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Ruth Alex Mitchell (née Beale, 23 February 1947 – 26 November 2010) was a British journalist who was the "editor and driving force behind the Christian current affairs magazine ''
Third Way
The Third Way is a centrist political position that attempts to reconcile right-wing and left-wing politics by advocating a varying synthesis of centre-right economic policies with centre-left social policies. The Third Way was born from a ...
''".
She edited ''Third Way'' for five of its first six years and "established its reputation as making a significant contribution to Christian social thinking."
Her hymn "Now We Sing a Harvest Song"
is in the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
's popular hymnal ''
Come and Praise''.
Early life
She was born in
Winchester
Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...
, Hampshire, England and was educated at Eastacre School,
St Swithun's School,
Winchester County High School for Girls and
Eastleigh Technical College before going to work at the
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...
in Strasbourg.
In 1966 she attended the London mission of the American evangelist
Billy Graham
William Franklin Graham Jr. (November 7, 1918 – February 21, 2018) was an American evangelist and an ordained Southern Baptist minister who became well known internationally in the late 1940s. He was a prominent evangelical Christi ...
and found it life-changing.
After working for the
Church Army
The Church Army is an evangelistic organisation and mission community founded in 1882 in association with the Church of England and now operating internationally in many parts of the Anglican Communion.
History
The Church Army was founded in E ...
for four years, she went to
All Nations Christian College
All Nations Christian College is an English missions college, located on the Easneye estate near Ware, Hertfordshire, and validated by the Open University.
Aims
Unlike some Bible colleges, the focus of All Nations Christian College is prim ...
for two years to train as a missionary.
During this time, three of her poems were published in ''Making Eden Grow'', an anthology published by the
Scripture Union
Scripture Union (SU) is an international, interdenominational, evangelical Christian organization. It was founded in 1867, and works in partnership with individuals and churches across the world. The organization's stated aim is to use the Bible t ...
.
In 1973, she joined the staff of ''Crusade'', a Christian monthly magazine.
''Third Way''
''Third Way'' was launched at the beginning of 1977 as a fortnightly sister magazine to ''Crusade'' to provide a biblical perspective on a wide range of issues.
The new magazine reflected a growing concern amongst
Evangelical Christians
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual exper ...
about social issues, particularly after the
First International Congress on World Evangelization
The First International Congress on World Evangelization (ICOWE), also sometimes called the Lausanne Congress or Lausanne '74, was held from 16 to 25 July 1974.
The conference is noted for producing the Lausanne Covenant, one of the major docum ...
held in
Lausanne
, neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...
,
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
in 1974.
She joined ''Third Way'' at its launch as its assistant editor and became editor the next year,
inheriting a fortnightly journal that was losing money heavily.
She switched to a monthly circulation, cut costs, enlisted help from a team of volunteers and "brought the magazine back from the brink of closure."
Under her editorship, ''Third Way'' contributors included clergy who subsequently achieved high office, such as
George Carey
George Leonard Carey, Baron Carey of Clifton (born 13 November 1935) is a retired Anglican bishop who was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1991 to 2002, having previously been the Bishop of Bath and Wells.
During his time as archbishop the C ...
, who became
Archbishop of Canterbury
The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...
and
N. T. "Tom" Wright who became
Bishop of Durham
The Bishop of Durham is the Anglican bishop responsible for the Diocese of Durham in the Province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler has been the Bishop of Durham ...
as well as established evangelical leaders such as
John Stott
John Robert Walmsley Stott (27 April 1921 – 27 July 2011) was an English Anglican cleric and theologian who was noted as a leader of the worldwide evangelical movement. He was one of the principal authors of the Lausanne Covenant in 1974. In ...
,
David Watson and George Hoffman, the founder of
Tearfund
Tearfund is an international Christianity, Christian relief and development agency based in Teddington, UK. It currently works in around 50 countries, with a primary focus on supporting those in poverty and providing disaster relief for disadvan ...
.
The former British Prime Minister
Edward Heath
Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conserv ...
wrote an exclusive introduction to the
Brandt Report
The Brandt Report is the report written by the Independent Commission, first chaired by Willy Brandt in 1980. The Independent Commission for International Developmental Issues was established in 1977 with the aim to review international development ...
, the report of the Independent Commission on international development chaired by former
West German
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
Chancellor
Willy Brandt
Willy Brandt (; born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm; 18 December 1913 – 8 October 1992) was a German politician and statesman who was leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) from 1964 to 1987 and served as the chancellor of West Ge ...
.
From the United States she attracted such diverse contributors as
Jim Wallis
James E. Wallis Jr. (born June 4, 1948) is an American theologian, writer, teacher and political activist. He is best known as the founder and editor of ''Sojourners'' magazine and as the founder of the Washington, D.C.-based Christian commu ...
, founder of the radical movement
Sojourners
''Sojourners'' is a Progressive Christianity, progressive monthly magazine and daily online publication of the American Christian social justice organization Sojourners, which arose out of the Sojourners Community. It was first published in 197 ...
and
Chuck Colson
Chuck is a masculine given name or a nickname for Charles or Charlie. It may refer to:
People
Arts and entertainment
* Chuck Alaimo, American saxophonist, leader of the Chuck Alaimo Quartet
* Chuck Barris (1929–2017), American TV producer
* ...
, the
Watergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's continual ...
conspirator who became a Christian and founded the
Prison Fellowship
Prison Fellowship is the world's largest Christian nonprofit organization for prisoners, former prisoners, and their families, and a leading advocate for justice reform.Mark Oppenheimer ''New York Times'' (April 27, 2012).
History
Prison Fell ...
. From developing countries, interviewees ranged from
Mother Teresa
Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu, MC (; 26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), better known as Mother Teresa ( sq, Nënë Tereza), was an Indian-Albanian Catholic nun who, in 1950, founded the Missionaries of Charity. Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu () was bo ...
to
President Godfrey Binaisa of Uganda.
Dr John Stott, an important leader in world Evangelicalism, said during her editorship that "''Third Way'' is becoming indispensable reading for those who want to think Christianly about contemporary issues."
At her wedding in 1980 to John Mitchell, then-Director of the
World Development Movement
Global Justice Now, formerly known as the World Development Movement (WDM), is a membership organisation based in the United Kingdom which campaigns on issues of global justice and development in the Global South.
The organisation produces r ...
, John Stott said in his sermon that "under your editorship ''Third Way'' has been a blessing to hundreds of thousands."
Hymns
Mitchell made an important contribution to the
Jubilate Hymns word group that produced ''Hymns for Today's Church'', the Evangelical Anglican and
Free Church
A free church is a Christian denomination that is intrinsically separate from government (as opposed to a state church). A free church does not define government policy, and a free church does not accept church theology or policy definitions fr ...
hymn book published in 1982. She was the only woman and the only non-ordained member of the group.
Her own hymn "Now We Sing a Harvest Song"
is included in the BBC's popular hymnbook ''Come and Praise''.
Later life
After leaving ''Third Way'' at the end of 1982 on the birth of her first son, Mitchell continued her involvement with social issues at the national level through her active board membership of the Shaftesbury Project on Christian Involvement in Society and th
London Institute for Contemporary Christianity
Mitchell moved to
Washington DC
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
in 1991 when her husband John left his job as Director of the World Development Movement to take up a job with the
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...
.
For ten years, she was the volunteer administrator of the many
Alpha courses, which introduce people to the basics of the Christian faith, run by Washington'
Fourth Presbyterian Church In 2008, Mitchell and her husband returned to the UK and a year later she was diagnosed with cancer.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Alex
1947 births
2010 deaths
British women journalists
Christian hymnwriters
Church Army people
Editors of Christian publications
English hymnwriters
English magazine editors
People educated at St Swithun's School, Winchester
People from the City of Winchester
British women hymnwriters
Women magazine editors
Women religious writers