plans to have copies of the book for sale at that time.

Other former diocesan clergy who now have books available in various locations around the state include Msgr. J. Gaston Hebert, “The Faux Bishop’s Gems,” and Archbishop J. Peter Sartain, “Strengthen Your Brothers.”

These books are currently available at Christ the King Church Book Store in Little Rock where manager Roz Rector has volunteered for the past nine years.

Rector described her volunteer work in the bookstore as “a ministry in itself.”

“I probably would not like it if it were not a spiritual ministry,” she said. “It is awesome to work here and see people grow spiritually. And I grow spiritually as well.”

For her, the store provides a sense of community.

“Some people come in just to talk to someone. This is such a holy place. We see it more than just selling things. It is really about evangelizing — getting the Gospel out to the people,” she said.

Dan Grelle, a volunteer for Uniquely Catholic Gift Shop at St. Vincent de Paul Church in Rogers, also sees his work running the store as a rewarding ministry.

“Working in the bookstore allows you to help a lot of people who come searching for an item they can’t find anywhere else. It can be a challenge, but I love working here.”

Pastor Msgr. David LeSieur said a Catholic bookstore or gift shop can play a role in service to the church community.

“Growth in faith happens on at least two levels: the intellectual, as we seek to understand through books what we believe, and the tactile as we hold or look at the images of Jesus, Mary and the saints. Like all religious bookstores, our purpose is to bring people closer to Christ.”

At Our Lady of Hope Church in Hope, Shirley McRoy shared a remarkable story about how one parishioner’s generosity got the ball rolling to open a parish bookstore.

“We had a benefactor, now deceased, who specifically gave a donation to start our gift shop seven years ago,” she said, “He had heard of people wanting religious gifts and couldn’t find them locally.”

A reader herself, she took her mother’s display cabinets into the church hall to sell items there.

“When we sold things, we would order more and different items for the shop: Bibles, catechisms, Bible indexes. But when the new church offices were built, we were able to move into the secretary’s office for the gift shop. Now our inventory has pretty well filled up the whole room,” McRoy said.

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