SPCK and St Stephen the Great Charitable Trust are pleased to announce that they are to partner in a new move in the operation and intended expansion of the SPCK bookshop.

St Stephen the Great Charitable Trust (SSG) is an Orthodox Christian charity. Its partnership with SPCK will enhance and broaden its mission of distributing Christian literature.

SPCK have agreed that the Bookshops and their staff will transfer to SSG, continuing to operate as SPCK Bookshops (under licence) by SSG, with maintenance of their breadth.

SSG and SPCK share a strong commitment to communicate the richness of the Christian Faith. SSG intend to employ a vigorous marketing strategy for the SPCK Bookshops. 'People in our stressful, modern age, care deeply about spirituality and long for a deeper faith. SPCK Bookshops will offer a primary solution to these questions of faith. SPCK Bookshops will offer a primary solution to these questions of faith' said Mark Brewer, Chairman of SSG. 'SPCK will continue into its fourth century with its shops as places where all people, Christian or otherwise, are welcome and given the chance to widen their spiritual horizons.'

'We are delighted to have found partners with a similarly strong vision and determination to invest in the mission of presenting the Christian message imaginatively and effectively in an attractive environment,' commented SPCK's new Chairman Bishop Michael Perham.

Under the new arrangements, SPCK Bookshops will continue to stock to a broad and diverse range of Christian books and resources. SSG will also place a major emphasis in online marketing at www.spckonline.com, utilising the internet and harnessing the market power and presence of SPCK's long history on the High Street.

In this way we believe the Bookshops will be both maintained and strengthened, remaining broad and looking ambitiously to growing future. We believe that this is good news for the whole Christian community.

Notes to editors

About SPCK
Founded in 1698, SPCK is a registered charity and Christian mission agency. For over three hundred years, it has helped people to grow in the Christian faith, especially through the ministry of Christian education and literature. The SPCK Bookshops group is currently the second largest Christian bookseller in the UK with 23 stores in England and one in Wales.

In addition to its retail activities, the Society is a major publisher of Christian literature, producing some 75 new titles each year to help their readers come to a fuller understanding of the Christian faith and a deeper commitment to it. The Society has over 600 titles in print.

SPCK also equips Christians throughout the world with financial grants, resources, advice and encouragement in partnership with Feed the Minds. Working with Christian communications and educators in many countries, in an average year it supports about 200 projects in more than 60 countries.

About St Stephen the Great Charitable Trust
St Stephen is a registered charity founded in 2004, which is the 500th anniversary of its patron's death. Its initial consecration has been on the restoration of redundant churches for Orthodox Christian worship and the distribution of Orthodox Christian literature. St Stephen now aims to enhance the SPCK Bookshops and expanded the group's visibility throughout England and Wales.

Its principal Trustee is Mark Brewer, who heads a law firm in Houston, Texas.