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2008-02-19 issue:

BREAKING NEWS: The Mennonite will publish OurFaith Digest

by OurFaith Digest and The Mennonite

Print Article

The board of directors for OurFaith Digest decided Feb. 21 to transfer its magazine—published three times each year—to the board of The Mennonite, effective April 1.



“We are pleased to know that the ministry will continue to reach a broad Anabaptist audience,” says OFD board chair Allen Brubaker, “with stories and photos that nourish faith, family and mission from the center of our biblical Anabaptist tradition.”

Eugene Souder, Harrisonburg, Va., founded OFD in 2000 and served as its editor until July 2007, when Joe Miller, Honeybrook, Pa., succeeded Souder as editor. The magazine is provided free to Mennonite congregations, with costs covered by advertising and contributions. Miller will continue as editor of OFD.

“Utilizing the staff and systems already in place at The Mennonite for administration, production, circulation and reader response makes very good sense,” says Miller, “and will allow OurFaith Digest to concentrate on its core mission—being an every-home Mennonite/Anabaptist magazine. This is a very positive development for OurFaith Digest.”

The board of directors for The Mennonite agreed to accept financial responsibility for OFD and publish three issues of the magazine in the year after April 1. However, the agreement stipulates that a new business plan may be invoked after the first issue. This new business plan could include charging a subscription fee for the magazine.

“The Mennonite is owned by the members of Mennonite Church USA,” says Susan Sommer, chair of the board of directors for The Mennonite. “Yet we know many of its owners prefer more inspirational material than is available within the format of The Mennonite. In assuming responsibility for OurFaith Digest, we see an opportunity to serve our owners through an emphasis on faith stories from some of the best writing in a Mennonite-Anabaptist perspective, continuing a goal of the OFD board.”

Everett J. Thomas, editor of The Mennonite, will supervise OFD editor Joe Miller but plans no immediate change to the OFD format, design and thrice-yearly printing schedule.

“OurFaith Digest is a very different product from The Mennonite,” says Thomas. “Its articles explain Mennonite faith to newcomers, and its content—which includes no news about Mennonite Church USA and its institutions—has a longer shelf life than does The Mennonite.”

The board for The Mennonite was interested in keeping OFD alive because it has a significant niche within Mennonite Church USA. The People in the Pew 2007 survey showed that OFD is in 45 percent of Mennonite Church USA households. That is slightly higher than the 43 percent of households that receive The Mennonite.

The 52,000 copies of OFD sent to more than 1,000 cooperating churches also include those distributed to 54 Mennonite congregations outside Mennonite Church USA.—OurFaith Digest and The Mennonite

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