IVP author Jean Vanier has been awarded the Templeton Prize, valued at $1.7 million. Along with Stanley Hauerwas, Vanier is the co-author of Living Gently in a Violent World: The Prophetic Witness of Weakness, and the founder of L’Arche, an international network of communities where people with and without learning disabilities experience life together as fellow human beings who share a mutuality of care and need.

Started in 1964, L’Arche, French for “The Ark,” now includes 147 communities in 35 nations and 1,500 Faith and Light support groups in 82 nations.

The Templeton Prize, one of the world’s largest awards, is given annually to a living individual who “has made exceptional contributions to affirming life’s spiritual dimension, whether through insight, discovery or practical works.” Previous recipients include Mother Teresa, Billy Graham and Chuck Colson, among others.

“My dream for this magnificent prize you have given me, and through me to L’Arche and Faith and Light, is for us to create spaces and opportunities for meetings, which transform hearts,” Vanier said at a press conference earlier this month. “Places where they can share together, eat together, laugh and celebrate together, weep and pray together, where the hearts of those who carry power in our society can be melted and rest.”

In Living Gently in a Violent World, Vanier and Hauerwas write about what the church can learn from people with disabilities. Vanier writes, “Living in L’Arche I have learned that it is a revelation for people with disabilities if you say to them, ‘There is meaning to your life.’ We are not just doing good to them as professionals. That is important, but it’s not just about that. It’s about revealing to them that they have value. They have something to say to our society. In some mysterious way, they are calling to me, to us all, to change. I spoke some time ago in Aleppo in Syria, mainly to the Muslim community, and there was a mufti there who has since become the great mufti of Syria. When I finished he got up and said, ‘If I have understood well, people with disabilities lead us to God.’

“We are afraid of showing weakness. We are afraid of not succeeding. Deep inside we are afraid of not being recognized. So we pretend we are the best. We hide behind power. We hide behind all sorts of things. However, when we meet people with disabilities and reveal to them through our eyes and ears and words that they are precious, they are changed. But we too are changed. We are led to God.”

“Jean Vanier’s life has been an inspiration to generations, and his work has fundamentally shifted how Christians think about disability,” says IVP Books Senior Editor Al Hsu, Vanier’s acquiring editor. “I am grateful for Jean’s influence in the church and the world at large, that he has helped the world become a more hospitable place for people with special needs (like my younger son, who has Down syndrome). It is an honor to count Jean as one of our authors, and we all congratulate him on this worthy recognition.”

Vanier continues to live on the grounds of the original L’Arche community in Trosly-Breuil, north of Paris. On May 18, he will receive the Templeton Prize at a public ceremony at the church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields in London.

With offices in the United States, Brazil, Sri Lanka and South Africa. CMD Distribution has grown to become the first Faith and Family film distributor with offices overseas serving the international market.

Founded in the summer of 2013 by noted Christian film producer Byron Jones (Unwanted Presence, A Long Way Off, In the Blink of an Eye, Sarah’s Choice), CMD Distribution has become a leader in film distribution. Byron brings with him nearly 20 years of experience stemming back a far back as his work on the original Left Behind film starring Kirk Cameron.

In the current global economy, it has become ideal for a distributor to be global to properly market a film title in all regions.

“The growth of digital sales here in the US is reflected in the growth of CMD’s digital platform, chrisitanmoviesdirect.com, but sales of physical goods will continue for the next few years globally,” Jones said.

Some recent titles available from CMD Distribution are: Creed of Gold, Gramps Goes to College, 2 to Tangle, a Horse Called Bear and The Gospel Writers’ Autographs.

For more information, please visit cmddistribution.com.

The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association has announced the 37 finalists for the 2015 Christian Book Award program, honoring Christian publishing’s best book and Bible releases of the year.

The top five titles in Fiction, Non-Fiction, Children, Inspiration, and Bibles—with ties in both Bible Reference and New Author—make up the stellar finalist pool deemed as the “best Christian books of the year.”

A winner in each category and the Christian Book of the Year will be announced on May 5 among industry leadership at the ECPA Awards Banquet held in conjunction with the ECPA Leadership Summit in Nashville. 

The announcements will coincide with the launch of the industry’s #ReadGoodBooks that feed your soul social media campaign—wherein that evening a mass tweet announcing the winners will hit Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr accounts through a Thunderclap campaign. 

Anyone with a Twitter, Facebook or Tumblr account who believes in the importance of good Christian content is invited to join the campaign at thndr.it/1GTxJyI.

Through a quick sign-up, participants would allow Thunderclap to send only the one tweet at that one time, announcing the winners to their followers—resulting in a huge blitz of awareness.  The tweet will refer to #ReadGoodBooks—a hashtag that will be used in promoting Christian Book Award winners and finalists, and extending to all award-winning and bestselling content produced by the ECPA industry.

Here are the 2015 Christian Book Award nominees:

Non-Fiction

• A Loving Life: In a World of Broken Relationships, Paul E. Miller | Crossway
• Autopsy of a Deceased Church: 12 Ways to Keep Yours Alive,Thom S. Rainer | B&H Publishing Group
• The Measure of Success: Uncovering Biblical Perspective on Women, Work and the Home, Carolyn McCulley with Nora Shank | B&H Publishing Group
• Mission Drift: The Unspoken Crisis Facing Leaders, Charities, and Churches, Peter Greer and Chris Horst with Anna Haggard | Bethany House/ Baker Publishing Group
• Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: A Devout Muslim Encounters Christianity, Nabeel Qureshi | Zondervan

  Fiction

• The Advocate, Randy Singer | Tyndale House Publishers
• The Auschwitz Escape, Joel C. Rosenberg | Tyndale House Publishers
• The Legend of Sheba: Rise of a Queen, Tosca Lee | Howard Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
• The Pursuit of Tamsen Littlejohn: A Novel, Lori Benton | WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group
• The Sentinels of Andersonville, Tracy Groot | Tyndale House Publishers

  Inspiration

• The Daniel Plan: 40 Days to a Healthier Life, Rick Warren, Daniel Amen and Mark Hyman | Zondervan
• The Hardest Peace: Expecting Grace in the Midst of Life’s Hard, Kara Tippetts | David C Cook
• I Like Giving: The Transforming Power of a Generous Life, Brad Formsma | WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group
• Stand Strong: You Can Overcome Bullying, Nick Vujicic | WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group
• The Wonder of His Name, Nancy Leigh DeMoss | Moody Publishers

Bibles

• Every Man’s Bible NIV, Stephen Arterburn & Dean Merrill, General Editors | Tyndale House Publishers
• NIV First-Century Study Bible, with notes by Kent Dobson | Zondervan
• Life Application Study Bible HCSB | Tyndale House Publishers, 9781414381206
• NKJV Study Bible, Full Color Edition | Thomas Nelson Publishers

The Study Bible for Women HCSB

, Dorothy Kelley Patterson, Rhonda Harrington Kelley, Holman Bible Staff, Editors B&H Publishing Group

Bible Reference

•  1,2 and 3 John: Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, Karen H. Jobes | Zondervan
•  For the Glory of God: Recovering a Biblical Theology of Worship, Daniel I. Block | Baker Academic/ Baker Publishing Group
• Galations (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament), Douglas J. Moo | Baker Academic/ Baker Publishing Group
• Mark: Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, Mark L. Strauss | Zondervan
• Lutheran Bible Companion Set, Edward A. Engelbrecht | Concordia Publishing House
• Revelation (Teach the Text Commentary Series), J. Scott Duvall | Baker Academic/ Baker Publishing Group

Children

• 101 Color & Sing Bible Stories, Stephen Elkins | Tyndale House Publishers
• Goodnight, Ark!, Laura Sassi, Illustrated by Jane Chapman | ZonderKidz
• Love Letters from God, Glenys Nellist, Illustrated by Sophie Allsopp | ZonderKidz
• My Bible Animals Storybook, Dandi Daley Mackall, Illustrated by Heather Heyworth | Tyndale House Publishers
• One God, One Plan, One Life: A 365 Devotional, Max Lucado | Thomas Nelson Publishers

New Author

• And Life Comes Back: A Wife’s Story of Love, Loss, and Hope Reclaimed, Tricia Lott Williford WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group
• Dispatches From the Front: Stories of Gospel Advance in the World’s Difficult Places, Tim Keesee | Crossway
• Jesus or Nothing, Dan DeWitt | Crossway
• The Skeletons in God’s Closet, Joshua Ryan Butler | Thomas Nelson Publishers
• Teach Us to Want: Longing, Ambition and the Life of Faith, Jen Pollock Michel | InterVarsity Press
• Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: A Devout Muslim Encounters Christianity, Nabeel Qureshi | Zondervan
• New Author Nabeel Qureshi is a finalist in both the New Author category and the Non-Fiction category for Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: A Devout Muslim Encounters Christianity (Zondervan).

“These 37 titles join a premier collection of Christian content carrying our industry’s highest accolade,” says ECPA President/CEO Mark Kuyper. “We are honored to promote them as the apex of what we do as an industry: produce great books that feed the soul in a marketplace too often dominated by content that starves it.”

Notable to the finalists this year:

• According to program rules, a submission to the New Author category can also be entered in their genre category as a separate entry.
• The Inspiration finalists represent a poignant array of topics: from health and wellness in The Daniel Plan (Rick Warren / Zondervan) and bullying in Stand Strong: You Can Overcome Bullying (Nick Vujjcic / WaterBrook Multnomah); to a raw memoir about living while dying by young mom and blogger Kara Tippetts in The Hardest Peace: Expecting Grace in the Midst of Life’s Hard (David C Cook).
• Zondervan leads the list this year with eight finalists in six of the seven categories. Tyndale House Publishers has seven titles in three categories, dominating the Fiction list with three of five titles. Ties occurred in New Author and in Bible Reference, where three of the six reference works were Baker Academic/ Baker Publishing Group titles.

Christian Book Award program finalists and winners receive recognition and support throughout multiple retail and media outlets, including Christian Retailing, ChristianBook.com, Cokesbury, Family Christian, Lifeway, Mardel, Munce Group, Parable Christian Stores, Crossings, Innovative/Signature Websites, NetGalley, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.

The Christian Book Award program has recognized the absolute highest quality in Christian books since 1978. Based on excellence in content, literary quality, design, and impact, the Christian Book Award program is the oldest and among the most prestigious awards in the religious publishing industry.

Tree of Life Christian Outlet has announced that it will be closing the doors on all eight of its retail locations as well as its corporate offices in Eugene, Oregon, effective June 30.

Tree of Life’s Facebook page says that owner Mark Schoepke’s health has been declining, and that “the costs of operating our business continue to increase, while sales decrease as our competition online gets harder to compete with.”

Tree of Life owns four stores in Oregon—in Troutdale, Lincoln City, Seaside and Eugene—and four stores in Washington state (Tulalip, Auburn, Burlington and Centralia).

“We have been honored to serve you these many years, and will miss your amazing servant’s hearts and beautiful stories you share with us,” read a passage on the chain’s Facebook page. “If you have any stories or messages of thanks or farewell, please message us on Facebook. We would love to have a collection of stories that show how we've served our communities, as fond reminders of our precious time here. Thank you for the many years of joyful fellowship.”

Abbey Press will open its doors to wholesale gift buyers, April 27-May 4 during its Open House event at Saint Meinrad Archabbey in southern Indiana. Abbey Press has hosted this annual event since 1994.

The Open House includes special shopping hours in the company’s on-site showroom and tours of the offices, warehouse and Archabbey. Trade representatives will host dinners on Monday, April 27, and Thursday, April 30, in the Archabbey’s dining rooms, during which a presentation by Deacon Michael Keucher, a recent graduate of the seminary, will be given.

During the Open House’s shopping hours, guests will be able to view and order Abbey Press’ entire product offering. Buyers will also receive a sneak peek of new items, including the “Wings of Comfort” memorial collection and additions to the popular “Woman of Faith” line. These new items will not officially debut until June, so those attending the Open House will be among the first able to order. Discounts up to 15% will be available for qualifying orders.

“The Open House is beneficial for both the customers and our representatives,” says Sue Kloeck, director of Trade Marketing for Abbey Press. “Buyers have total access to our entire product line and the chance to visit our beautiful Archabbey; and our reps are able to spend quality one-on-one time with their customers, outside the constraints of the often hectic trade shows we attend.”

Wholesale gift buyers interested in attending the Open House are asked to contact their Abbey Press sales representative, or call Brenda at 800-621-1588, ext. 8449. Attendees requiring overnight accommodations are invited to stay at the Archabbey’s on-site Guest House.

In a somewhat surprising move, Family Christian Stores, the nation’s largest chain of Christian retail stores, filed a court notice withdrawing its motion of plans for bankruptcy. The company announced its plans this week through an official statement.

The move is surprising because FCS’ strategy for filing bankruptcy centered around completing an asset sale pursuant to Section 363 of the bankruptcy code.

“The stewards of the ministry have done this out of love for the mission of [FCS],” said Family Christian Stores CEO Chuck Bengochea. “We believe that this will help to satisfy certain objections of the Creditors Committee and the U.S. Trustees. This action will lead more quickly to a successful outcome in which we can continue to serve our customers and glorify God.”

The filing under Section 363 ran into a few barriers, however.

A group of 27 Christian publishers had filed a joint lawsuit against Family Christian last week to keep the retailer from selling their products at a future auction. Publishers are demanding that the company either return consigned goods held at the chain’s 266 stores or pay them outright.

Family Christian had recently made the decision to sell approximately $20 million worth of consigned books, music, DVDs and church supplies at an auction scheduled later in 2015. Had Family Christian been allowed to sell the inventory, publishers would not have had the opportunity to recoup their money.

According to documents filed with a Michigan bankruptcy court in February, Family Christian Stores owes $57 million to banks and another $40 milllion to publishers are vendors. FCS has approximately $107 million in liabilities.

FCS can still seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy, only not through Section 363, where only the bankruptcy court judge has to approve the sale of the business.

Family Christian Stores initially stated that it “does not expect” to close any of its stores nationwide or to lay off any of its nearly 4,000 employees.

"Day-to-day operations at Family Christian Stores will continue as usual," Bengochea said in the statement.

Cedar Springs Christian Stores has announced that it will be closing two of its three stores, including the venue in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and the one on Clinton Highway in Knoxville.

Cedar Springs’ West Knoxville location at 504 N. Peters Road, in business since 1995, will remain open. The Oak Ridge location had been in business for 27 years, while the Clinton Highway location closes its doors after 14 years.

At one time, Cedar Springs Christian Store was the largest independent Christian bookstore in the country. The McGinnises opened their first store in 1976.

“Our struggle as a company is that people’s habits have just changed,” Vicki Geist, the daughter of founder Curtis McGinnis, told the Knoxville News-Sentinel. “They are sitting at home shopping from the Internet. I don’t think people in Knoxville understand what that does to local business.

”We have friends all over the country that are closing stores. Sadly, it’s a common story. I don’t know what the future looks like for bookstores, and here we are a Christian bookstore that draws from a much smaller market.”

Geist told the News-Sentinel that there is no firm date in closing the stores, but believe it likely will be May.