Koorong is a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

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, book people, bookmen, or bookwomen. History The found ...

chain operating across

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It is the largest retailer of Bibles, Christian books and media in Australia. Koorong currently operates online and at 15 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 and is in the local government area of the City of R ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

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

Reformed Baptist Reformed Baptists, also called Particular Baptists, or Calvinist Baptists, are Baptists that hold to a Calvinism, Calvinist soteriology (salvation belief teached by John Calvin). The name "Reformed Baptist" dates from the latter part of the 20 ...

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

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 ...

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

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

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 s ...

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( ), nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar', is a city on the border of South East Queensland and Darling Downs regions of Queensland, Australia. It is located west of Queensland's capital, Brisbane. The urban population of Toowoom ...

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 sees its origins in the Great Commission, and seeing people come to the k ...

movement,

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

Progressive Christianity Progressive Christianity represents a range of related perspectives in contemporary Christian theology and practice. It is a postmodern theological approach, which developed out of the liberal Christianity of the modern era, although progressive C ...

neo-Calvinism Neo-Calvinism is a Calvinist theological movement that was initiated in the late-19th century in the Netherlands. It was originally developed by theologians like Abraham Kuyper, a former Dutch prime minister, and Herman Bavinck who insisted on h ...

Emerging church The emerging church, sometimes wrongly equated with the "emergent movement" or "emergent conversation", is a Christian movement of the late 20th and early 21st century. Emerging churches can be found around the globe, predominantly in North Ameri ...

, and the

Missional Missional living is a Christian practice to adopt the thinking, behaviors, and practices of a missionary in everyday life, in order to engage others with the gospel message. Background Traditionally, Christians have seen mission as either a sp ...

Church movement. Denominational streams represented include

Reformed Reform is beneficial change. Reform, reformed or reforming 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 Places * Reform, Al ...

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

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

, 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 Charle ...

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. The purchase of Koorong Books Pty Limited and Crossroads Pty Limited had a cost of $6.5 million. 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. Koorong was acquired by Excelsia University College, effective 31 March 2025. Richard Grellman, Deputy Chair, Excelsia University College commented:

History

Notes

External links