Sixteen years ago this month, the first issue of This Rock appeared, and it appeared much different from the issue you hold in your hands. It had to, since I was the editor, chief writer, and graphic designer, and that issue (and many following) were a showcase of my limitations, both in the selection and composition of articles and in their artistic layout.
My lack of skill did not bother me, though it probably bothered some readers. I was following G. K. Chesterton’s dictum: “If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly.” I thought that starting a magazine of apologetics and evangelization was worth doing, even if I could not pull it off as it deserved. Better to have an adequate magazine than no magazine at all, I reasoned.
As time went by, my duties devolved onto others, and the magazine improved. For years it has read and looked better than when I held the reins, and that has translated into This Rock being an ever more effective medium for disseminating Catholic truths. And now the content and presentation go up another notch.
Rethinking a magazine is deceptively complicated. It is not done overnight, and it is not done capriciously. You want to maintain continuity with what went before while refocusing the publication on its original mission and refashioning it so readers will want to read the words. (If the appearance is off-putting, the words go to waste.)
I think Cherie Peacock, our editor, and Sherry Russell, our art director, have pulled it off. I thank them, and I thank our readers—many of whom have been with us from the first issue—for their suggestions over the years. Many of those suggestions have been incorporated into the changes you see—not just in terms of layout and artwork but also in terms of departments and features. I think the magazine is stronger all the way around.
Not everyone will be happy with every change, I suppose. Some will appeal to Edmund Burke’s notion that “if it is not necessary to change, it is necessary not to change.” I appreciate the sentiment, but we have tried to keep in mind that, while the message is more important than the medium, the medium is the conveyer of the message. If the medium improves, the message is better able to have its desired effect.
The effect we have been seeking through This Rock, from the first issue onward, is the inculcation of the Catholic faith. We also have hoped that readers would be moved to promote and defend the faith, both publicly and privately. Over the years many have told us that what they learned in these pages not only gave them a deeper appreciation of Catholic truths but also impelled them to share those truths with others. We hope the improved content and appearance will result in many more such reports.