Following in the footsteps of Thomas Bray and maintaining a loyalty to their origins and principles, Book Grants to theological colleges, with routine grants to College Libraries and to candidates for ordination, were a regular and important feature of the Mission Department for both SPCK and USCL, using mission funds to cover the costs and ensure that libraries were satisfactoriy stocked, that clergy had at least a batch of books at the beginning of their ministry, and as a spin-off in many cases enabled the production of some theological textbooks not otherwise viable because it made a modest print run possible. The benefit for overseas ministers was also considerable, not least in Eastern Europe where they had been so cut off from all western publications for so long. To many in all parts of the world the difference between Before and After can make all the difference in a person’s attitude to their calling.
SPCK for many years offered a choice of titles from their publications, mostly through their Books for Life Programme. At one stage as many as 1,000 priests and pastors benefited, sometimes with as many as 20 titles worth about £60, received gratis in support of their ministry, and in countries where a paperback could cost as much as a weekly wage, they may well be the only books they had. By 1990 Bray and other book grants from SPCK alone totalled roughly 25% of the total Grants disbursed.
USCL similarly offered a choice of titles from their Lutterworth List through their Book Awards Programme and overseas theological libraries could apply to the USCL Mission Department for a Library Grant as and when required. Following the sale of Lutterworth Press in 1984 USCL replaced the offer with a voucher to purchase selected titles from other publishers’ lists in their local bookshop. Overseas candidates enjoyed a similarr service by an arrangement with a local Third World publisher, USCL paying the publisher’s bill in the form of a grant, thereby also raising the publisher’s trade and profile.
One result of Growing Together was the integration of all these Book Grants into Feed the Minds, so continuing and reinforcing the traditions of the years towards local growth and development by raising profile and encouraging trade. Over very many years all these Book Awards proved popular and stayed much the same, broadening slightly to include non-residential courses and courses not necessarily running for a full year, as they continued in partnership with the good old faithfuls (Editions Certeza, New Day, Philippines, CTP Tanzania, Uzima, ISPCK, CLS, the Lanka Bible College, Sri Lanka and St Andrews College, Moscow) rising to a rate of £16,000 pa, plus OBA, with yet further investment in libraries through two new FTM initiatives, the Book Service and the Theologial Book Review.