Mark Taylor, chairman of the board of Tyndale House Ministries since 2015, announced February 20 that he is retiring after 53 years in leadership roles with the ministry's charitable foundation and its publishing arm, both founded by his parents.

Taylor’s life in Christian publishing started as a child helping his father, Kenneth Taylor, send bookstores copies of Living Letters, a paraphrase version of the New Testament epistles. The senior Taylor had founded Tyndale House Publishers in 1962 when established publishers declined to publish Living Letters.

In 1963, Kenneth and his wife Margaret began rolling the royalties from the book into a charity they started, the Tyndale House Foundation. The 1971 publication of Kenneth Taylor's full Bible paraphrase version, The Living Bible, also supported the foundation, with sales that reached 40 million copies by 2005, according to the company.

Today, more than half of the company's publishing profits go to the foundation, which makes annual grants to ministries, mission work, Bible translation, leadership development, and humanitarian aid worldwide.

Mark, who worked with both the charity and the publishing house through college, became executive director of the foundation in 1973. In 1984, he added another role, becoming president and CEO of Tyndale House Publishers, a post he held until 2021. During his time as CEO, he orchestrated the merger of Tyndale House’s publishing and charitable arms under the Tyndale House Ministries umbrella in 2019.

Looking back, Taylor said in the release, "the single most rewarding project of my career" was the development of the Holy Bible, New Living Translation. Initially published in 1996, it is now in its third edition and its sales, according to Taylor, "now exceed 69 million copies."

During his tenure, Tyndale House published numerous bestsellers, including three editions of the Life Application Study Bible, the Left Behind series, novels by Francine Rivers, and advice books by Focus on the Family founder James Dobson.

Becky Wilson, vice chair of the board of directors, praised Taylor, saying that his "steadfast leadership, deep biblical understanding, literary discernment, global vision, and generous spirit have left a lasting impact on Tyndale House Ministries and extended its influence around the world."

Taylor also has served several terms on the board of directors of the Evangelical Christian Publishers, serving as chairman from 2003 to 2006.