Excerpt from An Audacious Adventure: Independent Australian Christian Publishing by Paul Arnott, 362pp.
THE IDEA FOR THIS BOOK AROSE AT THE START OF COVID after reading Stuart Piggin and Robert Linder’s gargantuan two-volume Evangelical Christians in Australian History 1740-2014. Piggin and Linder argue that evangelical Christianity in Australia, ‘has been a strong and pervasive influence on the shaping, not only on the heart and soul of the Australian nation, but also of its body.’ The final quarter of the twentieth century saw the emergence of a wave of creative Christian publishing, mostly from the evangelical wing of the Christian Church in Australia. If Piggin and Linder are correct that evangelical Christians played a significant role in shaping Australia’s heart, soul and body, then it follows that this wave of creative Christian publishing has also been part of this shaping. As Stuart Piggin wrote in his foreword on the previous page, ‘there can be few better ways of coming to an understanding of the real history of Christianity in Australia in the recent past, for we have become what we have read.’ For example, On Being magazine, which for a quarter of a century spiritually fed, challenged and inspired people all over Australia; Albatross Books, which for almost two decades published a raft of imaginative and cutting-edge Christian books; Acorn Press which arose from the vision of five Anglicans seeking to provide books that are “thoughtful, well-informed and written from a Christian perspective” and Matthias Media, whose goal is to publish ‘gospel centred resources to disciple Christians.’ All existed independently of mainline church financial support. Of this, I’ll say more later, because while independence was one of their great strengths, it also made them financially vulnerable. One of the striking things about these publishers is that many were begun by entrepreneurial leaders, if not mavericks, like Kevin Smith, John Waterhouse, Alan Nichols, Phillip Jensen and Matt Danswan.
From the start, I realised that attempting to write a history of all Australian Christian publishing would result in a huge book. So, I decided to put a boundary around it by focusing on independent Australian Christian publishing; that is, publishing that lacked mainstream, denominational financial support. As I was directly involved in three of these publishing ventures, I possessed valuable insights into what had taken place: I wrote regularly for On Being from the late 1970s on and was for several years its Tasmanian editorial associate; Albatross Books published my guide for bereaved parents, No Time To Say Goodbye, which drew on the experience of having had a child die in cot death; and I was a director of Acorn Press for fifteen years, and eventually board chair for six years.
On Being magazine began in 1974 and, for two and a half decades, provided Australian Christians with articles that challenged them to live radical Christian lives. At its pea,k the magazine had an estimated readership of about 55,000 people around the nation and the world. In 1979, Acorn Press was formed and began publishing a wide range of Bible commentaries and books written from a Christian perspective. In 1980, Albatross Books, the largest Christian publisher of that era, began with Rowland Croucher’s five-volume series of meditations and prayers, selling over 60,000 copies. Albatross published Dr John Harris’s One Blood, the groundbreaking story of the encounter between Australia’s Indigenous peoples and Christianity.
While a major part of my book focuses on On Being, Albatross, Acorn and Matthias Media, the final quarter of the 20th century also saw the emergence of a number of other independent Australian Christian publishers: ANZEA Publishers, the Christian Research Association, The National Church Life Survey, Church Scene, Interchange, The Journal of Christian Education, New Creation, New Life, Scripture Union, SPCKA, Ark House Press and Zadok. At the same time, we saw the rise of a number of independent Christian bookshops around the nation, many of which not only sold Christian books, but were also centres of Christian ministry. As I reflected on the amount of Christian publishing that has taken place since the 1970s, I realised that if this era of publishing wasn’t recorded, it would be lost in the mists of time.
Until the 1970s, the only avenues open to Australian Christian authors to have their work published were overseas publishers, New Testament scholar, Dr Leon Morris being a prime example. Of the fifty Bible commentaries and books written by him all but four were published by overseas publishers.10 He lived and wrote in an era when there were few, if any, Australian publishers able to publish and promote his work. But this all changed in the late 1970s.
An Audacious Adventure, inspired by Stuart Piggin and Robert Linder’s Evangelical Christians in Australian History, traces the history of the wave of creative Australian Christian publishing which began in the final quarter of the 20th century, It explores the significant role of Christian publishing in shaping Australia’s spiritual landscape, focusing on key publishers like On Being magazine, Acorn Press, Albatross Books, and Matthias Media, each founded by visionary leaders. Through interviews and archival research, I highlight how these publishers fostered discussions on faith, challenged tradition, and supported independent Christian voices, despite financial challenges and the impact of the Internet and desktop publishing in the 1990s. The book includes detailed chapters on major publications, journals, and the rise of Christian bookshop chains like Koorong Books, reflecting on how this era of publishing contributed to the broader Australian Christian discourse in a changing society.
Order from Paul Arnott at parnott@me.com, $34.99 plus postage. The book will also be put on Booktopia, Amazon and other websites.