WESTMONT, IL—The Gospel Coalition has announced that three IVP titles were recipients of 2020 TGC Book Awards. The winning books include Exodus Old and New, Companions in Suffering and Analog Church. Two additional IVP books—Reading While Black and The Beautiful Community–were named Honorable Mention titles.

TGC editor Ivan Mesa wrote, “For some, with increased pressures at home and at work and perhaps even facing sickness and the death of others, [reading] seems fanciful. For others, reading has been a lifeline. Wherever you fall on the spectrum, at the end of 2020 it’s good to take stock of the year’s Christian titles and select the most helpful, edifying, and truth-filled books.”

TGC editors and contributors selected this year’s best titles based on the following criteria:

• offers gospel-centered argument and application;
• includes faithful and foundational use of Scripture, both Old Testament and New Testament;
• fosters spiritual discernment of contemporary trials and trends; and
• encourages efforts to unite and renew the church.

Exodus Old and New: A Biblical Theology of Redemption by L. Michael Morales was the title that best fit these criteria in the Academic Theology category of the TGC Book Awards. “In this extraordinary book, Morales examines the redemptive-historical theme of exodus, a pattern with deep theological roots in Scripture that finds its apex in the resurrection of Jesus,” the judges wrote. “This volume is a pleasure to read. Every sentence is a victory, every paragraph a triumph, as Morales not only imparts theology but also inspires worship of the God who delivers his people.” Exodus Old and New is a volume in the Essential Studies in Biblical Theology series.

Companions in Suffering: Comfort for Times of Loss and Loneliness by Wendy Alsup received the 2020 TGC Book Award in the Christian Living category. The judges wrote: “This book is perfectly timed to help suffering Christians love one another well. The past year unexpectedly plunged many of us into isolation and compounded our preexisting trials, but Alsup provides a beautiful picture of how to suffer in community, how to serve fellow sufferers, and how God meets us through the body of Christ. Vulnerably disclosing her own hard experiences, she not only sympathizes with our common experience of human suffering but also points us to authentic faith in Christ amid trouble. In the pages of this accessible book, Alsup draws on psychological best practices while grounding her counsel in a rich exploration of Scripture and an emphasis on the importance of the local church. It would be a beautiful book for any season, but 2020 has made it essential reading.”

Jay Kim received the TGC First-Time Author Award for his book Analog Church: Why We Need Real People, Places, and Things in the Digital Age. “You might think the pandemic has rendered Jay Kim’s debut work obsolete,” the judges wrote. “What good is a book extolling the virtues of face-to-face life in the church when our faces spread sickness and death? On the contrary, nothing could better show ‘why we need real people, places, and things in the digital age.’ Many church leaders may wonder if they should embrace our digital future by moving more and more community online, even when ‘normal’ returns. This Bay Area pastor’s timely work will help them understand why this move will not make the body of Christ healthier. We need each other, face to face, as soon as possible. Read and ponder this book proleptically—you can’t put it into practice now, but you’ll need it to convince church members to opt back in and renew the habits of body life we lost in 2020.”

Irwyn Ince was also recognized in the First-Time Author category. His book, The Beautiful Community: Unity, Diversity, and the Church at Its Best, was listed as an Honorable Mention title. Jarvis J. Williams, associate professor of New Testament interpretation at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, commented, “Dr. Ince provides all Christians in the American context, and the churches in which they serve, an accessible and clear biblical and theological vision to help them work toward the unification of all things and all people in Christ. The book is grounded in a succinct and accessible biblical, theological, and historical vision for the ‘beautiful community’ and written with the prose of a concerned pastor who longs to see the people of God reach their redemptive potential in matters related to ethnic unity and racial conciliation.”

Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope by Esau McCaulley was an Honorable Mention title in the Popular Theology category. Reading While Black is a personal and scholarly testament to the power and hope of Black biblical interpretation. At a time in which some within the African American community are questioning the place of the Christian faith in the struggle for justice, New Testament scholar McCaulley argues that reading Scripture from the perspective of Black church tradition is invaluable for connecting with a rich faith history and addressing the urgent issues of our times. N.T. Wright, professor of New Testament at the University of St Andrews, said, “Esau McCaulley’s voice is one we urgently need to hear. This book is prophetic, biblical, measured, wise, friendly, and well-reasoned—and thus all the more hard-hitting.”

For a complete list of IVP award winners visit ivpress.com/award-winners.

Iron Stream Media is proud to announce two winners of the 2020 Christian Authors Network (CAN) Crown Awards. Laine Lawson Craft won Silver for Enjoy Today, Own Tomorrow in the Outstanding Visual Media Campaign category. Dr. Craig von Buseck won Bronze for I Am Cyrus in the Outstanding Broadcasting Campaign category.

The CAN Crown Awards recognize excellence in marketing and promotion of Christian authors. Each year CAN recognizes authors who have done an exemplary job promoting their books in one of three categories:

• Visual campaign, including social media and print materials
• Broadcasting, including radio, podcasts, and television
• Web Presence, including website, blog, and newsletters

The awards provide outstanding examples to fellow Christian authors, in order to educate and develop marketing and promotion skills.

Iron Stream Media derives its name from Proverbs 27:17, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” This sharpening describes the process of discipleship, one to another. Iron Stream Media provides a variety of solutions for churches, missionaries, and nonprofits that include in-depth Bible study curriculum, Christian book publishing, and consultative services. Iron Stream Media is the home of New Hope Publishers, Iron Stream Books, Ascender Books, LPC Books, and New Hope Kidz. Through the popular Life Bible Study and Student Life Bible Study imprints, they also provide web-based, full-year and short-term Bible study teaching plans as well as printed devotionals, Bibles, and discipleship curriculum.

Contact: Kim McCulla at kim.mcculla@ironstreammedia.com to book Laine Lawson Craft or Dr. Craig von Buseck as a guest speaker.

Ada, Mich. (November 9, 2020)—Baker Publishing Group has announced that Marilyn Gordon, director of rights and permissions, will be retiring on January 29, 2021. Marilyn has served the company for thirty years, and Baker is grateful for her contributions. She has worked closely with many Baker colleagues and business associates around the world. The professionalism and knowledge she has shared are invaluable. We are excited for her to begin this next chapter in her life.

Dwight Baker, president and CEO of Baker Publishing Group, stated, “During her many years of service and in multiple roles, Marilyn always envisioned Baker Publishing Group as a better company. She pressed us steadily toward that goal, and she has been a mentor to me during every year of that process. To our business partners across the world, Marilyn is a passionate advocate of our company mission. Joining with her friends on every continent, we celebrate Marilyn’s successful career in extending the reach of Christian literature.”

As Marilyn looks toward the future, she says, “While I look forward to enjoying my retirement, I will miss being part of the Baker team. I am truly appreciative and grateful for the many professional opportunities and the friendships developed over the last thirty years. Working at Baker has been a great pleasure. However, I am very much anticipating the freedom of retirement, which will include more time with my grandchildren, adventures with family and friends, relentless reading, and enjoyment of art.”

Baker Publishing Group (Bethany House, Revell, Baker Books, Chosen, Brazos Press, and Baker Academic) is a leading producer of Christian resources that give insight and inspiration to readers worldwide. Our divisions reflect the broadest scope of topics, which includes fiction, self-help, inspiration, professional books, Christian living, and academic titles.

Contact: Karen Steele, (616)676-9185 x100 ksteele@bakerpublishinggroup.com

William B. Eerdmans Jr., who led the Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company for more than fifty years, died on Friday, November 13. He was 97.

Eerdmans was born in 1923 and started work at the company when he was thirteen. He became president of the Eerdmans Publishing Co. in 1963, taking over from his father, Bill Eerdmans Sr., who founded the company in 1911. Bill is remembered both as a friend to all and as a trailblazing publisher who broadened the company’s list beyond its Reformed Protestant roots to comprise books on ecumenical and interfaith dialogue and on race, gender, and other social issues while continuing to publish the scholarly titles for which the company has long been well-known.

“Not for Bill the idea that publishing should cater to the latest trends. The point was to lead, not follow,” said longtime Eerdmans editor-in-chief Jon Pott. “Bill’s command of his field was impressive and his singular publishing achievements were many and great. . . . But it was Bill the deeply committed but high-spirited publishing personality who somehow counted for most, in the books and authors he directly pursued and in the heady oxygen he provided for the rest of us. He knew his work, but he also thoroughly relished it, from restaurant idea to finished book, from dizzying first authorial encounter to plunk of the final product on his overburdened desk.”

Eerdmans’s wife, Anita, who took over as president and publisher of the company in 2014, said: “Bill loved joking around, and sometimes you could almost see the wheels turning in his head as he tried to come up with the perfect clever phrase for the moment. Yet he also took his work very seriously. Until the last few years, most evenings would find him with an Eerdmans book or a potential Eerdmans book in his lap, even on vacations! He was responsible for some very important books and series that we published over the years, and our longtime interest in religious perspectives on important political and cultural issues grew out of his own personal concern about those issues.”

There was be a private family graveside service last week with a public memorial service to be planned when large gatherings are safe.

WESTMONT, IL—InterVarsity Press has signed a contract with Nancy Beach and her daughter, Samantha Beach Kiley, for the spring 2022 release of their coauthored book tentatively titled Next Sunday: A Mother/Daughter Dialogue on the Future of the Church.

Ethan McCarthy, associate editor for IVP said, “Nancy and Samantha’s book promises to be a fascinating look at American evangelicalism from a multigenerational perspective. At IVP, we’re committed not only to the continual reassessment of where the church has come from, but also to looking together in hope to where it’s going. Next Sunday promises to do both.” 

Next Sunday will provide a window into the perspectives of a Baby Boomer mother and her Millennial daughter as they examine what elements will be required for churches to thrive going forward. Nancy, a Boomer, was a key player in the megachurch movement that revolutionized global ministry during the eighties and nineties, while Samantha, a Millennial, is willing to abandon those massive buildings and celebrity cultures to see if the foundation holds. The goal of Next Sunday is to spark further dialogue and offer hope to men and women who care deeply about the church but are anxious about its future.

Nancy Beach has long been a champion for artists and leaders in the local church. As a part of launching the youth group of Willow Creek Community Church in suburban Chicago, Nancy served as the programming director, building a community of artists who sought to create transformational moments in Sunday morning services. She was also a pioneer, serving as the first woman leader on the church’s management team and as the first female teaching pastor. With a front row seat and as a contributing voice for designing church with the “unchurched” in mind, Nancy became a global influencer, speaker, and author as other church leaders sought to learn from Willow Creek’s experience.

Nancy currently serves as a leadership coach with the Slingshot Group, helping church leaders and teams flourish in life and ministry. She also continues to teach at conferences and workshops for both artists and women in leadership and serves on the teaching team at Soul City Church in downtown Chicago. She is the author of An Hour on Sunday: Creating Moments of Transformation and Wonder (Zondervan, 2004) and Gifted to Lead: The Art of Leading as a Woman in the Church (Zondervan, 2008).

“Although I’ve known of Nancy Beach’s pastoral and literary work for many years, it was in the fall of 2019, when I heard her speak at a publishing conference on the future of the church, that I took notice in a new, earnest way,” Jeff Crosby, IVP’s publisher, said. “I came away from hearing that message not with a sense of despair but, rather, with a renewed hope and a vision for the questions not only those in church leadership but all of us who care about the church need to ask ourselves, reflect on, and respond to. Adding Samantha Beach Kiley’s voice through the mother/daughter, multigenerational dialogue was icing on the cake. Two wise and winsome people coming together to craft an important message for our day. I’m genuinely delighted and honored to be publishing this important work in the days ahead.”

Samantha Beach Kiley is an Austin-based writer and performer working at the intersection of art and faith. Samantha’s acting experience includes theater, voice-over, spoken word performance, and television. As a teaching artist, Sam works to encourage creativity, promote collaboration, and instill confidence in young people. She has taught at Northwestern’s National High School Institute and Rocky Mountain Repertory Theatre, where she is the codirector of education. Currently, she works as a storytelling consultant for churches and nonprofits and is the creative arts pastor at Austin New Church.

Samantha’s plays have been produced in professional and educational settings and, most recently, in family rooms and children’s hospitals with the national tour of her miniature show, We the W(h)ee. Her YouTube video “Psalm 23 & Me” was shared widely and garnered tens of thousands of views on social media and youtube.com in early 2020. Samantha is writing a new musical and is a creative freelance writer serving a variety of churches. Her plays include The Snare, Thing 100, We the W(h)ee, and Mill Girls.

Thomas Nelson congratulates winner, Kristy Cambron, and three finalists

(Nashville, Tenn.) November 18, 2020 — Thomas Nelson today announced The Painted Castle by Kristy Cambron is a Christy Award winner in the Historical Fiction category. The company also recognized three additional finalists. The Christy Awards, which honor fiction authors in nine categories, were presented by the Evangelical Christian Publishing Association (ECPA) through a live webcast on November 12, 2020.

The three additional Thomas Nelson titles that were recognized as finalists in various categories are:

• The Bright Unknown by Elizabeth Byler Younts in Historical
• Smoke Screen by Terri Blackstock in Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
• The Piper’s Pursuit by Melanie Dickerson in Young Adult

“The Christy Awards are a marker of excellence in Christian fiction, and I am thrilled to see our authors recognized for their work,” said Amanda Bostic, v-p and publisher for Thomas Nelson fiction. “We’ve had the honor of publishing Kristy Cambron since her debut novel released in 2014. It is a joy to see her talent and passion for storytelling honored with a Christy Award.”

To learn more about the Christy Awards, please visit www.christyawards.com.

About Thomas Nelson: Thomas Nelson is a world leading publisher and provider of Christian content and has been providing readers with quality inspirational product for more than 200 years. As part of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc., the publishing group provides multiple formats of award-winning Bibles, books, gift books, curriculum and digital content, with distribution of its products in more than 100 countries. Thomas Nelson is headquartered in Nashville, TN. For additional information visit www.thomasnelson.com.

Contact: Chelsea Taff, Assistant Manager, Corporate Communications, 615.902.2137
Chelsea.Taff@HarperCollins.com

 

Nashville, Tenn. (November 19, 2020)—HarperCollins Christian Publishing (HCCP) and HarperCollins Focus (HCF) today announced Jerri Helm’s promotion to v-p of digital marketing and analytics.

Helms has led digital marketing efforts in various roles for HCCP for more than 12 years. In 2013 she was named the senior director of digital marketing for the Thomas Nelson and Zondervan Bibles groups where she managed an email list of more than 2 million consumers, developed an engaged Facebook group of over 100,000, and implemented analytics, advertising, and metadata optimization strategies. In 2018 she was chosen to lead the newly formed Marketing Operations team, which acts as a centralized marketing consulting group for teams across HCCP and HCF. This team consults on best practices for email, search engine optimization (SEO), website development, analytics, and ad campaigns. Helms also sits on the SEO Global Counsel for HarperCollins’ parent company, NewsCorp.

As v-p of digital marketing and analytics, Helms will continue to lead the Marketing Operations team while also assuming responsibility for the Corporate Analytics team, which formulates data for publishing teams to help them sign, publish, and market the best possible products based on market research.

“Since Jerri joined the company in 2008, she has changed the landscape for how we market products,” said Doug Lockhart, senior v-p, marketing and new initiatives. “She is continually seeking data-driven solutions to drive our business forward, and I know she will do an excellent job in this new role.”

HarperCollins Christian Publishing

About HarperCollins Christian Publishing: The world’s leading Christian publisher, HarperCollins Christian Publishing Inc., comprises the Thomas Nelson and Zondervan publishing groups, BibleGateway.com, FaithGateway.com and ChurchSource.com.  The Company produces bestselling Bibles, inspirational books, academic resources, curriculum, audio and digital content for the Christian market space.   Bible Gateway is the world’s largest Christian website with more than 20 million unique monthly visitors. HarperCollins Christian Publishing is headquartered in Nashville, TN with additional offices in the U.S. and Mexico.  For more information visit www.HarperCollinsChristian.com.

HarperCollins Focus

HarperCollins Focus, LLC owns and operates a collection of publishing imprints, that enlighten and empower readers to transform their hearts and minds, connecting through story, advice, mentorship and community. The company is based in Nashville, TN. For more information visit www.HarperCollinsFocus.com.

Contact: Chelsea Taff, Assistant Manager, Corporate Communications, 615.902.2137,  
Chelsea.Taff@HarperCollins.com

Nashville, Tenn. (November 20, 2020)—Thomas Nelson recently announced Clark Christian as the marketing director for the Thomas Nelson Bible group.

Christian brings over 16 years of publishing and marketing experience, most recently working in product marketing for healthcare education company, PESI. In this role he managed the launch of over 20 educational products, which included tailored marketing campaigns for both print and digital. He has also served in full-time and freelance capacities as a writer and editor for R.H. Boyd. Christian holds a Bachelor of Arts in communication and media studies from Middle Tennessee State University and a Master of Arts in theology from Lipscomb University.

As the marketing director for the Bible group, Christian will manage the marketing for the King James Version (KJV) Study Bible, New King James Version (NKJV) Study Bible, as well as text and reference Bibles in Thomas Nelson’s three primary translations: NKJV, KJV, and New English Translation (NET).

“We are so pleased to welcome Clark to our team,” said Nikki Getman, senior marketing director for Thomas Nelson Bible group. “The work we do requires a rare mix of business acumen, publishing knowledge, and theological understanding. Clark has all of the above, and we are excited for him to use his expertise to market our flagship Bibles.”

About Thomas Nelson: Thomas Nelson is a world leading publisher and provider of Christian content and has been providing readers with quality inspirational product for more than 200 years. As part of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc., the publishing group provides multiple formats of award-winning Bibles, books, gift books, curriculum and digital content, with distribution of its products in more than 100 countries. Thomas Nelson is headquartered in Nashville, TN. For additional information visit www.thomasnelson.com.

Contact: Chelsea Taff, Assistant Manager, Corporate Communications, 615.902.2137
Chelsea.Taff@HarperCollins.com

 

CHARLOTTE, NC– It’s not uncommon to have trouble getting into the “Christmas spirit,” and that may especially be the case in 2020. John Piper understands. In a recent video on Desiring God, Piper offers encouragement and the recommendation that The Christmas We Didn’t Expect by David Mathis is a wonderful resource for renewing awe and wonder during Advent (The Good Book Company, October 2020).

Along with Piper’s recommendation, several other videos connected to this Advent devotional are inspiring Christians to adore Jesus—the One who came to save us and make our futures certain.

Watch now:

John Piper’s Advent devotional recommendation– Learn why this book is meaningful to John Piper.

David Mathis and Desiring God’s invitation to readers– An invitation to walk the path from Nazareth to Bethlehem, and from Galilee to Jerusalem, in all its unexpected twists and turns.

The story behind the devotional– Discover the heart of this book and its structure.

A reading of the poem “In The Bleak Midwinter”– Listen as David Mathis reads a Christmas poem inspiring awe of Christ.

For media inquiries and access to promotional assets, contact publicity@thegoodbook.com.

About the author: David Mathis serves as a senior teacher and executive editor at Desiring God, and is a pastor at Cities Church in St. Paul. Mathis currently resides in Minneapolis with his wife and four children.

About The Good Book Company: Founded in 1991, The Good Book Company (TGBC) is an international Christian publisher. Their Bible studies, books, devotionals, videos, tracts, evangelistic courses, and training materials are used throughout the English-speaking world, and in translation in over 35 languages worldwide. Everyone at TGBC is passionate about the Lord Jesus, His word, His church, and His gospel of grace. They create and publish biblical, relevant, and accessible resources that will encourage Christians to keep going, keep growing, and keep sharing their faith.