SPCK Group Press Release 4 October 2021

SPCK adds Catholic Bible ministry specialist to its offering

SPCK and the Catholic Bible School today announce the merger of the Catholic Bible School into SPCK’s range of publishing and ministry activities, strengthening further SPCK’s offering to the Roman Catholic community.

The move follows SPCK’s successful acquisition of the rights to the English Standard Version Catholic Edition, which has been approved as the Bible translation to underpin the new lectionary for the Catholic community in England and Wales, and in Scotland.

Since 2014, the Catholic Bible School has been led by David and Sarah Beresford, who have helped to take the ministry and publishing work of the charity to a wide audience. Through work providing chaplaincy and INSET support in schools, Bible Weekends in parishes, talks and workshops at conferences and online reflections via the Bible App YouVersion, the work of the Catholic Bible School has reached tens of thousands of Catholic adults and children over recent years.

As a result of this merger, SPCK will be able to draw on the extensive experience of the Catholic Bible School team to develop further its Assemblies.org.uk website, its biblical formation tools and its Catholic publishing offering, which already includes authors including Pope Francis, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Gemma Simmonds and Richard Rohr. The Catholic Bible School team have already been recording an audio version of the ESV-CE text, due for release later in the year, and will resume offering in-parish biblical formation ‘Bible Weekends’ and retreat days to schools after stepping back from this during the pandemic.

The Catholic Bible School was founded in 1986 by Joan and Michael Le Morvan who were inspired by a vision to equip and enthuse laypeople with a love for the Scriptures. Based in Nutbourne, W Sussex, the ministry operated from a large farmhouse and adjacent chapel building from 1988, where throughout the 80’s, 90’s and 00’s, the Catholic Bible School held on-site courses and hosted training events. Whilst the charity had a focus on the Catholic community, it has always held strong ecumenical relationships locally and been a focal point for shared fellowship across traditions. This ecumenical endeavour continued to flourish under Geoff and Gina Poulter, who succeeded Joan and Michael as Directors between 2002 and 2014.

James Catford, Chair of the Governing body of SPCK, said, ‘I have been a long term admirer and beneficiary of the Catholic Bible School, and this is an important and welcome move for SPCK. We have been exploring opportunities to strengthen our offering to Catholics for some time. Following the recent publication of our first editions of the ESV-CE, the team joining us from the Catholic Bible School will be able to lead the next steps in these developments over the coming years.’

Sam Richardson, CEO of SPCK, said, ‘We are looking forward to working with our new colleagues from the Catholic Bible School. With our ESV-CE Bibles, our nationally trusted Assemblies website and our recent acquisition of Lion Hudson’s publishing including its world-leading range of children’s books, there will be plenty of exciting projects for the Catholic Bible School team to be involved with in addition to their important existing work.’

Sarah Beresford, Director of the Catholic Bible School, said,‘We’re really excited about the opportunities that working as part of the SPCK team will offer for greater impact. The combination of our existing skills and network in the Catholic community, combined with the professionalism and expertise of colleagues in SPCK will help us to help many more people who may be nervous or intimidated by the Bible to grow in confidence and love for the Scriptures.’

Matthew van Duyvenbode, Chair of the Renata Trust, which oversees the work of the Catholic Bible School, said, ‘In forging this work together with SPCK, it’s our firm belief that the original vision for scriptural renewal and engagement amongst Catholics and the wider Christian community can be secured and extended for the next season of this work, and lead to the kind of vision for widescale engagement that underpinned the original vision for the Catholic Bible School some 35 years ago.'

Notes for editors:

Sam Richardson, Chief Executive of SPCK, is available for comment. 

Call SPCK on 0207 592 3902

The Society For Promoting Christian Knowledge was founded in 1698 and is now best known for its publishing and digital ministry. The SPCK Group publishes Christian books under a number of imprints including SPCK, Inter-Varsity Press, Lion, Monarch and Candle. In recent years, SPCK has won Specialist Consumer Publisher of the Year three times at the Independent Publishing Awards, and has been shortlisted twice for Independent Publisher of the Year at the British Book Awards. The SPCK Group also operates the websites Assemblies.org.uk and HomeGroups.org.uk, each the UK’s leading resource providers in this area. The SPCK Group’s titles have been translated into over two hundred languages, and it is a founding partner in the Africa Theological Network Press. SPCK’s vision is a world where everyone is transformed by Christian knowledge, and its mission is to lead the way in creating books and resources which help everyone to make sense of faith.