Will you help us to equip and reac WHEN Rev Michael Baxter was caught up in the fervour and excitement of Moody and Sankey’s mission meetings in Glasgow, way back in the 1870s, he was determined to find a way of spreading the news far and wide. He decided on a newspaper, called Signs of Our Times, later to become Christian Herald. Since the 1870s, Christian Herald has been published weekly, reporting, informing and challenging readers amidst great missionary movements, the Welsh Revival, two World Wars, the founding of many of today’s Christian organisations, the ministry of Billy Graham, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the technology explosion and much more. A CHANGING WORLD In recent times, it has become more and more difficult for Christian newspapers to remain financially viable. And Christian Herald has been no exception. The factors involved include increasing costs, the changing nature of the news trade, the explosion of information available through digital media, and the decline in reading across the UK Christian community. The pace of change both in the world, and in the Church has accelerated in recent decades, and we sense that a new kind of publication is needed to communicate widely among God’s people – and to tell the stories of hope that will fire a new generation to help change the world. And now’s the time to make that transition, bringing with it the end of an era for Christian Herald. We are working on creative ways to digitize the whole of the Christian Herald archive, going back more than 130 years – providing a treasure trove for Bible college students, social historians, researchers, pastors and more by making years of historic content accessible to all via the web. It’s a big project but we’re really excited about a new lease of life for Christian Herald for future A NEW KIND OF PUBLICATION While we’re sad that Christian Herald as we currently know it will come to an end with our 28 January issue next year, we’re excited about plans to launch Inspire – a new format free monthly magazine that is to succeed it, where we’ll be working in partnership with other key Christian organisations. God is at work in the UK, with evidence of changed lives and growing churches, and Inspire will bring you the good news that so often gets left out of the national media. Expect to find: We believe it will be a title you’ll find invaluable – and your church won’t be able to get enough of! However, we’ll need your help to make the transition and support us in this important area of our ministry, and we would appreciate your prayers. WHAT YOU CAN DO If you’re a subscriber, you’ll be receiving a letter from us, asking you to consider donating the remainder of your subscription’s value into helping seed fund the new title. In return you will receive your personal monthly copy of Inspire, which we plan to launch at the beginning of March. For others, you might want to make a one-off gift or a legacy, to help us continue to publish for future generations – and serve the needs of the Church over the years ahead. Just send back the form below. You can also ensure you get a free copy of Inspire when it is launched. You will have the choice of making a small donation to cover the cost sending your personal copy. We’ll be starting with a minimum circulation of 50,000 nationwide, giving a readership of 100,000+. Anything you are able to give will help seed-fund Inspire in its early days and resource its growth and development. In what are tough times for the Church in the UK, bold solutions are needed. We believe the best is yet to come – will you stand with us as we plan and prepare a new kind of publication for a changing world, and look to open up the riches of the Christian Herald archive? We’ll tell you more in the weeks ahead, but for now please do pray for us – and if you can, give to help us keep telling the good news from the UK and around the world. To order an individual or church subscription please visit www.inspiremagazine.org.uk
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