From disciplesworld at spvi.com Thu Nov 13 22:46:12 2003 From: disciplesworld at spvi.com (disciplesworld@spvi.com) Date: Fri Nov 14 10:47:48 2003 Subject: [Disciplesworld] testing Message-ID: <172E6185-1655-11D8-B013-000393A34C9E@spvi.com> 1,2,3 From disciplesworld at spvi.com Thu Nov 13 22:48:04 2003 From: disciplesworld at spvi.com (disciplesworld@spvi.com) Date: Fri Nov 14 10:47:49 2003 Subject: [Disciplesworld] testing Message-ID: <5A238384-1655-11D8-B013-000393A34C9E@spvi.com> 543 From disciplesworld at spvi.com Fri Nov 14 10:53:28 2003 From: disciplesworld at spvi.com (disciplesworld@spvi.com) Date: Fri Nov 14 10:59:39 2003 Subject: [Disciplesworld] another test Message-ID: 678 From disciplesworld at spvi.com Fri Nov 14 11:00:25 2003 From: disciplesworld at spvi.com (disciplesworld@spvi.com) Date: Fri Nov 14 11:09:08 2003 Subject: [Disciplesworld] a fourth test Message-ID: jdflkajs asdjkfl;asjdf From disciplesworld at spvi.com Fri Nov 14 11:13:58 2003 From: disciplesworld at spvi.com (disciplesworld@spvi.com) Date: Fri Nov 14 11:19:16 2003 Subject: [Disciplesworld] a big test Message-ID: <8DB200D1-16BD-11D8-B013-000393A34C9E@spvi.com> `jlkadjf akljf alkdjf a j vioujiejk;ad jloe From disciplesworld at spvi.com Fri Nov 14 13:27:50 2003 From: disciplesworld at spvi.com (disciplesworld@spvi.com) Date: Fri Nov 14 13:29:04 2003 Subject: [Disciplesworld] a test of the system Message-ID: <40EB6244-16D0-11D8-B013-000393A34C9E@spvi.com> jdfklaj klaj jasjkfjalkjdfas From disciplesworld at spvi.com Fri Nov 14 13:32:58 2003 From: disciplesworld at spvi.com (disciplesworld@spvi.com) Date: Fri Nov 14 13:39:08 2003 Subject: [Disciplesworld] another big test Message-ID: 123456789 From disciplesworld at disciplesworld.com Fri Nov 14 13:42:14 2003 From: disciplesworld at disciplesworld.com (disciplesworld@disciplesworld.com) Date: Fri Nov 14 13:43:08 2003 Subject: [Disciplesworld] testing, testing, testing Message-ID: <43ED7315-16D2-11D8-B013-000393A34C9E@spvi.com> 321 From disciplesworld at disciplesworld.com Fri Nov 14 13:50:55 2003 From: disciplesworld at disciplesworld.com (disciplesworld@disciplesworld.com) Date: Fri Nov 14 13:52:47 2003 Subject: [Disciplesworld] A final test of the system Message-ID: <7A245CCE-16D3-11D8-B013-000393A34C9E@spvi.com> 123456 From disciplesworld at disciplesworld.com Fri Nov 14 15:17:48 2003 From: disciplesworld at disciplesworld.com (disciplesworld@disciplesworld.com) Date: Fri Nov 14 15:26:59 2003 Subject: [Disciplesworld] DISCPLESWORLD magazine needs you! Message-ID: <9DA544DE-16DF-11D8-B013-000393A34C9E@spvi.com> No need to fear SPAM from us, but we do need to communicate with you once by e-mail. DISCIPLESWORLD has been received well and won its first Associated Church Press award in April, almost exactly a year after the first issue was mailed. And last month, the General Assembly recognized DisciplesWorld, Inc. as an organization of the church. Even so, this magazine launched to fill a communication void could die in its infancy unless its paid circulation has a growth spurt this year and increases to at least 30,000 subscriptions by the end of 2004. That cannot happen without your help. From our own experience and from conversations with other Associated Church Press members, we know that the only way to gain circulation among lay people as well as ministers is to have someone selling subscriptions in each congregation. Although we hope you appreciate DISCIPLESWORLD enough to endorse it enthusiastically, we do not expect you to become a “magazine salesperson.”That’s not your calling. Rather, we hope that you will do three things: 1. Identify at least one person with the commitment to the church, understanding of the value of a “journal of news, opinion and mission” and drive to get DISCIPLESWORLD into at least 30 percent of the households in your congregation. We will furnish the materials, encouragement and other support to enable that person to succeed as a “DISCIPLESWORLD representative.” (Suggest two or three if you want to: We’ll work with them—gratefully.) 2. Announce the DISCIPLESWORLD representative’s appointment and explain the importance of what she/he is doing. If possible, do that with an announcement in a Sunday service as well as a story in the parish newsletter/newspaper/bulletin. 3. See that supportive “ads” and blurbs about the magazine and the rep’s work are carried in your newsletter/newspaper/bulletin, and that bulletin board space is available. Please respond to this request via e-mail (marketing@disciplesworld.com), snail mail (P.O. Box 11469, Indianapolis, IN 46201-0469) or fax (317/375-8849). As you do, keep in mind that you are the only one who can provide the needed help. Thanks! Verity A. Jones, publisher and editor Jim Suggs, president, DisciplesWorld, Inc. Mary Breidenbach, director of marketing P.S. We invite you to visit the DISCIPLESWORLD Web site (www.disciplesworld.com) for daily news updates, lectionary resources prepared by Disciples seminary faculty members and other useful information.       -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: text/enriched Size: 2914 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mailman.spvi.com/pipermail/disciplesworld/attachments/20031114/07b5bd5e/attachment.bin From disciplesworld at disciplesworld.com Fri Nov 21 15:15:16 2003 From: disciplesworld at disciplesworld.com (disciplesworld@disciplesworld.com) Date: Fri Nov 21 16:18:14 2003 Subject: [Disciplesworld] Response to Open Letter to the Editors of DisciplesWorld Message-ID: <004401c3b074$8fcbd120$9bc1fea9@TruthGiver> A Response to An Open Letter to the Editors of DisciplesWorld from the publisher and editor, Verity A. Jones November 21, 2003 Dear Friends, I welcome this opportunity to respond to the concerns raised by the writers of the Open Letter and I thank all of you for taking the time to read what follows. Since becoming publisher and editor of DisciplesWorld in July, 2003, I have said frequently that I hope readers of the magazine and members of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) know how much we value feedback and conversation about the magazine. We do plan to publish both the Open Letter and this response in the next issue of DisciplesWorld. However, since the December issue had already gone to press when we received the Open Letter, and the January/February issue does not go out until late January, I wanted to distribute this response now. I would like to begin by affirming one of the last statements in the Open Letter: "Dr. Jackson is a hero, a trailblazer, a mentor and a friend. He has served our denomination faithfully and is deserving of our support." I agree with this statement wholeheartedly. I have long admired Dr. Jackson and his ministry. He has broadened the reach and relevance of the Gospel for our day. He has defended the defenseless. He has challenged the church to step up its commitment to being a diverse, multicultural community of God's people. Personally, he has inspired me on more than one occasion to live faithfully and lead prophetically. It is because of my admiration for Dr. Jackson that I was crushed, along with so many others, to read about the developments at National City Christian Church in the Washington Post last August. It is also because of our great admiration for Dr. Jackson that we at DisciplesWorld chose to cover the issue as we did. First of all, a few words about the magazine in general. DisciplesWorld is an independent journal of news, opinion and mission for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). We receive no funds from Disciples Mission Fund. We are not a public relations instrument of the denomination. Contrary to what's stated in the Open Letter, DisciplesWorld does not claim to represent the church, but rather to report what is happening in the church as objectively as we can. For a magazine that reports news about the church to simply not report what has been happening with Dr. Jackson and National City Christian Church would have been irresponsible. We could not hide from the church what many had already learned from accounts in the secular press about one of the best known Disciples in North America. And so we made every effort possible to report the news as fairly and as compassionately as we could without sensationalizing what was already a painful story. We agonized over how best to cover the story. We offered Dr. Jackson plenty of opportunity to respond. Four pages on the topic appeared in the October issue of DisciplesWorld. Two pages were the news story in which we reported not only Dr. Jackson's preaching of sermons written by others, but also his plagiarism of Dr. Smedes' written work in a sermon published by Chalice Press. One page was my editorial. The fourth was an article written by Rebecca Woods about the issue generally. I believe our coverage carefully put the story in the context of sermon borrowing being widely practiced and something of which we should be wary. It also distinguished sermon borrowing from plagiarism. Missing from the coverage in the October issue, I do now understand, was commentary from Dr. Jackson's peers - friends and supporters who provide additional patterns of accountability for each other beyond the general, regional and congregational structures of the church. Such commentary would've helped readers broaden their understanding of the issue. The October issue of DisciplesWorld went to the press on September 15 and was mailed out on September 19. Unfortunately, many people did not read the October issue of DisciplesWorld until much later, even after Dr. Jackson had announced his leave of absence. Reading the articles then, without realizing that the articles were written long before, may have appeared to some as if we were pouring salt on open wounds. Writing articles and commentary with the understanding that situations will change by the time they are read, will always be an editorial challenge. It was the November issue of DisciplesWorld that was "the General Assembly issue" distributed Friday evening, October 17 at General Assembly. It was not the October issue as the writers of the Open Letter state. The October issue was available at the DisciplesWorld booth, along with other back issues. No story about Dr. Jackson appeared in the November issue. We did publish Rev. James Demus' letter to the editor in which he expresses his support of Dr. Jackson as well as his objection to DisciplesWorld's coverage. The report about Dr. Jackson's leave of absence will appear in the December issue. As for my own editorial, it was a reflection on the dangerous waters into which preachers sometimes wade. I framed the issue as an opportunity for all of us to choose to do better for the sake of the church. It was not my intention to suggest that we as a church, as Disciples, can do better without leaders like Dr. Jackson. Again, I thank the writers of the Open Letter for seeking my response. DisciplesWorld remains committed to the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) through upholding strong leadership and the healthy exchange of ideas and opinions. Please feel free to forward my response along with the Open Letter (below). Sincerely, Verity A. Jones Publisher and Editor DisciplesWorld ___________________________ A RESPONSE TO IRRESPONSIBLE JOURNALISM DISCIPLES WORLD SHOULD CONSIDER ITS OWN ACCOUNTABILITY An Open Letter to the Editors of Disciples World November 2003 We are disappointed in a malicious editorial published in the October '03 issue of Disciples World concerning revelations of Dr. Jackson's use of borrowed sermon material. Dr. Jackson has repented for his transgression, now it is time for Disciples World to repent for theirs! As men and women of the Christian Faith, we are called to handle our business differently than the mainstream media, consistent with Biblical reconciliation and restoration. Disciples World claims to represent the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in all its manifestations, from the general, the region, the congregation, and higher education. Yet when confronted with a clear choice to provide healing and reconciliation, Disciples World chose a shameful opportunity in their General Assembly edition to inflict the greatest amount of embarrassment upon Dr. Jackson. For Disciples World to devote a four-page spread, making the same point over and over again to reinforce guilt only serves to intentionally savage, shame and diminish Dr. Jackson's growing leadership and legacy within our church and our world. While support for our concern continues to grow, we the initial undersigned are outraged that Disciples World would stoop to this level of tabloid journalism and call on Disciples World to apologize to the church, to Dr. Jackson and his family for their malicious attack on this outstanding leader. Dr. Jackson is a fourth generation Disciple. His great uncle, I.F. Franklin co-founded the National Christian Missionary Convention, a precursor to the National Convocation that sponsored gatherings for Black Disciples who were not welcomed at the General Assembly. For eighteen years, Dr. Jackson served as Senior Pastor of one of the fastest growing and the largest Disciple church in the country - Mississippi Blvd. Christian Church in Memphis, TN. In those 18 years, the church grew from 350 to 8,000 members. In 1998, Dr. Jackson responded to the call at National City Christian Church, the denomination's flagship church, where he continues to serve as Senior Pastor with a vision of diverse, multicultural ministry. Moreover, he is the seventeenth person to have served as Moderator of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the third African American. For many within our fellowship, Dr. Jackson is a hero, a trailblazer, a mentor and a friend. He has served our denomination faithfully and is deserving of our support. For Disciples World to seize the opportunity to exploit human failure for profit is a disgrace. It has no place in ministry and does not represent our voice as Disciples of Christ. Dr. Matthew R. Harris, Project IMPACT USA (Contact Person: mharris160@aol.com) Dr. Cynthia Hale, Ray of Hope Christian Church Dr. John E. Tunstall IV, Convocation of the Pacific Southwest Region Bishop T. Garrott Benjamin, Light of the World Christian Church Paul Turner, Board Member Greenlining Institute Rev. James Demus, Park Manor Christian Church Dr. Delores Carpenter, Michigan Park Christian Church Clarence Johnson, (Member) Mills Grove Christian Church Don Shelton, Regional Minister Pacific Southwest Region This letter is being forwarded to all Units of the Church for support and endorsement. You are invited to join us in support of this concern. Please email your support to: mharris160@aol.com Or you may wish to respond directly to Disciples World at: info@disciplesworld.com