Comments on: Bible Gateway up for grabs & GospelCom to close

By: GCI Donor

GCI Donor — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 19:47:35 +0000

Rich,
Thanks for posting this story. What I find really interesting is how all of the word in Grand Rapids has been about Zondervan’s purchase of BibleGateway but I still haven’t seen any stories about how Gospel Communications has essentially shut it’s doors completely. We’ve been donors for over a decade and I can’t believe that they are just shutting everything down all at once. No more film sales? No more prison ministry? No more high school ministry? No more international outreach?

I just wish somebody would get to the bottom of why all of the execs walked out in the last year leaving an old friend of the Devos family to do as he pleased. Where’s Billy Zeoli? Was it political? Financial? Illegal? It doesn’t make any sense. In talking with a few of the management at their last banquet, it sounded like there was finally some new blood with a new passion for overhauling the company’s vision and plans.

At first we were ecstatic to hear about the sale. That is, until we heard they were shutting everything down. I don’t care how bad the finances got over the years, the fact that they have a new cash infusion and significantly less internet-related expense leaves them in a pretty good position to reorganize and rebuild from the ground up.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy for Zondervan. I think BG will take off in a world that can find ways to monetize the traffic. I’m just saddened by what appears to be the untimely and illogical end of a great organization. Something fishy is going on.

By: Leap blogging at Bene Diction Blogs On

Leap blogging at Bene Diction Blogs On — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 17:01:46 +0000

[...] has been sold to Zondervan. This online site was a pioneer, and BlogRodent isn’t the only one who has had great respect for the people behind the site. Zondervan (a [...]

By: BibleGateway.com and Gospel.com Acquired by Zondervan via BlogRodent

BibleGateway.com and Gospel.com Acquired by Zondervan via BlogRodent — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 07:19:15 +0000

[...] Gospel Communications announced the closure of their Internet division and Web-hosting ministry (as I noted here), there’s been a lot of speculation about the eventual fate of the Bible Gateway, one of the [...]

By: Rich

Rich — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 02:58:07 +0000

BibleGateway.com and Gospel.com Acquired by Zondervan...

By: adam mclane

adam mclane — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 13:23:22 +0000

It’s a little odd to me that they haven’t made any sort of public announcement. Biblegateway is a very valuable resource, and I just don’t see any way that it’d go away.

What lead to this? Well, I think every non-profit in Michigan is struggling. I know that they invested a lot of money in developing their properties prior to the economy tanking. And my opinion is that they need a couple gazillion bucks to re-genesis Biblegateway for the next 10 years.

I don’t think Gospel.com will be sold as a full property… that domain will likely just get a new owner, new idea. They put a lot of effort into Gospel.com and it just never took off.

Like you, I hope all of those folks land new gigs soon!

By: Rich

Rich — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 07:53:06 +0000

By the way, Adam McLane has a good post about this over at his blog. Good Night GospelCom Alliance.

Here’s my personal opinion. I think that the need for the Alliance may have passed. When it was created back in 1995 this thing was totally needed. Ministries struggled to find decent hosts, small ministries had no practical way to create an online presence without spending tons of cash, and there wasn’t a lot of technical support out there for people just learning. Boy how times have changed! Speaking as a member, having been to the conference, I just don’t see the need for this type of Alliance.

By: Christianity Today News Feed

Christianity Today News Feed — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 07:05:27 +0000

Top News Stories... « Christian media giant Gospelcom near close
Officials of Gospel Communications International have notified partner ministries that the Muskegon-headquartered global media distributor plans to shut down its Web-hosting services (Muskegon Chronicle, Mi.)… » [MORE]

By: free Christian Resources

free Christian Resources — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 06:25:30 +0000

Bible Gateway up for grabs?... « Rich at the Tatumweb blog has recently written that Gospel Communications is closing down its online communications. Gospel Communications currently provide Bible Gateway, so it is sad to see this happening. However, hopefully someone else will purchase Bible Gateway to allow it to continue spreading the gospel and helping Christians study the word of God.… » [MORE]

By: Rich

Rich — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 06:02:57 +0000

Gospel Communications Network will be closing down on December 15, 2008.

By: The Sola Scriptura Society Blog

The Sola Scriptura Society Blog — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 06:44:49 +0000

Sad News about Bible Gateway (edited version)... « When putting together a new website or blog for Christian organizations, I have always taken advantage of the great Bible study aids from Gospel Communications online division Bible Gateway. They have provided great widgets for websites and blogs that make it easy to search the Scriptures, find a commentary, parallel translations, even audio bible. This morning I learned that Gospel Communications is dumping Bible Gateway.… » [MORE]