Wendy McFadden will retire on July 31 as publisher of Brethren Press and executive director of Communications for the Church of the Brethren, after almost 45 years of service to the denomination.
She started her employment with the Church of the Brethren in October 1981 as managing editor of Messenger magazine and director of News Services, having been hired after a brief time in Brethren Volunteer Service at the General Offices in Elgin, Ill.
In March 1992, she began as director of Brethren Press. Subsequently, she became publisher of both Brethren Press and Messenger and also oversaw News Services and the website Brethren.org.
Throughout her tenure, McFadden has sought excellence in her own writing and in the work that she oversees. She has kept the needs of congregations and church members at the forefront as she has helped Church of the Brethren publishing and communications weather the seas of a shifting media landscape.
She has skillfully guided Brethren Press through the struggles that have faced all small faith-based publishers. She has helped website staff meet the constant challenge of new digital technology while serving a church with varied digital interests and levels of expertise. She has supported Messenger and its several editors, culminating in 2016 in her creation of an editorial team on which she also serves as an active member. For a number of years, the task of creating the Church of the Brethren annual report also has fallen to her, in its various forms including written, pictorial, video, and displays for the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference and district conferences. She was on the committees that developed the Church of the Brethren logo and the denominational taglines “Continuing the work of Jesus. Peacefully. Simply. Together” and “Another way of living.”
Representing the Church of the Brethren at ecumenical bodies and events, both nationally and internationally, has been a highlight of her work. Notably, she represented the Church of the Brethren at Christian Churches Together for some 15 years, for a time as a member of the steering committee and president of the Historic Protestant group of churches.
In peace church circles, she has led many collaborations with the Mennonite publishing house. Significant joint publishing projects have included children’s Sunday school curriculum—Jubilee, Gather ’Round, and Shine—as well as this year’s new joint curriculum for adults called Salt & Light: A Guide for Biblical Studies.
Her accomplishments in church communications have ranged from the deeply spiritual—such as her leadership of Brethren Press’s publication of Fresh from the Word, a devotional for the 300th anniversary of the Brethren movement—to the practical and even the lighthearted—such as restarting the Inglenook Cookbook series to the delight of cooks, bakers, and potluck goers across the denomination.
McFadden’s extensive knowledge of and experience with the publishing of books, curriculum, and periodicals; her devotion to accuracy and excellence in writing and editing; and her eye for elegant visual communications have enhanced the life of the Church of the Brethren for the four-plus decades of her service.
#MissionAndMinistryBoard #StrategicPlan #RacialJustice #LoveOurNeighbors #Discipleship #NewTestamentGiving
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Find more Church of the Brethren news:
- Feature for Black History Month: Samuel Weir, 1812-1884
- Wendy McFadden will retire July 31 as publisher of Brethren Press
- Brethren Disaster Ministries seeks skilled volunteers for special project in Louisiana in April
- Mechanicsburg Church of the Brethren celebrates 100th year
- Intercultural Ministries presents a ‘Sankofa Storytelling Event’