Gospel Advocate

The Gospel Advocate is a religious magazine published monthly in Nashville, Tennessee for members of the Churches of Christ. The Advocate enjoyed uninterrupted publication since 1866 until the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Gospel Advocate was founded by Nashville-area Restoration Movement preacher Tolbert Fanning in 1855.^: 361 Fanning's student, William Lipscomb, served as co-editor until the American Civil War forced them to suspend publication in 1861.^: 361

After the end of the Civil War, publication resumed in 1866 under the editorship of Fanning and William Lipscomb's younger brother David Lipscomb; Fanning soon retired and David Lipscomb became the sole editor.^{: 361–362} In 1869 the Advocate was published weekly on Thursdays and reported a circulation of 1850. The early Advocate included church news, Bible lessons, letters from readers, Bible lessons, book reviews, farm information, rural news, and anything the editors felt would be spiritually helpful.^{: 361–362} Lipscomb edited the journal for fifty years following the Civil War, making him the most influential spokesman of the time among the Churches of Christ.^{: 361–362} This was especially true in the South, because most of the other brotherhood journals were perceived as pro-Union.^{: 361–362}