Faith community can have voice in Journal

Published 4:27 pm Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Like many small communities across America, Nicholasville and Jessamine County have two vital institutions that are seemingly represented on about every corner: banks and churches.

The former is to help people keep their affairs in order in this life while the latter is to ensure everything is in order for the one after.

Financial institutions, of which there are many here in Jessamine County, are well represented in the newspaper. Many are strong supporters of The Journal and wisely use advertising to communicate their message and unique offerings to customers and potential ones.

Email newsletter signup

Churches, on the other hand, are not always as well represented on the printed page here, or in many other publications for that matter.

Maybe that is because newspaper companies are afraid of alienating readers or being perceived as elevating one denomination over another. Maybe it simply comes down to an individual newspaper’s mission.

At The Journal, we believe it is important to provide a platform for all viewpoints and, hopefully in the process, spark important conversations that may have otherwise been left unaddressed.

It is with this in mind that we will be incorporating additional pastoral columns each week to the newspaper, on a rotating basis, starting in mid-September.

We want to be inclusive and provide this opportunity to any church, denomination or pastor who has something to share with the community.

We encourage those who participate to be positive and avoid promoting their own church or attacking others. This will be a place to share messages of faith and real-life applications.

I believe that each and every one has a unique message to share as all have their own unique filters and approaches.

Again, the goal isn’t to force any particular belief, or even religion as a whole, on anyone. We simply want to offer diverse viewpoints on a topic that we do feel is important to our community and our readers.

If faith-based opinion isn’t the type of thing you want to read in the paper, that is perfectly fine. Simply skip it.

Faith leaders in our community are uniquely positioned because they have their fingers on the pulses of their congregations, have a personal understanding of the challenges facing our community and can share their approaches as to how to address them. Allowing pastors to share some of their perspectives and life views will be interesting and often eye-opening, regardless of your religious affiliation.

This is the call for all pastors to let me know if they want to be added to the list.

Just like we need choices when it comes to banking, faith institutions and their individual pastors each offer unique windows into life here in Jessamine County.

Michael Caldwell is publisher of The Jessamine Journal and Jessamine Life magazine. He can be reached at (859) 469-6452 or by email at mike.caldwell@jessaminejournal.com.