RICHMOND —For the first time in Virginia Baptist history, the Virginia Baptist Annual will be offered in an electronic CD format.
“By providing this publication on a CD, we will have tremendous cost savings,” says Paige Peak, assistant executive director and chief communications officer for the Virginia Baptist Mission Board. “We believe that by making use of new, cost-effective technologies we are being better stewards of the Cooperative Missions gifts that have been entrusted to us.”
The Virginia Baptist Annual, a yearly compilation of historical and statistical Virginia Baptist information, is typically a print publication of approximately 500 pages that is sent to all Baptist General Association of Virginia churches, as well as district associations, Mission Board members, mission partners and other state conventions and affiliates with slightly over 2,000 copies printed. Printing and mailing costs for the publication run around $23,000. This year, with the conversion to a CD format, the production and mailing costs will run approximately $5,000.
Documents on the CD can be easily reviewed using the bookmarks and search feature. The Virginia Baptist Annual can now be saved to the user's computer and printed as needed. The documents are also protected by security preferences to prevent usage for solicitation, development of mailing lists or for any other commercial purposes.
Also included on the CD are downloadable Cooperative Missions ads for use in church bulletins, newsletters and websites; “What Every Virginia Baptist Wants to Know: On These Truths We Stand”; “BGAV: the Right Choice”; “Truthfully Speaking”; and a link to the Mission Board's web site, www.vbmb.org.
For those with no computer access or limited access, a print version can be requested by calling 800.ALL.BGAV, ext. 1272.