Gospel Light has entered into a Letter of Intent to sell the publishing assets of Regal Books to Baker Publishing Group. Stan Jantz, interim CEO of Gospel Light, and Dwight Baker, president of Baker Publishing Group, say the goal is to have the final purchase agreement signed in May and the transaction closed by June 30.

“Over the last several months, the board and leadership of Gospel Light made a strategic decision to concentrate on Gospel Light’s core mission,” Jantz said. “From the time Henrietta Mears founded Gospel Light in 1933, resourcing churches with curriculum and Vacation Bible School materials so they can reach children and families with the gospel has been at the core. In order to concentrate on that mission, the board decided to find a compatible new home for Regal’s authors.”

Baker is keenly aware of that compatibility.

“As a family-owned publisher of three generations and 75 years, Baker Publishing Group has a long-standing fellowship with the Gospel Light/Regal Books community,” he said. “Our two respective publishing programs complement each other well. I have observed with admiration as Regal introduced such authors as George Barna, John Perkins, Norm Wright and Dutch Sheets to a wide readership. This is the legacy of Regal and a standard that we are compelled to maintain.”

Founded by Bill Greig Jr. in 1965, Regal published How to Be a Christian Without Being Religious by Fritz Ridenour as its first book.

“That the book is still in print and still selling with the author living 30 minutes from our home office in Ventura is a fitting testimony to the staying power of Regal’s authors and mission,” Jantz added. “The Greig family is pleased that the legacy and ministry of authors like Fritz and hundreds more published by Regal over the years will continue to grow within the Baker Publishing Group.”

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