Dorean Press

Freely you have received; freely give.

Dorean Press exists to publish good books on the church without selling the gospel they proclaim.

Dorean Press is a small publishing ministry with a single conviction: the message of the gospel is a gift, and gifts are not sold. Our name comes from the Greek word dorean — “freely, without payment” — the very word Christ uses when he sends out his disciples: “Freely you have received; freely give.”

That charge sits uneasily alongside a great deal of modern Christian publishing, where the teaching of the church is routinely placed behind a paywall and proclamation is repackaged as product. We believe there is a better, older way — one that distinguishes the support of gospel work from the sale of it.

So we publish carefully chosen books on the church and the commercialization of Christianity, and we order them printed on demand through Lulu. You pay what it costs to print and ship a book, plus a small margin that keeps the lights on. Where we are able, the digital edition is free. Nothing about how we sell a book should contradict what the book is for.

What we hold to

Freely given
The word “dorean” (δωρεάν) means “freely, as a gift.” It is the word Jesus uses in Matthew 10:8 — “freely you have received; freely give.” We take it as our charter.
Sold at cost
We are not in the business of profiting from proclamation. Our prices cover printing, shipping, and the bare keeping of the press — no more.
Printed on demand
Every book is printed and shipped only when you order it, through Lulu’s global print network. Nothing sits in a warehouse; nothing goes to waste.
Free to read
Wherever a title allows, the digital edition is free to download. Buy a printed copy when you want one in your hands or to give away.

Begin with the book we are named for

The Dorean Principle lays out, from Scripture, the case for a freely given ministry.
Read The Dorean PrincipleBrowse the catalog