The ''Christian Advocate'' was a weekly newspaper published in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

by the

Methodist Episcopal Church The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself nationally. In 1939, th ...

. It began publication in 1826 and by the mid-1830s had become the largest circulating weekly in the United States, with more than 30,000 subscribers and an estimated 150,000 readers. After changes of name and a split into two publications, publication ceased in 1975.

Overview

The Methodist Book concern was authorized by the General Conference to publish ''The Christian Advocate'' for 147 years. Its publishing location would change as the Methodist Church expanded westward and the slavery issue divided the church in 1844. After the church united again, what had become a monthly magazine was finally edited in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and printed in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, in 1939. It was first a weekly

broadsheet A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long Vertical and horizontal, vertical pages, typically of in height. Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner (format), Berliner and Tabloid (newspaper ...

, and later a monthly magazine for Methodist families. In the intervening years, ''The Advocate'' name was part of the name of numerous Methodist journals published by local conferences and jurisdictions of the church. The last chapter of the ''Christian Advocate'' magazine was reported in ''

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'' magazine's Religion section (October 11, 1956): In 1959 editors of ''The New Christian Advocate'' changed the name back to ''The Christian Advocate'' and its format from pocket size to full size, with circulation bi-monthly. In 1973, due to declining circulation, the United Methodist Board of Publishing authorized the replacement of both magazines with a pocket-sized magazine entitled ''United Methodists Today''. A supplement for pastors was published, ''Today's Ministry''. Both magazines ended in 1975.

In popular culture

The ''Christian Advocate'' featured in the third episode of the 2022

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

series ''

The Gilded Age In United States history, the Gilded Age is the period from about the late 1870s to the late 1890s, which occurred between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was named by 1920s historians after Mark Twain's 1873 novel '' The G ...

'', as an example of the prejudice black writers faced in the 1880s.

Notable editors and writers

Nathan Bangs Nathan Bangs (2 May 1778 – 3 May 1862) was an American Christian theologian in the Methodist tradition and influential leader in the Methodist Episcopal Church prior to the 1860s. Born in Stratford, Connecticut, he received a limited educ ...

James Monroe Buckley James Monroe Buckley (December 16, 1836 – February 10, 1920) was an American Methodist minister, doctor, author, and editor of the ''Christian Advocate''. Biography James Monroe Buckley was born in Rahway, New Jersey, on December 16, 1836 t ...

William Curnow William Curnow (1832 – 14 October 1903) was a Cornish Australian journalist, and Methodist minister, and was editor of ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' for 15 years. Early life Curnow was baptised on 2 December 1832 at St Ives, Cornwall, Unit ...

John Price Durbin John Price Durbin (October 10, 1800 - October 18, 1876) was an American Methodist clergyman and educator who served as Chaplain of the United States Senate from 1831 to 1832 and president of Dickinson College from 1833 to 1844. Early life Durb ...

* Charles Henry Fowler * George PeckAmasa Franklin Chaffee, "George Peck," ''History of the Wyoming Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church.'' New York: Eaton & Mains, 1904, pp. 220-223. Found in
USGenWeb Archives
Accessed 26 August 2009.

References

{{Reflist

External links

"United Methodist Publishing House"
''

Tennessee Encyclopedia ''Tennessee Encyclopedia'' is a reference book on the U.S. state of Tennessee that was published in book form in 1998 and has also been available online since 2002. Contents include history, geography, culture, and biography. History The origina ...

''.
"Christian Advocate (Chicago, Ill.)"
WorldCat Identities. Newspapers established in 1826 History of Methodism in the United States Christian newspapers published in the United States Defunct newspapers published in New York City 1826 establishments in New York (state) Defunct Christian newspapers

Overview

In popular culture

Notable editors and writers

See also

References

External links