The Church Army has announced that it is giving its full backing to a new monthly Christian magazine, called Inspire, that will be released in March 2006. The magazine will promote the positives in Christianity in the UK today.

|TOP|The editor of the new magazine, Russ Bravo, has warmly greeted the support from the Church Army as a foundation partner as “one of the UK’s most respected Christian ministries.”

In addition, Church Army’s Communication Manager, David Coleman has been particularly excited by what Inspire has to offer to the Christian community in the UK.

Coleman said, “Inspire is about publishing stories that lift the spirits of Christians who want to read some of the good news about our faith and its impact - stories that are so often ignored by the national media.”

He continued, “Church Army is doing some tremendous work focused on creative ministries and it is exciting to know that these will now be able to reach a wider audience through Inspire - with an initially monthly circulation of 50,000 and a potential readership of over 100,000. The name of the magazine says it all - it will lift your spirits and help motivate you to make a difference for Christ where God has placed you.”

The Church Army testifies: “God is at work in the UK with evidence of changed lives, growing churches and new and exciting forms of outreach and Inspire will reflect this in an engaging and accessible way.”

Inspire magazine was established following the closure of the Christian Herald newspaper in January.

|AD|The difficult decision to close the historic newspaper was made by the trustees and executives of CPO, the publishers of Christian Herald, and it marks the end of an era in UK Christian publishing that began in 1874.

A news release on the newspaper’s website read: “Despite a range of initiatives in recent years to improve the paper's financial health, a combination of rising costs, the ongoing decline in reading amongst the UK Christian community, the changing nature of the news trade and the overall decline in advertising revenues in the newspaper industry have all contributed to the decision.”

Managing director of CPO, Paul Slide, said: “I’ve been associated with Christian Herald in various roles over the past 20 years and it’s been one of the toughest decisions I’ve ever been involved in.”

Christian Herald began life over 130 years ago in Glasgow when it was founded by Anglican minister and evangelist Rev. Michael Baxter in July 1874 as a means of reporting the events surrounding the Moody and Sankey missions.

The Christian Herald started out as The Signs of Our Times and its peak circulation was 250,000 copies a week around 1900, making it the largest-selling religious periodical in the world.

Following the success of the UK Christian Herald, a US edition was launched in 1878 and published weekly until its closure in 1992.

CPO’s new Christian magazine, ‘Inspire’, is to be distributed each month to churches and individuals free of charge and will offer a range of reports on the work of God in individuals, churches and Christian ministries.