Dear Outlook Friend,

On behalf of the Presbyterian Outlook Foundation Board of Directors I am pleased to share the news with you that the Rev. Dr. John Wimberly has accepted our call and been contracted with to serve as our interim consulting editor. In a note below, John will share his own thoughts with you.

We are in a true partnership with you, our readers and subscribers. In this period of transition we have felt your support and are hearing your ideas. Please keep both coming our way! Our commitment remains to report and comment upon both the news and theological issues that shape the Presbyterian movement and inspire Christian thought and prayer.

We believe John will continue that commitment in his interim service. John holds graduate degrees in both theology and business practice. He is a professional church consultant whose true passion is the local congregation. Alongside four decades of congregational ministry, John has been a contributor to the Outlook and he has served as a member of the Outlook’s Foundation Board. John knows our staff, has a feel for our readers and has given many hours in the past to our ministry of publishing. We are thrilled he will be with us in the coming months.

Longer term, we hope to have identified a new editor and that our new editor will begin service with the Outlook in early 2015. In the meantime, I hope you will join my family and our congregation in both praying for the Outlook and making personal and congregational gifts to our ministry. In a few days you will receive a letter from us inviting you to this opportunity.

May God bless you richly this day. Thank you for your support ofThe Presbyterian Outlook.

May grace abound,

Christopher H. Edmonston
Pastor, White Memorial Presbyterian Church, Raleigh, North Carolina
President, Board of Directors of the Presbyterian Outlook Foundation, Inc.

Dear Presbyterian Outlook readers,

I am humbled and excited that the Outlook Board of Directors has asked me to be their interim consulting editor during the brief period while they find a permanent editor. I am humbled because it is a huge responsibility. The Outlook remains, in my opinion, the most independent and reliable news source in the PC(USA) universe. Keeping it as such is a big task. I am also humbled because we need to continue the remarkable work Jack Haberer has done as editor. He has taken the Outlook to new places with his faithfulness, hard-work and superb skills.

The interim period will be brief. The board hopes to have a permanent editor in place early in 2015. I see my task as interim consulting editor for the next four months to include a number of straightforward tasks:

I need to support and coordinate the work of our excellent staff. They are located in numerous cities, so we need to make sure everyone stays on the same page… literally.
As a staff, we need to ensure that the content of the magazine maintains the high level it achieved during Jack’s tenure. Rather than writing a lot of editorial pieces myself, I plan on asking others to fill the popular slot at the beginning of the magazine that has been utilized so successfully by Jack. In particular, I plan on asking some of our talented under-40 clergy to write in this spot. I think our younger generation of clergy are the most talented I can remember. We need to hear more from them.
Regarding new content, I will focus on congregational ministry. I was a parish pastor for 40 years. I am currently a busy congregational consultant. The congregation, not the judicatories of the denomination, is where my heart remains. We have excellent reporters who will continue to supply you with up-to-date information on the actions of our judicatories. But I will attempt to generate interesting content on the exciting, faithful work of some of our congregations.

I welcome any suggestions you may have for our interim period. As I say, it will be a short period. I am confident that it will be a healthy time of transition.

For the ministry of Jack Haberer at the Outlook, I give thanks to God. For the exciting future of the Outlook, I also give thanks to God. Please keep all of us at theOutlook and Jack, as he moves back to the parish, in your prayers.

Yours in Christ,