“If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32).
New Editor
As I begin to take over the role of the editor, I must acknowledge with gratitude the work of those who have gone before. I can only hope that, in my own smal way, I can contribute to the work of the Truth in the Americas through the pages of this magazine. And I must also acknowledge the small army of helpers, with out whom the production of The Christadelphian Tidings would be impossible Some are acknowledged on the inside front cover: many are not. And we canno forget those who write articles, contribute their ecclesial news, or give accounts of the mission field.
Some other comments on the evolving organization and structure of the work of the Christadelphian Tidings will be given below.
Mission Statements
If you have ever worked in industry, or almost any function in our society, you will have been encouraged to learn and apply your organization’s mission statement. My former company was no exception: its mission statement started: “Our mission is to use our passion for excellence and our superior process management techniques to be the leading supplier of … We are committed to exceed our customer’s expectations by using our global resources to deliver innovative products and services with superior quality, on time and on budget, to maximize customer value.” It is quite a typical example: the one for Microsoft is “At Microsoft, we work to help people and businesses throughout the world realize their full potential. This is our mission. Everything we do reflects this mission and the values that make it possible.” McDonald’s vision is “to be the world’s best quick service restaurant experience. Being the best means providing outstanding quality, service, cleanliness, and value, so that we make every customer in every restaurant smile.”
According to Wikipedia, a mission statement is a formal short written statement of the purpose of a company or organization. The mission statement should guide the actions of the organization, spell out its overall goal, provide a sense of direction, and guide decision-making. It provides “the framework or context within which the company’s strategies are formulated.” It is interesting that historically the words were associated with Christian religious groups; indeed, a missionary is still generally assumed to be a person on a specifically religious mission. The word “mission” dates from 1598, originally for Catholics sending (“missio”, Latin for “act of sending”) members abroad. The Christadelphian Bible Mission, organized in 1955, has for over 50 years sent out missionaries, following the exhortation of Jesus “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt 28:19).
And if we look for the “mission statement” of Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, we find several examples: one is in Col 1:28 “Whom (Jesus) we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.” Paul preached Jesus as a person — a real, concrete individual who by his words, as well as his actions, revealed the purpose, glory, and majesty of his Father, our God. And the result — spiritual maturity, resulting from growth in the study of His Word, that we might lack nothing in our walk towards His kingdom. There are several other similar passages: we might cite 1Cor 2:2: “For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” Here Paul, speaking to the divided Church at Corinth, with its apparent cult of personality, focused on the true central Christian message. He repeats this at the end of the epistle in 1Cor 15:3-4: “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.” Here he goes on to add the fact of the resurrection of Jesus, which was disputed by some at Corinth. It is interesting that he adds detail and doctrine to combat errors, an unfortunate reality in the first century, as it is today. But his central mission and message remained the same: Jesus Christ, revealing God, and giving himself for the believers. This was, and remained throughout his ministry, at once the framework and the central focus of his mission to the Gentiles.
The Tidings Mission Statement
So what should the mission statement of a magazine like The Christadelphian Tidings look like? What is our “framework and context?” To quote as an example one ecclesia’s mission statement: “We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior who died on the cross but was raised to life again. By faith in him, we can achieve peace of mind in this life and eternal life in his kingdom. We try to live our lives in accordance with the principles that he demonstrated during his ministry on earth. Our mission is to bring this message of hope to all who will listen.”1
We surely hope, in our small way, that we can bring the uniquely Christadelphian message of hope, and that we can stand steadfast on the Truth as delivered to us by the apostles. Our framework and context is a magazine that delivers scriptural advice, conveys the Bible message with truth and clarity, and reaches out to all our brethren and sisters in the Americas and elsewhere. Our readers come from all walks of life, and encompass seasoned knowledgeable elders as well as the newly baptized and the youth of our community. So our message should to appeal to all: not necessarily everything will, or should, appeal to everyone, but all can, we hope, find at least a nugget of the word to help them in their walk towards the Kingdom.
We also serve as a clearing house for news and events, primarily of the North American Central Christadelphian community: we deliver the news, but do not attempt to make it.
So I would propose a preliminary mission statement:
“The Christadelphian Tidings is the regional Christadelphian magazine for the Americas. It seeks to convey the Christadelphian message of the hope of the Kingdom, and to help the brothers and sisters in their collective walk in the Truth. It conveys news of ecclesias and events in North America, as well as news from the mission areas in the Americas. It strives, in all that it does, to reflect the glory of God through his son Jesus.’
I would welcome comment on this statement, and suggestions as to how we can best implement this vision. And as I attempt to carry on the work and efforts most recently carried out by George Booker, I will not deviate from the attempt to reach across the whole of the Christadelphian Community in North America. Nor will I cease in the previous attempts to broaden the reach of the magazine to all who might be helped by it, whatever their circumstances.
Organization of the Christadelphian Tidings
Over the next few months, the Committee of The Christadelphian Tidings, along with the editors, hope to complete the changeover to a more distributed and contributory effort. This was indicated in the previous issue: I will now try to explain the changes, and describe how they affect our readers and contributors.
A number of brethren have agreed to become either editors of sections, or contributing editors. Some have previously been involved in the production of the magazine: some are new. In addition, a number have agreed to proof the incoming manuscripts: they are normally anonymous, but you know who you are, and I thank you for your help in the past and in agreeing to help in the future. Meanwhile, if an article fits neatly into a particular category, if practical you are encouraged to discuss it with, and submit it to, the appropriate section editor. Of course, if you prefer, you can always submit such articles to the editor. Some of these sections have been active in the past: some are new. And of course we encourage all our readers to submit Bible based articles, whatever their content or subject matter.
The section and contributing editors are
Associate Editor/Reflections George Booker
Music Ken and Joan Curry
Sunday School Jim Harper
Youth Speaks Jason Hensley
Bible and History Ryan Mutter
First Principles Tim Young
Letters to the Editor John Bilello (letters@tidings.org)
Contributing Editor Steve Cheetham
Bible Mission News Jan Berneau
News in the USA Send to the editor (editor@tidings.org)
All material (with the exception of the letters to the editor) should be sent to “editor@tidings.org.’
It is hoped, by these minor changes, The Christadelphian Tidings will
- Continue to reflect a continuing variety of types of articles
- Appeal to the broadest possible range of interests of our readers
- Contribute to the growth and unity of the Brotherhood in the Americas
- Enable The Christadelphian Tidings to operate in a true collaborative way, infusing the magazine with energy as well as spreading out the effort required as broadly as possible
- And, in all we do, we must strive to strengthen the Ecclesia of Christ, primarily in the Americas but also worldwide
I do indeed look forward to helping in this work in the future.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One