wfn.org | Retired Disciples publishing executives launch new

["Communication Ministries" <wshuffit@cm.disciples.org>]

print journal
Date: March 8, 2002
Disciples News Service
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Contact: Curt Miller
E-mail: cmiller@cm.disciples.org
on the Web: http://www.disciples.org

02a-21

	
	INDIANAPOLIS (DNS) -- The former publisher and the former
editor of The Disciple magazine have formed a
not-for-profit corporation to launch a new churchwide print
journal in April. James C. Suggs, former president of the
Christian Board of Publication, and Robert L. Friedly
former editor of the The Disciple initiated DisciplesWorld
magazine in the wake of the Christian Board of
Publication's suspension of publication of The Disciple in
March. 

	"The new publication will fill a communication void left
in the denomination [Christian Church (Disciples of
Christ)] when The Disciple magazine, last in a succession
of publications unbroken since the mid-19th century, ceased
publication this year," said Suggs, president and publisher
of the new journal.  "Releasing the inaugural issue of
DisciplesWorld in April will continue unbroken the church's
tradition of having a forum for the free exchange of news
and opinion," he said.  

	DisciplesWorld editor Robert Friedly explained that the
name of the new magazine "recalls both strains of Disciples
journalism - news and opinion as epitomized in The Disciple
and its principal predecessors, The Christian and The
Christian-Evangelist, and mission interpretation as
delivered in World Call and the journals of missionary
societies and church agencies it replaced." The Disciple
was formed in 1974 in the merger of The Christian and World
Call

	DisciplesWorld was created in February and incorporated in
the first week of March. The journal will be sponsored by
the Disciples of Christ Historical Society for "related
organization" status in the church.  The magazine, and a
corresponding world wide web site, will be operated by a
nine-member board of directors representative of all
manifestations of the church  congregations, regions and
international structure  and the diversity of individuals
that Disciples value. According to Suggs, three
Disciples-related educational institutions are providing
encouragement and services and other institutions are
likely to provide forms of backing upon the approval of
their boards.

	Suggs and Friedly are serving without compensation. They
and other volunteers are staffing both print and electronic
operations during the magazine's early months.  Some
part-time paid staff members will fill other key positions.
During its startup, the journal is housed in facilities of
Downey Avenue Christian Church in Indianapolis, a
congregation linked by its location and members with the
history of most national and international organizations of
the church. 

	Startup costs are being underwritten by donors and in-kind
volunteer services.  But "we are confident that the new
journal soon will be well undergirded by income from
subscriptions and advertising, and gifts from Disciples who
know how important free but responsible journalism is to
this church," Suggs said. 

	Mailing of the first issue and posting of the
DisciplesWorld web site are expected in the last week of
April.  

	The basic subscription rate is $22 per year. For those who
wish to use the magazine in education and evangelism
programs, quantity discounts are available. The magazine's
address is: DisciplesWorld P.O. Box 11469, Indianapolis, IN
46201-0469. Its telephone number is: 317-375-8846. 

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