The board of directors of The Christian Index of Georgia announced a major overhaul of the nation’s oldest Baptist newspaper following their regularly scheduled meeting Jan. 25.
Board chairman Rick Brown called the revamping an opportunity to refocus the paper on news of Georgia Baptists as they work to bring other to Christ. He assured subscribers that The Index would maintain its current production schedule and there would be no interruption of the paper’s bimonthly delivery.
During the meeting, the board unanimously elected Joe Westbury as interim editor during the transition. Westbury, who has served as associate editor since January 1998, has spent 27 years as a journalist within the Southern Baptist Convention.
J. Robert White, executive director of the Georgia Baptist Convention, said the revamped paper “will challenge Georgia Baptists to see the lostness of their state through new eyes.”
A new set of core values
Board members agreed that the paper, which is owned by the state convention, should be streamlined around a new set of core values:
First and foremost, the publication should be “Georgia-centric” in all it does.
Second, it should be refocused to allow its personnel and financial resources to concentrate on meeting the needs of churches, associations and state convention ministries.
The bimonthly publication will continue to report news, but priority will be given to stories that occur directly affect ministry and evangelism in the state.
The board also said a new mission statement for The Index will be written in the coming months, most likely when a new editor is selected.
(BP)
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