Early in 1979, Rev. Nickerson received a call from the Washington, Iowa, RPC to be their pastor. He accepted the call and that summer Synod elected Donald J. McCrory to be his successor. Until McCrory could leave his job with a suburban Pittsburgh newspaper, Philip J. Beard, formerly one of Nickerson’s assistants, served as interim editor for six months.

McCrory, like his predecessor, sought to be a “new pen” in carrying on with the positive elements of the magazine. The matter of “engendering controversy,” however, was not in his vocabulary; although, to be sure, controversial articles appeared. Like the founder of The Christian Nation, he was a newspaperman and not a theologian when he came to the job.

With the beginning of his editorship in January 1980, McCrory began to put his unique stamp on the magazine. The design changed, with more white space and the use of more graphical elements to draw the reader into the articles. He changed the name of the editorial to Viewpoint, a title it still holds. He firmly established the structure and variety in the magazine that remains familiar to this day—a theme section, church news, and rotating features from church agencies.

The new editor apologized for having to raise the subscription price to $7 per year. The number of issues per year decreased to 12, but the number of pages remained the same—24 pages and 16 pages, on alternating months.

The editor permitted a summer intern, Lynne Hutmire, to do significant work on the September 1982 issue of the Covenanter Witness. That intern would later return to the Witness as a co-editor along with her husband, Drew Gordon.

In 1983, the entire year of theme sections were devoted to the kingship of Christ. McCrory purposed to “explore the many facets of Christ’s kingship in the modern age.”

The 100th anniversary issue, published in 1984, was the last one that was edited and “put together” at the Wood Street address. The Witness then moved several blocks to the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary at 7418 Penn Avenue in Pittsburgh, Pa., where the staff took up the work in two large offices on the third floor. There was a stockroom in the basement to accommodate a growing publications business, including The Book of Psalms for Singing, Bible studies, and recordings. The Witness offices would be located in the Seminary building for the next six years.

The final year of Witness issues under McCrory’s editorship included a one-on-one interview with J. I. Packer and a family issue that included results from a survey of Synod delegates who answered questions about their family life.

In summer 1986, Don McCrory announced his resignation. He had decided to accept the challenge of becoming editor of a well-known national monthly magazine, Eternity, which was in need of fresh leadership.

— Donald McCrory and Drew Gordon