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New Ministry Mag Out!

A new magazine has published its inaugural issue. This denominationally oriented publication is a harbinger of deeper and more creative ministry in the Church of the Nazarene.

The magazine’s title, Grace and Peace, has a holistic, generous, and almost liturgical ring. Its subtitle, Ministry in a Connected Culture, suggests reality is relational and culture is theologically significant. 

In his opening piece, editor Bryon McLaughlin identifies the Church of the Nazarene as large and diverse – a big tent. The denomination has grown in many ways since its early days, and that growth is a source of its current diversity. A big tent denomination needs a magazine that approaches ministry holistically.

McLaughlin explains the magazine’s title by addressing readers directly:

“Grace and Peace is meant to communicate at several levels, just as these words have multiple layers of meaning. We want to affirm your role as an ambassador of grace and peace in your church and community. Whether you serve in an urban, suburban, small town, or rural congregation, or another type of assignment, your work is of value to the Kingdom.” In addition, says McLaughlin, the magazine “is intended to remind us of those things that bind us together.”

What impressed me most while reading the inaugural – collector’s! – issue was the depth and quality of the essays. While these are not Ph.D. dissertation excerpts, they are also not fluffy. As one of my professorial friends put it, “this is a denominational magazine that I will actually read voluntarily!”

I’m tempted to make numerous comments on articles in the magazine.  Dana Hicks’s featured piece is excellent. Leonard Sweet’s interview is enlightening. But I’ll refrain from lengthy comments. There are so many strong offerings in the magazine!

The magazine also has a website.  As you might expect, more material is available online than what can be provided on the printed pages.

Let me end this endorsement blog of Grace and Peace by quoting Bob Broadbooks’s concluding article. After noting some of Martin Luther King's struggles, Broadbooks says to his readers,

“You have known the majestic struggle of sharing the grace and peace of Christ. My prayer is that this inaugural edition and all subsequent editions of Grace and Peace, our new USA/Canada magazine/website, will do the same for you. You need grace for your soul and peace for your body May you find it here through the benevolent hands of Jesus, and may your majestic struggle be enriched!”

Amen!

Posted in 2010 under John Wesley, Holiness, and the Church of the Nazarene

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