Going Digital

We are excited to announce the launching of an electronic version of Ministry on January 1, 2014. If you have a subscrip­tion to the journal, you can request a complimentary digital version in addition to your printed copy.

Here’s how you can request it. Find your address label on the back cover of your printed copy of Ministry or on your envelope. Above your name is a subscription number. Just go to www.ministrymagazine.org/digital, click on Digital Version, enter your name, address, email address, and subscrip­tion number, and your name will be added to our digital subscription list. It will be sent to you each month in addition to your printed copy.

Why, you might ask, are we offer­ing a digital version? The answer is simple. It’s time. Delivery systems are changing. Look around the next time you walk through the lobby of a hotel or the hallways of a convention center. People are reading their smartphones or handheld tablets. We still like our hard copy of the journal, but we can’t carry all of our paper journals with us.

In the past 24 months, we have also noticed an exponential increase in traffic on our Web site. We have increased from approximately 4,000 unique visitors per month to more than 50,000. Visitors are accessing our Web site using their laptops, iPads, and smartphones. Most of our visitors are reading our archived materials in English, but a growing percentage is utilizing our Google Translate option to read a working translation in the readers’ first languages. You can access all of our resources at no cost at www.ministrymagazine.org.

In the midst of all of these changes, we are still deeply committed to our threefold purpose as a professional journal for clergy of all faiths: (1) to deepen the spiritual life of the pas­tor, (2) develop intellectual strength through a careful study of the Scriptures and relevant professional issues, and (3) provide practical instruction in pastoral and evangelistic ministry.

Our lead article in this month’s issue focuses on deepening the spiritual life—specifically the spiritual blessings that come as we pray the psalms. You can join me, and thousands of other Christians, as we read through them at www.revivedbyhisword.org. Many of those psalms are prayers, inspired and preserved by the Holy Spirit. The psalmist David testified, “ ‘The Spirit of the LoRD spoke by me, and His word was on my tongue’ ” (2 Sam. 23:2, NKJV). Dragoslava Santrac challenges us to reexamine these ancient prayers as a valuable resource for our lives and min­istry. Praying the psalms, according to Santrac, articulates, supervises, transforms, and broadens the experience.

In our changing communications landscape, Marty Thurber challenges us with a practical article on social media and the pastor. He reminds us that there are many voices out there, and one of them can be yours. Thurber addresses a vitally important question for each one of us as Christian leaders: How can you use social media networks to help others hear the good news about Jesus? We welcome your feedback and input on how to use social media more effectively at feedback@ ministrymagazine.org.

Larry Lichtenwalter recently left a pastoral position in the United States to accept a teaching position at a Christian college in Lebanon. Currently serving on the front line of intercultural ministry, he boldly asserts, “The eternal message of Scripture to the world is unequivo­cally the translatable gospel.”

You’ll also find excellent articles in this month’s issue by Kayle de Waal on “The Katartismos Pastor,” David Ripley on “Size by Design: The Elusive Growth of the Local Church,” and Roy Gane on “Legal Substitution and Experiential Transformation in the Typology of Leviticus.”

Thanks for joining us on this jour­ney. Don’t forget to visit our Web site, www.ministrymagazine.org, and sign up for your digital version of Ministry as a complimentary addition to your regular subscription. We even have a free digital download for you, just for stopping by. And while you’re there, send us your feedback. What articles were helpful? What are some topics you would like us to address? We are here to serve you so that together we can serve others more effectively.