A Living Archive.
A Historic Exchange.
In 1882, students at Cliff College in England began soliciting testimonies from across the Wesleyan world — editing them for print and circulating them as a weekly paper they called the Joyful News. The paper became one of the most widely read Methodist publications of its era, carrying stories of ordinary people encountering God in the routines of daily life.
The Joyful News was not a theological journal. It was a testimony exchange — a curated, communal practice of naming God's work in the world. Edited by the Rev. Thomas Champness and later by others, it ran for decades, eventually incorporating into Advance before ceasing publication in the 1960s.
The Joyful News Project takes its name and its inspiration from this historic publication. We believe the world is ready — and hungry — for a new exchange.
"A Journal devoted to Recording and Spreading the Glad Tidings of Salvation. Edited by Rev. Thomas Champness." — Price One Halfpenny.
"We are praying and believing that if our poor words fail, the little 'joyful' paper, by God's blessing may attain its object."— Rev. Thomas Champness, Joyful News, 1883
A Century of Testimony Exchange
From a small college outside Manchester to a global circulation, the Joyful News traced the arc of Wesleyan witness across the English-speaking world — and now inspires a new chapter.
Founded at Cliff College
Students at the Joyful News Training Home (later Cliff College) in Derbyshire begin publishing a weekly paper collecting testimonies from across Britain and beyond, under the editorship of Rev. Thomas Champness.
Price: One Halfpenny
The paper publishes accounts from dozens of correspondents each week — conversion stories, revival reports, and everyday encounters with grace. Circulation grows rapidly across Wesleyan communities.
Peak Reach: 50,000 Subscribers
At its height the Joyful News reaches over 50,000 subscribers. Readers write in to share how the printed testimonies strengthened their own faith — the "exchange" becomes a snowball of witness.
A Methodist Journal
By the 1930s the paper has evolved into Joyful News: A Methodist Journal — Devoted to Evangelism, Scriptural Holiness & Social Welfare. It continues featuring testimony alongside theological reflection.
Advance Incorporating Joyful News
The paper merges with Advance, continuing to carry testimony and Wesleyan witness into the mid-20th century. It commemorates John Wesley's 225th birthday with a special edition.
A New Exchange Begins
Inspired by this history, Seattle Pacific Seminary, Cliff College, Urban Hymnal, and Home Church launch the Joyful Exchange Project — a transatlantic testimony exchange for a new generation.
Joyful News, No. 2 — Thursday, March 1, 1883. The paper's second issue, featuring testimony accounts from Kidsgrove, Calne, and beyond.
No. 29 — September 6, 1883. By this issue the paper was running testimonies from across England and from as far as Shetland.
Bound volumes Vol. 1–17 (1883–1900) in the Cliff College archives — a physical record of over a decade of testimony exchange.
