(RNS) DisciplesWorld, an award-winning magazine that covered the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) as an independent journal, is shutting its doors after eight years of publication.

“We made a valiant effort,” publisher and editor Verity A. Jones said in a Dec. 16 statement announcing the closure, citing declining subscription and advertising revenue and a decrease in charitable gifts.

DisciplesWorld had come close to ceasing publication several times in recent years, though had been able to continue after receiving a major grant earlier this year “to formulate new strategies to adapt to the changing publishing landscape,” the magazine said. It had also switched to bi-monthly publication after originally being published 10 times annually.

The journal had planned to re-launch its Web site next month with more space for features and an expanded ability for readers to share content. But that was not enough to stave off the problems of a declining revenue and subscription base and an increasingly difficult environment for all types of print-based journalism.

“We chose to move forward rather than just hold the course through the recession,” Jones said. “I am saddened that this publication is coming to an end, but I am proud of the magazine, its staff, readers, writers and supporters.”

As a publication that covered the denomination but was independent of it, DisciplesWorld was able to cover a variety of controversial issues, including homosexuality, war, immigration and gun control. The magazine won numerous awards from the Associated Church Press, a trade association, for its reporting.

In announcing the closure, Jones said that DisciplesWorld, Inc., the non-profit entity that has publishes the magazine, will also dissolve. However, the DisciplesWorld website — http://www.disciplesworld.com — will remain live during the magazine’s “wind-down process.”

DisciplesWorld was formed after The Disciple, an official denominational publication, ended publication in 2002 for financial reasons.