About
The Christian Life Centre (CLC) is an international organization dedicated to distributing the Bible, Christian books, and various Christian media. Our teams come from many different nations, denominations, and backgrounds. All are dedicated to serving the Lord Jesus Christ and helping others come to know Him better through the materials we distribute.
The CLC currently operates in 43 countries. It is represented by over 120 bookstores, 18 distribution warehouses, and 22 publishing houses. The CLC's work in each of these countries is carried out independently. We are united by our shared vision, objectives, and international constitution.
However, CLC is more than just a bookstore chain; it's our desire to see people's lives transformed by making evangelical literature available to all nations so that people may come to faith and maturity in Christ. It's a well-established fact that a large percentage of people who convert to Christianity do so through reading a Christian book.
The organization was founded in England in 1941 and today has its international headquarters in Sheffield, United Kingdom.
The mission of the CLC is to honor God by making Christian literature and resources available to all nations, so that everyone may come to faith and maturity in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Our vision
- Increase the number of bookstores that have an impact on the community;
- To promote the publication and distribution of the Word of God as well as Christian literature;
- Supporting overseas projects.
Ken and Bessie Adams
At the beginning of World War II, a young couple, Ken and Bessie Adams, heard Jesus' call to "feed my sheep." Together, they worked with the Friends Evangelistic Band in England, holding tent meetings and visiting homes. During these visits, they discovered that they had been preceded by others who had left behind literature, including Jehovah's Witnesses. Ken said, "I cannot stand by and do nothing to spread the truths of the gospel." So he and Bessie went to homes equipped with good Christian literature.
Driven by his passion for distributing literature, Ken rented upstairs rooms in Colchester, which he called "The Evangelical Publishing House." This was happening even as the government severely restricted publishing and the opening of bookstores in wartime England. The Adams Evangelical Publishing House felt compelled to align itself with WEC International, intending to help the organization establish bookstores in England. Norman Grubb of the WEC was enthusiastic about the potential of a series of bookstores. Requests, opportunities, and funding began to come to Ken and Bessie, culminating in the formation of the CLC as an independent ministry established on November 1, 1941.
At the end of the war, there were six literature centers in England and one serving German prisoners of war. Growth continued with God's grace and blessing, and today the CLC serves in 57 countries where 700 men and women of various nationalities join hands to feed a world hungry for print.