A New Beginning
By the ECPC Board
Saturday, December 9, 2006
With Sarah Dylan Breuer's coverage of the installation of Katharine Jefferts Schori as the first woman to serve as presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church and a Primate in the Anglican Communion, The Witness ends almost 90 years as a progressive voice in the church. While celebrating an exciting new beginning for the church through the leadership of a new presiding bishop, our own role as a publication has come to an end.
At its October meeting, the board of the Episcopal Church Publishing Company, publisher of The Witness, concluded that resources were not available to continue the online version of The Witness (the print version ceased in the summer of 2003). The corporate life of the ECPC continues and we may play a role in the future of progressive action in The Episcopal Church.
The board reached this decision not with sadness, but with a sense of joy for a long and exciting engagement in the most important issues of the day. Since its beginning in 1917, it has served as a feisty, challenging and provocative voice of social and theological criticism. The published materials of The Witness in print and online will soon be part of the permanent collections of the Archives of the Episcopal Church, available online at www.episcopalarchives.org.
Times change. Other voices are emerging to stimulate dialogue and debate on issues important to progressives in the church. The Internet has revolutionized our ability to communicate, making it possible for almost everyone to express an opinion on issues, to be a "witness." We believe that the work of The Witness will continue as those progressive voices fostered by the publication find new venues for their important work. And the voice of The Witness will continue in other forms
The dream of justice for all will never die.
Tracey Lind, president
Mark Harris, vice president
Jim Solheim, secretary
Barbara C. Harris
Carol Anne Brown
John B. Chane
Muffie Moroney
Elizabeth Kaeton
Mark MacDonald