Official PCUSA publication ended By John H. Adams The Presbyterian Layman Volume 33, Number 3 Posted May 22, 2000 Presbyterians: Being Faithful to Jesus Christ, a denomination-produced newspaper created as a response to The Presbyterian Layman, has been temporarily shelved. Officially, the denomination says Presbyterians: Being Faithful was intended to “close the information gap” between church members and the Presbyterian Church (USA). But Gary Luhr, associate director for communications in the PCUSA’s headquarters, says the publication “hasn’t had the impact on the denomination that some people had hoped for.” One of the architects of Presbyterians: Being Faithful was former General Assembly Moderator John Buchanan. A leader of the Covenant Network which supports ordination of practicing homosexuals, Buchanan previously acknowledged that The Layman “is the chief source of news about the Presbyterian Church by a huge margin. No one else is even close.” Because he often disagreed with The Layman’s independent reporting, Buchanan promised the General Assembly Council, which undertook publishing the newspaper, to help raise money to produce Presbyterians: Being Faithful. The money fell far short. Last year, only three of the four scheduled editions were published. Although the newspaper was sent to 600,000 households, relatively few paid much attention to it, Luhr said. Luhr said General Assembly Council Executive Director John Detterick and General Assembly Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick have approached him about redesigning the publication around a series of articles that would draw parallels between the early church and today’s church. Related stories, he said, would highlight ways in which the PCUSA is carrying out some of the New Testament mandates. Luhr said he hopes to have a prototype of the revised publication in time for the General Assembly in Long Beach, Calif., this year.

Respond to this article

Home · News · PLC Publications · The Presbyterian Layman Online Reviews · Archives · History of the Lay Committee · Feedback · Links