The Colorado-based Focus on the Family will reduce its staff by about 200 positions, citing economic conditions.
“There’s still a great demand for the resources we offer,” said Focus spokesman Gary Schneeberger on Tuesday (Nov. 18). “It’s simply a fact that the economy is affecting our donors and, therefore, affecting us.”
The staff reductions, which will decrease the number of employees from about 1,150 to about 950, include 149 people whose positions will be eliminated, and 53 vacant positions that will be cut. The ministry founded by religious broadcaster James Dobson also will stop publishing four of its eight magazines.
The Colorado Springs, Colo.-based ministry encountered a $5 million shortfall on its $151 million budget in the fiscal year that ended Sept.
30, Schneeberger said. Donations provide 95 percent of the ministry’s income.
The print edition of “Plugged In,” an entertainment review guide for parents, will continue through its online version, Schneeberger said.
Three other publications, Breakaway, Brio, and Brio and Beyond, which were aimed at teenagers, will be revamped into online content.
“The content that was found in those publications will still be available online, but it will be targeted not at teens but at parents,”
he said.
One of the four remaining magazines, Citizen, will be reduced from
12 issues to 10 issues a year. Earlier this fall, the ministry cut 46 other staff positions by outsourcing the department that filled orders and distributed books.
All of the current changes are related to Focus on the Family, Schneeberger said, and not its political arm, Focus on the Family Action.
Adelle M. Banks
Religion News Service
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