Imagine …

IF ALL THE Sojourners readers got together, we would fill the Robert F. Kennedy Stadium here in Washington DC. I've only been there once, but I remember having a very vivid picture of what it would be like if we could all be there together. The thought made me smile. What a wonderful event it would be!

That image of a stadium full of Sojourners readers has come up for me again several times as we have encountered the financial stress of the past few years. It's so hard to express the strength of the vision and the depth of the need in a fund-raising letter; and it's so hard for a letter to penetrate the busyness of our readers' lives and go right to the place in the heart where I know so many of our readers hold Sojourners community and magazine.

Many times I've thought to myself or remarked to others, "If only I could get them all together and just share our dreams and our need for their support -- I know they would respond." I really do believe that, and know personally from my travels how wide and deep the support for Sojourners is throughout the country and even around the world now. But I also know how very difficult it is to get our wonderfully supportive readers to focus on what Sojourners most needs and how they can most concretely help.

So I've decided to give my "stadium speech." And since I can't get you all in the stadium, I'm offering it to each of you and asking you to listen and respond as if we were all there and I was speaking directly to you. I hope you will really listen. I'm afraid the future of Sojourners depends on how well you hear and how deeply you respond. Here's my speech.

"MY FRIENDS, I CANT TELL YOU how good it feels to be all together like this and to be able to speak to you in this way. Some of us have been on the road together a long time now, and others have just joined into what has always been more like an extended community or family than just a magazine subscriber list.

Many of you have told me that subscribing to Sojourners has always felt like "joining something." Well it is! It's joining a movement -- a movement for spiritual and social transformation, a movement for the future of the church and the sake of the world.

And in these first almost 20 years, we have made a difference together. And I do mean together. In two decades of sojourning throughout this country and around the world, I've had the blessing of seeing who you are, what you do, and how vital the connections are between us. I know that Sojourners represents, articulates, and nourishes both a vision and a movement. That movement, of which we all are a part, offers real hope and fresh imagination to a world crying out for both.

We have made a difference in the lives of hundreds of thousands of people; in the shape of thousands of congregations, parishes, and communities; in the direction of the church in the United States and worldwide; and in the course of political events. Together, we've launched creative and courageous projects such as Witness For Peace in Nicaragua, helped to spark mass movements such as the Nuclear Weapons Freeze Campaign, forestalled U.S. invasion in Central America through the Pledge of Resistance, generated soul-searching study and reflection on racism and economic justice in local churches and national denominations, mobilized Christians across the country for nonviolent direct action and gone to jail together many times, stood in solidarity with brothers and sisters in South Africa and many parts of the world, inspired and nourished countless local efforts for justice and peace, and brought people together in those struggles from across the entire ecumenical spectrum.

Most recently, we have catalyzed church opposition to the threat of war in the Persian Gulf. The church leaders' press conference we called together in mid-October was the first clear note in what has since become a chorus of vocal opposition to the momentum toward military conflagration in the Middle East. Media interest has been very strong.

Sojourners is now calling for an alternative to war in the Gulf. In mid-December, I joined a delegation of church leaders going to Baghdad and elsewhere in the Middle East to try to help make such an alternative possible.

We have played a unifying role in bringing together African-American, American Indian, and white justice and peace groups and churches to plan for an alternative commemoration of the 1992 quincentennial. We've now begun the Let Justice Roll revival/concert/rally tours (we're still not sure what they are!) with Ken Medema in dozens of North American cities.

In the meantime, the magazine continues to win numerous awards in both religious and secular journalism for its political coverage, editorial perspective, feature articles, artistic design, and overall quality. Most recent kudos have come for our magazine issues on integration, economics, environmental justice, and intercessory prayer.

Together we have made a real difference. I've never felt better about the creative energy and vision being generated in the staff, the community, and from our exceptional group of contributing editors. And at no time have we ever felt more access, invitation, and opportunity extended to Sojourners from the churches at the local, national, and international levels, right across the ecumenical spectrum. The future looks very exciting indeed.

And yet, the financial strains and pressures continue to be a great burden for us. I find it a great paradox and often a painful one. The effects of the financial burden can be felt on the staff, the community, and especially on those who carry the primary responsibilities for financial oversight.

The conclusion is absolutely clear: We need more support from more of our readers. That's what it comes down to. We need more help from you if we are going to continue to carry this ministry forward into the next decade and beyond.

Like most magazines, subscriptions don't pay all the bills at Sojourners, even though staff members live on very modest salaries and we keep our costs down. Publishing, printing, and postage costs continue to go up. (Next year alone, postal rate increases will cost us $21,000 more than this year!) As you know, we don't get many advertising dollars and have no primary benefactor. Most foundations won't help magazines, and many church denominations are in financial trouble themselves. That leaves our readers. It all depends on you.

I believe and trust your support for Sojourners. I know you're committed to the work, share in the mission, and feel a part of the movement the magazine is building. So I just want to tell you, as plainly and directly as I can, what we need you to do in order for Sojourners to continue and grow.

We need every Sojourners reader or household to subscribe and renew at the full subscription price.

When you just read a friend's copy or the one at the library, it really hurts us. It's good to save money, but not on Sojourners. Most of you can afford it; it costs less per month to subscribe ($2.25) than to see a matinee movie or buy a double-dip ice cream cone. Please share this letter with others who read your copy of Sojourners.

We need our subscribers to give gift subscriptions to their friends, and to tell others about the magazine and encourage them to subscribe.

You could also distribute brochures or subscription cards at church, school, work, and at conferences. We'll gladly send some to you.

We need a good number of our subscribers also to be financial contributors.

Knowing that you are supporting far more than just a magazine, but also the movement and countless ministries Sojourners inspires, please be generous. Send us a check for $25 or $50 or $100 or $500 or more if you can afford to.

We need a solid and reliable core of contributors who will make a regular, annual pledge to Sojourners.

We need those who will pledge $100 or $300 or $500 for this next year. And we're especially seeking those 500 readers who are able and willing to pledge $1,000 or more. I know we have at least 500 supporters who can do that, and I'm asking you to do it now. All pledge gifts can be made at one time, or quarterly, or monthly, depending on what is most convenient for you. To pledge even $1,000 is just $84 per month. To become a pledger at the outset of Sojourners' 20th-anniversary year would be an especially appropriate and appreciated statement of support.

We are more than a magazine, and we need friends who are willing to be more than subscribers. We need supporters, sustainers, and partners in a shared mission and movement.

That's what we need. I am turning to you because you have been faithful to us before and it seems right and good to ask for your continued and future support now. After all, it's your magazine and your movement. You are the only ones who can make Sojourners possible. And quite honestly, I'd rather depend on you than anyone else.

I'm looking forward to the road ahead. But I want you to be on it with us. If there is one thing I've learned over 20 years, it's that we can't do it alone. We need each other. And right now Sojourners needs you. I am trusting you and trusting God for your response. Let's do it together. Thank you."

That's my stadium speech. Thanks for listening. Please sit down now, while the letter is still fresh in your mind, and fill out the card between pages 50 and 51, make a pledge, and send a check today to Sojourners.

Thank you for your support. I look forward to hearing from you. Together we can make a difference.

Blessings,

Jim Wallis, for everyone at Sojourners

P.S. We hope to get as many of you as possible into a stadium this summer at our 20th-anniversary festival, August 15-18, to be held at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It's for the whole family, and we promise to keep it inexpensive. You'll be treated to the most wonderful array of speakers, musicians, and terrific people you've ever seen. And maybe I'll be able to give a real stadium speech to at least a good number of us. I'm really looking forward to it. Hope to see you there!