VERSAILLES, Indiana—In 1995 the church in Britain had to suspend publication and distribution of the magazine because of financial constraints.
The British edition had been essentially the same as the U.S. edition, with maybe an article or two specially written for local consumption, and localized spelling. It was not the ideal magazine for the British religious market, but it was better than nothing. But now there was nothing.
In the fall of 1995, we decided we needed to publish something if the church was to play its part in bringing the gospel to this increasingly spiritually barren country. We had several options, and we decided to take the most challenging one. We would produce a totally British magazine, with not just one or two local articles, but a totally British magazine, written, edited, published and printed in Britain. Some people thought we were mad, and at times I was not sure I did not agree with them.
But our British magazine is now in its ninth year of publication, and has become one of the most influential magazines in the (admittedly rather small) religious publishing market.
The British magazine is 32 pages, full color, published five times a year. The articles are written by a combination of writers from our denomination and several others. It is a truly transdenominational publication. Looking through the latest edition, I see articles by Baptists, Catholics, a Salvation Army office and two Church of England vicars.
We try to have about 50 percent of the copy written by WCG members. Our church has had a rich and eventful spiritual journey, and we believe our members have something to say. All they need sometimes is some help in knowing how to say it. We occasionally conduct a one-day writing seminar, which uncovers some real talent.
I am the editor. The everyday nuts and bolts of running the magazine and getting it ready for publication is the responsibility of Mary Hammond, managing editor. That’s it—we have no full-time staff or editorial offices. Circumstances have forced us to take full advantage of the potential of desktop publishing. The design, printing and circulation management are outsourced to a local company, Christian Media. It gets a bit scary sometimes when we think of what we once thought we needed to publish the gospel. But like most of the other magazines we have reviewed, our British magazine is a virtual operation.
Circulation is about 22,000—we would like to increase it as funds permit. We try to make each issue an interesting, lively, challenging and sometimes even humorous presentation of the gospel, with a decidedly British flavor. We invite you to take a look at it on our web site: www.plain-truth.org.uk
Malaysian magazine
Let me now introduce our sister publication in Asia. Three years ago, my friends in Malaysia approached me and asked if they could buy copies of the British magazine for distribution in their region.
“You can,” I said, “but I don’t think it will do much good. It is written for a British audience. But,” I added, because I knew this church well, having once been their pastor, “why don’t you let us help you produce your own edition.”
Working together, that’s what we have done. The magazine is now in its third year. Some articles are features taken from the U.K. edition, but 50 percent are written by area members. As in Britain, we conducted a seminar and launched several new writers. Low Mong Chai is editor, and his son Richard does the design. The 6,000 or so copies are printed on one of Asia’s most modern presses, and I have to admit that sometimes the quality of production exceeds the U.K. edition.
This shows what a small but energetic group of people can accomplish when they combine a desire to make the good news of the gospel known with the potential of desktop publishing. Have a look at www.wcg-klang.net
Living Light—India
Before we leave Asia, let me also
tell you about Living Light, a small bi-monthly magazine published by our
church in India. It is another example of making a magazine culturally
appropriate. Living Light is a modest publication—it needs to be to keep
the costs down. I spent a few days with editor Joe D’Costa in December, and we
were able to discuss several ways to improve the magazine. Most of the articles
are written by Indian members. Living Light does not have a web site yet,
and please don’t write and ask for a copy—we need every one we can get for
India. But here is what it looks like (see photo above).
Next time we will wrap up this survey of our international publishing by looking at what is happening down under in Australia and New Zealand.
Copyright © Worldwide Church of God, 2004