What Crossway does

Crossway is a not-for-profit Christian publishing ministry headquartered in Wheaton, Illinois, operating as a publishing division of Good News Publishers. The organization publishes the English Standard Version (ESV) Bible translation alongside a broader catalog of Christian books, theological works, devotionals, and language-study resources, serving evangelical Christians, churches, students, scholars, and parents seeking children's Bible products. Its product portfolio spans approximately 196 Bible editions with retail prices ranging from $3.99 for budget editions to $349.99 for premium heirloom bindings, plus study Bibles, journaling Bibles, and Greek-language tools priced from $49.99 to $129.99.

The ESV translation, developed with scholarly input from approximately 95 evangelical scholars and partnerships with Tyndale House Cambridge (Greek New Testament) and the editors of the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (Hebrew Old Testament), is the central asset and has driven cumulative sales of over 2.5 million ESV Study Bibles since the 2008 ECPA Book of the Year-winning release. Crossway monetizes through direct-to-consumer e-commerce (crossway.org), third-party retail distribution via Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Christianbook, Books-A-Million, Target, Walmart, and other specialty channels, plus international distributors, an ESV text permissions/licensing business, and the Crossway+ subscription program offering 30% discounts on Bibles and related products. Crossway also operates a programmatic API (api.esv.org) that exposes the ESV text to third-party software developers.

The company was founded and is led by Lane T. Dennis (President and CEO) and Ebeth Dennis (Co-Founder and SVP). Its competitive position rests on translation authority, brand trust, and deep retail and scholarly relationships rather than on technology differentiation. As a not-for-profit ministry, financial disclosures are limited, and reported headcount of 1-10 employees appears inconsistent with the operational scope of a multi-SKU publisher managing national retail distribution and subscription services, suggesting effective operational capacity is delivered in part through parent Good News Publishers.

Name

Crossway

Legal name

Crossway

Website

https://crossway.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Crossway is a not-for-profit Christian publishing ministry in Wheaton, Illinois, producing the English Standard Version Bible, study resources, and theological works for churches, individuals, scholars, and families across multiple retail and digital channels.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Religious Publishing

NAICS

Book Publishers (513130), Religious Organizations (8131)

SIC

Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731)

akta.pro primary industry

Religious Reference & Study Tools Publishing (Commentaries, Concordances, Lexicons) (MPAJAHAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Religious Education & Catechetical Publishing (Sunday School, Catechism, Study Guides) (MPAJAHAC), Worship & Liturgy Publishing (Liturgical Texts, Missals, Service Books, Hymnals) (MPAJAHAE), Sermon, Homiletics & Ministry Resource Publishing (Preaching Aids, Pastoral Resources) (MPAJAHAD), Religious & Spiritual Books Retail (CRALAAAE)

Keywords

• Bible publishing
• Christian literature
• Bible translations
• Religious publishing
• Study Bibles

Headquarters

HQ city

Wheaton

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Bible Publishing and Sales: Crossway generates revenue primarily through the sale of Bibles in various formats (text, study, journaling, children's, premium/leather editions) at price points ranging from under $5 for outreach editions to nearly $350 for premium goatskin heirloom editions. The company is a not-for-profit organization that donates a portion of Bible purchase prices to support Bible distribution ministry worldwide.
2. Christian Books and Publications: Sale of Christian books, devotionals, Bible studies, theological works, and Christian living resources from authors including Paul Tripp, Dane Ortlund, Jen Wilkin, Kevin DeYoung, John Piper, and Nancy Guthrie.
3. Crossway+ Subscription: Subscription program offering members 30% off Bibles and potentially other benefits for ongoing customer engagement and recurring revenue.
4. Permissions and Licensing: Revenue generated from licensing the ESV Bible text for print, digital, audio, artwork, and music uses, with formal permission requests required for uses outside standard guidelines (up to 500 verses without formal license).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Crossway is a not-for-profit Christian publishing ministry that publishes the English Standard Version (ESV) Bible translation and a comprehensive portfolio of approximately 196 Bible products including study Bibles, journaling Bibles, compact and premium editions, children's Bibles, and church/ministry Bibles. The company also publishes original-language scholarly resources (Greek and Hebrew), Christian books from authors such as John Piper and Paul Tripp, and hymnals, distributing through its own e-commerce site, major retailers, international distributors, and a direct church sales channel.

Product overview

Crossway is a not-for-profit Christian publishing ministry (a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers) specializing in Bible publishing and distribution. The company's product portfolio centers on the English Standard Version (ESV) translation and includes: (1) Study Bibles such as the bestselling ESV Study Bible with 20,000 study notes and the ESV Literary Study Bible; (2) Journaling and writing products including the ESV Scripture Journal, ESV Illuminated Scripture Journal, and ESV Single Column Journaling Bible in various formats including Artist Series; (3) Compact and portable Bibles like the ESV Compact Bible and ESV Giant Print Thinline Bible; (4) Academic and scholarly Greek/Hebrew resources including The Greek New Testament (Tyndale House Cambridge editions with dictionary and guided annotating versions), Greek Scripture Journal set, and the ESV Hebrew-English Old Testament using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia; (5) Premium and specialty Bibles including the ESV Heirloom Bible and ESV Preaching Bible; (6) Other Christian publishing products such as The Sing! Hymnal, devotionals, theological studies, and the ESV Exhaustive Concordance. Crossway also provides digital access to the ESV text through an API (api.esv.org) for non-commercial use.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ESV (English Standard Version): The ESV Bible translation published by Crossway, a major English Bible translation.
• ESV Study Bible
• Crossway+

Products and services

• ESV Study Bible A comprehensive study Bible featuring 20,000 study notes, 200+ full-color maps and illustrations, 80,000 cross-references, and contributions from 95 leading Bible scholars. Winner of the ECPA Book of the Year Award with over 2.5 million copies sold. Priced at $54.99 for the hardcover edition.
• ESV Scripture Journal A journaling Bible providing space for personal notes alongside Scripture text, available in individual volumes and sets with artwork by Ruth Chou Simons. Designed for individual Christians seeking to combine Scripture reading with personal reflection and note-taking.
• ESV Single Column Journaling Bible
• ESV Compact Bible
• ESV Giant Print Thinline Bible
• Greek Scripture Journal: New Testament Set
• The Greek New Testament, Produced at Tyndale House, Cambridge, with Dictionary
• The Greek New Testament, Produced at Tyndale House, Cambridge, Guided Annotating Edition
• ESV Hebrew-English Old Testament: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS) and English Standard Version (ESV)
• ESV Exhaustive Concordance
• ESV Heirloom Bible
• ESV Preaching Bible
• ESV Literary Study Bible
• ESV Chronological Bible
• ESV Daily Reading Bible
• The Sing! Hymnal
• ESV Illuminated Scripture Journal
• The Greek-English New Testament
• ESV Church Bible
• ESV Student Study Bible
• ESV GraceLaced Bible, Journaling Edition (Artwork by Ruth Chou Simons)
• Gentle and Lowly
• New Morning Mercies
• Mediator: A Biblical Theology
• ESV Holy Bible for Kids, Economy
• ESV Gospel of John, Anglicised Edition
• ESV Economy Bible

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Tyndale House, CambridgecoreTechnology or IntegrationCrossway publishes The Greek New Testament, Produced at Tyndale House, Cambridge, a scholarly Greek New Testament edition developed under the oversight of editors Dr. Dirk Jongkind (St. Edmund's College, University of Cambridge) and Dr. Peter Williams (Tyndale House, Cambridge). This represents a core scholarly partnership for original language biblical study resources.
• Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS)coreTechnology or IntegrationCrossway's Hebrew-English Old Testament uses the standard Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS) Hebrew text alongside the English Standard Version, providing a critical scholarly resource for Old Testament study in original languages.
• Good News PublisherscoreOthersCrossway is a not-for-profit organization and publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. This parent organization relationship is fundamental to Crossway's identity as a Christian ministry publisher.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Thomas Nelson: HarperCollins Christian Publishing imprint publishing the New King James Version (NKJV) and King James Version, plus the Nelson Study Bible line. Competes directly with Crossway in pew Bibles, study Bibles, and devotionals, and shares the same retail distribution channels.
• Eerdmans Publishing: Independent Christian academic publisher specializing in biblical scholarship, theology, and church history. Overlaps with Crossway's higher-priced academic tier (Greek/Hebrew resources, theological works) and competes for the same academic author and seminary customer base.
• Tyndale House Publishers: Publisher of the New Living Translation (NLT) and the New Living Translation Study Bible, competing head-to-head with Crossway in the evangelical study Bible category. Note that Crossway separately partners with Tyndale House Cambridge for Greek New Testament scholarly resources, illustrating the cross-cutting competitive/co-publishing dynamic.
• Holman Bible Publishers: Bible-publishing imprint within B&H Publishing Group producing the Christian Standard Bible (CSB) and study/reference editions. Directly competes in study Bibles, journaling Bibles, and church/ministry editions alongside Crossway's ESV line.
• Zondervan: HarperCollins Christian Publishing imprint and the publisher of the New International Version (NIV), the ESV's primary English Bible translation competitor. Operates the same Bible-publishing model with study Bibles, devotionals, and academic resources targeting the same evangelical and academic customer segments.
• B&H Publishing Group: LifeWay Christian Resources' publishing arm and home of the Christian Standard Bible (CSB) and Holman Bible line. Operates the same Bible-publisher model with strong church distribution ties (church grants, pulpits), overlapping directly with Crossway's church channel.
• InterVarsity Press (IVP): Academic and Christian living publisher with comparable depth in biblical studies, theology, and Christian formation titles. Directly competes with Crossway's academic/scholarly resources (Greek/Hebrew reference works, theological studies) for the same seminary and pastor audience.
• Biblica: Bible society and steward of the NIV translation, with a ministry-oriented model that emphasizes Scripture access. Comparable to Crossway's not-for-profit publishing ministry structure and to its translation rights stewardship role.

Broad incumbents

• NavPress: Publishing arm of The Navigators, producing discipleship and Christian living titles including Bible studies and devotionals. Adjacent in editorial mission and not-for-profit publishing model, with overlap in Bible study and discipleship product categories.
• WaterBrook Multnomah: Penguin Random House Christian publishing imprint covering fiction and non-fiction Christian titles. Adjacent rather than direct in Bible translation, but competes for the same author relationships, retail shelf space, and reader attention in evangelical trade publishing.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/crossway
• Facebookfacebook.com/CrosswayBooks

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Crossway