Eternity is an Australian Christian media service that produces a bi-annual magazine and a daily online publication. Published by Bible Society Australia, Eternity is interdenominational, and is not affiliated with any particular church.
After decades as Art Director at Fairfax Media, John Sandeman, a Sydney Anglican, and Christian entrepreneur David Maegraith[1] founded Eternity.[2] Having become part of the Bible Society Australia group in 2011, Eternity shifted away from news reporting in 2022, under new leadership.[3]
The Eternity magazine is printed bi-annually with a circulation of about 100,000, while Eternity online publishes articles daily.[1]
The online format has seven main content categories:
Australia
Faith stories
Good news
In depth
Opinion
Culture
World
History
In 2009, David Maegraith and John Sandeman discussed a desire to address what they perceived as unfair mainstream media coverage of Christianity, as well as disunity within the Christian church.[1] They founded Eternity, expressing an intention to emphasise high-quality, neutral journalism to benefit a Christian audience in Australia.[2] A first draft of the paper was called Australian Christian.[3] The name was changed by Sandeman shortly after to Eternity, a word notably used by Sydney folklore legend Arthur Stace.
In May 2011, Eternity became part of the Bible Society Australia, a broad-based interdenominational organisation that is a member of the worldwide United Bible Societies.[3] Sandeman subsequently moved from owning Eternity to being an employee of the Bible Society Australia, with Rebecca Abbott becoming Head of Eternity in August 2022. This change was part of a broader shift in focus away from news reporting and towards faith-based media.[3]
In February 2024, the Bible Society Australia announced that Eternity News would cease operations on 30 April 2024.[4]
In 2021, 60 Minutes responded to Eternity's article, "Hillsong is red meat for media: what 60 minutes is serving up this week"[12] which described the actions of a Hillsong employee as a "story of a drunken encounter and an unpleasant touch". 60 Minutes responded, "If you want to know what's wrong with Hillsong, you need only look at the completely tone-deaf way the megachurch and its supporters have responded to our investigation broadcast on Sunday night".[13]