TRC Magazine began in 2012 over a bowl of salsa and chips. Originally, it was created to give me a publishing option while I waited for traditional publishing to accept my submissions. Little did I know that God would have better ideas.
The magazine grew thanks to the enthusiasm and passion of our volunteers, but it didn’t happen without encountering obstacles, like issues of pride, lack of responsibility, and a difference of opinion on direction. Our founding editors were a blessing to our magazine. One left because his church was growing and he had to focus on this. When you manage and lead a group of volunteers, you must understand volunteers are always temporary. Life happens and people move forward. They are gifting you with their time. God brings them where He needs them to serve. When that is done, they move on.
Our original founding editor remains today. I am grateful for her guidance and assistance. She is not in an editor position, but now serving as part of the management team, writing when she has the time or jumping in to save the day. It has also been nice to see how WorldVenture has accepted this ezine as one of my responsibilities. The vision of TRC Magazine is changing though, and I am very excited about its future.
It is about:
- Mentoring a new generation of writers and leaders.
- Partnering with the church through internships via WorldVenture.
- Becoming a voice for the voiceless and picking up stories from people who aren’t writers or stories that larger publications won’t publish.
- Engaging our readership rather than just preaching. We are training our volunteers and interns to engage. In some ways, publishing articles online are just that–preaching. No different than showing up at church on Sunday and sitting quietly to listen. We want to be different and make a difference.
- Working to change church culture. Sharing the Gospel doesn’t just happen in the face-to-face world. It happens in the online community all the time. If the church would embrace this, imagine how much faster we could share the Gospel worldwide?
Because of this, TRC Magazine will become an LLC. The operating agreement will be written up to include the possibility of a board. A new volunteer/intern handbook will be written to make things clearer. In the beginning of the magazine’s publication, we needed better communication. This is what I have learned since publishing in 2012:
- Having clearly written guidelines is important. This brings less confusion.
- Empowering writers, but not enabling them, keeps the work running smoothly. Occasionally stepping in to assist a writer does happen, but more often than not, I try to encourage independent thinking and work.
- Keeping deadlines is important. You can tell a reliable worker from their posts on social media. Prioritizing the work you need to do and meeting deadlines are a constant challenge with writers who work day jobs, serve in ministry, and yet want to make a difference online.
- Wording communications in ways that encourage the writer into a leader or the leader into producing great work.
- Giving people a voice to share their story is important even if the writing is terrible and needs re-working.
- A difference exists between blogging and article writing. This has always been a tricky line to keep.
TRC Magazine introduced internships to partner with churches worldwide to broadcast what God is doing in the world. Our first internship is working out beautifully. Meet Ross Harris here and listen to his Facebook live devotional here. Goals for him will include:
- Social media training.
- cross-cultural training.
Will you pray for our volunteers and interns?