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CRC Seeks New Model for World Literature Ministries

May 10, 2016
Logo for World Literature Ministries

Logo for World Literature Ministries

The Christian Reformed Church Board of Trustees (BOT) has voted to dissolve World Literature Ministries (WLM), effective June 30, 2016, while maintaining the Spanish-language brand Libros Desafio and continuing the sale, re-printing, and marketing of existing materials.

At the same time, the CRC will look toward the possibility of replacing the current publishing approach with a new model for doing the work.

Libros Desafio, with an extensive audience in Latin America, offers a line of Bible story books, Bible commentaries, Bible encyclopedias, sermon guides, and other materials.

“There is a growing need within the denomination to provide increased ministry support to congregations in their local contexts, and this priority necessitated the review of ministry-share support previously used to balance WLM’s budget,” said Colin Watson, Sr., director of ministries and administration.

“Without ministry-share support, WLM’s work, under the current publishing model, is not financially sustainable,” said Watson.

But that isn’t to say there isn’t a need for the work of WLM, which was created by Synod 1979 under a different name, the Translation and Educational Assistance Committee. It is estimated that there are more than 7,000 Bible schools in Latin America with more than 600 mission agencies sending some 9,000 cross-cultural missionaries to serve the area.

“There is a vacuum for solid Reformed content to serve the needs, but the production of these materials, under an old publishing paradigm, is not reaching this need, and our current approach is not financially sustainable,” says a report presented to the BOT.

World currency exchange rates, transportation, warehousing, customs, and, in some places, climate conditions—all contribute to high costs and loss of quality. At the same time, the current line of WLM’s products is aging and must be updated if  it is to meet current needs and demand.

“Redefined denominational priorities and ongoing market changes suggest that now is the time for the Christian Reformed Church to look beyond the World Literature Ministries’ traditional publishing model for ministry to non-English communities,” says the report submitted to the BOT.

Under the plan adopted by the BOT, the CRC will start in July to consider the opportunities and challenges involved in launching a new Spanish-language initiative targeting Latin America.

This new model could include providing content written in Latin American locations for readers in those locations by seminary faculty — and perhaps doctoral students — and made available electronically or printed locally, especially in print-on-demand formats.

As part of this effort to reach Latin America with high-quality Reformed content, the CRC could connect with other denominations, such as the Reformed Church in America and the Presbyterian Church in America, says the BOT report.

Meanwhile, looking to the future, this initiative could seek partners from various institutions to create, promote, and make use of the materials.

An effort such as this, says the BOT report, could have an impact beyond Latin America through a variety of means and platforms such as online distance-learning and mobile devices.

“It is hoped that the Latin American experience with this ministry can be replicated, over time, in other regions of the world, such as Asia and Africa, where Christianity is growing rapidly, ” says the report to the BOT.

For example, says the report, the model of a university providing services across a large continents based on distance education and distance learning through mobile devices is already operating in South Africa.

“The University of South Africa has more than 450,000 students and almost no classrooms. The classroom,” says the BOT report, “is a modified mobile phone provided to all students so that they can receive instruction via this medium.”