News

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DECEMBER 2009

 A challenging time for the Christian book trade

Re:fresh books and christian resources is approaching the end of 2009 with a sense of gratitude to its customers and, above all, to God for his goodness.  It has been a year of challenges and encouragements.   As the Tolworth retailer celebrated its fifth anniversary on October 23rd, Manager Marguerite Williams talked about the many opportunities to minister to people’s Spiritual and emotional needs as re:fresh seeks to be “more than just a bookshop”.   But re:fresh depends on its sales to survive.   2008/9 saw a modest improvement in sales compared with the previous year.  2009 saw re:fresh joint runner-up in the Christian Booksellers’ Small Retailer of the Year Award, which it won in 2006.

The challenges facing the Christian book trade were brought into sharp focus in November when IBS-STL, the leading UK distributor and retailer of Christian books, announced its intention to exit the business due to financial difficulties.  This will have implications throughout the Christian book trade and could result in the closure of more Christian bookshops, depriving the Christian community of a valuable resource and removing an important Christian presence from the streets of our cities and towns.   Please pray that this will not happen and continue to buy your Bibles and Christian books from Christian retailers like re:fresh rather than from secular internet sites.

Meaningful gifts for Christmas
This Christmas re:fresh has an even wider range of Bibles, books, music, cards and gifts than in previous years and encourages its customers to give something meaningful for Christmas.   (See separate list of gift suggestions below.)

Street Pastors
Les Isaac’s new book Street Pastors is now available at re:fresh at an introductory price of £6.99.  It tells the story of the founding of the organisation, in the wake of the 2003 Aston shootings, to the present day when there are 3,000 Street Pastors working in 150 teams around the country, including 27 in London Boroughs.   (See separate review.)

Special fifth birthday offers
Re:fresh is continuing to run its special birthday offers whilst stocks last.  These include God’s Generals, portraits of men who brought revival, reduced by £5.00; Max Lucado’s latest book Fearless; Tim Keller’s Counterfeit Gods;  Cherished, a book for teenage girls; Working without Wilting for people just starting work; British Black Gospel and Who’s Who and Where’s Where in the Bible, all reduced by £2.00.

Details of new products, special offers and other news, plus selected book reviews, can be found on the re:fresh website  www.refreshbooks.co.uk.

Ten gift ideas for Christmas
from re:fresh books & christian resources

1. Bibles:  Why not give the most valuable gift of all this Christmas.  There are Bibles to suit every pocket.  They include a beautiful new Slimline NLT Bible in Burgundy bonded leather at £29.99.  It has thumb index, full centre column references, concordance, maps and a chain reference system to important Greek and Hebrew words, with definitions.  There are also several new Editions of the New International Version featuring centre column references and a concordance, including a “bold type” edition.

2. Music: New titles include Delirious? final album History Makers: Greatest Hits featuring 14 of the band’s best-known songs; price £12.99.  Or, for the real Delirious? enthusiast, there is a special pack with two CDs (31 songs), a DVD featuring all the band’s videos, and a 60-page book, all at £24.99.  Also new is Matt Redman’s latest album We shall not be shaken.  The ‘Christmas Cracker’ promotion continues with a free CD containing ten Christmas Praise and worship songs by leading artists when you buy selected top-selling albums.

3. Children’s books: There is a huge range of books, Bibles and DVDs for children of every age including the colourful and well-presented Lion and Candle ranges.  Many of the books for smaller children include features such as lift-up flaps, stickers and stencils.  Others have suggested craft activities.

4. Biographies: Biographies make excellent gifts.  Recent releases include Inside Story, a new biography of John Stott by Roger Steer and I Once was a Buddhist Nun by Esther Baker.   Meanwhile, for cricket enthusiasts, there is the DVD Hansie, telling the story of the South African cricketer, Hansie Cronje who died in a plane crash in 2002.

5. New Fiction: The Fiction for a Fiver range has returned to re:fresh with new titles as well as some of the earlier books in this popular range from Baker Publishing.

6. Popular Authors: Max Lucado’s latest book Fearless and Tim Keller’s Counterfeit Gods are among recent releases from popular authors.  Both reduced by £2.00.  Two new titles from Philip Yancey are A skeptic’s Guide to Faith and Grace Notes.  The second of these is 366 daily readings from the writings of Philip Yancey – an ideal gift!

7. Jewellery:  re:fresh has some interesting new lines this Christmas including bangles and pendants from Afrika Gift, made by Maasai tribespeople.  There is also a new range of metal bracelets to appeal to young people.

8. Software: Glo, the new Bible software package from Hodder & Stoughton is now available at £49.99.   It includes the NIV Anglicised text, 7,500 encyclopaedia articles, 463 virtual reality tours, 102 video interviews, 2,000 photos, 147 maps and much more.  Free demonstration discs are available at re:fresh.

9. Figures, carvings, glassware, photo frames and pictures:   The Willow tree range of figures and Runnymede glassware are ever-popular gifts.  Meanwhile stainless steel photo frames have also been in great demand as gifts.

10. Gift vouchers:  Re:fresh books offers its own range of gift vouchers if you just don’t know what to give but want to encourage friends or relatives to buy from your local Christian retailer.  These can be redeemed against any goods in the shop.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009 NEWS 

 Re:fresh books celebrates its fifth birthday

Re:fresh books & christian resources is five years old in October.   To mark the occasion it is holding a celebration – Re:joice … Re:fresh … Re:vive – on Friday October 23, five years to the day since it opened.  The celebration will be at New Malden Baptist Church (Junction of Kingston Road and Westbury Road, New Malden.)  Light refreshments will be served from 7.30 and the celebration will start at 8.00 with music led by the NMBC band, news of how God has been at work at re:fresh, and a message by Rev Johnny Pozzo, Pastor of New Malden Baptist Church.  This will be an opportunity for friends of re:fresh to share with the staff in thanking God for his goodness.
 
Re:fresh opened in 2004 at a bad time for the retail book trade … and things have got worse since then!   But God has been good and re:fresh has bucked the trend, seeing a modest year-on-year increase in sales.  In its second year in business it won the coveted “Small Retailer of the Year” award at the annual Christian Booksellers’ Convention and this year it was joint runner-up.  There are approximately 550 Christian bookshops in the UK and it is unusual for the same shop to be nominated more than once for the Award.

“Nobody opens a Christian bookshop to make a huge profit.  We see it as part of the local churches’ mission” says Manager and joint owner Marguerite Williams.   “Christian bookshops – not just re:fresh – represent a Christian presence in the High Street.  They are open at times when many churches are closed and they offer the familiarity of a retail setting to people for whom a church would be an alien environment.”

The staff at re:fresh have many opportunities to minister to the emotional and spiritual needs of members of the public.  Come along on October 23 and hear about some of these opportunities and join in some great worship.  And of course there will be a bookstall with books, music and seasonal items.

Meanwhile, throughout October there will be special birthday offers on books and music.   And on Saturday October 24th there will be birthday cake and other goodies!  Watch the re:fresh website www.refreshbooks.co.uk to learn more or, better still, visit the shop at 23 The Broadway, Tolworth KT6 7DJ (meter parking outside or free in M&S car park.)

Special prices on Bibles
It is appropriate that in its anniversary month re:fresh books should be placing a special emphasis on Bible sales with some great offers.   The new ESV Study Bible is offered at £29.99 – a saving of £10.00 while the bestselling NIV Study Bible is now priced £29.99 and the NIV Life Application Bible is offered at £19.99, a saving of £5.00.

Best-sellers
Have you ever wondered what books other Christians are buying?  Re:fresh books has compiled a list of the 25 top selling books in the first part of the year.

The Shack is easily the top-selling Christian book, with more than twice as many copies sold as the next book.  Lists from other Christian booksellers reflect this pattern with The Shack at the top of every list.  Interestingly, the second most popular seller at re:fresh is the IVP book Finding God in the Shack  which examines the theology of The Shack.

If you want to Walk on Water, you’ve got to get out of the Boat, by John Ortberg, has been the third most popular seller at re:fresh.  This book had a profound impact on Marguerite Williams, leading to the decision to open re:fresh books in 2004.

The Reason for God by Tim Keller came number four followed by Real Life Jesus by Mike Cain.  I dared to call him Father by Bilquis Sheikh, although written more than 30 years ago, is number six.  It is the autobiography of a high ranking Pakistani Muslim woman who was prompted to enquire about Jesus after reading about him in the Koran. 

The full list of top-sellers, with reviews of some, can be found on re:fresh books’ website www.refreshbooks.co.uk/bestsellers.htm

Re:fresh books & christian resources is at 23 The Broadway, Tolworth, KT6 7DJ, less than a minute’s walk from Tolworth Tower and Marks & Spencer.  There is free parking for up to an hour in the M&S car park or meter parking outside.  Buses, 281, 418, 406, K1, K2 and 265 stop at Tolworth Tower. Tolworth Railway Station is about five minutes away.  Hours of business are Monday-Friday 9.00am-5.50pm, Saturday 9.00am-5.00pm.

JULY/AUGUST 2009 NEWS

MAY 2009 NEWS EXTRA

Recognition again for re:fresh in Christian Bookseller Awards

Re:fresh books and christian resources, was runner-up in this year’s Small Retailer of the Year awards, organised by the Christian Booksellers Convention.   Re:fresh, in Tolworth Broadway, won the Award in 2006.  

There are more than 550 Christian bookshops in the United Kingdom, the majority of which are classified as “Small”, based on annual turnover.  It is unusual for the same shop to be shortlisted in the CBC Awards twice in such a short time.  Re:fresh was only in its second year in business when it originally won the Award.

The 2009 Awards were announced at the annual Christian Booksellers Convention held this year at Sandown Park Esher, in parallel with the Christian Resources Exhibition. 

The picture shows Marguerite Williams, Manager of re:fresh books & christian resources, receiving the runner-up Award from Michael Welch, Sales Manager of Scripture Union, sponsors of the Small Retailer of the Year Award.

Christian bookshops are not immune to the difficulties currently faced by the retail trade generally.  Nevertheless re:fresh saw an increase in sales in the first four months of 2009 compared with the same period last year.

 “All Christian retailers have to work that much harder than before and think creatively to stay in business” says Manager, Marguerite Williams.   “We face the same sort of competition from large businesses as other small retailers but in our case the principal competition comes from the Internet.   One of our challenges is to encourage Christians to see their local Christian retailer as a self-financing ministry rather than just a business.   We have fantastic opportunities to minister to people’s spiritual needs and to offer a cup of tea and encouragement to people struggling with personal issues.”

MAY/JUNE 2009

Holiday reading at re:fresh

Passports … tickets … sun tan lotion … beachwear … bucket and spade … What else do we need as holidays approach?      Answer – Books.

Re:fresh books & christian resources is continuing its “Fiction for a Fiver” offer on a new range of Christian fiction from Baker Publishing.   From June 1 re:fresh is also participating in the IVP Summer Sale which includes books by Alister McGrath, John White, Tim Stafford, Paul Beasley-Murray and many others at half price.

Take it and Leave it!
Many holiday destinations have a “library” area where holidaymakers can leave books they have read and pick up books left by others.   Why not take a good Christian novel or biography and leave it for somebody else to read?  The Shack is an obvious choice.  Alternatively one of the books in refresh books’ ‘Fiction for a Fiver’ offer might be suitable.  If you prefer a biography try Once an Addict by Barry Woodward, The Vicar of Baghdad by Andrew White, Father Forgive by Robin Oake or Out of the Black Shadows by Stephen Lungu.  (See Reviews on our Christian Biography Page, Click HERE)

The year of The Shack
The Shack continues to dominate the Christian best-seller lists in this country while, in the USA, it has now been a year on the New York Times ‘Paperback Trade Fiction’ list.  Sales at re:fresh books have also remained strong.  The Shack tells the story of a man, tortured by family tragedy, who returns to the remote shack where his child was apparently murdered.  Here he comes face-to-face with the unexpected.   

A new IVP book Finding God in the Shack by Roger Olson examines the theological implications of The Shack including questions about God and suffering, forgiveness and The Trinity.  The author is a Professor of Theology who has himself experienced something of “the Great Sadness” described in The Shack.

Another Christian book that has reached Number One in the New York Times best sellers list (Paperback Advice list) is The Love Dare, by Stephen Kendrick.  The book, which featured in the popular film Fireproof, is a devotional guide to help spouses rekindle their love with 40 days of “unconditional love”.  You can buy both the Movie Edition of The Love Dare and the Fireproof DVD at re:fresh books.

Calvin Quincentenary
July 10 marks the 500th anniversary of the birth of John Calvin.  A number of new books on the great protestant reformer have been published this year.  John Calvin – a Pilgrim’s Life by Herman J Selderhuis is excellent value at £9.99 for 259 pages.   John Calvin and his passion for the majesty of God is a recent 64-page book from John Piper while, for young people, Catherine MacKenzie’s John Calvin: After Darkness Light has been added to the Christian Focus Trailblazers series.  Meanwhile the classic biography John Calvin by THL Parker (224 pages £9.99) was reissued three years ago.  All these books are available from re:fresh.

The hype surrounding the bicentenary of Darwin’s birth, and 150 years since publication of On the Origin of Species, has spawned a raft of Christian books.  These include Denis Alexander’s Creation or Evolution – do we have to choose? Nick Spencer’s Darwin and God and Charles Foster’s The Selfless Gene. 

John Piper fans will have a field day at re:fresh books this summer.  In addition to his new books Finally Alive and John Calvin and his passion for the Majesty of God, there are special offers on Desiring God, reduced by £4.00; The future of Justification reduced by £3.00; and Battling Unbelief and Don’t Waste your Life, each reduced by £2.00.

There is also plenty for the non-reader at re:fresh books.  Just in is the new Stuart Townend album Creation Sing, reduced by £2.00.   The new Tim Hughes album Oh Happy Day is proving extremely popular, as is the last-ever Delirious album, My Soul Sings.  The re:fresh special offer of selected CDs for £5.00 has proved very popular and is being extended while stocks last.

Spring News from re:fresh books

We have had an encouraging few months and we really want to thank you for your loyalty and support.  So many people have asked us how things are going.  We have much to thank God for in this challenging economic climate, both in sustaining sales, but also in sending us an increasing number of people who need someone to listen to them and give them time.    We are especially grateful to those of you who realise that, to support the ministry side of re:fresh, we need our customers to shop with us, rather than support the internet giants.  

It's Bluebell season at re:fresh!!  Fiction for £5!  Books for £5!  Music for £5!  Bibles for £5!  We have put together a series of promotions all round the shop offering selected fiction, Bibles, books, gift books and music for £5!Just follow the Bluebell trail round re:fresh to find them!

Bible promotion
Save up to £12 off Study Bibles like the ESV, NIV, NLT and Message.   Various editions of different English translations are reduced in price, including £4 off NCV Youth Bibles.  Many of these offers are unique to re:fresh.  Soon to arrive will be half-price Bibles and prayer books for children - a popular Spring Lion promotion available only to independent retailers.

JUST ARRIVED
You've read the Shack - now read Finding God in the Shack - IVP's new title by Roger Olson that helps you get the most out of it, particularly if you are using it as a reading club book.  Re:fresh has some special offers on this title. Save £1.50 off the £8.99 book, or buy 1 copy each of The Shack and Finding God in the Shack, for £13, saving £4.  The author Roger Olson has experienced some of the same tough events, questions and feelings described in the novel and finds much to endorse.   He delves into many of the significant issues raised with a theologian's eye.  

John Piper fans will be pleased to see the new title Finally Alive   which discusses spiritual new birth – the what, why and how of being born again and how we can help others to become finally alive.

New Music
Spring Harvest Praise 2009 Music books, New Songs and Kids Praise Party cds have just arrived. 

The long awaited new Tim Hughes album Oh Happy Day is proving very popular.   Don't miss out on My Soul Sings - the last album ever by the popular band Delirious.  Stuart Townend fans will be glad to know there is a new solo album due in May - Creation Sing. 

DVDs and Films
More and more small groups are discovering Jeff Lucas' Life Journeys series of dvds and study booklets. You can save £3 on the dvds until the end of May. Rob Bell's short Nooma films are also on special offer, now down to £7.99 for volumes 1-22.  Discussion guides are available at £6.99 for packs of 5. 

There is a new film that is gaining a lot of attention: Fireproof.  This is described as an action packed love story about a fire-fighter, his wife and a marriage worth saving.  There is a lot of extra material on it, including a 6 part Bible study on relationships. 

Christians against Poverty
Many of you will know that CAP is the charity we are specially supporting at re:fresh in 2009, along with Compassionart.   Details of both charities are on our website www.refreshbooks.co.uk   If you want to be encouraged and inspired, then come in  and buy the new book published by CAP: Journeys of Hope in which they share 12 stories of how people’s lives have been totally turned around, both practically and spiritually through their ministry.  

God bless you

Marguerite & David Williams

MARCH/APRIL NEWS 

Thursday March 5 is World Book Day when bookshops, publishers, schools and other groups work together to promote books and reading amongst people of all ages.  re:fresh books and christian resources is participating with a FREE sampler book containing sample chapters from 19 books (all on special offer) by Christian authors including J. John, Adrian Plass, Ian Coffey, Ted Dekker, Max Lucado, Gary Chapman, Mike Pilavachi and Fiona Horrobin.  Re:fresh is also participating in the schools voucher scheme which encourages children to buy books.  It has a small selection of children’s books at only £1 including Cry of the Tiger and John Newton a Slave set Free.

Why not use the occasion to promote reading in your church, youth group, or amongst your close friends?  Why not start a reading group as a means of outreach?  Re:fresh is happy to discuss ways it can help with special events or discounts for reading groups.

Money issues
Re:fresh has books to help people with money problems, or seeking to help others;    Rob Parsons’ The Money Secret and Katie Clarke’s The Sixty Minute Debt Buster are both written for a general readership, giving practical guidance on dealing with money problems.  Meanwhile CWR has just published a Life Issues Bible Study on the Christian attitude to money with four studies for individuals and small groups.  Another useful study book for Christians is The Money Revolution by John Preston.

re:fresh is supporting ‘Christians against Poverty’ as its Charity of the Year.   This is a National debt counselling charity with a network of 92 centres based in local churches.  Although there is no CAP centre in Kingston it is hoped that one will be established locally this year.   re:fresh support for CAP will include a collecting box on the counter and literature.  For further information see www.refreshbooks.co.uk or www.capuk.org.

New books
Among new titles now available at re:fresh are:-

• The Faith of Barack Obama by Stephen Mansfield.  Published during the run-up to the American election, this book traces the influences in Obama’s life including his atheistic white mother, his Muslim step-father, and the controversial preacher Jeremiah Wright, through whom he first embraced a Christian faith.   Mansfield’s approach is balanced and leaves one in no doubt that Obama brings “a new brand of faith-based politics” to the American scene.

• Faith and Doubt by John Ortberg looks sympathetically at the whole issue of doubt and uncertainty in the Christian life.  “Doubt can motivate us to study and learn” he says.  “If I leap, if I trust, I do not know for sure what will happen … If I don’t leap, if I don’t trust, if I don’t hope, if I don’t ask, I will never soar.  I will never know.  I will grow old standing on the side of that cliff”.

• The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge is a children’s book, written in the 1940s which has just been released as a major Warner Brothers film, The Secret of Moonacre.   The story has a strong message of reconciliation – the overcoming of human pride and greed by one pure sacrifice.  It bears a remarkable resemblance to the  allegoric images of The Lion the Witch & the Wardrobe but The Little White Horse was the earlier book.  See the film, but buy the book at re:fresh books.

Easter
With Easter just ahead, re:fresh has a selection of Easter cards.  It also has study resources, books, DVDs and music on Easter themes.  Re:fresh also has the DVD of the BBC series, The Passion which was screened last Easter.

January/February 2009 News

Shelter from the storm in a tea cup

One of the little extras offered by re:fresh books is a cup of tea or coffee for customers browsing in the shop or people who come in with spiritual or emotional needs.

An Indian lady recently came in to say how amazed she had been to be offered a cup of tea a few days earlier.  She had lived in this country for more than 18 years and never been offered a cup of tea! 

Some people have come into re:fresh after visiting the local undertaker;  what an opportunity to offer a listening ear or maybe just somewhere they can sit quietly for a while with a cup of tea!  On other occasions, people who have arrived early for job interviews in Tolworth Tower have come into the shop to browse and been offered a cup of tea or coffee.  In Summer the courtyard garden behind re:fresh offers a quiet retreat.

These are just a few examples of the ministry opportunities afforded by a local Christian bookshop.   One of the greatest delights is when people come looking for Bibles.  One lady said recently “I just suddenly decided I ought to find my Bible and get it out of the loft and start reading it.  I couldn’t find it, so thought I would come and buy one.”  On another occasion a young mother came in looking for a Bible for her 5 year-old son.  He had come home from school saying “Mum, I want a Bible for Christmas.”

Christian bookshops like re:fresh are, literally, a shop window for the Christian faith.  They are open at times when most churches are closed, and yet when there are more people on the streets.  And they offer the familiarity of a retail environment to people for whom church might be an alien experience.  Meanwhile they offer the convenience of  displaying a range of books which customers can browse, helped if they wish by staff who are passionate about their own faith.

Christian bookshops, like most shops, have found 2008 a challenging year and anticipate that 2009 will be even more so.  Some have already closed, including a major London shop.  They need your support if they are to continue.

Looking back over 2008, excluding Bibles, the following were the top-selling books at re:fresh:-
1. The Shack – William P Young
2. The Purpose Driven Life – Rick Warren
3. The Money Revolution – John Preston
4. Real life Jesus – Mike Cain
5. Taming the Tiger – Tony Anthony
6. Secret Believers – Brother Andrew
7. What’s so Amazing about Grace? – Philip Yancey
8. The Busy Christian’s Guide to Busyness – Tim Chester
9 Twenty Four – Krish Kandiah
10.= Mere Christianity – C.S. Lewis
10.= The Reason for God – Tim Keller
In the music scene, the Compassion Art CD/DVD quickly established itself as the top-selling album, with 85 sold in the three weeks leading up to Christmas.

For those who are looking to save money on Christian books and music,  re:fresh has a New Year sale running through January and February.  It includes a fantastic pick ‘n mix offer on selected CDs – four for £20.  There is up to 50% off many books, Bibles and study materials, including 50% off NIV and TNIV audio Bibles.  The excellent IVP New Bible Dictionary and New Bible Commentary are each reduced by £5.  More details are on the re:fresh website www.refreshbooks.co.uk or, better still, visit the shop.

Past news items may be viewed on our News Archive. 

Click HERE to view.

A Selection of past news stories appears below

Re:fresh in the news again
(February 2007)
The February 2007 issue of Christianity Magazine includes a ‘briefing’ article from re:fresh books and christian resources.  This looks at the role of Christian bookshops in the modern retail climate.  It makes the point that Christian bookshops represent a Christian presence on the High Street and are open at times when most churches are closed!

Fresh veggies from re:fresh books
(July/August 2006)
After a number of years, the Veggie Tales are back, now on DVD.  Aimed at pre-school children, and presenting Biblical stories and concepts in an engaging style, they are also “cult” viewing amongst many Christian teenagers.    Titles initially available include:-  Josh and the big Wall, Madame Blueberry, Ballad of little Joe, Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Samson’s hairbrush and Rack, Shack and Benny

Re:fresh wins Retailer of the Year Award
(March 2006)
Re:fresh books & christian resources won the ‘Small Retailer of the Year Award’ at the recent Christian Booksellers Convention in Telford.  The Award is one of two awards made each year at the Convention, one for “small” bookshops with a turnover up to £200,000 a year and the other for “large” bookshops.  There are approximately 600 Christian bookshops in the UK of which the majority are “small”.  Criteria used by the judges include organization and control of business activity, originality and creativity in presentation and marketing activity, turnover growth, customer care, community involvement, stock turn and staff development.   The Award is especially pleasing because re:fresh books only opened 18 months ago.

 Expanded DVD range
(June 2006)
Re:fresh books has introduced an extensive new range of DVDs for adults and children including Christian biography, teaching materials, movies etc.   Topical subjects are The Prize, The Ultimate Goal and More than a game which feature spectacular football action with world-class players discussing their dreams, disappointments and motivation.  Childrens’ titles include classics such as Treasures of the Snow and Tanglewoods’ Secret.  Classic films such as  John Wesley and Martin Luther are available along with biographies of well-known Christians past and present.  The evangelistic DVD So, Who is this Jesus? featuring The Bill actor Russell Boulter is an excellent resource for youth discussions or seeker groups (See review on www.refreshbooks.co.uk.)