Cokesbury Bookstore and Church Supplies
Cokesbury bookstores are the retail outlets for the United Methodist Publishing House, which has been in business for two hundred years. The Publishing House describes its mission as “helping pastors, seminarians and other church leaders find resources to enhance and enrich their ministries.” Cokesbury stores returns profits generated from sales to the Annual Conferences of The United Methodist Church. The funds are used to support clergy pension and retirement funds. The name Cokesbury came from the combination of the founder’s last names Coke and Asbury. Cokesbury Press initially was a publishing company. Cokesbury merged with Abingdon Publishing in 1939 and became Cokesbury Abingdon Publishing. The two organizations later separated, and Cokesbury became a retail store that sold Christian supplies and books. The chain of Cokesbury Bookstore and Church Supplies has grown to 71 locations across the United States.
The Richmond Cokesbury Bookstore and Church Supplies store is located on West End Drive . The mission of Cokesbury, “is to provide quality resources and services that help people know God through Jesus Christ, love God, and choose to serve God and neighbor.” Cokesbury stocks many different items that range from books, Bibles, Christian music, robes, candles, stain glass windows, church pews, playground items, buses, Bible-study books, Sunday school curriculum items, and Christian education books and supplies. The store also is involved with the community and donates books to local churches. There is also a Cokesbury Bookstore located on the Union Theological Seminary campus.
Cokesbury Books and Church Supplies
3700 West End Drive
Richmond , VA 23294
(804)-270-1070
Sources:
Profile prepared by Christopher Ferguson
December, 2007
