The Baptist Messenger is a weekly newspaper published each Thursday by the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma. The Messenger is mailed to nearly 73,000 households and is the third largest newspaper in Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

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Clarence P. Stealey moved to Oklahoma from West Virginia in 1909 to start the publication. The first edition of the newspaper coincided with the first annual meeting of the Oklahoma Southern Baptist Convention on May 12, 1912. The Baptist convention purchased the paper from Stealey for $5,000 in 1919.

The newspaper is currently staffed by editor, Brian Hobbs, managing editor Bob Nigh, associate editor Dana Williamson and advertising director Karen Kinnaird.

History

The first issue of the Baptist Messenger was published on May 15, 1912. The publication was owned and edited by Clarence P. Stealey, a minister from Washington, D.C. In 1919, the Baptist Convention of Oklahoma purchased the paper, which had a circulation of 5,000 at the time.

Stealey was removed as editor in the late 1920s after taking some controversial editorial positions in the antievolution movement. He was succeeded by Eugene C. Routh, who tripled the readership by the time he left in 1943.