ChristianWeek steps through the stages
Proceeding from crisis to stability to development
Since the unhappy experience of a financial crisis last fall, ChristianWeek has been steadily stabilizing. Debt load has been significantly reduced and the efficiency of many in-house procedures improved. Now that our house is in better order, we are beginning to move into a development stage that is being carefully implemented and closely monitored.
And we’re enlisting additional expertise. Bramwell Ryan, a freelance journalist with significant publishing experience in both the mainstream and church press, has accepted a five-month contract appointment as "interim publisher." His mandate is to:
• Broaden the range of revenue sources;
• Expand the subscriber base for ChristianWeek;
• Increase the advertising revenue base;
• Develop a marketing and development strategy.
Other staff changes are in the works as well. In fact, Lorie Mayer has been doing some design work for the past few issues on a part-time basis, a role she inherited from Chris Sakwi. Both Chris and Lorie are graphic artists who add a professional touch to the ChristianWeek look, and both have been extremely accommodating to our shifting demands. Our very versatile "technical support" person, Andrew Single, performs much of the initial layout work. In the bookkeeping department, Barb Neudorf has taken over responsibilities from Sharon Reimer.
Changes are coming to the editorial side of the office as well. Associate editor Debra Fieguth, who has been a full-time staff member since 1992, will move into a half-time role beginning in July. A desire to "spend more time on the domestic front" as well as devote time to other writing projects influenced her decision.
Helping to fill the void she leaves will be Kevin Heinrichs, a writer and editor whose work is already familiar to CW readers. In recent months CW published a number of his articles, including "Empress of Ireland averts second disaster" (May 12) and "The church in the middle of nowhere" (March 17). Kevin, a graduate of the Carleton University School of Journalism, previously worked two years with the Mennonite Brethren Herald and was editor of Christian Lifestyle.
The difficult events of the past year have given ChristianWeek a unique opportunity for creative change. We are grateful for God’s goodness, for flexible staff members and for faithful readers who have been an unflagging source of encouragement.
As we see it, the current "developing" stage holds a great deal of promise for this small Christian publishing company, but all developments will be fully reviewed when our board gathers in Winnipeg in September. At that time, we hope to be talking about the next stage–positive growth.
Dan
Burton
Board Chair
