Jesus in a trendy outfit
Christian media In the USA, stylish Bible magazines and edification literature are enjoying market success. The good news is omnipresent and also highly profitable.
Christian media In the USA, stylish Bible magazines and edification literature are enjoying market success. The good news is omnipresent and also highly profitable.
Religious inspirational literature has increasingly found its way into the mainstream in the USA in recent years. Book chains such as Barnes & Noble now have their own "Christian Inspiration" section, and God also has a permanent place in various TV series. Only one media institution wanted to put a stop to the trend: the youth magazine Rolling Stone, where the publishing house Zondervan, the largest US producer of Christian literature, placed an advertisement for its new "Christian Inspiration" section at the end of January.
youth bible, Kent Brownridge, the manager responsible at the publishing house Wenner Media, objected. The advertisement was unacceptable because of its "spiritual message"; Rolling Stone was not in the business of advertising for religious purposes. After a storm of indignation from conservative media, Wenner Media backed down after just a few days. The campaign is now running in Rolling
Stone as well as in the satirical magazine The Onion, the bridal magazine Modern Bride and the websites of MTV, AOL and VH1.
Sexy on the outside, moral on the insideZondervan has of course profited from the controversy: its newly distributed youth Bible series "Scripture - Today's New International Ver-
sion" (TNIV) received a multiple of new orders.
The TNIV concept is emphatically youthful: because many teenagers cannot relate to the Old and New Testament in its traditional form, other Bible publishers are also changing its style and presentation. Thomas Nelson, for example, a Christian publisher in Nashville, Tennessee, launched "Revolve" on the faith market a year and a half ago - a Bible for young women in magazine form, with beaming girls' faces on the cover and practical life tips inside.
As trendy as the language and look of the title may be, its message seems outmoded. At least from a European perspective. When it comes to skin care, for example, it says: "When you apply sunscreen, use the time to talk to God. Tell him how grateful you are for the way he has made you. Soon enough, you'll get into the habit of talking to him - as familiar as you are with cleaning your pores." Certain rules also apply when looking for a partner. "Are you chasing a boy because you think he can increase your popularity? Check your priorities, sister, you're way off the mark," Revolve advises amicably. Because love has nothing to do with selfishness, and that is exactly what is being cultivated.
More attractive target audiencesAnother reason for the triumph of Christian media is that they appeal to a different, broader audience in terms of content. The days when only a less educated, right-wing conservative audience used Christian books, magazines and TV stations are over, says Heather Hendershot, communications professor at Queens College in New York. "Many Christians no longer identify with the old-fashioned, Bible-thumping televangelists who howl and shake their fists at the cameras." Rather, today's devout consumers are urban middle-class people with good incomes who want nothing to do with the radical, atonement-minded "televangelists" of the 1980s, but who are looking for
encouraging rather than punishing meanings.
The Christian book market has literally exploded since the turn of the millennium. The Christian Booksellers Association puts annual sales in the fiction sector alone at two billion dollars. According to the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, annual growth rates have been 10 to 14 percent since 2000. No wonder the top seller in this category, "The Purpose Driven Life", is currently ranked 30th on Amazon.com with a total of 20 million copies sold and landed at number 1 on the New York Times bestseller list shortly after its publication in 2002.
Boom factor Nine ElevenBoth secular New York publishing houses such as Random House and Doubleday, both of which belong to Bertelsmann, also carry Christian literature in their ranges. Zondervan also belongs to a publishing giant, namely Harper Collins. This in turn belongs to Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Random House also has the conservative preacher and author Tim La Haye under contract, whose 12-part doomsday vision "Finale" reaches a worldwide audience of millions. The apocalyptic scenarios in these books, which are based on the Book of Revelation, fell on fertile ground after September 11, 2001. While the first eight volumes in the series sold a total of 30 million copies, the ninth book, which appeared immediately after Nine Eleven, achieved a circulation of 20 million.
"Publishers are realizing that more and more enlightened, consumer-minded people want such books," says Andrea Doering from the Christian book club "Crossings" (which is also owned by Bertelsmann). And points out that many large publishing houses were still offering Christian literature in the 1940s and 1950s. It was not until the left-liberal civil rights movement of the 1960s that this genre was socially and economically marginalized. Now the circle has closed again. Jesus is back on the mass market.
Top 10 US bestsellers in Christian literature 2004 with author and publisher
1. "Purpose Driven Life", Rick Warren, Zondervan 2. "Glorious Appearing: The End Of Days", Jerry Jenkins, Tyndale 3. "5 Love Languages", Gary Chapman, Moody 4. "Wild At Heart", John Eldredge, Nelson
5. "Its Not About Me", Max Lucado, Integrity 6. "Purpose Driven Life Journal", Rick Warren, Zondervan 7. "Your Best Life Now", Joel Osteen, Warner Faith 8. "Passion Of Jesus Christ", John Piper, Crossway
9. "Humor Me: The Geranium Lady's Funny Little Book of Big Laughs", Barbara Johnson, Nelson 10. "WakingTheDead", John Eldredge, Nelson
Source: ECPA
Whether as a magazine or Bible ad (in Rolling Stone): Christian media is clearly on the rise.
Gerti Schön
Religious inspirational literature has increasingly found its way into the mainstream in the USA in recent years. Book chains such as Barnes & Noble now have their own "Christian Inspiration" section, and God also has a permanent place in various TV series. Only one media institution wanted to put a stop to the trend: the youth magazine Rolling Stone, where the publishing house Zondervan, the largest US producer of Christian literature, placed an advertisement for its new "Christian Inspiration" section at the end of January.
youth bible, Kent Brownridge, the manager responsible at the publishing house Wenner Media, objected. The advertisement was unacceptable because of its "spiritual message"; Rolling Stone was not in the business of advertising for religious purposes. After a storm of indignation from conservative media, Wenner Media backed down after just a few days. The campaign is now running in Rolling
Stone as well as in the satirical magazine The Onion, the bridal magazine Modern Bride and the websites of MTV, AOL and VH1.
Sexy on the outside, moral on the insideZondervan has of course profited from the controversy: its newly distributed youth Bible series "Scripture - Today's New International Ver-
sion" (TNIV) received a multiple of new orders.
The TNIV concept is emphatically youthful: because many teenagers cannot relate to the Old and New Testament in its traditional form, other Bible publishers are also changing its style and presentation. Thomas Nelson, for example, a Christian publisher in Nashville, Tennessee, launched "Revolve" on the faith market a year and a half ago - a Bible for young women in magazine form, with beaming girls' faces on the cover and practical life tips inside.
As trendy as the language and look of the title may be, its message seems outmoded. At least from a European perspective. When it comes to skin care, for example, it says: "When you apply sunscreen, use the time to talk to God. Tell him how grateful you are for the way he has made you. Soon enough, you'll get into the habit of talking to him - as familiar as you are with cleaning your pores." Certain rules also apply when looking for a partner. "Are you chasing a boy because you think he can increase your popularity? Check your priorities, sister, you're way off the mark," Revolve advises amicably. Because love has nothing to do with selfishness, and that is exactly what is being cultivated.
More attractive target audiencesAnother reason for the triumph of Christian media is that they appeal to a different, broader audience in terms of content. The days when only a less educated, right-wing conservative audience used Christian books, magazines and TV stations are over, says Heather Hendershot, communications professor at Queens College in New York. "Many Christians no longer identify with the old-fashioned, Bible-thumping televangelists who howl and shake their fists at the cameras." Rather, today's devout consumers are urban middle-class people with good incomes who want nothing to do with the radical, atonement-minded "televangelists" of the 1980s, but who are looking for
encouraging rather than punishing meanings.
The Christian book market has literally exploded since the turn of the millennium. The Christian Booksellers Association puts annual sales in the fiction sector alone at two billion dollars. According to the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, annual growth rates have been 10 to 14 percent since 2000. No wonder the top seller in this category, "The Purpose Driven Life", is currently ranked 30th on Amazon.com with a total of 20 million copies sold and landed at number 1 on the New York Times bestseller list shortly after its publication in 2002.
Boom factor Nine ElevenBoth secular New York publishing houses such as Random House and Doubleday, both of which belong to Bertelsmann, also carry Christian literature in their ranges. Zondervan also belongs to a publishing giant, namely Harper Collins. This in turn belongs to Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Random House also has the conservative preacher and author Tim La Haye under contract, whose 12-part doomsday vision "Finale" reaches a worldwide audience of millions. The apocalyptic scenarios in these books, which are based on the Book of Revelation, fell on fertile ground after September 11, 2001. While the first eight volumes in the series sold a total of 30 million copies, the ninth book, which appeared immediately after Nine Eleven, achieved a circulation of 20 million.
"Publishers are realizing that more and more enlightened, consumer-minded people want such books," says Andrea Doering from the Christian book club "Crossings" (which is also owned by Bertelsmann). And points out that many large publishing houses were still offering Christian literature in the 1940s and 1950s. It was not until the left-liberal civil rights movement of the 1960s that this genre was socially and economically marginalized. Now the circle has closed again. Jesus is back on the mass market.
Top 10 US bestsellers in Christian literature 2004 with author and publisher
1. "Purpose Driven Life", Rick Warren, Zondervan 2. "Glorious Appearing: The End Of Days", Jerry Jenkins, Tyndale 3. "5 Love Languages", Gary Chapman, Moody 4. "Wild At Heart", John Eldredge, Nelson
5. "Its Not About Me", Max Lucado, Integrity 6. "Purpose Driven Life Journal", Rick Warren, Zondervan 7. "Your Best Life Now", Joel Osteen, Warner Faith 8. "Passion Of Jesus Christ", John Piper, Crossway
9. "Humor Me: The Geranium Lady's Funny Little Book of Big Laughs", Barbara Johnson, Nelson 10. "WakingTheDead", John Eldredge, Nelson
Source: ECPA
Whether as a magazine or Bible ad (in Rolling Stone): Christian media is clearly on the rise.
Gerti Schön
