General Manager Anthony Gosling reflects on the development of Evangelical Press

In 1967, one man was filled with a vision to publish and distribute Bible tracts and booklets throughout England. From this small 'one man' operation based in England, Evangelical Press has developed into an international publishing house with offices in France, Belarus, Latvia, Benin Republic, the Ivory Coast and the USA. Books published by Evangelical Press are now sold in many different languages to some eighty countries around the world. Last year saw a continued increase in overall sales with particular progress made in the US market.

How did this remarkable growth happen?

Anthony Gosling, who joined Evangelical Press as general manager in September 2000 and is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the Darlington office where the editorial, accounts, design and warehouse facilities are based, explained: 'As the tracts and booklets were being distributed in the Sixties, there were numerous reports of the truth they contained meeting a real need and among those who identified with the goal of evangelism were those with a vision to reach the thousands already in the pews - Christians across all denominational groupings. More and more, Evangelical Press saw its role as taking the great Christian truths and representing them in a modern and contemporary form accessible to the every day Christian.'

Gradually the mission of Evangelical Press developed beyond publishing in the English language. As a result of the personal contacts made in France, the publishing house was able to establish its presence into key French markets. This development was followed by progress in other markets: in Russia, Spain, Italy and Portugal. The ongoing expansion into these key markets brought a new awakening: a consciousness of the need to develop into other parts of the world where Christian literature was either non-existent or very scarce and too expensive for the indigenous population to obtain. 

Anthony explained: 'Christians in the West are very blessed with the range of books that are available to them but we also need to think of those in poorer countries who have no books or very few, and in some cases, parts of a Bible; people who have little in the way of teaching and grounding in the Gospel and have no way of affording material to teach new converts. We are aware that around 90% of pastors worldwide have no formal training and it is to this end that we seek to provide books like the popular Welwyn Commentary Series in a number of languages.'

This 'mission conscious', development means, in effect, that the company uses profits from sales to its UK and American markets to off-set the cost of publishing the Gospel in other countries and in other languages. This enables Evangelical Press to distribute at affordable, heavily subsidised prices. 'We work in accordance with the Biblical principle, that the ‘abundance’ in one area might be used to ‘supply the lack’ in others (2 Corinthians 8:14). Whenever you buy an Evangelical Press book you become part of this worldwide mission.'

'We have been associated with publishing and distribution in Nigeria and the Philippines as well as the Italian, Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries. From our office in France, and backed up by sister organisations in the Ivory Coast and Benin Republic, West Africa, we publish an extensive range of Christian Literature in the French language. These are distributed into Europe, Quebec, the Caribbean and to the 30 French-speaking countries of Africa. Our office in Vitebsk, in Belarus (part of the former Soviet Union), was set up a few years ago by a native of that country. We have been translating books into Russian, publishing and promoting these by building up a network of pastors, Christians and churches interested in reformed literature.'

Throughout the years, the company has maintained a distinctively Reformed position, promoting 'practical Calvinism'.

As recently as October this year, Evangelical Press jointly hosted a conference for Christians in Minsk, Belarus, which was attended by over 100 people. Evangelical Press produces high quality, well-written, Biblical books which says Anthony, 'are needed in a society that is becoming increasingly post-modern and pagan in its outlook. We continue to concentrate on producing books that are relevant to today’s Christian and which also challenge the unbeliever to repentance and faith'.

It is Evangelical Press’s supreme desire to communicate the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and by translating into the four primary languages; they are able to reach almost half the world’s population. Among Evangelical Press’s best-known titles is Ultimate Questions by John Blanchard, which has sold over 15,000,000 copies worldwide and has been translated into 42 different languages.

'Almost daily we receive letters from around the world from people seeking further information and responding to the call to repentance and faith', explained Anthony. John Blanchard is also author of another best-seller 'Does God believe in atheists?', which has already been reprinted 7 times since its publication in April 2000.

This article first appeared in the February 2001 edition of 'Christian Bookseller' and is reprinted here by permission.