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Solid and Trustworthy

The church pastor in print

Merle Poirier

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Solid and Trustworthy
REVIEW AND HERALD PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION

F. M. Wilcox served as editor for 33 years. Though he was nearing 80 and in poor health, it seemed to still come as a surprise when he announced his retirement in December 1944. For six months W. A. Spicer was the temporary editor.

Francis D. Nichol joined the Review staff as an associate editor in 1927, so he was an established presence when Wilcox retired.1 The decision for Nichol to become the next editor was decided in May 1945, but there seemed to be a challenge as to who would write the announcement. Some thought Spicer, but he declined. Others the General Conference (GC) president.2 Eventuallythe notice appeared in the Review by June, written by the GC secretary. It also alerted readers that Nichol would not begin for six months; Frederick Lee, also a longtime associate editor, would cover until Nichol could take on the role.3 The reason for the delay was that Nichol’s name already appeared on four mastheads of four different Adventist publications as editor, and time was needed to disentangle him from these publications so he could concentrate on the Review.

Taking on the editorship from Wilcox was no small undertaking. Nichol took his responsibility seriously. While for me the Review during his tenure did not have the same feel as it did under Wilcox, certainly the same commitment was evident. “Our people depend on the Review,” Nichol told Kenneth Wood. “They have faith in it. They feel that it is solid, that they can trust it. I wouldn’t want that ever to change, or anyone to be associated with the paper who would want to change that.”4

F.D.N.

Solid and trustworthy are apt descriptors for the Review under the man who became known as “F. D.” or F.D.N., his initials. They were found at the end of his editorials, his correspondence, and how he was addressed by colleagues. Wood went on to describe Nichol as careful and deliberate, particularly with the Review. “The danger and power resident in the printed word fascinated him, and the potential for helping others inspired him,” wrote Wood.5 Nichol had a “check and double check” requirement for his editors, something future editors would insist on as well. Check dates, check with other people or departments, and check every available source were things he insisted upon.6 Something else in common with later editors was the sign he’d put on his door so not to be disturbed. In Nichol’s case it was a “leprosy sign.” Later editors had other creative ways to alert people to not even consider disturbing their work.7

The care for readers continued in the Review under Nichol. While there wasn’t a “letters to the editor” section as there is today, the amount of correspondence was incredible. I sat for a full day in the General Conference Archives perusing stacks of letters that came into the Review editor’s office. Readers wrote on a myriad of topics expecting the editor’s response. Examples were questions on what to cook on Sabbath and what time to start the meal; how to tithe; how many meals should be eaten in a day; if a certain book was OK to read (title included); requests for a list of singles so marriage partners could be found; complaints about a local conference; life insurance; and more. One letter came in from a mother distressed about her teenager’s pregnancy. As with all the others, not only did Nichol answer this letter personally, but he also went above and beyond. He gave contacts for homes for unwed mothers, even going so far as calling one of the homes, to make them aware the mother would be contacting them. When Wood questioned the time Nichol gave to respond to all these letters personally, Nichol replied, “Some of these people may have no one else to talk to; and they have souls to save.”8

A. W. Cormack, an associate secretary at the General Conference, sent a letter with a suggestion from a member who’d written him asking that the editor write on a certain topic. Nichol returned the letter with a handwritten note: “Enclosed is an editorial of mine on the subject. She should be reading it this very day—if she is a subscriber.”9 Later a new section appeared called From the Editor’s Mailbag that answered letters in the Review. This method was used as a way to address concerns, whether it be theology, standards, or lifestyle issues.

New Methods, New Ideas

The Review as the “voice” of the church continued with even more overt references. In 1954 an announcement on the back page referenced the Review “as the chronicler of the history of the church.” Included was this reference: “The Review, as the church pastor in print, . . .” presented the same understanding initiated by Wilcox. The Review existed to care for and unite members.10 By 1955 this same announcement was moved to page 2, and continued until 1961, when the Review was redesigned.

In an effort to find more authors, Nichol often sought them personally. “Some [authors] who have been remiss in honoring their ‘promissory notes’ tremble and make new promises when I talk with them. Nothing like a personal contact. . . . It’s hard for people to say no when you are looking them right in the eye. Also, the new article payment rate of $10 is helpful. How earthy we all are!”11

New ideas for sections in the Review were added to attempt to maintain the interest of readers and encourage new subscribers. In 1947 a series called “I Believe” dealt with distinctive beliefs of the Advent movement. “It seems to me that it is psychologically sound to bring to our readers at times the ringing testimony of different leaders of the work as to their ardent belief regarding certain basic truths that must be believed if the movement is to maintain its God-given course and character,” wrote Nichol. These testimonies from leaders were meant to encourage members. Perhaps because of Nichol’s experience with unresponsive authors, each invitation to write had a card enclosed for the invited author to sign and return to the Review office signifying they had received the request and agreed to write.12

Other ideas included regular short Adventist history features and a pioneer quiz introduced in 1951 with a photo and biography on one page and the answer further into the publication. Ten Minutes With Your Bible was introduced in 1947. With the beginning of the Korean War, more articles on war appeared. In 1952 an idea was introduced to appropriate space in the Review for GC departments, beginning in 1953. While acknowledging this as a step away from accepted Review practice, Nichol told them to write anything they wanted—“simon-pure promotion and propaganda, if you wish.” The Review, even to this day, avoids publishing promotional material, but one week a month he allowed it, as this was “simply an endeavor to give a more effective service than ever before to the leadership of the work.”13 This idea seemed to run its course by 1954.

All ideas weren’t successful. In January 1955 it was announced that the long tradition of signed editorials would no longer continue. The rationale, written we think by Nichol but unsigned, was that “[the editorials] are to speak for the journal and not simply for the individual who has written them.”14 It didn’t last long. Within five months another editorial under the title “We Capitulate” appeared: “We were mistaken, more mistaken than we have been in many an editorial day,” wrote Nichol. “Immediately letters began to come in, and they have continued to come in, protesting the elimination of the initials. . . . Frankly, we do not recall any more widespread or emphatic reaction on a change in the Review than the reaction we have experienced on this matter.”15 Editorials continued from then on to be signed.

Color Numbers

One idea in an attempt to increase subscribers began to form in 1948. It involved sending a free Review to all member homes four times a year. To enhance the appeal, the paper was changed to a brighter, glossier paper, and color was added, but not in the way that we might understand today. In this case it was a spot color—one color that appeared on the cover as well as inside in various ways.

These color numbers had a specific purpose and were intentionally planned. The four issues highlighted important topics and issues of interest to Adventists. Since each member home in the United States would receive them, it became a primary communication tool. It was hoped that members would enjoy it so much they would subscribe to the weekly editions. The page count was increased to 32 pages, but most of those additional pages were advertisement. One can imagine an advertiser’s interest in having access to every Adventist home. At the time there were 107,000 homes. In order to send the Review for free, various entities were asked to contribute toward printing and mailing costs. The purpose was stated in the first color number issue:  “Through the pages of this number we seek to quicken anew the heart of every member on the primary principles that must be vivid in all our minds and dominant in all our decisions if we are to measure up to these critical days. Intelligent, vigorous Adventists, who have a sense of both duty and direction, are much needed today. This special number is dedicated to that objective.”16 These color numbers appear to have continued through 1968.17

Another idea proposed by Nichol was to survey members. If, he told GC president J. L. McElhaney, we have all the addresses to every Adventist home in North America, why not ask them a few questions? A letter addressed to “Every Twentieth Church Member in the USA and Canada” was created along with a more-than-seven-page survey asking questions related to everything but their name. This would have been the first survey conducted in the church’s history, but at the time of printing I had yet to confirm that the survey was actually ever mailed out to members.18

As always, readers were quick to react and respond to new ideas. For the most part, readers were happy with the “new look.” One even suggested since the Review arrived on Fridays that the color number, “was as if it were all dressed up in its Sabbath best.” But two letters were not so positive. One wrote specifically that coloring the Review was a “worldly” idea. Nichol responded in his usual positivity: “We are glad for these two letters. . . . They revealed that these subscribers were such ardent believers in the Review that they saw no reason why color was needed in order to persuade anyone to read it. That warms our hearts.”19

There were changes in the masthead when Kenneth H. Wood joined the staff as assistant editor in December 1955. Two years later Raymond F. Cottrell became an associate editor listed beside Wood.20 It would be this team that would lead into the next era of the Review.


1 Review and Herald, Oct. 20, 1927, p. 24.

2 W. P. Elliott to J. L. McElhany, May 25, 1945.

3 Review and Herald, June 28, 1945, p. 16.

4 Miriam and Kenneth Wood, His Initials Were F.D.N. (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Pub. Assn., 1967), p. 16.

5 Ibid., p. 17.

6 Ibid., p. 19.

7 Ibid., p. 25.

8 Ibid., p. 26.

9 F. D. Nichol to A. W. Cormack, Mar. 11, 1948.

10 Review and Herald, Oct. 28, 1954, p. 24.

11 F. D. Nichol to W. P. Elliott, June 19, 1945.

12 F. D. Nichol to A. W. Cormack, Nov. 2, 1947.

13 F. D. Nichol to the Secretaries and Associate Secretaries of the Following Departments (long list follows), Nov. 1, 1952.

14 Review and Herald, Jan. 6, 1955, p. 8.

15 Review and Herald, May 19, 1955. p. 8.

16 Review and Herald, May 6, 1948, p. 2.

17 Review and Herald, Nov. 21, 1968.

18 F. D. Nichol to J. L. McElhany,

19 Review and Herald, Feb. 3, 1949, p. 7.

20 Review and Herald, Nov. 21, 1957, p. 2.

Merle Poirier

Merle Poirier is the operations manager at the Adventist Review

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