Urban Ministries, Inc. (UMI) has named Katara Washington Patton as its new publisher, bringing her back to the Christian media company where she began her publishing career nearly 30 years ago.
The Chicago-based organization publishes a wide range of resources for churches and individuals, including Bible studies, Sunday School and Vacation Bible School materials, books, movies and websites, and Patton will oversee that publishing work and lead UMI's content and design team, working with marketing, sales and other departments on new products.
Patton has spent much of her career in Christian publishing and editorial work, and her previous roles included positions at Tyndale, Our Daily Bread Publishing, Christian Century Magazine and The African American Pulpit. She also led the editorial track at the ECPA PubU conference for the past three years.
She said returning to UMI was particularly meaningful because it was where her career in Christian publishing began. Patton grew up in a family heavily involved in church life, with her mother serving as a Sunday School superintendent and her father as a head deacon and teacher.
UMI president and CEO C. Jeffrey Wright also said her editorial experience and background as an author would help the organization continue its work - Patton has written nine Christian living and devotional books too, and her next book, Faith of Our Teen Girls: Passing Belief from Mother to Daughter, is scheduled for publication by Whitaker House in 2027.
UMI was founded in 1970 by Dr. Melvin Banks Sr. and focuses on producing Christian resources for African American churches and communities.
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