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2008-04-01 issue:

OurFaith Digest and The Mennonite

Editorial

by Everett J. Thomas

Print Article

This month we begin a partnership with another magazine: OurFaith Digest . We are doing sobecause we believe this free digest published three times each year is important for many Mennonites both within and outside Mennonite Church USA.



OurFaith Digest (OFD) was started in 2000 in part as a reaction to The Mennonite. Given the unsettledness of the years leading up to the formation of Mennonite Church USA seven years ago, its founders wanted a magazine that was not controversial, did not focus on the birth pangs of this new denomination and provided only inspirational stories that helped build the faith of its readers.

To achieve these goals, OFD decided to print enough free copies for every mailbox in every church that wanted the magazine. The cost of producing the magazine was minimized by republishing what had been published elsewhere—often three or four articles from The Mennonite—and printed with the least expensive paper and process possible. The business plan called for advertisers and financial supporters to pay for the costs.

Last July, Joe Miller succeeded founder Eugene Souder as editor; Joe published one issue before the OFD board decided its business plan was no longer viable. On Jan. 28, they announced they would suspend publication.

After a month of conversations and emails, our board agreed to give OFD a lease on life for three more issues—one year. Why?

Our staff and board of directors has received feedback that The Mennonite’s format, purposes and frequency are not attractive to some members of Mennonite Church USA. This feedback usually suggests that those of us who are more theologically conservative do not fin enough to like in the content we publish in The Mennonite. We also have heard from some pastors who do not want to give newcomers, especially people new to the Mennonite faith, a subscription to The Mennonite immediately because some parts of it—especially letters to the editor—are too revealing about the things over which we squabble. OFD has attempted to be a solution, and our board decided to support this digest format that republishes a small library of inspiration from Anabaptist and Mennonite writers.

One magazine cannot be all things to all people. Through annual readers surveys, we know that roughly 90 percent of The Mennonite’s readers now are—or in the past were—leaders in their churches or conferences: from Sunday school teachers and elders to pastors. We will continue to be a “forum for the voices of Mennonite Church USA,” even when some of those voices are critical or present differing points of view. We’ll also continue to help build our denomination’s identity.

But OFD is a different product. “A church that reaches out so valiantly as Mennonites,” says OFD editor Joe Miller, “needs a friendly, welcoming voice that inspires and talks about the basics. I don’t think we want to ‘niche’ OFD into a beginner’s publication cubby hole.”

Why might OFD be successful now when it struggled in 2007? Joe offers two reasons: First, the administrative and publishing help provided by The Mennonite’s staff will make manageable his skeletal (.3 FTE) part-time job. Second, Joe contends that through this connection to Mennonite Church USA, OFD will have new credibility and some “standing” it did not have before.

We do not intend to subsidize the publication of OFD beyond the staff time we contribute. If congregations that receive this “grassroots, Anabaptist magazine” value it, then we anticipate financial support will follow, and the magazine can continue. Our suggestion for congregations that want to see OFD continue: Send a contribution of 60 cents for each copy you receive.

The Mennonite and OurFaith Digest are two different magazines with two very different purposes. Both need your support. We hope that the next three issues of OFD are the first of many in this partnership. We will do what we can to make it happen.—ejt

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