EPISCOMALL! Grand opening…October 1, 2010

By The Rev. Ray Buchanon, Rector
Church of the Redeemer, Mobile

On October 1, 2010, EPISCOMALL will open for sales.

What is EPISCOMALL?  It is the brain-child of Mark Roberts, a communicant of Episcopal Church of the Redeemer, Mobile, and an owner of Epiphany Development.  EPISCOMALL is an online mall under the auspices of the Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast wherein congregations within the diocese can each have their own store.

So, how does this work?  Someone gives the congregation an item for sale.  The item is photographed and the photograph is uploaded to the store with a description and price.  The donor keeps the item until someone purchases it, at which time the congregation ships it to the buyer.  The shipping costs are billed to the buyer and the purchase is processed through a diocesan account.  At the end of the month, the diocese sends a check to the congregation for 80% of the sales for the month.  The other 20% remains with the diocese to offset fees and provide a small income stream for the diocese.

Cost?  Mark is hosting the site and developing it at no cost to the diocese or congregations.  You will need to provide persons to process donations and shipping.  He will provide a manual and initial consultation.

Who can participate?  The Standing Committee has approved a beta test involving 3 – 6 congregations.  Currently, Redeemer (Mobile) and All Saints (Mobile) are participating and we are looking for other congregations near Mobile to be part of the test.  Once we see the success that we anticipate and work out some of the wrinkles, we hope that the Standing Committee will approve this for all congregations in the diocese.  The only store going online on October 1, is Redeemer.

Interested?  Take a moment and go to episcomall.com.  There you will see the mall and on the left side, a list of stores.  The products that you see there are real and for sale, as are others not listed.  Perhaps your congregation would like to be in the initial beta test or join us at a later time.

Until then, support the mission and ministry of the Episcopal Church in the Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast by purchasing products and promoting EPISCOMALL.