Sarah Young’s Jesus Calling (Thomas Nelson) and Joel Osteen’s The Power of I Am (FaithWords) placed at No. 2 and No. 4, respectively, on Christian Retailing’s exclusive Nielsen BookScan list reflecting November sales.

This month’s list was notable for the prominence of several general market titles, including Alice Schertle’s Little Blue Truck’s Christmas and Chris Van Allsburg’s The Polar Express: 30th Anniversary Edition (both Harcourt). These holiday-centric general market titles received a sales boost given the Christmas season.

LaBreeska Hemphill, matriarch of the Southern gospel family The Hemphills, died Dec. 9 in Nashville. She was 75.

Hemphill was born in 1940 in Flat Creek, Alabama, to Walter Erskine Rogers and Gussie Mae Goodman Rogers. At 9 years old, she appeared on stage at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium during the monthly “all-night gospel sings.” In 1957, she married Joel Hemphill, and they became active in the church where Joel’s father was pastor. Soon they began to travel and sing when Joel answered the call to ministry, evangelized briefly and settled down to serve a church in Bastrop, Louisiana. In 1966, the couple signed their first recording contract as a duet with Canaan Records, a division of Word Records.

Standard Publishing Group LLC announced Wednesday a company name change to Christian Standard Media LLC. This announcement follows the company’s recent sale of its “Standard Lesson Commentary” series, Sunday school curriculum and other church resources to David C Cook.

The mission, "to provide true-to-the Bible resources that inspire, educate and motivate people to a growing relationship with Jesus Christ," has guided the company throughout its history and now infuses its drive to remain a trustworthy Christian ministry partner in a rapidly changing world.

CA Gift has added three new licensed artists to its lineup for 2016. Three of the company's five licensed artists will make personal appearances at two January venues, Dallas and Las Vegas. CA Gift also will exhibit for the first time at The Southern Link in Atlanta in AmericasMart, Building 2, Suite 1613.

In Dallas, Next Generation represents CA Gift at the Dallas Total Home & Gift Market in Suite 1028. Two artists are scheduled to sign in Dallas, Lynn Sanchelli on Thursday, Jan. 21, and Caroline Simas on Friday, Jan. 22.

FaithWords, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, has unveiled a new website design that incorporates specific pages for best-selling brand authors like Joyce Meyer, Joel Osteen, John C. Maxwell, T.D. Jakes and Joseph Prince.

The refreshed site also houses FirstWords, a new platform for bloggers interested in reviewing recently released faith-based titles, and an updated media page, allowing members of the press to easily find and download press kits from a single location.

INO Records artist Laura Story will make her Grand Ole Opry debut Tuesday, Dec. 8, at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.

The world-famous show is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year. Additional performers Dec. 8 include Carrie Underwood, Chris Janson and Kristian Bush. The full lineup is slated to play back-to-back Opry shows at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.

TobyMac and Matt Maher led Christian artists in GRAMMY nominations after today's nominee announcements. Both artists were nominated for Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song and Contemporary Christian Music Album.

Other nominees for Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song include Francesca Battistelli, Crowder and Third Day. Jason Crabb, Lauren Daigle and Chris Tomlin also were nominated for Contemporary Christian Music Album.