The management team were run by a group of people dedicated to spreading the word of God. They were passionate about seeing a Christ presence on the high street and their vision was to have the UK filled with well-stocked Christian bookshops.
Christian literature had been distributed by this parent company since 1957 when evangelist George Verwer had a heart to spread the gospel.
The chief executive who came on board in 1986, increased the turnover by more than 50% and six years later, our first bookshop was birthed in the English county of Kent.
There was another large Christian bookshop chain run by a more Anglican based ministry and our head office staff made sure that they didn’t step on their toes. Therefore, if a town already had a thriving bookshop run by this other company, the managers would not plant one there.
Eventually, 41 branches were opened across the UK, including Northern Ireland, with each branch being allocated an area manager who would oversee a few shops.
Our area manager, Archie, also had a shop himself, 16 miles away from where we were located, and he visited us regularly.
Many residential training courses were available for staff and these were held 124 miles away further north at the headquarters. Casper, being an introvert and loving his own space, had a dilemma. He enjoyed the managerial courses but dreaded having to share a hotel room with a stranger.
“Why can’t they just give me my own room?” he would wail.
But cost saving was of paramount importance and we were always being reminded that,
“We are a charity.”
Another thing that made Casper uncomfortable were the remarks that were made from time to time that, out of all our branches, he was the only manager who was a member of a Pentecostal church.
I’m not sure why it was felt necessary to mention his denominational preference. Were they scared he would perturb them during the middle of a board meeting by suddenly jumping up from his chair and shouting,
“Well hallelujah, we are making a profit at last! The good Lord be praised! Can I get a witness y’all? The spirit is moving in me and I testify we’re going to see an outpouring of customers. Yes, an end-time harvest is raining down. I feel the tongues coming…shandallabarh… ooh yes, I do! They shall not tarry but burst forth into praising our Saviour. And devil, I bind you right now! Shaka, lala, heeky, beeky! I cast you out of this room! Power, come! Ohh, I feel it! Can I get a witness? Everybody say, amen! Haa, ley loo yar!”?
They should have known from his taciturn personality that he was not into making a spectacle of himself and that all denominations are filled with a variety of people.
Nevertheless, he was occasionally reminded with what seemed like bemusement,
“You are our only Pentecostal manager.”
Their bent towards a more conservative style of Christianity was reflected in the books on our stock list. Authors such as Rebecca Brown, Mary Baxter, Roberts Liardon and Kenneth Hagin were not on that list. Customers did ask for books by these authors, but they were classed as, “Special Orders” which Trudy obtained from America.
However, controversial titles such as “God Calling, by The Two Listeners” and “The Lost Message of Jesus” by Steve Chalke, were on our stock list and Steve’s book even made the Top Ten list.
This rattled certain customers, who complained that we were promoting heretic titles.
Upon further research and backed up by the Evangelical Alliance UK, Casper discovered that the Steve Chalke book was definitely dishonouring to God, to the point of blasphemy, and we promptly removed it from our shelves. However, these two titles remained on the stock list controlled by Head Office, so if a customer requested one of them, we had to order it.
Not everyone who worked at the headquarters warehouse was a Christian, but we all loved Patty who was in charge of the service centre where branches would call if they had a query or problem. We all appreciated the value she brought to the team and I did not realise she was unsaved until a week before I left to go on maternity leave. This is probably just as well, for if I had known, she would have been bombarded with a load more ‘God bless you’s’ at the end of each call.
My conclusion about Head Office is found in the last chapter.
