February 11, 2002
LifeWay didn't distribute Pressler book to pastors
___The Southern Baptist Convention's publishing house did not provide or ship a controversial book about convention controversy, according to the book's printer.
___Last fall, pastors across the convention received a free copy of "A Hill on Which to Die" in an envelope with a return address for the SBC's LifeWay Christian Resources. The author is Houston judge Paul Pressler, who led a political movement within the SBC that was called a "conservative resurgence" by supporters and a "takeover" by opponents.
___Some recipients of the book accused LifeWay of colluding with Pressler to distribute the paperback edition of his book. LifeWay's book-publishing division, Broadman & Holman, published the hardback original edition of the book.
___In a Jan. 15 letter, Charles Rosenberg, president of Rose Printing Company, sought to distance LifeWay from the distribution to pastors.
___"Our company ... handled the printing of the book and its mailing for Judge Pressler," Rosenberg wrote. "We erroneously used the return address of LifeWay Christian Resources in the shipping, and this has caused recipients of the mailing to mistakenly assume LifeWay provided the book.
___"This is not the case. The author provided (the) complimentary copy at his own expense, and the books were mailed directly from our offices in Tallahassee, Fla."
___A letter that accompanied the free copy of the book said tax-deductible contributions to offset the cost of the project may be sent to First Baptist Church in Houston.
___Kirk Boudreaux, director of financial services for the church, said Pressler is a member there. The church did not put any money into the project, he said.
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