Virtual Christian Magazine (VCM) first appeared on the World Wide Web in August of 1997 as a standalone online magazine. Originally created by Victor Kubik, a pastor with the United Church of God, various members of the Church volunteered their time to help publish the monthly editions. That is also the year I began working on the magazine. My job was to find images for the articles. That might sound easy enough, but in 1997, the Internet of today did not yet exist. There were only a few ways one could attain images and most of what was available wasn’t very good. But technology progressed very quickly, and each year brought new and faster ways to accomplish our work.

In 1999 the magazine was picked up by the United Church of God, an International Association, as one of its official publications. By that time production was running smoothly. Although staff members sometimes changed, we had established routines, so new volunteers easily stepped in to take their place. Then in February of 2003, I became managing editor.

June 2011 saw another change when the magazine was placed on the Church’s official website. Though the staff remained the same,  the substance of the articles remained the same, and the overall look of the PDF magazine remained the same, the appearance of the home page did change. We also modified the publishing process and the articles became part of a larger and more convenient search engine, making them more easily accessible.

Why am I telling you all of this? Because since 1997, every change VCM has taken has been an upgrade from what it was before. Every change has made it easier for us to reach you and for you to reach us. Now it is time for change again.

This change however, will be a little more drastic. Not only will we be changing our look, but also our name. VCM’s articles will now be available as Beyond Today website articles. You will still see the same type of wonderful material you have always enjoyed in the past—and all the back issues will remain available as originally published VCM articles—but we expect this transition to give more exposure and reach a greater audience by tying them into our Beyond Today television program audience and viewership. We will continue to bring you the articles you expect and we hope you will enjoy this latest upgrade!