By Mark A. Taylor
Yesterday”s announcement [1] of Jerry Harris as the new publisher for Christian Standard Media includes news of my retirement. I”d like to use my space this week to add a little background.
I told Standard Publishing management about 20 months ago, in July of 2015, that I planned to retire after the North American Christian Convention in Anaheim in 2016. But when most of Standard Publishing (but not the magazines) was sold to David C. Cook in December 2015, I changed my plan. We assumed that some new owner would also eventually acquire CHRISTIAN STANDARD and The Lookout, and I felt certain we would not be able to recruit a worthy new editor while the magazines” fate was in limbo. So I promised to stay on the job until the next transition.
The Lookout editor Kelly Carr and I paused to pose at the Christian Standard Media booth during the International Conference on Missions in Lexington last November.
That transition is now nearly complete.
In January of this year, when Doug Crozier was exploring the possibility of The Solomon Foundation”s acquisition of the magazines, I explained my retirement thinking with him. In February, just before the sale was final, I expressed my wish to retire no later than immediately after this summer”s NACC in Kansas City. He graciously has granted my request and allowed me to move on to the next chapter in my life.
As I do so, I couldn”t be more grateful for all the personal blessings that have been heaped upon me in more than four decades of service at Standard Publishing and then Christian Standard Media.
I”ll use this space again later this year to say more about my gratitude to so many who have selflessly served God with me through the work of Standard Publishing (now Christian Standard Media) and CHRISTIAN STANDARD.
“I think this will be harder for you than you think,” Doug Crozier said to me last week as we were discussing my retirement. Maybe. But I”ve known for some time that the time is right for new leadership here. The challenges and opportunities are great, requiring fresh eyes and energy to seize the possibilities.
So now we”re praying for God to be glorified by the future of CHRISTIAN STANDARD and The Lookout, even beyond how his name has been lifted up throughout their rich history. We”re hoping many readers will join us in that prayer.