Virtual Christian Magazine a Labor of Love for Many Members

Volunteer staff produces online publication for the Church.

Virtual Christian Magazine, now in its eighth year as a United Church of God online publication, is produced by a staff of a dozen volunteer members and five ministers who serve as doctrinal reviewers. Many more members have written articles and spread the word about the magazine.

Lorelei Nettles, a member in Phoenix, Arizona, who volunteers as managing editor and graphics editor, has been involved in the magazine since Council member Vic Kubik founded it. She appreciates all the members who have helped out and encourages more members to get involved.

"Members of God's Church are involved in many ways," she said. Some serve as editors of articles or even issue editors who plan and coordinate an entire issue. Since there are usually five or six articles in each issue, and 10 issues a year, there is always a need for more articles.

"The articles offer us a chance to lead those who are interested toward the other literature we have available and to spread the Word of God," Mrs. Nettles said. "We are always looking for new writers who offer a fresh perspective and who may not otherwise think of themselves as writers...

"Many of the members have gone through some trials and recovered from them. Others have had some major change in their life, like marriage or a new child that could be written about. There are so many things the members have experienced I couldn't cover them all.

"Members can also get the word out that we are here and that we have some wonderful articles to read without having to wait for a hard copy magazine in the mail."

Some Stats

• The article that has received the most hits ever was in Volume 2, Issue 4, and was called, "The Gift of Sex." It has received 6,107 hits.

• The closest behind that was in Volume 1, Issue 11, an article called "Christmas Myths."

• More recently, in Volume 5, Issue 10, the article "What Would Jesus Look Like?" has received 3,312 hits so far.

The average number of readers of an issue changes depending on how long it has been online. "They are all in the archives, so they can be viewed indefinitely," said Mrs. Nettles. "For the older ones the average is running to about 1,000 readers."

Staff Members

Along with Mrs. Nettles, the staff includes nine volunteer editors: Michelle Grovak, Gayle Hoefker, Jada Howell, Patrick Kansa, David Meidinger, Suzanne Morgan, John Rutis, Amy Stephens and Debbie Werner. Chris Rowland is the Web designer and Becky Bennett does proofreading.

The ministers who do doctrinal reviews for VCM are Jack Elliott, Don Henson, Don Hooser, Eric Evans and Leroy Neff.

Reader Comments

• "Have only just 'twigged' that this magazine is here and have read the whole of the issue instead of going for lunch. How inspiring it is."— England

• "I have just found your site, and I love it. Praise the Lord that there is a place I can go as a Christian and read wonderful stories and find encouragement in my daily walk with the Lord our God.

"Thank you and your staff for such a wonderful thing you are doing for the Kingdom of God . God bless you always!"—Internet

• "This is a wonderful site! I am involved in prison ministries... Would I be able to copy sections, giving VCM full credit, of course, so that I can forward some of the contents to various prisoners? I write to prisoners across the globe.

"Thank you for having such a wonderful site. I have printed out many of the articles, in particular all that refer to 9/11 and have biblical insights. I love it all."—Internet

• "I thank God for what a good job this network is doing. I am a regular subscriber to The Good News magazine. I would like to have the Virtual Christian Magazine regularly. I need it as I need the breath of my nostrils. I shall be in earnest expectation."—Internet

"We are often asked if people can receive the magazine in print," Mrs. Nettles said. "People don't always understand that the word virtual means it is only available on the Net." She also pointed out that readers sometimes ask for booklets or advice from a minister, which are passed on to the home office.

"In the eight years we have been doing VCM through the Church, we have had a steady growth of viewers, and we hope to only strengthen that readership," said Mrs. Nettles.

"This can only be accomplished, though, if we have fresh new material to give them, so I encourage anyone with the slightest interest to submit their articles, stories, interviews or even relevant poems for review."

Articles can be sent to Mrs. Nettles through the feedback link on the VCM Web site (www.vcmagazine.org). UN