As you read this, I am transitioning into a new job as the editor of “Church & State Magazine,” the publication of Washington, D.C.-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the leading non-profit in America advocating for church and state separation and working to defeat Christian nationalism.
This new chapter in my life would not have been possible without my two decades-long tenure with Baptists Today, Nurturing Faith and, now, Good Faith Media. Those years were a time of challenging and rewarding work, professional and personal growth and enrichment, and wonderful friendships too numerous to count.
A good portion of that time was spent interacting with online readers. In 2003, as we all became aware of the truly transformational nature of the Internet, Baptists Today executive editor John Pierce asked me to create a website for the “Baptists Today” journal. By then, I had been developing websites for several years, including the popular Yellowstone.Net site. I was also a published writer, and soon, I began writing regular articles for the journal.
In time, as I became more acquainted with “Baptists Today” readers, online and off, I began a “Daily News” website column highlighting current stories I deemed of interest to our internet surfers but that otherwise they might not read. Supplementing the monthly-published “Baptists Today” and eventually the bi-monthly “Nurturing Faith Journal,” the online Daily News column informed readers of insightful breaking news and analysis, alongside occasional historical stories and light-hearted pieces. Frequently, I received feedback from online readers and sometimes suggestions for future news items.
Over the years, the Daily News was a snapshot of evolving times in the Baptist world and far beyond. When Good Faith Media was birthed, the Daily News became known as the Editor’s Picks. For so many years I was in the habit of constantly curating items for the Daily News/Editor’s Picks that it now seems odd to no longer be doing so.
Due to my geekiness—back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, I was coding in early computing languages you’ve never heard of [including the language that still powers the Voyager spacecraft] and building my own computers—and online business experience, for several years I had a hand in all online aspects of “Baptists Today.”
Eventually, FaithLab took over the coding and web design. Beyond the Daily News, my online work evolved primarily into strategizing and working with Nurturing Faith Book authors. Offline, I focused on writing for the print journal and directing Nurturing Faith/Good Faith Media Experiences.
My time with you, online and in many instances in the real world, helped sustain and shape me these past two decades. I am forever grateful for so many friendships that emerged and grew over the years, friendships nurtured in the real world at conferences and seminars, around dinner tables, and in shared adventures during Nurturing Faith/Good Faith Media Experiences.
But this is not a time of goodbye. We remain connected online, and many of you are friends in the real world as well. Americans United for Separation of Church and State (au.org) and Good Faith Media exist in a complementary fashion, championing the inherent rights of all human beings, of which church-state separation is indispensable.
I look forward to staying in touch. I am available by personal email at mail@brucegourley.com and work email at gourley@au.org. If you’ve not done so already, I hope you will come to visit me in Montana and let me give you a personal tour of Yellowstone or Glacier.
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Managing Editor for Publishing and Experiences Director at Good Faith Media. He is a historian, lecturer, public speaker, award-winning author and award-winning photographer.
