Heaven must be smiling. U.S. Bible sales were up 22% during the first 10 months of 2024, which seems like an anomaly considering that national church attendance has been declining.
County religious leaders are hoping the uptick in faith reading will draw more people to Christmas worships, the best-attended church services of the year.
“It’s hard for me to understand what would be the driving force (for increased Bible sales) in the publishing world,” said Phil Friedrick, pastor of Keswick United Methodist Church in Bingham Township. “It’s bucking trends of all kinds. Printed books are less and less of a thing. And we’re in what many say is a post-Christian era. It’s an interesting dynamic.”
Bible sales are far outpacing overall book sales in America, which grew only 1%, according to coverage provided by the Wall Street Journal.
Friedrick suggested that people with an interest in the Bible take the next step during the holidays. While traditionalists lament the lack of a Christian theme at Christmas, Friedrick takes a pragmatic approach.
“I look at it differently than some. I don’t mind that people arrive at church without a full grasp of the spiritual perspective. I’m just glad they are getting the message out there. It’s our job at church to put a focus on these things. As people with unchurched backgrounds read the Bible, hopefully they will enter a church with Christians, and hopefully we all gain from a fuller examination of the (Bible) story, and of ourselves.”
The Bible trend is welcomed by churches new and old. Keswick was established in 1888, while Haven of Hope Church in Solon Township was built about five years ago after getting its start in Kingsley. Jonas Yoder is the pastor.
“I think it’s great,” Yoder said when told of the Bible trend. “When things in this world get shaky, people turn to Jesus (Christ). Go to him in prayer and in quiet time and in your hymns, because He’s the one who answers you … we can have peace.”
Yoder suggested that rather than search online or head to a book store to buy a Bible, local churches provide them for free along with access to libraries of faith-based reading material.
“We have some (Bibles) here. If anybody stops in, we’ll have one for them,” he said.
Sales of the Bible have been increasing since the COVID era and more recently as warfare has broken out in Ukraine and in the Middle East. Bible sales in America were stuck at 9.7 million copies in 2019 before gradually rising to 14.2 million in 2023. During this calendar year sales hit 13.7 million through October, the Journal reported.
Yoder mentioned a possible cause for the increase — heightened Christian-based media. Publishers of “The Chosen” state the series has drawn 200 million unique viewers across its platforms. And celebrities including Tom Hanks, Justin Bieber and Mark Wahlberg have openly declared their following to Jesus Christ.
Locally, Bible sales as well as sales of Christian-based art and related books have taken off at a book store at Holy Rosary Church in Isadore. Since opening in 2011, Jennifer Evich has been its only manager.
“I would agree with that Bible sales are up, as are all religious goods. It’s people coming back to faith, seeking answers,” she said. While the book store makes a profit that goes to church projects, Evich said people who can’t afford a Bible can have one free.
Father Donald Libby, Holy Rosary priest, believes one reason for heightened interest in Christianity is rooted in the world around us.
“Every time there’s a crisis, people go back to the church. It happened at 9/11, during COVID, and now some would say we’re on the brink of World War III. I think people naturally turn to God. But here’s a second reason. We’re in a pressure cooker in society, so we naturally cry out. We need something that transcends.
“That’s the great thing about God — he breaks through, because we are spiritual creatures,” Libby said.
Will a heightened interest in the most popular book in history — a book based on God incarnate through an innocent child — compel more people to attend Christmas services in Leelanau County?
Libby doesn’t know. But he’s confident of what church-goers can find should they venture out.
“The church is a place to feel welcome,” Libby said.“And a place to know your dignity. The world beats us down and says we’re worthless. The church is a place to come and take a load off and to know that God loves each of us more than the whole universe. You can figure which way is up in this crazy world.”
