In 1882 Rev. Stanford was called to be the Associate Editor of "The Evangelical Messenger," the official English-language periodical of his denomination, with offices in Cleveland, Ohio. He served in this position until 1888. His Chief Editor was the Rev. Dr. H.B. Hartzler, who afterwards became one of Mr. D.L. Moody's co-workers in the great training schools at Northfield, Massachusetts (Hartzler also, later, becoming a Bishop of the Evangelical Association). During the more than six years of this assignment, the paper attained the highest circulation ever.