TGBC began in 1991 under the name St. Matthias Press UK, in response to what TGBC saw as a "resurgence of Bible-based reformed evangelicalism in the UK." Their name was later changed to The Good Book Company in 2000. TGBC now supplies books, along with Bible study notes, to multiple countries including that of the UK, US, Australia and the developing world.
Activities
Publishing
TGBC writes and publishes Bible studies, training and evangelism resources, including Bible reading notes, youth materials and the Christianity Explored range. They distribute in the UK for the Australian evangelical, reformed publisher Matthias Media. They co-publish The Briefing magazine in association with Matthias Media, with whom they have been associated since their start.. They also promote and distribute a number of imprints of other publishers, including Intervarsity-Press UK, Good News Crossway, Evangelical Press, Christian Focus and Anglican Youthworks. In 2013 it established a new imprint for children's publishing, styled The Good Book for Kids. It quickly established a best-selling range of illustrated books called Tales that Tell the Truth, written by a variety of authors and illustrated by Colombian artist Catalina Echeverri. One of the titles in the series The One o'Clock Miracle won the Speaking Volumes UK Christian Children's Book of the Year Award in 2016. The Friend who Forgives won the Christianity Today Children's Book of the Year Award in 2019.
Mission Outreach
As part of the not for profit side of their activities, TGBC provides basic sermon outlines on a number of Bible books, named the Pray Prepare Preach series. The Forum of Bible Agencies International states that this is because some pastors and teachers in third-world countries have little Bible training and few resources in their own language. Aside from direct sales from TGBC, distribution to third-world countries includes:
UK mission organisations that send out literature to pastors.
Organisations and individuals that organise preaching seminars.
Overseas organisations which distribute literature in their own country.
Conferences and Training Events
TGBC is part of a conservative group that organises the annual Evangelists' Conference. TGBC is also involved in the annual London and Northern Men's and Women's Conferences for local church ministry. They run training events for Youth and Children's work in the UK and Northern Ireland. TGBC co-hosted the Urban Plant Life Conference in November 2008. Since 2016, these events have been outsourced to a separate organisation as part of a business rationalisation which has seen the organisation focus on its publishing activities.
In 1999, TGBC began administering Moore Theological College extension courses in the UK - an established distance learning course from Sydney, Australia. The Open Bible Institute states that this was consistent with TGBC's desire to build on the training events it had been running. The Open Bible Institute was renamed The Good Book College in 2012. Over the next five years, enrolments in the Moore College course grew to just under 1,000 students. TGBC set up the Open Bible Institute in 2005/2006, as a distance learning college that could accommodate students of varying levels of competency. The Good Book College offered validated courses to Cert HE level as a UK Academic Partner of Middlesex University and handled Moore College enrolments for students in the UK, Europe and Africa, including students of the Bible Training Partnership. The Programme closed down in 2016 as part of a business refocussing exercise.
Overseas Distributors
The TGBC USA website began in February 2009, in conjunction with the Desiring God Pastor’s Conference. TGBC exhibits at large North American evangelical, reformed conferences, such as Together For the Gospel and Desiring God Pastor’s Conference. The company now maintains a permanent office based in Charlotte, NC, which employs Five full-time staff as of 2019. Trade distribution is performed in Australia by Reformers Bookshop, who also perform order-fulfilment for the TGBC Australian website. Canadian distribution is managed through Parasource.
