It has been well-known for some little while that the British Christian bookshop chain SPCK is in commercial trouble. I was intrigued to read on the Cartoon Blog that the chain is to be taken over by the Orthodox Christian charity, the St Stephen the Great Charitable Trust.

It seems to me that there are good reasons to be anxious about this. SPCK is the only Christian chain in Britain that carries the full range of Christian theology, from Catholic to Evangelical, Reformed to Charismatic, highly academic to unashamedly popular. I find it hard to believe that the new owners would restrict their stock to the narrowly Orthodox (commercial suicide, surely!), but even so I can’t help feeling just a tad nervous. The St Stephen Foundation doesn’t seem exactly awash with ecumenical spirit.

(I’ve got a related post at connexions)