Postal Costs Hit Church Magazines

"It's going to be hard on the little guy, but the fact is that their mail is more costly to handle for the Postal Service," Partenheimer said.

Partenheimer urges church publications and other nonprofit groups to begin mailing with other organizations -- the more bulk sent to post offices, the better, he said. Also, he said, small mailers need to get away from putting their publications into inefficient containers. They can also consider drop mailing, meaning they distribute the mail themselves.

Small religious-oriented publications say they find the constraints frustrating. There are a whopping 55 different prices for periodicals based on container types, entry points and the amount of sorting required. The people who volunteer in their mailrooms aren't exactly schooled in the ways of efficient mailing.

"It's very difficult for a casual mailer to understand all the new rules and regulations," said Lawrence S. Levy, circulation manager for the Jewish Herald-Voice in Houston. "They're telling us we have to jump through all these hoops, but the face of the hoops is very small."

Terry of the Alabama Baptist agreed. He said volunteers want to minister in the community, not spend their time sorting mail.

"What it's going to amount to is less time doing ministries in the community," Terry said. "The big for-profit guys are saying, 'Woe is us, we're not making enough money because nonprofits aren't paying their costs.' Well, the implication of this disagreement on us is disastrous."

O'Brien of Time Inc. said he has been made to look like "Darth Vader" because he has led the charge to make sure small publications pay for all the postal services they use.

"There was no incentive for them to change until now; I'm trying to help the entire industry," he said.

Cynthia Astle, associate editor of the Progressive Christian Magazine in Dallas, doesn't see it as helping the whole industry -- just the mainstream large corporations.

"This [price increase] is one of those things that will bring down a lot of smaller niche market publications," Astle said. "The Postal Service is really denying people the right to express their religious belief."