Editor’s Note:As the Anglican Journal marks its 130th anniversary, we invited readers to tell us about their favourite stories and memories of the paper. The door opened to reveal two bare rooms with a telephone on the floor and I was informed that, actually, there was no budget but it was approved that I could go $60,000 in the hole in the first year. Such was my welcome to Church House when I became editor and general manager of the Canadian Churchman (now the Anglican Journal) in 1958, with a mandate to work out a new distribution system and to introduce a new editorial approach.Staff was recruited from among clergy who had journalistic backgrounds – Rev. M.A. Stephens and Rev. Bill Portman – or interests in publishing, like Rev. H.R. Rokeby-Thomas. A young layman, Bruce Rathbone, became the business manager. We were off and running. The circulation began to build as we worked out a plan of integration with diocesan papers across Canada and advertising revenues grew accordingly.As we introduced special interest columns I can never forget the encouraging response I received from professional lay journalists such as Michael Barkway, Maurice Western, Robert Reford, Arnold Edinborough and others who cheerfully wrote for much less than the going rate, sensing the vision to produce a paper to engage the attention of Anglicans generally and not just the clergy. It was in line with this goal that a most daring policy had been endorsed – that the paper would be the church’s official publication but with an independent editorial policy. This was certainly venturing into uncharted waters.The policy of “editorial independence” was not universally welcomed. Bishops and others thought that it was fine so long as views expressed agreed with theirs, but had a rather contrary view if they didn’t measure up to their expectations. It was a policy that needed constantly to be defended before synods and committees as has been the case ever since.
Canon A. Gordon Baker
Editor 1958 -1967
