In November, 1980, The Biblical Evangelist stopped publication and Sumner became Managing Editor of a Christian newspaper of (which he had served previously starting in 1954), The Sword of the Lord, which was published by John R.

[2] In 1982, Sumner left The Sword after a dispute with the editor that was mediated by Jack Hyles.

After the ordeal, Sumner complained that he was left "without an editorial voice", so he restarted The Biblical Evangelist by sending letters to former subscribers asking them to resubscribe.

Sumner continued as editor of the Biblical Evangelist until 2016, publishing the last edition only two months before he died.

The article accused Hyles of sexual scandals, financial misappropriation and doctrinal errors.