“A Fond Farewell to the Ensign,” Ensign, December 2020
A Fond Farewell to the Ensign
The Ensign will be united with the Liahona next month, giving our Church family the chance to gather around global gospel messages and draw closer to Christ together.
Photograph of young couple reading by Tiffany Myloan Tong; photograph of home teachers by Tina Lerohl; photograph of family reading by David Stoker
Out of all the messages we’ve received at the Church Office Building, one by a young girl in Mexico especially tugged at my heart. It came a couple of years ago, when I worked with the Friend magazine. In the letter, the girl explained that she had seen the robust Friend her English-speaking friends got each month. She, a Spanish speaker, received many fewer pages as part of the Liahona magazine. In a gesture of unselfishness and goodness, she offered to help us translate pages. She reasoned that, with her help, we would be able to send Spanish speakers the same wonderful content that English speakers received.
The letter was heartwarming but heartbreaking too. It highlighted an imbalance in the print and digital resources available to Saints around the world. The reason this imbalance exists is complex and has to do with the evolution of Church magazines, the growth of membership in different areas, and the cost and process of translation and distribution. By the time that girl in Mexico wrote to us, many people at the magazines were already involved in research and cross-departmental proposals to answer the question, What is the right balance of print and digital resources for different parts of the world?
In August of this year, the First Presidency announced a new magazine publishing plan, which will begin with the January 2021 magazines. I hope this young girl will be excited about these upcoming changes. For the first time ever, there will be international publications for adults, youth, and children. With the help of local Church leaders and readers like you, magazines will be given to many newly baptized and young members at no cost to them. All of this will allow our Church family to become more united, drawing closer to Jesus Christ together.
Points of the New Publishing Plan
Here are the guiding ideas that the First Presidency approved. We look forward to hearing your feedback so that we can continue to improve and iron out the details of what the magazines should be.
1. Three Global Magazines
Since 1971, there have been three English magazines: the Friend, New Era, and Ensign. There has also been an international magazine, the Liahona, which was translated into as many as 48 languages at certain times. The Liahona evolved from various international Church magazines that were consolidated over the years and included content for all age groups.
Beginning in January, this model will be simplified into three worldwide magazines, translated to serve the entire Church: the Friend for children, For the Strength of Youth for youth, and the Liahona for adults. The Ensign and New Era titles will be retired. As a current Ensign reader, here are other changes you may notice:
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Many readers will find a “local pages” insert stitched into the middle of the magazine. These pages will include messages and stories specifically for readers in that geographical area.
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Including these local pages, the Liahona will be 64 printed pages, which is shorter than the current Ensign page count. By “giving away” a few print pages in English, we are allowing Saints in other areas to receive more of the print magazines more frequently. For example, some Church members were receiving only one magazine per year, and now they will receive magazine content every month or every other month. This will especially be a blessing to families who can’t access things digitally the way many Ensign readers can.
2. Improved Digital Offerings
Many readers still enjoy the print magazine, and we will continue to make the best print magazine we can for years to come. We also realize how important it is to make content available digitally. We are working to:
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Improve the magazine experience online and on your phone.
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Allow you to receive new content through email, texts, and Gospel Library app notifications.
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Offer personalization options, like signing up to receive articles about specific topics you care about.
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Use additional publication channels, like popular news feeds and apps.
Photograph by Annette Michelle Campbell
3. Important Support for Converts, Children, and Youth
The magazines can be a great resource for learning and living the gospel, as well as a way for people to feel more connected to their global Church family. The First Presidency has encouraged local leaders to provide Church magazines, using unit funds, to three specific groups who might especially benefit from these blessings. First of all, newly baptized members should be shown how to access the magazines digitally. If they prefer a print magazine, they should be provided with a one-year subscription. Additionally, ongoing magazines should be given to children and youth who attend church without a parent or guardian.
Exactly how this is done is up to the unit. Some wards or branches may find that gift subscriptions work well, while others may prefer to order several subscriptions sent to a meetinghouse or other household and distribute the magazines from there. However it is accomplished, the end goal is to make sure these groups have access to the nourishing messages of inspiration that the magazines offer.
Saying Goodbye to the Ensign
When you think about how many people will receive more of God’s light through these adjustments, it’s hard not to feel excited about the future! But it’s also OK to feel a sense of sadness as we acknowledge the end of a magazine that has blessed our lives for many years.
So, here we are, honoring the last issue of the Ensign while simultaneously celebrating its 50th anniversary. I can think of past issues and articles that changed my life, and I’m sure many of you can as well. The time line on the next few pages includes fun glimpses into the past. It’s not an overstatement to say that the Ensign has blessed countless people over multiple generations. It traveled with us to home and visiting teaching assignments, enriched our lives with gospel messages and images, and filled the moments before Church meetings with prophetic counsel. It helped us connect with our leaders and with each other.
But none of that goodness is ending. If anything, these changes will help us become more connected as a worldwide Church than ever before. Next month, look for articles describing the rich legacy of the Liahona. It’s an honor to become more aligned and unified with our brothers and sisters around the world.
Photograph by Tyler Lewis
Moving Forward Together
On my desk at work sits a book signed by Elder Orson F. Whitney (1855–1931), a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles who described in 1888 what we are watching unfold today: “A world awaits you; rich and poor, high and low, learned and unlearned. All must be preached to; all must be sought after. … And whither we cannot go, we must send; where we cannot speak we must write.”
Elder Whitney testified that the gospel will “climb to places hitherto deemed inaccessible,” saying that “our literature will help to take it there.” He weaves encouragement throughout his remarks that gives me hope about what the magazines are trying to accomplish. “Let us onward, then, and upward, keeping the goal in view; living not in the dead past, nor for the dying present. The future is our field. Eternity is before us.”1
We have loved serving you as editors of the Ensign and look forward to continuing this connection as we step into the Liahona together. It seems fitting to end with Doctrine and Covenants 64:41–42, which describes the work and the family that we are all a part of:
“For, behold, I say unto you that Zion shall flourish, and the glory of the Lord shall be upon her;
“And she shall be an ensign unto the people, and there shall come unto her out of every nation under heaven.”