About MBT

The newsletter, the Midwest Buddhist Temple Bulletin, is our vehicle for communicating and sharing information about temple events, and needs and news from the temple, the Sangha and the Buddhist Churches of America. It is published 12 times a year in an electronic format. The newsletter is distributed via email to more than 900 subscribers across 25 states and five countries.

The first MBT newsletter was produced in 1944 under the name of Midwest Dharma.

On Nov. 4, 1944, in a one-room converted kitchenette on 1300 N. LaSalle St., a lean staff put out Vol. 1, No.1 with a single manual typewriter. George Kebo was the first editor. And Rev. Gyodo Kono, the temple’s founding minister, was present whenever the staff gathered to work on the Midwest Dharma, serving as the newsletter’s constant cheerleader.

Based on the premise that a well-informed membership is the essential foundation on which an organization stands, grows or falls, the Midwest Dharma strove to keep the membership informed and updated. Over the next 70 years, the newsletter has seen a name change (it became the MBT Bulletin in 1965), many dedicated volunteer editors and new features. But there has been one constant over these many decades: the newsletter’s mission to chronicle the times of the Midwest Buddhist Temple, its evolution and events and activities that reflect Buddhist teachings.

If you would like to subscribe to the newsletter or advertise in it, please contact us at office@mbtchicago.org or call 312.943.7801.