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Virtual Christian Magazine Editorial
Who's Behind VCM?
By Lorelei Nettles

Virtual Christian Magazine has been a part of my life for some time now and I wanted to take a moment to share with you some of what goes into each issue and introduce those who bring it to you.

Beginnings

V. Kubik
recently became the managing editor of Virtual Christian Magazine, or VCM as we call it, but its origins go back to 1997. Its founder and the former managing editor is Victor Kubik. He saw the Internet as a great way to reach out to others, a place for uplifting stories, hope and encouragement and an opportunity for some of the unknown authors within the church. Readership grew from there and in 1999 the Web site became a part of the United Church of God family of Web sites.

A few of us have been with VCM since its beginning, some came on board later to improve the process and others have replaced those who have since gone on to other things. New volunteers who have the time and editing skills are always welcome to join us.

The process

New volunteers who have the time and editing skills are always welcome to join us.
Articles are received through our staff; are sent in through ministers or come in through the feedback link on the Web site. Articles are welcome to be submitted at any time this way. We are always happy to receive new material. Submitted articles must have a full name and include where the author attends church. These submitted articles are received by the managing editor and placed on file for possible future use. Not all articles are accepted and/or chosen for use. Each chosen article then goes through a review and editing process before it is posted.

Each month one of the staff may volunteer to be the issue editor or I do it myself. The issue editor then chooses articles for use in that month's issue. The articles chosen are then sent to our review team and then through the editing, imagery and final proofreading process. They are then sent to our Web master who lays it all out for you to see in its final format.

The staff

D. Henson, J. Elliott, T. Damour, D. Hooser
Our review team consists of four men. They are: Don Henson in Pennsylvania, who has been with us for about three years; Jack Elliott in East Texas, who has been with us since late 1998; Tom Damour, also from Texas, who has been with us about a year and a half; and finally Don Hooser, another Texan, who has been with us since 2000. They review each of the articles that are planned for VCM, and ultimately approve each of them for any given issue. No articles go forward without their final approval.

P. Kansa, M. Grovak, J. Howell, J. Rutis, M. Bennett

Articles are then sent to an editor to refine the copy for posting. They correct spelling, make sure punctuation is correct and just give the article a professional look. Our newest editor is Patrick Kansa in Michigan, who started with us five months ago. Another fairly new editor is Michelle Grovak in Indiana. With the staff since 2001 is Jada Howell in Missouri. Our two veteran editors are John Rutis in Oregon and Mike Bennett in Ohio, who have been with us since our beginnings in 1997. The whole process would just fall apart without all of these people's time and hard work.

L. Nettles
Articles are also sent to me, Lorelei Nettles, in Kansas to find images. I have been with VCM since the beginning in 1997 and was named managing editor about seven months ago.

B. Bennett
After all of that has been completed, the articles are sent to Becky Bennett in Ohio. And yes, she is related to Mike Bennett mentioned above, they are husband and wife. Becky has been working with the staff since May of 2000 and does the final proofreading before articles are sent to the last person on our list of staff.

C. Rowland
That would be Chris Rowland. Chris has been with VCM from the beginning, and he is really a valuable player on the team. His skills are what give the VCM Web site its great look. He sets the articles and images, places the highlights and in general keeps the Web site up and running well. If we want to change the site, he is the one who we turn to with ideas and questions.

So you see that there are many people involved in the VCM process, and I have not even included the names or given the credit due to all the authors involved. It is their messages we wish to pass on to you, and it is impossible to cover them all in this space. I would also be neglecting all the future authors yet to be seen on the site.

The process would just fall apart without all of these people's time and hard work.
While this has been a short overview of what the process is like, I hope that it gives you an idea of how it all basically works. We enjoy sharing Virtual Christian Magazine with you each month and we hope you enjoy reading it as well. We would love to hear from you -- feel free to contact us through the Web site feedback link.

VCM is strictly an Internet-based magazine, but feel free to print out the articles to share or keep, using the PDF link to the left of your screen. We hope you will make this site a regular stop while you're surfing the Web and that you'll also visit the other United Church of God Web sites. Remember all the literature you see offered on our site is free for the asking; just click the literature links to pull up the order screen. There is no further obligation and you will not be contacted unless you want to be.

Have a wonderful month and enjoy your visit.

Copyright 2003 by United Church of God, an International Association All rights reserved.


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Keywords: VCM Virtual Christian magazine Kubik, Victor 

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