WORLD Notes: Staying interesting and engaging to younger audiences

It has been about 45 years since our board of directors approved Joel Belz’s unlikely idea to begin publishing weekly news magazines for students, what we now know collectively as God’s World News. At the time, that decision marked a sharp turn away from the ecclesiastical journal WORLD had published for decades. It also set in motion work that has shaped generations of young readers.

For most of those 45 years, Rich Bishop has been at the center of that work.

Rich first began contributing illustrations to WORLD and God’s World News in the early 1980s, working remotely by mail and fax. In 1990, he moved to Asheville to join the staff full time. From there, he says, he “never really looked back—or even to the side.”

“The kind of work and mission I found at GWN was exactly what I hoped to do with my career,” Rich told me. “Mostly, knowing that your work is in some small way bringing joy to young people, and helping to shape them—that’s a powerful motivator.”

Rich’s early contributions were primarily visual—design and illustration—but over time his role expanded. He became a writer, a storyteller, and eventually a shaper of tone and direction. What marked his work from the beginning was a rare combination: mature judgment, theological seriousness, and a formidable work ethic to create products that unlocked a child’s sense of wonder and playfulness.

Asked how he balances fun and seriousness when working for younger audiences, Rich pushes back on the premise.

“It’s not so much about being light or serious,” he says, “as it is about staying interesting and engaging. You can’t accomplish much if you don’t hold their interest. But once you have their interest, you have to do something with that opportunity.”

That philosophy has shaped God’s World News for decades—and later, WORLD Watch as well. Over time, that approach helped establish a distinctive trust with readers and viewers alike. Young audiences sensed they were being taken seriously—not talked down to or entertained past the truth. Teachers and parents noticed it too. The work respected children not merely as consumers of information, but as developing thinkers formed by what they see and hear.

When WORLD Watch emerged as a concept in 2020, Rich was the natural choice to help lead it, though the move was not without risk. He was stepping away from a 40-year-old print institution to help build an untested video program.

His hesitation, he says, was practical rather than philosophical.

“The only thing that gave me pause was pulling together the talent to make it professional—and whether I could help manage all the moving day-to-day parts,” he says. “But creatively, the idea that I could bring my illustrations to life—make them move and give them a voice—felt like a second opportunity of a lifetime.”

That blend of curiosity and courage has marked Rich’s work from the start. It is also evident in the way he has mentored younger journalists, editors, and producers—often informally, and usually without drawing attention to himself.

What does he hope they carry with them?

“I hope they remember how much they are appreciated by our viewers, who are amazingly intelligent, joyful, and supportive,” Rich says. “And I hope they feel both the weight and the pleasure of having a hand in helping young people learn to be good Christian thinkers.”

There are only a handful of people without whom God’s World News would not exist. Rich Bishop is one of them. And in God’s providence, his influence now extends well beyond print—into classrooms, homes, and screens where a new generation is learning to see the world clearly, faithfully, and with joy.