I’ve been greatly saddened to read that New Wineskins will no longer be published.
Keith Brenton, who’s edited the magazine tirelessly for the last few years, announced in a Facebook post that the magazine would be discontinued, with the published articles to be archived (at least for a while) and so to remain available on the Internet.
Keith explains,
But the main ingredient was heart, and I have lost mine. [My wife] Angi was my partner in this ministry for the past ten years, starting with a simple jointly-written article and progressing to helping editor Greg Taylor move the publication from print to online, and eventually publishing it on our own. With her death on May 8, half my life and heart went with her, and it was simply too much to continue doing this.
I can imagine nothing sadder or more difficult that the loss of one’s wife, especially with a young daughter still at home. My heart and prayers continue to go out to Keith.
New Wineskins, and its predecessor publication Image magazine, have for many years had a positive impact on the Churches of Christ. During Keith’s editorship, the magazine took on a wide range of topics, many quite controversial and all very interesting. Keith encouraged a very broad dialogue, exposing us to opinions we may not have liked but which taught much about what other people think.
I’ll miss New Wineskins very much.
Maybe you should consider doing it !!
My prayers for Keith and his daughter. I know how it feels to lose a loved one and your heart. I lost a son; life has not been the same since.
Unfortunately, there will be some who will judge him for his loss of heart and his honest admission. Many who see themselves as strong Christians do not want to be reminded that there are things that can possibly shake their foundation. Often when people would say to me, “I know your faith will keep you strong”, I cringed. I did not need to be complimented, and these were those who for reasons known only to them and God needed to see me up and positive. I would have rather heard them say, “you are in my prayers because I know your heart is breaking”.
Get a combination of Matt Dabbs, Rachel Held Evans, Patrick Mead and stir the pot up. Let the Christian Chronicle appeal to the older readers.
I am open to finding a good home for it. As it’s set up now – with 10-year-old (free) content management software, it takes a lot of html and javascript writing to make it all work.
Maybe it could be imported into a WordPress site. I don’t know.
It seems to me that this sort of endeavor (whatever its next incarnation) is very important to the churches of Christ, in the need to embrace both the mission and method it represents. An historically-insular community needs all the access it can get to thinking not its own, if only to sharpen its own vision. The beauty of the technology is that the three essential ingredients involved need not all reside in the same person, or even the same country. The role of the editor is crucial, as visionary and reader and recruiter of content. But he or she needs not create the content, nor produce it to the Internet. Such a troika could be scattered across the country and still get the job done. We who are older (how it pains me to say this) still tend to think in pre-technology patterns. Perhaps a collaborative team, instead of a heavy load on one man, is the way to preserve this particular wineskin.
Keith,
Thanks for joining the conversation. My email system with WordPress is entirely free. I can email articles to as many as I wish at no charge. This is true of both the free and for-money versions of WordPress.
New Wineskins has a very attractive, magazine format. That may well be replicable in WordPress. It’s far, far, far beyond my skillset.
Although some readers have asked me to take NW on, it’s just not in the cards for me to do. I greatly enjoyed editing a couple of issues, but I could not maintain that pace in present health, church, and business circumstances.
I’ll correspond privately with you re some other ideas to keep NW alive, though. I would like to see it continue.
In all seriousness, in one of the large city congregations who has a webmaster already you could probably find a willing person to keep the site up. Might have to pass it around every year but that could be done. I think if the word got out on some strategic sites you would find some volunteers.
Mark,
Thanks. Following up on your suggestion, I think I’ve found us a webmaster. We’re talking.
You’re welcome. Glad it may work.