SPCK Bookshops have announced a partnership with St Stephen the Great Charitable Trust (SSG), an Eastern Orthodox charity based in the United States which was formed in 2004. SPCK is currently the second-largest Christian bookseller in the UK, and has 23 shops in England and Wales.

Simon Kingston, the chief executive of SPCK, said on Tuesday that 14 of the society's 18 trustees voted for the move at its AGM last week. All SPCK bookshops are to remain open, and the staff are to transfer to SSG. The shops would continue to operate as SPCK Bookshops, under licence. They would stock a broad range of Christian books and resources, said a statement from SPCK on Tuesday. Significant emphasis was to be placed on online marketing, "utilising the internet and harnessing the market power and presence of SPCK's long history on the high street".

SSG's chairman and principal Trustee, Mark Brewer, the head of a law firm in Houston, Texas, said: "SPCK will continue into its fourth century with its shops as places where all people, Christian