A couple of years ago
I met Dave Nicol, and heard a remarkable story. This quiet, self-effacing
man told me that he believed God had given him a special task – to start a
weekly newspaper for the Christians of my city, Melbourne. He explained in
detail his plans. It was an inspiring vision.
Our paths separated,
and when no newspaper appeared I assumed the dream had been just that – a
dream.
But then I started
hearing from friends about Dave. They told me of the amazing people he was
meeting, of all the organisations that he was lining up in support of his
venture. And then on Sunday in church we all received, free, the first pilot
edition of the new paper, the
Melbourne Courier, and it’s a beaut.
It’s a 48-page
tabloid, crammed full of news and features. Sure enough, Dave has done a
marvellous job of garnering support. He has the official backing of the
leaders of numerous church denominations, from Anglican and Catholic to
Assemblies of God and Salvation Army.
He has also managed to find an impressive
line-up of writing talent, with big names that include former Victorian
assistant police commissioner Bob Boucher, Melbourne University biomedical
ethics lecturer Nicholas Tonti-Filippini, former New York Post and
Chicago Sun Times editor Frank Devine, Fortune magazine
contributing writer Anthony Paul, former Australian Special Forces
commander Brigadier Jim Wallace and leading financial planner Kevin Bailey.
But now comes the hard part. Will
Melbourne Christians support the venture?
Newspaper publishing in Australia is
dominated by just two giant corporations, John Fairfax Holdings and Rupert
Murdoch’s News Corporation. It is sadly ironic that both these companies
have Christian roots. Sir Keith Murdoch, who started the News Corporation
newspapers, was the son of a Presbyterian minister. John Fairfax was a
passionate preacher of Jesus Christ (a fact I learned from the Melbourne
Courier).
Today, our newspapers are resolutely
secular, often delighting in a knee-jerk
hostility towards
Christians and Christianity, particularly in their
opinion pages.
Unfortunately, some of what passes
locally for Christian commentary on the world is also knee-jerk –
anti-American,
anti-Islam,
anti-something. Or
it does little more than link current events to biblical prophecy.
We need a new voice, one that shows us
what God is doing in our city, and, in a post-Christian culture, guides us
to live as Jesus would have us live.
The spirit of God is at work in our city.
The Melbourne Courier is here. I urge local Christians to support it.
November 8th, 2002
