Gospel Light will now publish the popular K.I.D.S. Church Sunday school material
In order to focus more on the books and magazines published by Strang Communications, Stephen and Joy Strang have sold their CharismaLife curriculum in two phases.
The CharismaLife Sunday school curriculum was sold July 1 to One Accord Resources Inc., a consortium of Pentecostal denominations and fellowships that joined forces in 1999 to produce a common Sunday school curriculum that fit their theological distinctives.
In January, the Strangs announced that Ventura, Calif.-based Gospel Light had purchased the publishing rights, customer database and inventory for The Next Generation K.I.D.S. Church products, which has been the most successful part of Strang’s curriculum publishing enterprise. Financial details of the sales were kept confidential.
“Our decision to sell was not an easy one,” said Stephen Strang, CEO of Strang Communications. “In our company’s history, we have never sold any part of our company. But we decided we are trying to focus on too many things. In order to give a greater priority to our book area, which is exploding, and also to focus on our core magazine business, we felt that this was the right strategy to maximize our company’s growth in the future.”
Since 1990, CharismaLife has created a variety of children and youth ministry resources for churches, including Sunday school, CrossTraining, and, most recently, The Next Generation K.I.D.S. Church and The Next Generation Jr. K.I.D.S. Church, an acronym for “Kids in Divine Service.”
Strang’s late father, A. Edward Strang, Ph.D., headed CharismaLife for the first five years of the curriculum-publishing venture until he retired. Through the years, more than 38,000 churches have used CharismaLife products.
Before the acquisition, CharismaLife and One Accord partnered with Standard Publishing to use their HeartShaper and Encounter curricula as the core material for a new Sunday school curriculum, revising the material to be more distinct for the Pentecostal and charismatic churches.
Officials for Gospel Light, which has been selling curriculum since 1933, said purchasing K.I.D.S. Church will enable them to offer churches a broader selection of resources. “While the need to disciple young people is as essential now as it always has been, the changing face of culture and technology demands that we offer ministry tools that connect with today’s ‘sight and sound’ generation,” said Bill Denzel, vice president of publishing and marketing at Gospel Light. “We are thrilled to be able to offer churches this amazing K.I.D.S. Church program.”
Strang said he believes CharismaLife’s mission to see a generation experience a personal relationship with God, empowered by His Spirit, will continue. “I have a lot of respect for Gospel Light,” Strang said. “I’m happy that they’re able to carry on the ministry that my father and I started back in 1990.”
Eric Tiansay
