Tim Pyles: The vital role of The Christian Chronicle

Tim Pyles, with daughter Hannah, son Coleman and wife Kim.

My family got to know Tim Pyles and his precious family when we lived in the Dallas area from 2003 to 2005.
Tim was the preacher at the McDermott Road Church of Christ in Plano, Texas, where we placed our membership. He’s now the minister at the Broken Arrow Church of Christ near Tulsa, Okla.
Even after we left Texas, Tim remained a huge source of counsel and encouragement to me. He is a beloved brother and a trusted friend. On top of our personal connection, he’s a big supporter of The Christian Chronicle’s ministry of informing, inspiring and uniting Churches of Christ.
For our June issue, Tim wrote a Views piece on the role the Chronicle plays in our fellowship:

What do editorial columns, political blogs, talk radio rants and late-night monologue jokes have in common?
All derive from a common source that Alex S. Jones describes as the “iron-core” of fact-based, objective, original news reporting. Other forms of journalism emanate from this nucleus of news and are fueled by the information it provides. Jones, a Pulitzer Prize recipient and a fourth-generation member of a newspaper family, sounds an alarm about the significant decline of “iron-core” reporting and identifies threats to its future in his 2009 book “Losing the News: The Future of the News That Feeds Democracy.”
As I read Jones’ case for the essentiality of “the news of verifiability” and the preservation of journalistic standards like objectivity, accuracy and fairness, I repeatedly found myself reflecting on the value of The Christian Chronicle to our fellowship in Churches of Christ. A great variety of publications exists within our brotherhood: scholarly journals, periodicals with a teaching and doctrinal emphasis and materials designed to equip and train. With few exceptions, each makes a needful contribution to the life of the church, our understanding of Scripture, the constructive discussion of God’s will for his people and brotherly debate about our differences.
However, the Chronicle — with its extensive circulation, broad-scale appeal and mission to “inform, inspire and unite” — plays a unique role in providing a sense of “informed connectedness” among a diverse, worldwide family of autonomous congregations.

Read the rest of Tim’s article.

• Feedback
  I’ve often wished the independent Christian Churches/Churches of Christ (instrumental) had something similar to The Christian Chronicle. The Christian Standard doesn’t do nearly as much current news and trails events by a few weeks at least. So far as I know no other resource exists for that part of the brotherhood. The Christian Chronicle certainly helps the connection between autonomous congregations, much like ICOC Hotnews and Disciples Today do for the International Churches of Christ.

  Adam Gonnerman

  May, 13 2010

  The Pyles family is what all Christian families should strive to become. Tim has been a hero of mine since I first met him. Godly men and preachers get a friend like Tim, Kim, Hannah and Coleman to be an example of Jesus.

  Joe chase

  May, 13 2010