Newsletter moving to a new phase, but with same priorities

Samaritan Ministries International’s newsletter started as a two-page publication in 1996.

Next month, it will be an online-only publication at SamaritanMinistries.org/blog.

But the focus will remain the same: the Lord and our members.

“Even though we’re saying goodbye to the physical newsletter, we’re not saying goodbye to the encouragement and connection that have always made it meaningful,” said Anthony Hopp, Samaritan’s Chief Purpose Officer and a Vice President who also serves as executive editor of the newsletter.

“That spirit continues—just in a digital space—and we warmly invite you to join us. Whether it’s reading member stories, staying updated, or simply being reminded that you are helping to redeem health care, we hope you’ll continue to engage with us digitally.”

Content under the new format will be posted throughout the month rather than all at once, with links still being sent in our This Month at Samaritan monthly email.

Early days

The early development of Samaritan’s newsletter came from the need to communicate ministry developments to members during its early days in the mid-1990s. Samaritan members were then referred to as “subscribers,” since they subscribed to the newsletter in order to be able to share needs. Eventually, though, Samaritan leaders saw the newsletter as a way to encourage members and teach them about the worldview that the ministry was trying to live out.

“From Samaritan’s earliest days, we have sought to accomplish two goals,” said Rob Waldo, Samaritan’s Chief Administrative Officer and a Vice President. “One is, be unwavering in our commitment to provide edifying, Christ-honoring articles that would spiritually and practically enrich the Samaritan membership, and two, provide them in a way that meets members where they’re at.”

It helped that the newsletter’s founding editor, Ray King, had a journalism degree from the University of Illinois and experience writing for The Navigators.

Content growth

Using a logo designed by Shari Pittenger, wife of ministry founder Ted Pittenger, the Samaritan Ministries Christian Health Care Newsletter was sent out along with Share slips—literally strips of paper with a member’s monthly Share assignment on it.

At first occupied with ministry updates and prayer needs, the newsletter began to include worldview articles. Book excerpts on devotional or worldview topics were also common.

Much of the newsletter, though, was occupied by prayer requests, Special Prayer Needs, and New Rewards (birth announcements), and the page count grew to eight by the end of 1997. By then it included The Doorpost, a devotional by Ray King anchoring the back page of each issue. Ray wrote The Doorpost monthly until he passed away earlier this year.

Ted Pittenger wrote the first annual State of the Ministry report to members for January 1999. That same issue featured well-known homeschooling and parenting author Mary Pride, who wrote about how to fix health care, an early commentary on a subject that would increasingly occupy the newsletter’s pages as health care freedom came under attack.

By 2000, the Prayer Guide was a separate insert, while the newsletter’s pages continued to focus on ministry updates and worldview articles by outside writers. In 2001, the first “Subscriber Spotlight” (later Member Spotlight) was published.

Consistently peppering the newsletter were notes from members expressing appreciation for their fellow members and Samaritan Ministries. Members also contributed to the “This Is What Happened to Me” feature, and staff reviewed books and films.

A new look

The newsletter’s look began to change in the early 2000s. The ministry held a contest for a new logo and commissioned a redesign. The new look debuted in September 2002, tied to the logo’s colors and typeface and featured a more streamlined, magazine look. The flag at the top of the front page featured staff member Jason Morris and his wife, Tina, and one of their children.

“This Month at Samaritan” ministry updates were parked on page 3 in those days, while member testimonies and worldview content continued to dominate the newsletter. As threats were made to health care freedom, though, writers like Samaritan general counsel Brian Heller pushed back.

The newsletter also expanded to a standard 16-page count. Soon, technology resulted in three additional developments:

• Blog posts and social media presence. The newsletter content started to be posted in blog form around 2010. Soon, Samaritan content was being shared through social media accounts.
• PDF versions. After the Samaritan member Dashboard was created, links to newsletter articles were posted there as well as a PDF version of each issue.
• An email version of This Month at Samaritan. The email features links to newsletter content as well as ministry updates.

The newsletter continued to campaign against government encroachment on health care freedom as the Affordable Care Act was being pushed through and as some state governments tried to regulate health care sharing ministries. Emphases on members and good health practices, however, were never lost.

A final redesign happened in 2020, offering a cleaner, full-color design on brighter paper. The blog has been through a couple iterations as well, settling on the attractive, easy-to-navigate design that it has now.

Bringing values

The newsletter has always been a service to our members, communicating ministry news, health information, and biblical values.

“Our newsletter brings three values to members: It educates, inspires, and connects,” said recent managing editor Julia Ekstrom. “It educates our members on how to be a part of a health care sharing ministry, how to advocate for the health care solutions that best fit their needs, and how to live healthy lives.

“It inspires our members through devotionals, such as Noteworthy and The Doorpost. And it connects our members with each other through Member Spotlights that highlight the work our members are doing in ministries around the world.”

Although the change to an all-digital approach will include different timing in content release, the focus will remain the same.

“While we’ve adapted in the use of delivery channels, our commitment to Christ-honoring, quality content has never wavered,” Rob said. “Jesus Christ has been—and always will be—central to the newsletter, whether through member testimonies, spotlights on members’ ministries, or original devotionals.

“Where possible, we’ve sought to give members a voice, amplifying what God is doing through them in their service across the United States and around the globe.”

Into the future

The content will continue to contribute to the ministry’s goals.

“Samaritan’s mission is to ‘redeem health care by helping the Body of Christ love one another through sharing each other’s health care burdens while experiencing authentic biblical community,’” Rob said. “We can’t redeem health care alone. We can’t navigate this complex health care system alone. We can’t even be the Body of Christ and love one another alone.

“Samaritan’s online content is a place for you—for all of us!—to get informed, enriched, and equipped, so that we can be the Body of Christ, redeeming health care, together.”