Circuit Writer

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Editor’s note: Updated 12/30/09 with information about the January/February issue.

INDIANAPOLIS (12/16/09) — We are sad to announce that DisciplesWorld, the award-winning journal of news, opinion, and mission for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), will cease publication after almost eight years. We no longer have sufficient resources to publish due to declining subscription and advertising revenue and charitable gifts. The non-profit entity that publishes the magazine — DisciplesWorld, Inc. — is also dissolving. To read the press release, click here, or read on for more information.

We’ve made a valiant effort. Gifted by a special grant in 2009 to formulate new strategies for sustainability, DisciplesWorld chose to move forward rather than just hold the course through the recession, knowing our survival depended on it. We refocused and trimmed down the magazine; launched new digital initiatives, including The Intersection; and began building a new website that would have provided more news, a better digital DisciplesWorld, and a venue for selling additional products.

But the dramatic downturn of two areas in which we operate — print journalism and denominational life — have proven too powerful for DisciplesWorld to escape.

Like print publications everywhere, DisciplesWorld has seen its primary sources of income decline rapidly. Over the last 12 months, paid circulation has dropped 9 percent; that is after falling 21 percent the previous year. The annual fund declined 19 percent in 2008 and 2009, and advertising income slid downward, as well. Eliminating staff positions, lowering salaries, and reducing magazine frequency and pages did not close the gap.

What happens now? By unanimous action of its board of directors, DisciplesWorld, Inc., is dissolving and winding down. The corporation is liquidating assets to attempt to meet obligations to creditors. Any donations received will be used to pay those obligations.

Subscriptions. Our last issue will be the January/February 2010 issue, which will be mailed on January 26. Subcribers should receive it the following week. We thank our current subscribers for their support, and we regret that at this time we are not able to refund unfulfilled subscriptions.

Non-subscribers can purchase a single copy of the final issue using the order form on our website. A digital edition will be available for purchase through Scribd.com.

Gifts. We invite you to consider making a financial gift to DisciplesWorld in gratitude for the publication. Gifts will help us close with integrity.

Just Women magazine. The closing of DisciplesWorld will not affect publication of Just Women, which will continue to be published by International Disciples Women’s Ministries (IDWM). Subscribers can expect the Winter 2010 and future issues to be delivered on schedule. Adonna Bowman, executive director of the Office of Disciples Women and secretary/treasurer of IDWM said, “We anticipate a smooth transition, and while we grieve the loss of DisciplesWorld, we embrace the opportunity for Disciples Women to publish their own resource.” To subscribe to Just Women, click here. To contact Just Women, please call the Office of Disciples Women at 1-888-346-2631.

DisciplesWorld website. DisciplesWorld.com will remain live during the wind down. Web visitors can read past news articles. Those with current active subscriptions to the magazine can continue to access premium content through their login, including back issues and study guides. However, because of the dissolution and wind down, customer service will be limited. We regret that we will not be able to help you navigate the site, remember user names and passwords, or establish an online account.

Inventory. While available, back copies of magazines, “We are Disciples,” and the DVD “Browsing the Bible” can still be ordered. Click here for ordering information.

Scribd.com. Digital versions of published articles and back issues of the magazine will be available for purchase beginning Jan. 15 through Scribd.com.

Contact and updates. You can contact DisciplesWorld at info@disciplesworld.com while our website and web domain are active. Our forwarding address is DisciplesWorld, Inc., P.O. Box 747, Plainfield, IN 46168.

Updates on the wind down will also be posted on this website. You may wish to check back here before trying to contact us through other venues.

The Intersection. The Intersection, the community site and social network launched by DisciplesWorld in July 2009, will remain live through the end of 2009 and possibly longer. For more information, visit http://faithmeetslife.org.

DisciplesWorld was launched in 2002 by James Suggs and Robert Friedly, who served as publisher and editor, respectively, of The Disciple, following the closing of that magazine. Friedly and Suggs hired Sherri Wood Emmons as managing editor. Verity A. Jones was hired as editor and publisher and Rebecca Bowman Woods as news editor in 2003.

DisciplesWorld won numerous awards from the Associated Church Press, a trade association for religious publications. Following its first year, DisciplesWorld received second place in the Acorn Award category for best new publication. In 2006, 2007, and 2008, the magazine placed second in the “Best in Class” category for denominational magazines. In 2008, it won the top award for editorial courage for the January/February 2008 issue on the ordination of gays and lesbians.

The magazine’s subject matter included controversial issues, such as war, gun control, and immigration. In November of 2008, the editors devoted an entire issue to the survivors of the Jonestown mass suicide in Guyana, 30 years after the tragedy.

We thank you for eight great years.

Rebecca Woods, director of digital media and marketing
Sherri Emmons, managing editor
Verity Jones, publisher and editor