February (Web-only) 2003

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Due to financial strains, Moody Bible Institute in Chicago has announced this week that it is shutting down Moody magazine, massively restructuring its missionary aviation program, and closing its retail bookstores.

"Over the last couple of years, we have always looked for how to conduct our ministries more economically," said Moody Bible Institute (MBI) spokeswoman Heidy Hartley. "We have had to downsize and financially belt tighten, but only this year have we started to take a hard look at what we are doing."

Following an in-depth financial study commissioned by President Joseph Stowell, MBI concluded that continuing to subsidize the three affected ministries in their present form was not feasible for the ministry's financial future. According to a press release, the national economic downturn and reduced donations made the moves necessary in order to strengthen MBI's core education program.

MBI announced yesterday that it will cease publication of the 85,000 circulation Moody magazine following its July/August issue. It has published continuously since September 1900. Formerly Moody Monthly, the magazine became a bimonthly in 1996. MBI's daily devotional guide, Today in the Word, now becomes the ministry's primary publication.

"Moody magazine has been a fixture for more than a century and represents the last of the old Christian magazines that at one time included Christian Herald and Eternity magazine," said former managing editor Andy Scheer, who is now executive editor for the Christian Writers Guild. "It is hard for me to reflect on what a Christian magazine climate will be like without Moody."

According to the MBI press release, the magazine's death is due to increased media competition, ...