In 1958, the Rev. Howard Lane Foland purchased an 1,100-acre working dairy farm south of Eureka Springs. Father Foland and his colleagues arrived at the picturesque property known as Hillspeak on St. Mark’s Day in 1960 with the intention of creating an almost monastic community. But after a few years, they stopped milking cows and instead focused on church publications, including The Anglican Digest, in order “to reflect the words and work of the faithful throughout the Anglican Communion.”
“Rev. Foland started something called the Episcopal Book Club,” Rev. Charleston Wilson, Chair of the Board of The Anglican Digest, said. “Back then, there was no Amazon to figure out what to read. Father Foland would get books from publishers and write about books he recommended. Then he started selling the books. After that, he started The Anglican Digest, which carries a number of articles about the faith. Today, from right there in Eureka Springs, we ship to 67 countries, and we are the largest publication currently serving the Anglican Communion, which has branches in 180 countries.”
Churches of the Anglican Communion go by different names in different countries. In some countries, including the U.S., it is called the Episcopal Church. In Nigeria, it is called the Church of Nigeria. In England, it is the Church of England. Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion, after Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodoxy.
“We don’t sell many books anymore, but we do reviews of books in the Digest,” Wilson said. “Over the years, millions of Anglican Digests have been shipped around the world. We are still all in English but are looking to potentially add another language. Most of the Anglican churches are former British colonies. We do have some churches in Latin America that frequently request a Spanish translation, but we’re not quite there yet.”
Hillspeak is also home to one of the more significant theological libraries in the country with more than 20,000 volumes. Over the years another focus was mission called Operation Passalong. Furnishings such as vestments for clergy, choir robes, and books, including Bibles, are sent free to emerging countries in Africa and Latin American.
“We have shared something like 400,000 items,” Wilson said. “It is the little engine that could. Locally, everyone knows our work as Hillspeak. If you leave Eureka Springs, no one knows us as Hillspeak. They know us as The Anglican Digest.”
There have also been benefits to people who live in the hilly area where water is scarce and drilling a well can be very expensive. Hillspeak has a county-approved water system that provides water sold to people who live in the area.
Wilson lives in Florida and most of board and team of The Anglican Digest work remotely and don’t live in Eureka Springs.
Recently Hillspeak gave thanks to Tom Walker, who had been general manager of Hillspeak for 56 years.
“He’s a tremendous man whose dedication has made all that Hillspeak has done possible,” Wilson said.
Walker retired July 1, and now they are now re-structuring some of their staffing.
“All of our staff are wonderful, long-term employees who have worked on a variety of things over the years,” Wilson said. “Moving forward we want to focus only on the growing part of our mission, which is our Digest, instead of the Passalong, the library, and other things. We aren’t in a position going forward to have staff who do those things as dedicated positions.
“But we were able to care of our people. Even though most positions ended on site on July 1, we are paying all our departing staff through the end of this year, including accrued sick time and pension commitments. Our business model has changed since the 1950s, and these staffing reductions reflect that reality. For example, we no longer print the Digest on site, but down in Little Rock. But what has not changed since the 1950s is the need to hear the gospel and we believe The Digest is our best tool in making the gospel heard.”
Since July 1 they have only one full-time employee at Hillspeak, operations manager Linda Crane. The editor is based in Florida. They have contributing partners and readers from all around the globe.
They have no plans to leave their historic location at Hillspeak with its large, iconic red barn on top of the hill.
“It is beautiful and really peaceful,” Wilson said. “We even have a chapel that’s open 24 hours a day for people to come and pray. Far from selling it off, we are committed to being part of the Eureka Springs community for many years to come.”