Chief Word Architect Stephen Caldwell (left) is the director of and the primary consultant for WordBuilders Communications Services. As we begin this ministry, we'll take on as many clients as his time and energy allows. Eventually, he will call on an emerging network of journalists, other word nerds and designers who are disciples of Jesus and who are committed to helping fulfill the Great Commission by helping improve communications.

Stephen Caldwell, Chief Word Architect

Journalism runs in my blood. For starters, my great grandfather edited a newspaper, my grandfather edited a newspaper and my father edited a newspaper. And once my sister, while we were working together at the weekly newspaper my parents owned, switched my soft drink with a bottle of ink used on plates that go on a printing press. Of course, I took a swig.

My duties for my dad's paper included everything from taking out the trash to working on the press to writing Little League stories to covering City Council meetings. At Northeast Louisiana University , I worked for two different local newspapers and the university newspaper while earning a journalism degree in three years. I was the editor of the student paper my final year in college. After a short stint with the Monroe, La., newspaper, I took a job as a sportswriter for the Arkansas Democrat in Little Rock, Ark., and eventually worked my way into the job of covering the University of Arkansas Razorbacks.

In the late 1990s, some friends started a company with the mission of bridging the gap of understanding about faith and work. I joined them and we launched The Life@Work Journal, with me serving as the editor. It lasted a little more than three years, winning several awards for its content and design.

In 2002, I returned to the newspaper business. By then, the Arkansas Democrat had become the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and it had expanded its operations around my home in the northwest corner of the state. Its northwest edition needed a city editor to oversee a news staff of around 15 people, so I took the job.

After six years as city editor, I launched WordBuilders as a for-profit company that maintains a non-profit component. (The company's Web site is www.wordbuilders.biz ).

Suzanne and I have been married 27 years, and we have four children and two grandchildren. Our children have been involved in short-term missions, as have my wife and I, and our son-in-law is director of discipleship for Lightbearers.