At its inception in 1957 the Trust operated from one basement room in St. John’s Wood, London, with a small temporary store-room loaned on the premises of Westminster Chapel. Then, in 1958, two floors of the three-storied Victorian building, 78 Chiltern Street, in the West End of London were leased for the modest sum of £450 per annum. The property, rented to us by St. Paul’s Church, Portman Square, had many benefits — not least the location of the Evangelical Library on the top floor — and our only hesitancy arose from a measure of doubt whether there was more floor-space than could be used.
Now, after fifteen years’ growth, which includes the sale of more than a million books, the trustees in reviewing the general organization of the work, have decided upon certain changes to aid the future running and expansion of the trust. First, the trans-Atlantic and international aspect of the work is to be strengthened by the incorporation into the Trust of the office and staff of Puritan Publications Inc., Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Since 1967, the board of Puritan Publications has been responsible for the distribution of all Trust books in the U.S.A. and in this work they have rendered invaluable aid. Increasingly the operations of Puritan Publications and the Trust have merged together and the point has been reached at which the efficiency and strength of the whole enterprise would be served by the two centres, on different sides of the Atlantic, coming under one management. The Trust is, therefore, purchasing the assets and taking direct oversight of the Carlisle office. In practice, this means that after April 1, 1972, the Trust will be responsible for its own distribution arrangements in the U.S.A. and our American address will be printed on all publications. With the permission of the former board of Puritan Publications, that name is to be maintained at least for the time being, for the purpose of distributing in the United States some other books and booklets not published by the Trust. At the same time as this change is being made in the United States, Walter Chantry, pastor of Grace Baptist Church, Carlisle, and Albert N. Martin, pastor of Trinity Baptist Church, Essex Fells, New Jersey are becoming Associate Editors of the Banner of Truth magazine.
In France there will also be expansion this year as the Trust acquires an office in Marseille for our French literature work, which is directed by the Rev. W. Clark. Distribution of French literature continues to be encouraging and after April Mr. Clark is anticipating help from David Ellis who with his wife and daughter are moving from Dublin to Marseille in order to serve the cause of the Gospel in France. In Britain, the decision has been reached to move the main base of the Trust work from Chiltern Street, London. Our volume of stock has long exceeded the space available at this office — necessitating storage elsewhere — and the rising costs which have led other firms to move away from the centre of London have also affected us. Instead of paying what is now a much higher rental, funds would be better employed in the purchase of permanent premises elsewhere.
Forseeing this, thought has been given for some years to the siting of the next Trust headquarters. In the outcome it has been decided that next to London there was no more suitable publishing centre in Britain than Edinburgh, and steps are now in hand to find a suitable building in the Northern Capital. The Trust will retain a number of connections with London and, probably, a London address. With communications as fast as they are now between England and Scotland, and between Britain and the U.S.A., there is little significance in the geographical location at which editorial and production work is done and this move will entail no change in Trust policies.
The trustees, who are finally responsible for all Trust decisions, are spread across the world, and so are the many churches, ministers and friends whose fellowship in the past fifteen years has shaped the course of the publishing history in which we have shares. Our publications have reflected the international unity of doctrine which existed among the Reformed Churches in the past — authors include 23 American, 31 English and 28 Scots — but it is the renewal of this wider unity and vision in the present which is now contributing so much to the work of the Trust in the realm of literature… The presence of a common spiritual hunger and the common prayer of many churches in different lands for a revival of truth and godliness lie behind the present wide circulation of literature belonging to the tradition of historic and biblical Christianity. The Holy Spirit, the author of this blessing, is not concerned for one land or two; rather it is promised that He will testify of Christ to the world: ‘His Name shall endure for ever: and men shall be blessed in Him: all nations shall call Him blessed.’