From the magazine's inauspicious beginning as The Sunday School Promoter to its leadership position as the foremost independent evangelical publication in the U.S., to its merger with Charisma (Strang Communications) in 1986, the magazine has been on the cutting edge of spiritual outreach.

Indeed, it has lived up to its reputation as being "more than a magazine."

Shortly after Walker took the helm at Scripture Press' floundering Church School Promoter in 1939, he changed its name to Sunday School Promoter. Then, in 1943, he renamed the magazine Sunday, published it in a Reader's Digest size format--and was featured in Time and Newsweek. Both acclaimed the bold step--but also the personality profiles he introduced to the Christian marketplace, and the crisp, colorful writing.

In the next few years, Sunday School Promotor took over other magazines: The Way, Religious Digest, Sunday School Digest and Christian Parent.

But the most notable of the takeovers was that of Christian Life & Times, published by Clyde Dennis of Good News Publishers. From it came the new name, Christian Life.

Walker soon discovered that Christian Life needed more quality manuscripts. So Christian Life started the Christian Writers' Institute, a correspondence school.

Although begun as the "training arm" of Christian Life, the entire religious publishing field benefited. Some students went on to become editors--Les Stobbe (of Scripture Press) and Edythe Draper (of Tyndale House) being among the notables.

When there was an obvious need for Sunday School growth, Christian Life launched a Sunday School contest which soon spread world-wide. When churches were struggling to survive, Christian Life worked with architect Joe Kimball to introduce and provide prefabricated churches.

Then in 1955 Christian Life, now incorporated as Christian Life Publications, launched the first trade magazine for the religious book retailer: Christian Bookseller. And in 1956, Christian Life, seeing the need for Christian literature overseas, founded Christian Life Missions, a not-for-profit entity whose first project was to send Peter Cunliffe to Brazil to begin publishing a Christian Life "clone."

All of the above entities were given extensive editorial support in Christian Life magazine.

Then in the early 1970s, a Christian Life article on Pat and Shirley Boone created such interest that Walker encouraged them to expand it into a book which Christian Life would publish in its newly-established Creation House book publishing division.

Christian Life magazine always had been unique in that it was not tied to any church, denomination or Christian group and did not claim a tax exempt status. However, in 1981, Christian Life merged into Christian Life Missions and became a not-for-profit entity.

The final move for the magazine and its various offshoots and divisions came in 1986 when it merged into Charisma to become Charisma/Christian Life, flagship publication of Strang Communications.

"I felt comfortable," Walker says, "knowing that the entire operation would be in the capable hands of Stephen Strang, a knowledgeable journalist with a strong Christian commitment."