Gospel Light Publications, known for its Sunday school and vacation Bible school curricula, filed for bankruptcy with plans to sell its assets, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The Christian media company, founded in 1993, blamed the filing on “a number of unanticipated occurrences during the last nine months” as well as a “long-term slowdown in the Christian publishing market, court papers show. Those unplanned-for events include the bankruptcy filing of one of its biggest customers, the Family Christian retail chain. Gospel Light said the filing forced it to write off $143,000 in expected income. With current business conditions not promising, Gospel Light said that it began looking for buyers this spring. Those efforts yielded a $175,000 offer for its ZDL unit, which publishes Christian literature and provides consulting services in China, from the company’s current minority owner, Pacific Resources International LLC. Pacific’s offer, which is subject to bankruptcy-court approval, would buy out Gospel Light’s majority stake in ZDL.
