Fifteen years ago this month, a vision for a new national publication to strengthen the faith of Episcopalians and offer encouragement to those who wanted to know more about this church became a reality.

That eventful day will always remain with me. We had had less than 10 weeks to hire staff, find office space, make assignments, write stories, take photos, tinker with the design and get that first issue out the door.

As I drove away from the Gannett printing plant in Vineland, N.J., west of Philadelphia, at 10 p.m. that March 24 a decade and half ago, I carried with me copies of the 32-page first issue with a full-color photo of Steven Plummer, first bishop of Navajoland, on the cover. I reflected on the contribution by literally hundreds of people to make this possible.

That first issue culminated more than a year of planning by consultants, planning committees, Executive Council members and diocesan editors, all shepherded along by the late Sonia Francis, the senior executive for communication, and Barry Menuez, senior executive for program.

There were those who decided the name of this publication.

Committee members said “identity” was important and had to be reflected in the name. They considered a long list -- among which were such names as EpiScope, The Kaleidescopalian, Wayfarer, Onward!, ChurchView, Voice & Vision –  before it settled it settled by a vote of 20 to 7 on Episcopal Life.

There were those planning committee members like John Justice who advocated editorial independence for the new publication.

Justice, then editor of  North Carolina’s The Comunicant and a committee member that developed Episcopal Life’s editorial and advertising policies for the new publication, was among those who put forth a strong vision. If the church erred on the side of the publication being a “mouthpiece” for the church, he said, support for it would dwindle.
He laid out his vision succinctly: “[Episcopal Life] will explore issues that some would prefer left alone. It will honor voices which some would rather remain silent. It will examine aspects of the church in the spirit of loving scrutiny, and there are always those who cling to the unexamined life.  But it must do those things in an honest and bold and professional way.”

That vision has been one that both the staff and Board of Governors of this publication have embraced and celebrated for the past 15 years.

There were leaders on Executive Council, such as Bishop John MacNaughton, then bishop of the Diocese of West Texas, who became first chair of the Board of Governors. There was also Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning.

“The birth of this new national publication is a particular cause for celebration on the part of its readers,” Browning said in that first issue. “Episcopal Life exists to serve the needs and interests of its readers. It will reflect the rich life and diversity that characterizes our wonderful church.”

There was cooperation from the staff of The Episcopalian, our predecessor whose offices were in Philadelphia. It faced an operating loss of $75,000 in 1989 and, coupled with previous loans, had financial obligations of $340,000 when Executive Council took action to assume the liabilities and establish Episcopal Life.

The dedication of staff from the first day brought timeliness and relevance to Episcopal Life. Art Director Jerry Fargo used computers at his former employer, The Chelsea Clinton News, in New York to design the publication until our own arrived three months after the first issue. Without a grant from Episcopal Church Foundation, we might have waited longer.

And the award-winning reports by feature writer Nan Cobbey, now associate editor, from Haiti (where she had been a mission volunteer), Guatemala, Nigeria, the Middle East, Cuba and Canterbury gave members of the broader Anglican Communion a voice that many Episcopalians heard for the first time.

Cobbey also contributed a “newspaper creed” that the writers, editors and members of the Board of Governors used to measure what was produced. “A good newspaper will be populist, valuing participation above professionalism, inviting contributions from all quarters, stirring up a slew of voices and allowing the community’s spirit and emotion to be made manifest,” reads one section. “The best newspaper will never put anything before truth, even when it hurts,” reads another.

In 1999, former News Editor Ed Stannard worked hand-in-hand with Episcopal diocesan communicators in a major, nationwide project that focused on how to help young people, adults and churches deal with the stresses of 21st-century teen life. They reported cases in which a trusted, interested adult made a major difference in a teen’s life.

Celebrated authors and writers contributed to the success of Episcopal Life throughout the years, despite the paltry honoraria we offered. They included Madeleine L’Engle, author of such best sellers as A Wrinkle in Time, who wrote an exclusive series on Idols and Icons. Writers Martin Smith, Richard Schmidt, Kenneth Arnold, Barbara Crafton, Nancy Roth, Anne McConney and Bishops Steven Charleston, Michael Curry, Mark Dyer and Paul Marshall were among those who offered information, inspiration and spiritual insight in their writing. A column from our two successive presiding bishops has appeared in every issue since 1990.

Faithful readers also learned much about the personal faith of many others who they had read about in news pages – those such as musician and orchestra leader Cab Callaway, author John Updike, high-wire artist Philippe Petit, businessman Tom Chappell (Tom’s of Maine) and lay theologian Verna Dozier.

Of all the accomplishments, however, nothing matches the loyalty and response of our readers.

From an initial circulation of 167,000, our readership has climbed, while other denominational publications have stumbled. Individual subscribers, parishes and diocesan publications that have been loyal printing partners – many for as long as Episcopal Life has been printing – have helped to maintain loyal readership.

Bishop Kirk Smith of the Diocese of Arizona, which in March became one of the most recent dioceses to join in a printing partnership with Episcopal Life, said he believes good communication is at the heart of all ministry. With him, we wholeheartedly agree.