Davidson, who replaced Wayne Hastings, has more than 20 years' experience working with Christian products, company officials said. He has worked for Nelson for 13 years, leading its Christian Retail Sales area for the last eight and the company's Ministry Development and Church Direct group for the last two.

"I am confident that Gary is the right person to lead our Bible team," said Mark Schoenwald, president and chief operating officer of Thomas Nelson. "Gary has a distinguished track record of building strong business units by casting vision, building cohesive teams, executing plans and anticipating the needs of our customers."

Nelson veteran and Bible scholar Bob Sanford will return to the company to act as vice president and associate publisher of the group. Sanford has more than 30 years experience working with the Bible category, Nelson officials said.

Schoenwald said Sanford's "intimate Bible knowledge makes him the perfect compliment to Gary. Working side-by-side, they will help strengthen the core of our business, Bible, reference and curriculum division."

Tom Knight, who has more than 10 years of experience working in Christian retail, will be promoted to fill Davidson's current role as senior vice president of Christian Retail Sales and Ministry Development. Knight's successor has not been appointed.

"I am so excited about the privilege of leading Thomas Nelson's Bible Group," said Davidson. "They are a strong and passionate team doing extraordinary work to make the Word more accessible for readers around the world."

Hastings told Christian Retailing that he was "proud" to have been a part of the Nelson Bible Group, bringing to the market products such as The Word of Promise Audio Bible, The Voice New Testament and The Chronological Study Bible and the Million Bible Challenge and Felt Needs Bible Merchandising System programs. "I'm excited to discover what God has in store for the next chapter of my journey," he said.