Founded in 1947, InterVarsity Press (IVP) is a Christian

publisher Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

located in Lisle,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. IVP focuses on publishing Christian books and digital resources that discuss influential cultural moments, provide tools for mental growth through a Christian framework, and equip pastors, professors, and ministry leaders in their work. It is a subsidiary of

InterVarsity Christian Fellowship InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA (IVCF) is an evangelicalism, evangelical Christianity, Christian student movement with affiliate groups on university campuses in U.S.. It is a member of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students ...

History

Beginning years

InterVarsity Press began just before

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as a small service branch of the

campus ministry, which had its beginnings in the 1939–1940 academic year. At its inception, InterVarsity Press solely imported books from the

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InterVarsity Christian Fellowship movement for use by college students and InterVarsity chapters in the United States. Its first home-grown publications was a Bible study guide called ''Discovering the Gospel of Mark'', written by an InterVarsity staff member and published in the 1933–1934 academic year. In 1947, a formal publishing program was established; its distribution of books was handled by Fleming H. Revell until 1960.

Move to Chicago

In 1960, IVP's editorial offices moved from Havertown,

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Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, where InterVarsity Christian Fellowship offices were then located. In 1966, offices were moved from Chicago to Downers Grove, approximately 30 miles west.

Expansion

In 1968 Jim Nyquist became IVP's full-time director and Jim Sire became IVP's first full-time editor. Four other full-time employees filled out the staff. Shortly afterward, IVP began publishing Francis Schaeffer's works, beginning IVP's reputation as a publisher of note. In 1965, IVP launched the IVP Book Club and the bookstore Rack program in 1971, solidifying a sales base; these programs continue to be important parts of the publishing program. In 1984 Linda Doll moved from the editorship of HIS Magazine to the directorship of IVP. The next year LifeGuide Bible Studies were launched; they have now sold over 15 million copies. When Linda Doll decided to return to editing in 1990, Ken DeRuiter was appointed executive director. In that same year, the award-winning ''Dictionary of Christianity in America'' was released. While IVP had published several reference books created in

, ''Dictionary of Christianity in America'' was the first reference book published by IVP originating in the United States. In 1994 IVP published their first Bible, ''The NIV Quiet Time Bible''.

Recent years and present day

In 1979, IVP built a warehouse and distribution center in Westmont,

. IVP relocated to new offices constructed adjacent to the distribution center in 1995. Two years later, following Ken DeRuiter's retirement, Bob Fryling joined IVP as its new director. ''Heart. Soul. Mind. Strength.'' by IVP editors Andy Le Peau and Linda Doll was written in 2006 as an anecdotal history of the publishing company, summarizing leading authors and books that shaped

evangelicalism Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

in the 20th century. In 2016, after years of leadership as sales and marketing director, Jeff Crosby was named IVP publisher. Terumi Echols was named the president and publisher of IVP in September 2021. In 2023, IVP's offices moved from Westmont to Lisle,

Bibliography

*
Heart. Soul. Mind. Strength. An Anecdotal History of InterVarsity Press, 1947-2007
' by Andrew T. Le Peau and Linda Doll, InterVarsity Press, 2006, . *''For Christ and the University: The Story of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship of the U.S.A./ 1940-1990'' by Keith & Gladys Hunt, InterVarsity Press, 1991, .

References

External links

*
IVP-USA
{{DEFAULTSORT:Intervarsity Press Evangelical organizations Evangelicalism in Illinois Christianity in Illinois Evangelical Christian publishing companies Publishing companies established in 1947 1947 establishments in Illinois 1947 establishments Companies established in 1947 Book publishing companies of the United States