The founder of WORLD magazine, Joel Belz, has died at his home in Asheville, N.C. His passing on Sunday, at age 82, comes years after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and cancer.

An editor and columnist for the Christian current-events publication, Belz was best known for running business operations of what became World News Group (WNG). According to WNG, its content “reaches an estimated audience of 500,000 people” every month. Belz “(combined) his knowledge of printing, fundraising, and theology” to launch the magazine, wrote longtime WORLD editor, Marvin Olasky, in a Current tribute. 

From early in life, Belz was rooted in the reformed Christian tradition, specifically the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). He studied at Covenant College, a PCA-affiliated school then based in St. Louis, Missouri, earning a bachelor’s degree in English in 1962. Covenant, where he later taught, posted in tribute, calling Belz “a lifetime champion for Covenant.” 

Belz and his wife of 49 years, Carol Esther Belz, were founding members of Covenant Reformed Presbyterian Church in Asheville in 1980, where they served with their five daughters. In 2003, Joel Belz was named moderator of the annual General Assembly of the PCA, held in Charlotte, N.C. He later called serving in that role “the highest honor of his life.” 

Hundreds of tributes to Belz have been published online. Several WORLD readers, such as Barb Findley of Fort Myers, Florida, stated their favorite Belz columns were his “interviews in front of Walmart” where he stood outside and asked people’s opinions on varied issues. 

WNG board chairman John Weiss called Belz “a leader, a publisher, a visionary, a faithful servant of his Lord and a friend and mentor to all of us at WORLD. His ever-ready words of encouragement to all will be sorely missed.” 

Trevin Wax, vice president at the SBC’s North American Mission Board and a Gospel Coalition writer, posted on X: “Joel Belz shaped me. I’ve read WORLD since I was a teenager. In Romania, I kept a subscription (even when it took 3-4 weeks to arrive!). Getting to interact with Joel in his later years was a blessing . . . A life well lived.” 

Joel Belz shaped me.

I’ve read WORLD since I was a teenager. In Romania, I kept a subscription (even when it took 3-4 weeks to arrive!).

Getting to interact with Joel in his later years was a blessing, and only increased my gratitude for his ministry.

A life well lived. https://t.co/HzWeRW4TcD

— Trevin Wax (@TrevinWax) February 5, 2024

Belz’s nephew, Aaron Belz, an author and poet, spoke of the dignity and attention that his uncle gave him when he was a child. “I didn’t recognize Joel as a ‘newsman’ or ‘educator’ as much as a curious bespectacled man with wild, fluffy hair,” Belz told The Roys Report (TRR). 

“(He) delighted in showing me things and asking me what I thought. As I grew up, I recognized that he was that way with everyone!”

Faith-driven educator, entrepreneurial newsman

Belz’s lifelong passions of faith, entrepreneurship, and education can be traced to his upbringing in the cornfields of rural central Iowa. 

His father, Max, was a grain, lumber, and coal dealer who later became a preacher—and also owned a printing business. His mother, Jean, was a teacher who co-founded Cono Christian School in Walker, Iowa, with Max. Their second-oldest child, Joel, and his seven siblings attended. 

His nephew, Aaron—son of Joel’s brother, Mark Belz—noted how Joel Belz modeled himself after the family patriarch, Max. Aaron described his grandfather as “the ultimate wild-eyed educator, radio show host, pressman, and newsman.” 

He added, comparing his uncle and grandfather: “They both loved the church and were committed to our nation getting it right. And they knew every person they encountered deserved to be treated according to their design—in the image of God.”

During his years at Covenant College, Belz played a critical role in the school moving to Lookout Mountain, Georgia. He later taught classes, worked in public relations, and served on the school’s board of trustees for decades. 

It is with sadness yet rejoicing that we share that Joel Belz is now with our Heavenly Father. Our prayers go out to the Belz family as they mourn the loss of a loving father, husband, grandfather, brother, son, and more. pic.twitter.com/Li7RdtMl1x

— Covenant College (@CovenantCollege) February 5, 2024

In 1970, he worked with a group of parents in Lookout Mountain to found what is now Chattanooga Christian School. The school actively recruited Black students during an era when school segregation was still prevalent. 

Belz started in journalism in 1977, when he moved to Asheville to work for The Presbyterian Journal, eventually rising to the role of editor. Olasky described that publication as “a southern voice of theological conservatism and, sadly, a defender of segregation,” and Belz sought to reinvent it in a different vein. 

With his education background, he launched a short current-events newsletter for middle-school students in Christian schools. It proved successful and versions for other ages were launched. Parents gradually asked for a newsmagazine grounded in the same Christian ethos. This led Belz to launch WORLD, which folded after 13 issues due to financial difficulties.

But a year later, in 1987, the publication’s board decided to discontinue the Journal and relaunch WORLD. 

“During a period when 80–90 percent of all periodicals flunk the test of durability, God let WORLD survive,” stated Belz years later in a column.

Controversy and legacy

Belz and Olasky, who became WORLD editor-in-chief in 1994, grew WORLD into a force of Christian investigative journalism.

The magazine broke such stories as Pastor Mark Driscoll’s book-buying scandal and Ralph Reed’s questionable financial dealings with Indian reservation casinos. A WORLD exposé about bullying, deception, and financial mismanagement at Harvest Bible Chapel, authored by TRR founder Julie Roys, precipitated Harvest’s firing of Pastor James MacDonald.

In 2005, Belz stepped down as CEO of World News Group, continuing as a columnist and founding editor. 

Olasky left in protest in November 2021, when WORLD  launched WORLD Opinions, tapping prominent Southern Baptist seminary president Al Mohler as editor. Olasky referred to the addition as “the project of a conservative opinion magazine.”

In a New York Times story, Joel Belz referred to the departures as “growing pains.” 

This week, a tribute story about Belz in WORLD stated that Belz sent a message to all WORLD staff at the time, “begging them to seek the Lord and pray for the future of the company. He lamented the separation that followed . . .”

WORLD currently has a staff of over 100 people, producing periodicals, online articles, podcasts, and video productions. The publication’s tribute recalls a worship service in October 2023, one of Belz’s last opportunities to interact with the larger staff. 

“Those gathered sang, prayed, and reflected on our charge as Bible-believing journalists in a fallen world,” reads the report. “Afterward, a crowd gathered around the pew where the Belzes sat, each person hoping for a blessing, a word of wisdom, or even just a hug from the organization’s founder.”

Belz’s wife was reportedly by his bedside when he died on Sunday. 

Joel Belz is also survived by his daughters, Jenny Gienapp, Katrina Costello, Alice Tucker, Elizabeth Odegard, and Esther Morrison; 16 grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and a large extended family. 

Visitation has been scheduled for Feb. 9, at Covenant Reformed Presbyterian Church in Asheville, and the funeral service a day later at Arden Presbyterian Church. Further details can be found at the family’s obituary for Belz. 

Correction: An inaccuracy regarding the birth order of the Belz family has been corrected.

Freelance journalist Josh Shepherd writes on faith, culture, and public policy for several media outlets. He and his family live in the Washington, D.C. area.