Bible teacher and bestselling author Beth Moore made front-page news in March when she announced her departure from the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), explaining to Religion News Service that the world’s largest Baptist denomination is “not in step with the gospel.” Since then, she has been called “arguably the most prominent white evangelical woman in the U.S.” by the New York Times, while critics have labeled her “liberal,” “woke,” and even “heretic,” according to the Washington Post.
In addition to her decision to leave the SBC, Moore parted ways with her publisher of 26 years, Lifeway Christian Resources—the publishing arm of the denomination. Her books, Bible studies, and church curricula brought in over $30 million at the peak of her career and “kept the Nashville-based publisher afloat,” according to Baptist News. Moore has a total of 18 in-depth Bible studies in print today, with sales of more than 17.5 million copies, according to her team, who note that the Breaking Free study alone has surpassed two million copies sold across all formats.
Lifeway will continue to carry Moore’s backlist of Bible studies, but her own Living Proof Ministries is now publishing her new Bible studies, including Now That Faith Has Come: A Study of Galatians, which will be published on January 26. “Publishing curricula through Living Proof is what I understand at this time to be the will of God,” Moore told PW in March.
Additionally, Moore has landed a publishing partnership with Tyndale for trade books. Backlist titles with Tyndale include Chasing Vines: Finding Your Way with a More Fruitful Life; So Long Insecurity (Teen Edition); Made to Flourish: Cultivating an Abundant Life; and a novel, The Undoing of Saint Silvanus. More than a million copies across all books and related resources have been sold, according to Tyndale, and forthcoming titles by Moore will be aimed at “the broader marketplace,” with the first expected in spring 2023. Further details will be announced in early 2022, the publisher says.
“Like Beth, we want to help make the truth of Scripture plain and ingrained with hope in today’s challenging world,” says Tyndale publisher Karen Watson. “We respect and proudly support Beth’s faithful investment of her gifts of writing and teaching. We look forward to a continuing partnership with her, bringing her work to the widest audience possible.”
