The Ecumenical Press publishes books in the field of ecumenical and interreligious dialogue, including its outreach into various disciplines and institutions, such as business, education, science, law, arts. The books are of the highest scholarly quality written in an English style accessible to the educated non-expert. The Ecumenical Press was initially an occasional offshoot of the Journal of Ecumenical Studies (JES), a premier scholarly quarterly founded by Arlene and Leonard Swidler in 1964 devoted to ecumenical (intra-Christian) and interreligious dialogue. At times a separate book version of a Special Issue of JES was published under the aegis of the Ecumenical Press. Starting in fall, 2009, the Ecumenical Press began to publish, promote, and distribute books in this field as a regular practice to support the outreach work of the Dialogue Institute and new vistas in the field of interfaith activism.