Spur Ottawa is taking a hiatus from publishing. We hope during this pause to find a new editor and writers who can resume the great work of this weekly digital magazine.

Please allow me, on behalf of all our readers, to give an enormous thank you to Craig Macartney for his work on this effort. Spur Ottawa published its first online article on September 23, 2015 (over 7-and-a-half years ago). Since then, Craig and his team of writers researched and wrote 478 stories about what Christians were accomplishing in our city.

At the beginning of this year, Craig began talking with us at One Way Ministries, about the need to transition out of his key role. For those who may not know, Craig not only oversaw the whole operation, giving out the writing assignments, writing articles himself, and editing each article, but he also did the behind-the-scenes work of posting to the website and ensuring that each writer received honorariums for their work. Did I mention he did all this while working a fulltime job in the public service? In short, there would be no Spur Ottawa if Craig hadn’t captured the vision for this invaluable ministry, many years ago.

The goal of telling the story of the broader Body of Christ in the Ottawa region is still our aim.

We wish Craig and his family all the best, and we ask you to continue to keep them in your prayers. Craig and his wife, Niomi, are blessed with six children and have been living in Saint Martins, New Brunswick, for the last two years. He works fulltime by the federal government, stays active in his local church, does editing work for clients in his spare time, and continues to write. You may have come across articles by Craig in other publications, such as ChristianWeek and Faith Today. He won the 2018 Harvey/Mackey award for excellence in journalism from the Word Guild, for his piece “Rev. Lim and the Church That Prayed Him Out”, published in Faith Today Magazine. At the 2020 Word Guild event, he won two more awards in the for best news article and best profile/human interest article.

Simply put, it is going to be difficult to replace Craig. We ask for your prayers while we seek a new team for Spur Ottawa. The goal of telling the story of the broader Body of Christ in the Ottawa region is still our aim. As it says in our online vision statement, we want to promote unity and foster collaboration by telling stories that will “spur believers on” to exalt Christ and pursue His kingdom together. God is at work in our city! By sharing the stories of what He is doing and how His people are serving, we hope to encourage the Body, help connect like-minded individuals, and advance the work of the Gospel.

If you have any recommendations for future writers and an editor/publisher for Spur Ottawa, we would be glad to hear from you. One Way Ministries has been proud to fund and support this great effort and is prayerfully considering how we can re-launch again soon.

Richard Long
One Way Ministries