A productive year
Stats on CC’s staff in 2020.
Christian Courier has a small staff – eight people, all across Canada. Because we work from home already, the pandemic didn’t change our work habits . . . but it did add some wrinkles when it came to child care!
Kids we taught during “distance learning” while still doing CC work: 12
Kids currently being home-schooled by staff members: 8
Total number of babies born to CC staff in 2020: 2, with one more due in a few weeks!
Kids under age three with interrupted daycare routines: 4
Somehow, in between all our parenting tasks, we kept up with our CC duties!
Number of newsletters published: 47
Number of CC email addresses we monitor: 16
Number of phone calls that Sarah Smith, Circulation Manager, answered: 750
Number of emails that Angela Reitsma Bick, Editor, received: 22,832
Total number of articles we published: 374
Number of awards CC won: 12
Subject line of our email newsletter with the highest open-rate: “Not allowed to sing in church? Maybe that’s a good thing.”
This month we are saying a fond (and temporary) farewell to Meghan Kort, who is going on maternity leave for one year. We are very grateful for all of Meghan’s work on the new website and everything she’s done as Assistant Editor – writing articles, finding new contributors, creating the newsletter each week, marketing and much more! We pray for God’s blessings on your family as you anticipate the gift of new life and welcome a new member to your family.
Meanwhile, we’ve been delighted to welcome Maaike VanderMeer to our staff this fall as incoming Assistant Editor; she will fill in for the next year while Meghan is on leave. You’re already familiar with Maaike’s excellent written contributions to CC; now she’s taking on the weekly newsletter, assigning and editing news articles, finding graphics and more. Maaike, a Canadian who grew up in the Democratic Republic of Congo, brings valuable skills and experiences to our staff and we’re excited to have her on board. She’s currently living in Abbotsford, B.C. Welcome, Maaike, and thank you to all our far-flung, hard-working staff members. Have a restful Christmas!
Your favourite articles from 2020
Number of times our weekly emails were opened: 13,558
The Top 5 most viewed articles
“The Upside of COVID-19” by Lloyd Rang
“The Parable of COVID-19” by John Van Sloten
“Beloved Former CC Editor Bert Witvoet dies at 85” by Peter Schuurman and Angela Reitsma Bick
“Christian Education and COVID-19” by Jonathan Schat
“Context Matters” by Angela Reitsma Bick
The article that got shared the most on Facebook: “The Parable of COVID-19” by John Van Sloten
The article that got the most comments on Facebook: “Different by design” by Meghan Kort
Most loved article on Facebook: 105-year old WWII Vet Charlie Fisher
