FAQs

PCPA, founded in 1951 as the Protestant Church-owned Publishers Association, is a trade association of non-profit Christian publishing companies from the USA, Canada, the UK and EU. While our roots are in the Protestant tradition, we now have ecumenical, Catholic and university press members, as well. Because of this ecumenical expansion, we now generally use the abbreviation, PCPA. Due to the theological range of the publishing companies who are members, when we meet we don’t talk about theology. We focus on church trends as well as business and technology challenges and opportunities facing all publishers, especially Christian publishers. When a publishing company joins PCPA, all their staff (full-time and part-time) are automatically members and can participate in our member benefits. These are primarily:

• Professional education

• Networking within the publishing industry

• Connecting publishers and suppliers/adjunct members with one another

In addition to non-profit publishers, we have four other categories of membership: Adjunct Members (companies that provide goods & services to support publishing companies), Freelance Members (individuals who provide services to support publishing companies), Individual Members and Student Members.

PCPA exists to support its members as they strive to resource congregations and faith communities within their denominations and beyond. The association helps member publishers strengthen worship, faith formation, outreach, and denominational identity through their publishing work. At the same time, PCPA helps publishers balance the unique challenges of running a ministry alongside a business. In addition, PCPA works to help publishers and those in the other member categories network with one another for education, business development, and other collaborations.

PCPA is incorporated as a 501c6 organization. The Executive Director is a part-time contractor. The ED works independently but in concert with the Board of Directors, made up of one executive from each of the member publishing houses. This body meets twice per year to make decisions regarding strategy, governance and fiscal matters. In-between Board meetings, the three officers may be called upon to make decisions on behalf the Board. The three officers generally rotate from Secretary to Vice President to President for two years in each role. The officers are elected at the fall Board of Directors meeting prior to the end of the terms every other year at the end of April, following the Annual Conference. Click here to see our current officers.

PCPA members include non-profit Christian publishing organizations of all sizes — from small denominational houses to large publishers with revenues of approximately $300 million — as well as the companies that serve them and the individuals who work in the field. Members represent a wide range of denominations and theological perspectives, united by the common goal of spreading the Gospel through media and publishing. The association is international in scope. You can see a complete list of PCPA's publishing member companies here.

While PCPA's legal name, Protestant Church-owned Publishers Association, reflects our Protestant roots, the association also welcomes publishers that are ecumenical, non-denominational, and Catholic publishers as well as University Presses with a list of Christian titles. PCPA has partnered with the Association of Catholic Publishers (ACP) on joint programming, including occasional joint member meetings. What matters most is a shared commitment to non-profit Christian publishing.

PCPA was founded in 1951.

PCPA enjoys collaborative and cordial working relationships with both ECPA and ACP. We have co-hosted educational webinars, conferences, and joint research projects from time to time.

Both ECPA and ACP include both for-profit and not-for-profit publishing companies as members while PCPA publishing members are all not-for-profit. In addition, ACP only has Catholic publishers and ECPA is largely publishers from the Evangelical Protestant traditions while PCPA welcomes all not-for-profit Protestant publishers no matter what their theological perspective as well as Catholic, para-church, non-denominational, ecumenical publishers and university presses that publish Christian content. Because of our broad theological spectrum, we focus primarily on Church and demographic trends, business and technology issues related to publishing and Christian publishing, in particular. Some PCPA publishing members are also members of one of the other two associations.

PCPA offers five membership categories to serve the full spectrum of people connected to Christian publishing:

• Publishing Company Members — non-profit Protestant denominational publishing organizations

• Affiliate Publishing Company Members — similar non-profit publishers that are not the official publishing houses of a particular denomination.

• Adjunct Members — companies that provide products and services to publishing members

• Freelance Members — independent individuals who offer services to Christian publishers

• Individual and Student Members — retired publishing professionals, authors, career changers, and students.

You can learn more about each type of membership on our Join Us page.

Publishing Company Membership is open to non-profit publishing organizations from around the world that create and distribute Christian content— including Protestant denominational publishers, independent non-profit Christian publishers, ecumenical and Catholic publishers, parachurch organizations, congregations, other Christian organizations and university presses publishing Christian content. There is no minimum or maximum size requirement; dues are scaled to your organization's revenue.

Dues (in US $) are based on your organization's most recent fiscal year's total revenue. The 2026 calendar year assessment schedule is:

Annual Revenue Annual Assessments

<$1,999,999 $145

$2,000,000-$4,999,999 $275

$5,000,000-$9,999,999 $550

$10,000,000-$19,999,999 $825

$20,000,000-$29,999,999 $1,375

$30,000,000-$74,999,999 $2,200

$75,000,000 and above $3,300

Conference registration fees are separate but are offered at a discounted member rate.

Most other membership benefits for publishers are included in these annual assessments.

Dues (in US $) are based on your organization's most recent fiscal year's total revenue. The 2026 calendar year assessment schedule is:

Annual Revenue Annual Assessments

<$1,999,999 $145

$2,000,000-$4,999,999 $275

$5,000,000-$9,999,999 $550

$10,000,000-$19,999,999 $825

$20,000,000-$29,999,999 $1,375

$30,000,000-$74,999,999 $2,200

$75,000,000 and above $3,300

Conference registration fees are separate but are offered at a discounted member rate.

Most other membership benefits for publishers are included in these annual assessments.