DALLAS (BP)–Toby Druin, editor of the Baptist Standard since Jan. 1, 1996, has announced his retirement as the Texas Baptist weekly newspaper’s 12th editor, effective Dec. 31.
“Three years ago, the directors of the Baptist Standard gave me the highest honor in Baptist journalism when they elected me editor of this paper,” Druin said of his election in June 1995. “I told them at the time of my election that I would serve until I was 65. I am ending that commitment 10 months short,” said Druin, who will be 64 Oct. 20.
“I feel absolutely no pressure to make this decision,” he noted. “I have never felt anything but total support from the board of directors.
“As I have prayed about it over the last few weeks, I simply feel that it is best for me and my wife, Larra, and the future of the Baptist Standard.”
Druin and his wife have begun making plans for retirement activities, he said.
“I want to be free to spend more time with Larra and our family,” he explained. “She and I also want to be more involved in church building projects and with our local church. With the permission of my successor, I also would like to continue to work with the Standard on a part-time basis in expanding the regional concept we have begun in Houston.”
A regional edition for readers in Houston and southeast Texas is among several innovations the Standard has launched under Druin’s tenure.
The Houston/Southeast Texas edition is a monthly insert of news and information about and for Baptists in eight associations in that part of the state. It is designed to offer increased coverage on a closer-to-home basis and to strengthen the paper’s circulation. Druin envisions several regional editions across the state.
Druin also led the Standard to publish an electronic edition, available internationally on the Internet. The complete paper is reproduced each week on the Standard’s web site: www.baptiststandard.com.
The Standard also completely redesigned its printed edition three months after Druin became editor. The paper switched from a magazine format to a tabloid. The change enabled the newspaper to expand the amount of news it publishes each week for about the same cost as the old magazine format.
On the business side of the paper’s operation, Druin oversaw the implementation of new business and circulation computer equipment and software, as well as the transfer of mailing operations to the paper’s printer, Dallas Offset. All these moves, along with related reduction of the size of the paper’s staff, resulted in budget savings for the paper.
The Standard’s board of directors, which met May 19, accepted Druin’s retirement announcement with appreciation.
“We affirm our editor, Toby Druin, in this decision, because we know he has made it thoughtfully and prayerfully,” said board chairman Danny Andrews, editor of the Plainview Daily Herald.
“Toby has given 22 years of devoted service to the Standard and has done an outstanding job as editor the past two and one-half years,” Andrews said. “We wish him well as he completes his tenure and in all his future endeavors.
“The board will now turn its attention to naming a successor to Toby. We plan to meet soon to discuss that issue.”
When Druin retires Dec. 31, he will have completed 43 years as a professional journalist, 34 years in denominational journalism and more than two decades with the Standard, including 19 years as associate editor.
The Baylor University graduate began his career in 1956 and was a staff member and editor for eight years on Texas daily newspapers in Amarillo, Borger, Wichita Falls, Plainview and Waco.
He worked in the public relations department at Baylor University, 1964-66 and was associate editor of the North Carolina Biblical Recorder, 1966-73; editor of news services for the Southern Baptist Home Mission Board, 1973-76; and Baptist Standard associate editor, 1976-95.
He was president of the Association of State Baptist Papers in 1995-96 and was the first associate editor to hold that post.
The Druins have three adult daughters, DeAnna Jarnagin, Christie Windsor and Sherry Hight, and six grandchildren.
They are members of First Baptist Church, Duncanville, Texas, where he is a deacon. He has been bivocational and interim music minister at numerous Baptist churches.
