The Church of England Newspaper, one of the world’s oldest continuously published faith news titles, has ceased printing following the death of its owner.
The paper was founded in 1828 as The Record and took on its current branding after a merger with the Church Family Newspaper (founded in 1894) in 1949.
But editor Andrew Carey told readers last week that the brand has had to “review its operations” following the death of owner Keith Young, director of parent company Political and Religious Intelligence Ltd.
“Keith was generously the sole provider of additional finance to continue supporting the paper and we are now exploring all options to secure a future and hope that you will bear with us as we seek an orderly transition to serve our readers and subscribers, our advertisers and all other partners,” Carey said.
He added that a weekly email newsletter will continue “for the foreseeable future” but no new print editions will be published “until further notice”.
Carey said the paper will “fully explore all options before us”.
The paper focuses on reporting on church affairs at home and abroad, but has struggled in an increasingly secular and digital media environment.
Duncan Williams, of Son Christian Media which publishes the Christian men’s lifestyle brand Sorted, told Press Gazette: “Given that there is much talk of a Christian revival in the UK, it is sad to hear reports this month that the long-established Church of England Newspaper is closing.
“I am well aware that religious publishing is especially challenging, and that securing revenue through advertising or subscriptions is essential for survival. I would urge publishers to consider moving to a web-based platform or utilising the subscription advantages of services such as Substack. I strongly believe there is a readership that still needs to be served by this kind of publication, and that it is not simply a niche or heritage publishing model.”
Another Christian newsbrand, Premier Christianity, has indeed seen a 9% increase in digital subscriptions in the past year and now draws 40% of its traffic from the US. It has been shortlisted for Specialist/B2B Website of the Year in Press Gazette’s latest Future of Media Awards.
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