Skip to Navigation

New Direction for Conciliar Media

John and Tonya MaddexJohn and Tonya MaddexThe 2009 Antiochian Convention in Palm Desert coincided with the announcement by Conciliar Media Ministries that the ministry is discontinuing AGAIN and The Handmaiden magazines in their current printed forms, as well as moving the base of operations for Conciliar to the Chicago area.

Said CEO John Maddex, “We are embracing new technology that will reduce our costs by utilizing digital and audio formats where possible. While such decisions are difficult, these adjustments represent a necessary pruning and will result in a new lean model of operations with a continued strong evangelistic emphasis.”

Maddex paid tribute to the efforts of departing Vice President Fr. Thomas Zell. “I know you join me in expressing our deep gratitude to Fr. Thomas for his many years of faithful service at Conciliar Press. Fortunately, he will continue on our board and maintain an active association with us.”

At the Conciliar Media session at the Convention on Tuesday, July 21, a lively discussion centered on Conciliar’s future, and the task of outreach to not only disenchanted Christians of other traditions, but also to seekers with no religious background whatsoever. The need was articulated to translate Orthodoxy into the American cultural context. Noting the success of the Conciliar sponsored Oklahoma City evangelism campaign, Fr. Peter Gillquist pointed out that books on Patristic theology are popular even in Protestant circles now, and there exists a new openness to historic Christianity that Conciliar Media can address.