''Relevant'' is an American bi-monthly Christian
lifestyle magazine published by Relevant Media Group since 2003. It is now fully-digital, but the print magazine once claimed an average circulation of 70,000.
History
In June 2001, Cameron Strang, son of ''
Charisma Magazine'' publisher, and Strang Communications CEO
Stephen Strang, founded the media company Relevant Media Group.
The company began publishing ''Relevant'' in March 2003. One critic has called the publication "the mass media equivalent of
outreach
Outreach is the activity of providing services to any population that might not otherwise have access to those services. A key component of outreach is that the group providing it is not stationary, but mobile; in other words, it involves meetin ...
in the skate park."
As of 2006, it was distributed nationally at
Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. The company operates approximately 600 retail stores across the United States.
Barnes & Noble operates mainly through its B ...
and other retailers, including the
Family Christian bookstore chain.
In its early years, contributors to the print magazine included John Fischer,
Dan Haseltine (
Jars of Clay), Don Chaffer (
Waterdeep), and Dan Buck. ''Relevant'' ran articles about faith, life in your 20s and 30s, social justice, and interviews with musicians and authors such as
Donald Miller, Bob Goff,
The Avett Brothers,
Rob Bell, and
The Civil Wars.
In 2005, Relevant Media Group created a women's magazine, ''Radiant'', which published 12 issues from 2005–2007.
In 2008, Relevant Media Group launched a magazine for church leaders, ''Neue.''
In 2011, Relevant launched a free semi-annual social justice magazine, ''Reject Apathy''. It was included with Relevant subscriptions.
''Relevant'' launched its interactive iPad edition in September 2011.
According to a demographic study in 2012, 86% of ''Relevant''
's subscribers were between the ages of 18 and 39 (the average subscriber's age was 27).
In September 2020, ''Relevant'' announced the suspension of its print edition, shifting to an all-digital format and maintaining its bi-monthly release schedule.
RelevantMagazine.com
The magazine's companion web presence, relevantmagazine.com, launched in 2002 with the email newsletter, "850 Words of Relevant" (now called "Relevant This Week").
The website is updated daily and is a counterpart to the magazine. It includes daily features, news ("slices"), columns, reviews, and features such as "The Drop" and "RELEVANT.tv".
''Relevant'' podcast
''Relevant'' releases a new
podcast
A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...
every Monday and Thursday. The podcast won the 2015 Academy of Podcasters Awards in the Spirituality & Religion category.
References
External links
*
''USA Today'' article from 2004Relevant Media Group website
The Orlando Sentinel, March 25, 2003
{{DEFAULTSORT:Relevant
2003 establishments in the United States
Bimonthly magazines published in the United States
Christian magazines published in the United States
Magazines established in 2003
Magazines published in Florida