In 1866, as the Fathers of Confederation were working on drafting the British North America Act that would lead to the creation of Canada the following year, a Montreal businessman and journalist, James Croil, was appointed an agent of the Presbyterian synod in connection with the Church of Scotland “to devise and carry into execution such measures as … seem expedient for aiding and advancing the schemes of the Church….”
In the ensuing 16 months, Croil would crisscross the country, gathering information that would eventually help lead to the formation in 1875 of The Presbyterian Church in Canada. After a time selling life insurance, Croil was appointed editor of the Presbyterian, the monthly magazine of The Presbyterian Church of Canada in connection with the Church of Scotland.
When this synod united with the Canada Presbyterian Church, the Church of the Maritime Provinces in connection with the Church of Scotland, and the Presbyterian Church of the Lower Provinces in 1875, Croil was appointed editor of the newly created Presbyterian Record — itself formed from the Presbyterian and the Home and Foreign Record of the Canada Presbyterian Church. The magazine was published monthly, except in August, although then it was “the official organ” of the church, as Croil notes in his eponymous autobiography.
One hundred-thirty years later and the Record is still published monthly, except in August. And although it is now an editorially independent publication, it still serves as the magazine of record for the life and witness of The Presbyterian Church in Canada.
Croil served as the magazine's editor from 1876 to 1891, retiring at age 70. The subsequent six editors were all Presbyterian clergymen, four of whom were elected moderator of the church.
Over the course of time, the magazine came to be governed by a standing committee of the General Assembly. Despite this formal relationship, successive assemblies and committees came to see the wisdom of protecting the editorial independence of the magazine, a position that recent assemblies have continued to respect, despite occasional requests to do otherwise.
In the late 1990s, mainly as a result of changes to the federal postal subsidy program, the committee sought to establish an independent non-profit corporation to publish the Record. In 1999, General Assembly placed this matter in the hands of Assembly Council, who ultimately agreed for the committee to dissolve and for Presbyterian Record Inc. to be formed.
The new corporation's relationship to the church was largely modeled after the Presbyterian Church Building Corporation. It is governed by nine directors, elected in a rotation to serve three-year terms, with the moderator of assembly retaining an ex-officio directorship. The directors are a governance board, responsible for developing the magazine's policy framework and making sure the operation is managed properly. This is particularly important, as the magazine draws no subsidy from the church. In 2006, the corporation was granted federal charitable status and issues its own tax receipts for donations.
Despite its corporate, editorial and financial independence, the links between the Record's governing corporation and the church are many and varied. For instance, General Assembly approves (but may not impose) nominations for members of the corporation, and the board holds its formal “conversations” with the wider church through the medium of an annual report at the General Assembly. The magazine also pays rent to the national church in return for office space, financial and other infrastructure services, and the current board has maintained the tradition that the treasurer is the chief financial officer of The Presbyterian Church in Canada.
During his stint as “agent” of the church, Croil says he travelled about 12,000 miles, visiting 126 congregations. Fortunately, the manager of the Grand Trunk Railway “furnished [me] with a free pass from station to station, over all its roads…”.
While we don't get a free pass anymore on the railway, the staff of the Record still travel across the country and around the world to bring you news about the church in Canada and missionary and development work overseas, and the editor still visits congregations and presbyteries to preach and meet people.
staff of the Record are all proud of the magazine's 130-year history and we hope it will continue to serve you, its readers, for many more years. From all of us here, we send you and your families our very best wishes for a Happy Christmas and holiday season.
