Tribute

The coming of the June issue of the Christadelphian Tidings marks the occasion of the passing of the baton, as it were, to a new generation of leadership. Brother Don Styles, Ann Arbor, Michigan, steps down as Editor-in-Chief of the magazine after nearly 20 years of labor. Brother George Booker, Austin, Texas, now assumes this position. Brother Don took over the job from Brother Bob Lloyd who had faithfully performed the duties for many years while working fulltime in his own business. Brother Don took early retirement from his workplace and became the first fulltime editor of the magazine since its founding in 1938.

With his characteristic energy and enthusiasm Brother Don, ably assisted by his loyal and dedicated wife Sister Ellen Styles, set out to expand the scope and breadth of the magazine, a task that only a fulltime editor could possibly undertake. Don inherited a magazine that published bi-monthly and had a subscriber base of around 800, all in North America. The magazine expanded to a monthly format (now 11 months with July/August serving as one issue), added more pages, put in place a detailed calendar of events, and recruited writers of various ages and talents to brighten the pages, among many other changes. In the course of Don’s tenure the Tidings magazine absorbed the Caribbean Pioneer magazine and expanded more recently into serving the community with a companion book publishing organization. With its latest issue the Tidings magazine distributed 2,475 copies, with 725 of these being posted overseas.

During Don’s tenure an important step was taken to insure the continuity of the magazine and to broaden the support base for its operations: Twelve years ago, Tidings Publishing was incorporated as a not-for-profit religious organization. This corporation runs via a duly appointed operation committee elected according to a charter for religious corporations in the state of Michigan, USA. The magazine editor and the book editor are employees of that corporation and are subject to their advice and consent. It should be noted that currently none of the workers associated with Tidings Publications receives any remuneration. Thus, we are exceedingly grateful for the twenty years of service that Brother Don and Sister Ellen rendered. This was truly a labor of sacrifice and love.

Don Styles has set the bar very high and it will be a challenge for future editors to build upon his achievements. The Tidings Publishing Committee expresses its gratitude to Brother Don for his many years of faithful service and prays that he will enjoy his retirement.

Brother Don, thank you “for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now; being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

The Tidings Publishing Corporation, John C. Bilello, Chairman; Peter A. Bilello; George Booker, Editor; Ken Curry; Steve Cheetham; Clive Drepaul; Mark Giordano; Joe Hill; Tony Isaacs; Ted Sleeper; Phil Snobelen; Ken Sommerville, and Jeff Wallace.