CLC was founded in 1941 in Colchester, England by Ken Adams and his wife Bessie as “The Evangelical Publishing House”.

Early on they aligned themselves with WEC International and its Secretary Norman Grubb.

[3] In 1944 the first departments appeared out of England: in Australia and Canada; next non-English CLC bookshops were founded in the United States and Dominica in 1947.

As of 2023[update], it is represented by more than 110 bookshops, 18 distribution warehouses and 18 publishing houses in 40 countries.

[3] Gary Chamberlin was elected as the new International Director in 2021, succeeding Gerardo Scalante.