Group Publishing to be acquired by Springs-based nonprofit

LOVELAND — Group Publishing Inc., a 50-year-old Loveland-based provider of curriculum materials for youth and adult Sunday-school and vacation-Bible-school classes, is being acquired by Colorado Springs-based David C Cook, a nonprofit provider of Christian content.

Cook publishes books, Bibles and other resources for Christian educators.

“Group will continue to serve our friends in ministry with great Jesus-centered resources,” said Thom Schultz, who was a 22-year-old youth ministry worker in 1974 when he founded Group Publishing with a $500 budget. “Group’s real ministry approach, innovative spirit, great staff, and excellent customer service will continue and grow.”

Schultz has run the company ever since its founding, joined by his wife, Joani, whom he married in 1984. The company first published a 24-page tabloid on newsprint with suggestions and ideas for church leaders. That evolved into an array of curriculum offerings. 

“It was a great departure from traditional literature,” Thom Schultz said in a 1990 interview. “It employed authentic learning elements with an active approach. We use experiences that are fun and engaging that will reflect a biblical experience. We take issues like peer pressure and dealing with parents and wrap biblical studies around them.”

In 1998, Thom Schultz received a Bravo! Entrepreneur award at an event sponsored by the Northern Colorado Business Report, which would merge with the Boulder County Business Report to become BizWest in 2014.

Thom and Joani Schultz have led Group Publishing through both rewarding and challenging times. In 2020, it was forced to lay off 62 people — 45% of its staff — as demand for Bible school curriculums dried up in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic because churches were either restricted from in-person gatherings by local health authorities or voluntarily closed their doors. In response, the company released a free guide to adapt its books to online virtual Bible school and Sunday school programs.

Group Publishing’s vacation-Bible-school programs “include memorable and relevant children’s music we envision partnering well with our global music division, Integrity Music,” Cook CEO Bill Reeves said in a prepared statement. “Combining the talents and capabilities of the Group Publishing and David C Cook teams will exponentially increase our ability to equip the church and engage young people in transformational discipleship.”

Thom Schultz said Group Publishing’s employers are looking forward to partnering with Cook’s Nashville-based Integrity Music because they already have composed and written “hundreds of titles” of songs, mostly targeted to children.

Thom and Joani Schultz will now focus on their global philanthropic work. “We enter this next season knowing Group’s relational, experiential, applicable and learner-based resources will live on with David C Cook, reaching even more people and helping them grow in their relationship with Jesus and each other,” Thom Schultz said.

Group’s staff of 82 will continue to work at the Group headquarters at 1515 Cascade Ave. in Loveland, and its customers and suppliers will maintain their current contacts. Thom Schultz said chief operating officer Rocky Gilmore and chief financial officer Jeff Loop are retiring.

The addition of Group Publishing’s curricula will make David C Cook the largest independent publisher of curriculum for the interdenominational church market. The company has acquired and integrated brands including Standard Publishing Commentary and Gospel Light, but had yet to establish a strong presence in the vacation Bible school sector, where Group Publishing is a market leader.

“The success of Group Publishing as an innovator in VBS, children’s ministry, youth ministry, Bibles and small-group resources is a testimony to the hard work and creativity of their staff,” Reeves said. “Combining the talents and capabilities of the Group Publishing and David C Cook teams will exponentially increase our ability to equip the church and engage young people in transformational discipleship.”

David C Cook was founded in 1875 — one year after Group Publishing’s founding — in response to a need for age-appropriate Sunday school materials for children. It has since expanded to create and distribute curriculum, books and music for all ages.

“David C Cook is a great choice to carry on the important work we’ve started,” Thom Schultz said in a prepared statement. “As my wife Joani and I prepare to shift our focus to global philanthropic work, we enter this next season knowing Group’s relational, experiential resources will live on with David C Cook, reaching even more people and helping them grow in their relationships with Jesus and each other.”

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