As a sophomore at Calvin College, I began hearing a refrain from classmates who had shed their evangelical heritage like a bulky fur coat at the start of spring. "Evangelicals only care about abortion and gay marriage," they sighed, parroting headlines of the time. It was 2004, and the "values vote" had apparently secured George W. Bush's reelection. We rushed to show that no, really, we cared about poverty and social justice too (unaware that Jim Wallis, Ron Sider, and others had been saying this since before we existed).

Like a stellar magazine should do, CT set the story straight. Over Christmas or spring break, I'd pick up a copy at my parents' house and read about Christians who supported the partial-birth abortion ban—and also resettled refugees and reconciled Arabs and Israelis and turned the tide on HIV/AIDS. "A magazine of evangelical conviction" taught me that those convictions, rooted in the gospel of Christ, were broader and deeper than media wisdom suggested.