Andrew Baker Coo,rdinaror of Church & Family Evenrs Adrian Hickmon, Ph.D. Ass 'r. Prof.lMFT Steve Kelt OiL Dev. & $mdenr $erv.lH$BS Ed Myers, Ph .D. Prof. & Dir. /HSBS Carl Mitchell, Ph.D. Prof. Bible/Consultant lnst. Church & Family Lew Moore, Ph .D. Dir.l Counseling Ct r. & MFT Howard Norton, Ph.D. Dir.llnsr. for Church & Family Vann Rackley, Ph.D. Ass'r. Prof.lMFT " Institute for Church and Family Creates New Publication Magazine Focuses on Today's Issues Every three months more than 55,000 mailboxes around the world are fi lled with something more than the usual pile of bills and advertisements. During these four times each year, those mailboxes contain a copy of Harding U niversiry's own "Church and Family" magazi ne. In fact, in only its second year of publication , the Insti tute for Church and Family's innovative magazine has already surpassed its expected readership of a few thousand. according to Kay Gowen, professor of communication and managing editOr. "Our first year has been better than we ever dreamed it would be," she said. "We thought that it would take at least two or three yea rs to accomplish this." Gowen hopes the past year's numbers will reflect the magazine's success in the future. "We hope to have doubled our circulation to more reason for the magazine's huge success . Alexander usually paints each cover ro fit the main feature Story in each issue. The covers have ill ustrated such themes as children headed back to school and a snowball fight aga inst a winter snow scene. However, sometimes the cover's content is chosen simply because it is a beautiful design. "The magazine covers have received incredible reviews and have been an invaluable success ro the publication," Gowen said. "They are pretty enough that people want to leave them on their coffee tables at home." Alexander completes the covers as full -size watercolor paintings and then submits them ro the Institute for publication. "It [painting the covers] is very fun," said Alexander. "I really enj oy being able ro decide what I am go ing ro paint and choosing the subject matter." than 100,000 addresses on the magazine's mailing list within four or fi ve years," Gowen said. Publication of the magazi ne began in the fall of the 1998 school year in an effort to use the resources at Harding to promote Christian ideals and meee similar needs, according to Dr. Howard Norron, directOr of [he Institute for Church and Family. "Thismagazine has been so sucJUSt as the edirorial matters are constantly being dealt with by the board, the covers also require regular meetings between Gowen and Alexander. Along with Norron and Gowen, Dr. Carl Mitchell , professor of Bible, serves as associate editOr and professional consultant with Andrew Baker, coordinatOr of Church and Family events. In order to meet [he needs ofChristians everyv.rhere, the editorial staffattempts to include contributions and articles from those not associated wi th Harding as well as those in Searcy. cessful because it touched a nerve that has not yet been touched. The overall response has been very positive. » -Dr. Howard Norton "J USt as soon as I finish one, we begi n working on the next," Alexander said. The production process for each issue also includes numerous trips [0 the printer in Little Rock at the end of each quaner, as well as several ed irorial board meetings held in Searcy. Although the magazine targets a Christian audience berween rhe ages of 30 and 50 years, Gowen hopes rhe magazi ne accurately reflects the Institute's goal of promoting the idea of strong fami lies and churches. "We [the editorial staff) want th is ro be practical information that people can really use," Gowen said. "We try to only include cwo or three articles in each iss ue from writers at Harding," Gowen said. According ro Gowen, a teen column that will deal with issues of specific relevance to adolescents has been proposed. In addi tion to the editorial and news coment included within the magazine's average of 36 pages, Norton cited the importance of each issue's cover. In fact, Gowen credits Phyll is Alexander, cover designer, as one "This magazine has been so successful because it touched a nerve that has not yet been touched," Nonon said. "The overall response has been very pos itive because it is meeting what has not yet been met." - Elizabeth R. Smirh HSBS, MFT, ICF 85
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