wfn.org | One of church's oldest regional publications begins anew

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

March 23, 2000 News media contact: Thomas S.
McAnally·(615)742-5470·Nashville, Tenn.   10-71B{161}
 

By United Methodist News Service

One of United Methodism's oldest regional newspapers is resuming publication
after a two-year hiatus.

Zion's Herald, founded in the 1820s, will begin producing both a print and
electronic version in the next few months, according to Angela Markert,
president of the Boston Wesleyan Association.

Zion's Herald had been published as a joint venture by the association and
the church's New England Annual Conference, but that arrangement was dropped
by mutual agreement in 1998, according to Markert. Since then, the
association has planned to resume the publication's traditional role as a
free-standing, independent and objective journal, she said.  

The new editor will be the Rev. Stephen Swecker, associate editor and a
member of the executive management team at the United Methodist Reporter in
Dallas from 1982 to 1994. Swecker, a clergy member of the West Virginia
Annual Conference, has been serving as executive director of the Center for
Ecumenical Spirituality in Orchard Park, N.Y.  He also directs Pathways, a
travel ministry that he founded in 1994 and through which he has led
international pilgrimages to Israel, Africa and Europe.

Swecker earned degrees from West Virginia Wesleyan in Buckhannon, Wesley
Theological Seminary in Washington, and Boston University; and he did
undergraduate work in Germany.

While at the United Methodist Reporter, Swecker was editorial page director
and primary editorial writer. He received national awards for writing,
editing and photography. As a reporter, he traveled extensively to cover
events such as the fall of the Berlin Wall, the rebirth of the church in
Russia, the struggle to end apartheid in South Africa, the World Methodist
Peace Conference in London and the Seventh Assembly of the World Council of
Churches in Australia.

The Zion's Herald offices will be in the Boston area, but no exact location
has been determined.   

The newspaper was launched in Boston in 1823 by the 3-year-old Society for
Giving and Receiving Religious Intelligence, as the association was
originally called. The publication became an influential liberal voice
throughout the century, particularly on issues such as slavery.

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United Methodist News Service
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