Our Magazine

The purpose of Christian Leader is to:

  • Draw USMB churches together: connecting, informing, celebrating, telling stories, sharing news
  • Disciple the USMB constituency within the Confession of Faith: inspiring people for action
  • Direct our USMB family toward a unified vision: focusing on three core commitments (evangelism and church planting, intentional discipleship and leadership development)
Contact

If you have any questions about the Christian Leader or for more information, please contact us at editor@usmb.org or call 620-947-5543

Opinions expressed

The Christian Leader is published by the U.S. Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches. However, the opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the church as a whole.

Online comments

We encourage you to comment on articles and essays. The purpose of comments is to engage in constructive dialogue. We ask that you limit your comments to 500 words.

Comments are screened prior to publication. The editors may remove a comment if the tone and/or content of the posting are considered inappropriate. Comments will also be deleted if they do not pertain to the topic of the article, column or essay. Comments should focus on others’ ideas, not motives, character or faith.

Along with your comment, please provide your full name and do not pretend to be someone else.

C-Link

C-Link is the free Christian Leader biweekly e-news digest. C-Link provides breaking news, USMB updates and stories from our ministry partners, including inter-Mennonite agencies. Use this link to subscribe to our electronic newsletter.

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Copyright

The articles printed in the Christian Leader and posted at www.christianleadermag.com are owned by Christian Leader or by the author and may not be reprinted without permission.

Unless noted, Scripture quotations are from the New International Version.

Distribution

Christian Leader is offered to every household of the U.S. Conference of MB Churches (current distribution is 7,600) as a benefit of denominational affiliation. Individual subscriptions are also available.

The Christian Leader is a 32-page magazine published six times a year.

Advertising

Christian Leader publishes a limited amount of advertising. Advertising details are available online or from the editor.

Membership

The Christian Leader is a member of the Evangelical Press Association and Meetinghouse, an association of Anabaptist editors in North America.

CL History

A decade after Mennonite Brethren left Russia and arrived in the U.S., leaders wanted a periodical to communicate with their scattered churches. In 1884 they began publishing Zionsbote (Messenger of Zion). This German-language publication was the official periodical of North American Mennonite Brethren until 1951.

The Christian Leader, first published in 1937, was initially a youth publication designed to serve a constituency that was fast switching from German to English. It became the official publication of the church in 1951 and served both U.S. and Canadian Mennonite Brethren until 1955 when the Canadian Conference developed its own publication.

Since 1955, the Christian Leader has focused its content on the issues and activities of U.S. Mennonite Brethren. The magazine is published by the U.S. Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches (USMB) and regularly includes inserted publications from USMB partner agencies, specifically MB Mission. Over the years the magazine’s frequency has transitioned from biweekly to monthly to bimonthly. Christian Leader is offered to every USMB household as a benefit of denominational affiliation. The magazine began publishing CL Online in 2008 and C-Link, a biweekly electronic news digest, was added in 2012.

Christian Leader has a history of giving young men and women the opportunity to serve the denomination and of promoting staff members. Five editors have served the Christian Leader over the past 50 years.

  • Orlando Harms was editor from 1954 to 1976.
  • Harms recruited his successor, Wally Kroeker (1976 to 1985), a young journalist.
  • Don Ratzlaff, Kroeker’s assistant editor, was named editor in 1985 and served until 1998.
  • When Carmen Andres (1998-2003) was appointed editor in 1998, the Christian Leader crossed the gender barrier.
  • Current editor Connie Faber, who worked with both Ratzlaff and Andres, assumed the editor’s duties in 2004.