Making better use of the printed magazine format to reach people of all religions is the charge facing editors of the Seventh-day Adventist Church's "Signs of the Times" magazines, which have been evangelistic tools for nearly 130 years.
Making better use of the printed magazine format to reach people of all religions is the charge facing editors of the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s “Signs of the Times” magazines, which have been evangelistic tools for nearly 130 years.
In a world where media culture is often dominated by television, radio and the Internet, magazines remain an important staple of communications. Nearly 745 consumer magazine titles were launched last year in the United States, for example, according to University of Mississippi expert Dr. Samir Husni. The relative low costs of printing and distribution make magazines ideal for spreading a Christian message in many corners of the world where electronic media may not reach.
But having survived for decades—or even for more than a century—is no guarantee of future longevity, as many publishers are learning. Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, a leading evangelical school, said in February that it would stop publishing its 85,000 circulation Moody magazine following its July/August issue; ending a 103-year run. Its demise joins a long list of Christian magazines that have also ceased publication over the years.
Now, circulation of Adventist evangelistic magazines in many regions of the world is stagnant. In some areas circulation is decreasing. A meeting among editors of the Adventist Church’s outreach magazines May 5 and 6 at the church’s world headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, was to address this reality.
“The perception among members is that [the magazines are] a publishing house thing,” says Howard Faigao, associate publishing director for the Adventist Church. “It should really be a church member outreach tool. I think we were able to put up some recommendations that were beneficial for the magazines and the work as a whole,” he says.
“We’re hoping that by pulling resources, editors and publishers in other countries can tap into it and start their own magazines,” says Bruce Manners, chief editor for the Signs Publishing Company in Warburton, Victoria, Australia.
“As far as we’re aware, this is the first time [this meeting] has happened on such a global scale,” says Manners. “We came away feeling this was a positive thing. If we only come together to network, it’s helpful, but we did more than that.”
“We want magazines that reach all religions, all of society, not just Seventh-day Adventists,” says Manners.
In the 1980s, similar concerns brought editors of outreach magazines in Europe together and resulted in experiments in joint editorial ventures between several countries of Western Europe.
There are seven such outreach publications the church produces in English: Message, Our Time, Life.Info, and “Signs of the Times” editions in India, Australia, South Africa and the United States. The American “Signs of the Times,” first published in Oakland, California, in 1874, has won several awards for excellence from the Evangelical Press Association.