Charisma

About Charisma

Charisma is a monthly Christian magazine published in Lake Mary, Florida, aimed at Pentecostals and charismatics and widely regarded as the flagship publication of the global charismatic movement. Founded in 1975 as a modest church publication in central Florida, it grew over five decades into one of the most influential Spirit-filled media platforms in the world, chronicling revivals, ministries and controversies across Pentecostal and charismatic Christianity. Published by Charisma Media, the magazine mixes news reporting, interviews, Bible teaching, Christian-living features and columns from prominent voices such as Joyce Meyer and Don Colbert. It marked its fiftieth anniversary in 2025, half a century after its first issue rolled off the press.

A Church Newsletter Finds Its Calling

Charisma began in August 1975 as the members' magazine of Calvary Assembly of God in Winter Park, Florida, with 24-year-old Stephen Strang as its publisher. Strang had just graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in journalism and was working as a reporter for the Orlando Sentinel while attending Calvary Assembly. While editing the church's newsletter, he sensed a calling to something larger: a publication that would give voice to the growing charismatic movement and document what the Holy Spirit was doing around the world.

The first issue was produced with a small loan and abundant faith from an office inside the church. It ran just 32 pages and reached a circulation of only a few thousand. Strang and his wife, Joy, worked late nights on layouts and stories, often uncertain how the next month's issue would come together. There were no guarantees in those early days — only a sense of calling, as Strang would later recall when reflecting on the magazine's fiftieth anniversary.

Independence and the 1981 Buyout

For its first six years, Charisma operated as a department of Calvary Assembly, then one of the fastest-growing churches in America. The magazine found early traction, aided in part by the columnist Jamie Buckingham, the well-known author whose writing gave the young publication credibility beyond its congregation. By 1981 it had grown enough to stand on its own, and the church sold the magazine to Strang and his wife in a leveraged buyout for $25,000.

The first year of independence proved difficult — the young company posted a $100,000 loss — but the magazine steadily emerged as what observers came to call the main magazine of the Christian charismatic movement. Strang broadened its mission from a local church publication to a journal serving the charismatic movement at large, and the publication began to attract a national readership of Pentecostals and charismatics hungry for news of revivals, ministries and the moving of the Spirit.

The Christian Life Merger

In 1986, Charisma merged with Robert Walker's Christian Life magazine, the historic evangelical publication that had pioneered Christian media a generation earlier. Christian Life moved from Du Page County, Illinois, to Charisma's base in Altamonte Springs, Florida, and Walker himself served as a mentor to Strang after the union. The merger was described at the time as a step toward bridging the gap between evangelical and charismatic Christians, and the combined publication became known as Charisma + Christian Life.

The merger made the magazine the flagship of Strang's growing media organization, then called Strang Communications. The combined publication carried forward Christian Life's evangelical heritage alongside Charisma's charismatic identity, giving the magazine a broader reach across the American evangelical landscape and cementing its position as a bridge between the two traditions.

Chronicling the Charismatic Movement

Charisma's editorial perspective has been shaped by the major streams of contemporary charismatic Christianity, including charismatic revivalism, the Toronto Blessing, the International House of Prayer, the Apostolic-Prophetic movement and the New Apostolic Reformation. The magazine has reported on revivals, healing ministries, prophetic voices and worship movements, positioning itself as the journal of record for a movement that now counts hundreds of millions of adherents worldwide.

Its content is a mixture of news, interviews, Christian-living features, Bible teaching and essays by columnists. Over the years the magazine has featured interviews with prominent church leaders, covered global revivals and addressed cultural and political developments from a Spirit-filled worldview. Regular columnists have included Joyce Meyer and Don Colbert, and Jennifer LeClaire has served as news editor, while Strang himself writes the widely read Strang Report column.

Circulation and National Influence

Charisma's growth was dramatic. By 1997 the magazine's circulation had reached 250,000, and by 2009 it stood at 275,000 — making it one of the largest monthly publications among evangelicals. The magazine's influence extended well beyond its subscriber base, as its reporting on the charismatic movement shaped how the broader culture understood Pentecostal Christianity.

In 2005, Time magazine named Stephen Strang one of the 25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America, noting that Charisma chronicled the fast-growing charismatic movement and had become powerful enough to secure interviews with sitting presidents. Strang's influence would eventually lead him to interview three U.S. presidents and to speak at the United Nations, a remarkable trajectory for a publisher who began by editing a church newsletter.

Columnists and Editorial Voices

The magazine's pages have carried contributions from some of the most recognizable names in charismatic Christianity. In its early years, Jamie Buckingham's column helped establish the publication's credibility, and his voice set a tone of serious, accessible Christian journalism. In later decades, regular columnists included the Bible teacher and author Joyce Meyer, whose practical teaching reached millions, and Dr. Don Colbert, known for his writing on health and wellness from a faith perspective.

Marcus Yoars has served as editor-in-chief, leading the magazine's editorial team, while Stephen Strang continued to write and to host the Strang Report podcast, broadcasting live on video platforms. The combination of staff reporting and contributed voices has kept the magazine's editorial mix fresh across decades of changing church culture.

Charisma Media: A Publishing Empire

The magazine became the foundation of a broader publishing enterprise. Strang Communications was eventually rebranded as Charisma Media, and the company's book group, Charisma House, published hundreds of books, including more than two dozen New York Times bestsellers. Its authors included Jonathan Cahn, John Eckhardt and Jentezen Franklin, and titles such as The Harbinger, The Faith of George W. Bush and God and Donald Trump reached millions and helped frame national conversations from a biblical worldview.

Charisma Media also developed a Spanish-language imprint, Casa Creación, and expanded into websites, apps, newsletters, podcasts and other media. In 2015, the company transferred the publisher title from Strang to two key leaders: Tessie DeVore, named publisher of the book group, and Dr. Steve Greene, named publisher of the magazine group. The company celebrated its fortieth anniversary that year as the leading book and magazine publisher in the Pentecostal and charismatic market.

Fifty Years of Spirit-Led Journalism

In 2025, Charisma marked its fiftieth anniversary — a milestone Strang described as leaving him profoundly humbled and deeply grateful. What started as a modest publication out of a local church office in Orlando had grown into one of the most influential Spirit-filled media platforms in the world, by Strang's own account impacting millions of readers across the decades.

The anniversary invited reflection on just how much the church, the culture and the technology of publishing had changed since that first 32-page issue in August 1975. From hot type to the internet, from a few thousand church members to a global digital audience, the magazine adapted its delivery while keeping its founding vision: to give voice to the charismatic movement and document what the Holy Spirit is doing around the world.

Official Website and Digital Presence

Charisma maintains an extensive digital presence through its official website at charismamag.com, where readers can find daily news, feature articles, devotionals and multimedia content alongside information about print subscriptions. The site serves as the digital home of Charisma Magazine Online, extending the publication's reach far beyond its print edition with breaking coverage of the charismatic world.

Through its website, newsletters, podcasts and social channels, Charisma continues to serve as a daily source of news, insight and teaching for Spirit-filled believers — the same mission that animated its founders in a small church office in 1975, now carried out on a global stage.