Magazine on ministry to cease publishing

The directors of Practice of Ministry in Canada (PMC) magazine have agreed to stop publishing the quarterly publication following a decision by the Anglican church to stop paying for subscriptions for clergy and lay workers. In a letter to readers contained in the summer 2002 issue, board chair Rev. Andrew Asbil, who is Anglican and based in Toronto, wrote: “Sometime in the next six months, PMC will publish for the last time. The obstacles to continuing the publication have simply become too many and too steep to be overcome by a dwindling corps of volunteers.” Fall 2002 and winter 2002/3 issues are planned, said editor Ann Bemrose in an interview. The publication has enough in reserve to pay staff and bills through the fall, she added. The ecumenical magazine publishes articles on various aspects of ministry. However, the Anglican church?s continuing education (ConEd) plan funded subscriptions because the magazine also carried several pages of course listings and advertisements from educational institutions that readers could use to plan professional and personal development. Last December, the Anglican church’s pensions department, which administers the ConEd plan, told the magazine?s board that it would no longer fund subscriptions. The church had purchased about 1,700 subscriptions out of a total of 2,400, according to the subscription office. Pensions director Jenny Mason told the Journal last March that the department felt the magazine was poorly governed and that the ConEd plan members could get the same information for less money elsewhere. The ConEd administrative unit will be meeting this month to consider ways of distributing course information to members, said Mrs. Mason in a recent interview. The ConEd plan, a mandatory benefit for Anglican clergy and some lay workers, reimburses members for the cost of courses and books. The magazine’s board, which includes representatives of the Anglican, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic and United churches, has scheduled another meeting in September, said Ms. Bemrose.