Koorong is a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

bookstore Bookselling is the commercial trading of books which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, bookpeople, bookmen, or bookwomen. The founding of librari ...

chain operating across

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It is the largest retailer of Bibles, Christian books and media in Australia. Koorong currently operates online and at 14 stores across the country.

History

Koorong began as a family-owned company over 40 years ago in

Marsfield Marsfield is a suburb in the Northern Sydney region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Marsfield is located 16 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Ryde. T ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, in the garage of the Koorong Street home of Bruce Bootes - a retired veterinarian and

Reformed Baptist Reformed Baptists (sometimes known as Particular Baptists or Calvinistic Baptists) are Baptists that hold to a Calvinist soteriology (salvation). The first Calvinist Baptist church was formed in the 1630s. The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith ...

pastor - and his wife Olive. In 1978, their son, Paul began the management of his family's bookshop business. Koorong opened their first

store in Ryedale Road,

West Ryde West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some R ...

in 1978, moving to larger premises in West Parade, West Ryde in 1995. In August 2005, Koorong took over the three

Church Army The Church Army is an evangelistic organisation and mission community founded in 1882 in association with the Church of England and now operating internationally in many parts of the Anglican Communion. History The Church Army was founded in E ...

bookstores at Newcastle, Tamworth and Gosford. Koorong now operates 14 stores across Australia, including

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

Fyshwick Fyshwick () is a retail and light industrial suburb of Canberra, Australia, east of the South Canberra district. At the , Fyshwick had a population of 56. It has many motor vehicle dealers, stores selling home furnishings and hardware, and sto ...

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( , nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar') is a city in the Toowoomba Region of the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia. It is west of Queensland's capital city Brisbane by road. The urban population of Toowoomba as of the 2021 C ...

and Launceston, with approximately 400 staff, Australia-wide and a brochure mailing list of about 120,000. Koorong was described in 1994 as theologically conservative in terms of the books it sold, which was consistent with its

roots. Since that time, Koorong's product range has expanded to a broader coverage of the diverse sub-groups and movements associated with contemporary evangelical Christianity, including, for example:

Church Growth The Church Growth Movement is a movement within evangelical Christianity which aims to grow churches based on research, sociology, analysis, etc. The Church Growth Movement started with a passion for the Great Commission, and seeing people come to ...

movement,

Charismatic Movement The charismatic movement in Christianity is a movement within established or mainstream Christian denominations to adopt beliefs and practices of Charismatic Christianity with an emphasis on baptism with the Holy Spirit, and the use of spirit ...

Progressive Christianity Progressive Christianity represents a post-modern theological approach, and is not necessarily synonymous with progressive politics. It developed out of the liberal Christianity of the modern era, which was rooted in the Enlightenment's thinkin ...

neo-Calvinism Neo-Calvinism, a form of Dutch Calvinism, is a theological movement initiated by the theologian and former Dutch prime minister Abraham Kuyper. James Bratt has identified a number of different types of Dutch Calvinism: The Seceders, split into t ...

Emerging church The emerging church is a Christian Protestant movement of the late 20th and early 21st centuries that crosses a number of theological boundaries: participants are variously described as Protestant, post-Protestant, evangelical, post-evangelical, l ...

, and the

Missional In Christianity, missional living is the adoption of the posture, thinking, behaviors, and practices of a missionary in order to engage others with the gospel message. The missional church movement, a church renewal movement predicated on the nece ...

Church movement. Denominational streams represented include

Reformed Reform is beneficial change Reform may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine *''Reforme'' ("Reforms"), initial name of the ...

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

Anabaptist Anabaptism (from New Latin language, Neo-Latin , from the Greek language, Greek : 're-' and 'baptism', german: Täufer, earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re- ...

, and

Wesleyan Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan– Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charles W ...

. In addition to a comprehensive range of Bibles, the subject categories and themes of Koorong's product range include: practical guidance on Christian living; popular devotionals; apologetics; academic theology and biblical studies; ministry resources; romance, suspense, and historical fiction; inspirational giftware; classic authors; Bible reference works and commentaries; contemporary worship music. In December 2009 Koorong purchased UK based book publisher Authentic Media and Paternoster Publishers from IBS-STL. In 2014, Koorong acquired a significant share of BroadStreet Publishing Group LLC, with a creative HQ based in Minneapolis MN, USA. In August 2015 Koorong was acquired by

Bible Society Australia Bible Society Australia is an Australian non-profit, non-denominational, Christian organisation. It is part of a worldwide network of Bible Societies. Bible Society Australia maintains that the Bible is a significant historic text which has deepl ...

. Bible Society Australia's CEO Greg Clarke had said: "We will now be able to share our important Bible work with, and garner support from, Koorong customers. What’s more, those who shop at Koorong can now know that their purchases will fund even more important Bible mission projects here and around the world.". The Bootes family retained ownership of Authentic Media, Paternoster Press and their share of BroadStreet Publishing Group LLC. After 40 years in the Christian bookselling industry, Paul Bootes retired as managing director of Koorong in July 2017 and his brother, Rob Bootes became CEO. In July 2018, after Rob Bootes stepped down, David Foster took over the reins at Koorong as general manager. In February 2020 Koorong announced a brand refresh which has commenced the rollout across digital platforms and stores.

History

Notes

External links