Forward Movement, the publisher of “Day by Day” turns 75 years old:
Forward Movement turns 75 years old
Effort to re-invigorate publisher echoes its founders
The little booklets get tucked into purses, suit pockets and back pockets. They get taken out when their readers have a quiet moment to spend in prayer. For 75 years the Forward Day By Day booklets have been giving Episcopalians and others a page-a-day way to reflect on their faith.
Now, Forward Movement, its publisher, is looking for new ways to continue living out the mission given to it during a financially bleak time in the life of the Episcopal Church and the world. Forward Movement board members, staff and experts from outside the organization are spending this anniversary year leading an effort to dream about and plan strategically for the years to come.
“We’re looking at how we can make full use of social networking and digital communications to reinvigorate the life of the church,” the Rev. Richard Schmidt, Forward Movement’s editor and director, told Episcopal News Service recently. “I know that the future will not consist entirely of print resources, particularly not of small pocket-sized books and pamphlets. I have no expectation that that market is going to disappear in the foreseeable future, but it needs to be supplemented with other things.”
“I don’t see it as a question of either print or digital,” he said. “I see it as a both/and.”