CHARISMA NAMES NEW EDITOR, EXPANDS PRINT AND ONLINE OFFERINGS
With new leadership, the magazine for
Spirit-filled believers redesigns print version and increases online
presence
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Valerie Lowe
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MARY, FL (March 18, 2010) — Charisma, the leading periodical for
Spirit-filled believers worldwide, has named a new editor as part of a
multifaceted initiative to better serve readers with a redesigned print
magazine, expanded digital editions and a new smartphone
application.
Marcus Yoars, who has served as editor of Ministry
Today for the last three years, is only the third editor of Charisma
in the magazine’s 35-year history of reaching the
charismatic/Pentecostal/Spirit-filled community. Yoars, 34, has been in the
publishing industry for more than 15 years, including serving as an editor for
Thomas Nelson, LifeWay and Focus on the Family. Born and raised on the
missionary field in Hong Kong, he is a graduate of Auburn University.
Yoars fills the post vacated by award-winning journalist
J. Lee Grady, who resigned in January to focus on international ministry after
11 years as editor of Charisma. Grady will continue as a contributing
editor to the magazine.
“We see this transition as very strategic,” says Steve
Strang, founding editor of Charisma and president of Strang
Communications. “Marcus is a great leader and editor and represents a new
generation. He’s proven he understands the shift magazines must make from print
to include digital.”
Starting with the May issue, Charisma will have a
new design, a new slogan (“Life in the Spirit”) and enhanced content that still
includes what the magazine is known for: compelling stories, practical teaching,
commentary and news about “what the Holy Spirit is doing around the
world.”
“It’s a new day for Charisma,” Yoars says. “We’ve
been preaching that around the Strang offices for months, but it’s exciting to
finally see things taking shape as we transition into a new Charisma
starting in May. Lee Grady did a phenomenal job of further establishing the
magazine as a hub in the Spirit-filled community, and I plan to continue that
ongoing conversation with longtime readers and critics alike. It just might look
a little different and take place in some new
vehicles.”
Strang says the magazine has a renewed commitment to
reach the masses with new technology, and this is already being proven with
several online ventures launching in May. Charisma’s expanded digital
magazine will offer readers exclusive content such as videos, podcasts, music,
photo galleries and other resources tailored for the Spirit-filled believer. In
addition to its print subscribers, this redesigned version of the May issue will
go to 300,000 digital readers.
Charisma will also launch in May a new smartphone
application that allows mobile-phone users to read breaking news, entertainment
reviews, feature stories and more. The app, which is among the first provided by
a Christian magazine, will be free and will allow users to better connect with
the magazine’s newly organized Web site,
charismamag.com.
Charisma was founded in 1975 amid the growing
charismatic movement, but the dynamics of the movement have changed, Strang
says. The new shift will help the magazine better serve its readers, reach a
younger market and more effectively serve the global church with a strong online
presence.
Says Strang: “Although the look of Charisma will
change, its mission remains the same: to serve God by serving the Spirit-filled
community.”
# # #
Cheri Fuller and Cindy Lamb Curry 
Marilyn Hickey 
Charisma Staff 
