Keeping Faith, Doing Justice, Building Community

Something is happening that we dare not miss. In many places and circumstances, a new ecumenical community is emerging, radically rooted in faith and deeply committed to justice. People and groups from diverse traditions, who have not been connected before, are discovering how much they need each other. Together, they are forging a practice of faith in action that can genuinely be called prophetic; and, together, they are harbingers for a more prophetic church.

As hopeful as this development is, it is, indeed, easy to miss. In fact, many who are making it happen actually feel alone. In our families and local environments, it's hard to see or feel connected to the wider community even when we know it exists.

It's not easy to put your faith together with your life, or really do something about justice, or seek to care for the Earth. Sometimes we are just overwhelmed.

I know how hard it is to resist the temptation to lose hope. Particularly in the difficult time since the Gulf war, many who seek peace and pursue justice have done much soul-searching.

However, one of the blessings of all the traveling I do is that I get to meet so many of our readers and friends. I see your lives--your work, your families, your communities, your struggles. What makes me feel so close to you and so grateful for you is the integrity of those struggles. What I see convinces me that there is much more going on in this country (and around the world) than meets the eye, and certainly than ever makes the evening news.

What's happening? A remarkable number of people are going about the business of keeping faith, doing justice, and building community. It's not always magnificent, visible, or immediately effective. But it is happening, it is faithful, and it is profoundly important to the future.

It's time for all of us to come together. We need each other perhaps more than ever before. Our society and world are in crisis. History seems to be opening up and approaching a critical point that will require new visions and dreams.

The issues we face raise profoundly spiritual questions, and the values we choose will most determine the road we take. Those values are finally "religious" in nature because they concern our most fundamental relationships with our neighbors, the creation itself, and, ultimately, our Creator. Therefore, the contribution and leadership of the religious community will be critical, and those forces within the religious community that seek its revitalization are in the process of finding each other.

At Sojourners, we often find ourselves at a crossroads of these renewing streams, especially in and around the churches. Helping to draw them together has always been central to our work. Now it feels absolutely crucial to our future.

OUR GROWING sense of call to help people, communities, and churches connect more deeply is based upon a number of things. First, Sojourners has consistently articulated a theology and spirituality that brings people together by combining essential elements of faith that have been long separated in our fragmented and divided churches. Second, that proclamation of a more whole biblical message has created a very broad and ecumenical constituency in many parts of the church. Third, that constituency is becoming more multiracial and multicultural, which is so critical to our pluralistic future. Finally, the Sojourners constituency is decidedly action-oriented, giving integrity to faith and possibility to social change.

In order to more effectively serve the constituency that Sojourners magazine has helped create, Sojourners needs to change and clearly become what we have really always been--more than a magazine.

Twenty years ago, our little group of seminary students felt a call. We felt called to a faith that engaged the world in a radical way. Spirituality and politics belonged together, we believed; so did prayer and action, the gospel and justice, personal conversion and social transformation. Our beliefs were very biblical but almost entirely absent in our experiences of the institutional churches. We were young and on fire with the vision of a prophetic faith and church. Our passion led us to try to make that vision a reality.

Now we are hearing the call again and seeing it renewed in Sojourners Community and magazine, as well as in the local work of Sojourners Neighborhood Center in inner-city Washington, D.C. We have been engaged in intensive discussion and prayer about the crisis of the nation, the future of the church, the shape of our own vocation, and, in particular, our relationship to the much wider community of Sojourners readers and supporters.

For the first time, Sojourners Community has articulated its statement of faith (see "Our Life at the Foot of the Mountain," page 21). We have reaffirmed our covenant with one another, and we want to reaffirm our covenant with you--the companions we have met on the road, the brothers and sisters who have made this journey worthwhile and without whom we simply could not go on.

Here in Washington, D.C., God has been calling us to more nurturing and caring for one another, a deepening of prayer, and the strengthening of our faith and courage. But we also feel deeply called to create ways to foster these things in our relationship to all of you--our kindred sojourners over these many years. And that is what this issue of Sojourners is all about- nurturing, nourishing, and networking.

As we have worked with images and directions, we have found ourselves going back to the word "sojourners." Like many religious communities, we have discovered great insight and power by returning to our founding vocation, language, and symbols to help us define our directions for the future.

What is a Sojourner?

A sojourner is someone on a journey; A pilgrim on the road. In biblical usage, sojourners are people on the move, temporary residents living for the sake of the world yet refusing to conform to it. Sojourners respond to another voice and are guided by different values. They "seek the welfare of the city," but look toward "that city whose builder and maker is God."

Sojourners are the kind of citizens any nation needs precisely because they seek a better country. They are people of a promise--the promise of God for justice, wholeness, healing, and peace. Because of that promise, sojourners are not dissuaded by present realities of injustice, division, and violence. They are people of faith always moving toward hope. The Bible defines sojourners as a name for the people of God, an alternative community of faith in the world who "learn to sing the Lord's song in a strange land."

Our community took the name Sojourners and embarked on a pilgrimage of faith. Through Sojourners magazine, we found other sojourners in the land. Gradually, a magazine became a network, a wider community, and even an extended family. Before long, there was an "us" connected to the word sojourners that meant something far beyond our little community in the inner city of Washington, D.C.

By acting together in many times and places, we discovered a common bond among diverse constituencies within, on the edge of, and alongside the churches. In forging a new relationship between kindred spirits and prophetic communities, we have come to experience a deeply evangelical, catholic, ecumenical, and multiracial reality.

We have learned that sojourners is not the identity of just one community but many; together we are a community of communities on a shared journey, united by the call to put faith into action. To enable us all to respond more faithfully to the times in which we live, I believe that reality should now be named, deliberately developed, and deeply connected. That which has been implicit must now become explicit. We need each other, more than ever before.

We need vision, but we also need the vehicles to carry it out and the supportive communities that make it possible for us to continue. After much prayer, discernment, and discussion with people around the country, Sojourners is offering to help serve that need in some new ways.

In Grand Rapids, many who came to our 20th anniversary festival described it as a "family reunion." A microcosm of our larger readership, the 1,000 people who gathered in Michigan represented many sectors of the church but quickly felt a common spirit and realized they were on a shared journey.

We are a "network," but the language of "community" describes the reality more accurately and organically. Sojourners readers are a kind of extended national and international community with deepening ties. Sojourners can help bring together a circle of radical faith into a family of communities.

Naming the Reality

It is important now to make that clear, to name the reality of what we have become over these 20 years, and to bring the identity of Sojourners into line with the reality. Those who subscribe to Sojourners often say they feel like they have joined something. The pastor who organized our "Let Justice Roll" event in Burlington, Vermont, last December said to me, "I am not just a Sojourners reader, I am a sojourner."

Our strength has been in the way many groups, churches, and constituencies have been able to relate to and feel a part of Sojourners. We will seek to build upon that.

The extended community of sojourners can be found gathering and mobilizing in Catholic parishes, Protestant congregations, evangelical assemblies, black churches, religious orders, national organizations and their local chapters, justice and direct service ministries, peace communities, environmental projects, prayer and reflection groups, retreat centers, and educational institutions--on both a national and international scale. We come from many traditions and denominations, go by many names, and are shaped by a rich diversity of callings.

But we are all on the same journey, walk the same road, and feel drawn to the same vision. We share a common pilgrimage of spiritual and social transformation. Whatever else we are, we are also all sojourners.

Sojourners Community and its magazine have been a connecting point, a forum, a resource center, and a catalyst for many sojourners. At the same time, the coming together of many sojourners has created a blessed intersection and wider community that inspires and invigorates the Sojourners in Washington.

Our Task Together

Together, the emerging community of sojourners is moving toward a spirituality and politics for the 21st century. Rooted in biblical vision, we are experimenting with new social and economic visions for the future. Grounded in gospel values, we are creating the kind of politics that take ethical values as their starting point. Followers of Jesus Christ, we join together in hope with other spiritual pilgrims to stand alongside the poor and marginalized. Motivated by the love of God, we want to make justice more possible.

Our journey is a common one in which we can do much to nourish one another. Sometimes we must pause to rest; other times our need is for sustenance; often what's most required is a sense of direction. We don't always know where we are going or how to get there, but we always need the strength, encouragement, and challenge to go on.

The clarity and conviction that we have reached in Washington, D.C., is simply this: The calling and vocation of Sojourners Community is to serve the wider community of sojourners who seek strength for the journey. Together, we must try to knit together the progressive Christian community, challenge the institutional church, and raise an alternative voice in the broader public discourse.

You Reap What You Sow

Several decades ago, the great Indian spiritual leader, Mahatma Gandhi, warned against what he called the seven social sins. He named them as politics without principle, wealth without work, commerce without morality, pleasure without conscience, education without character, science without humanity, and worship without sacrifice. Those "social sins" have today become the dominant characteristics of our leading institutions, the description of our cultural values, and the accepted practices of our national life.

When religion loses its faith, when politics loses its vision, and when culture loses its soul--life becomes confused, cheap, and endangered. In such a situation, the greatest need is for new voices and fresh imagination.

We don't need to be told that things are unraveling in the heart of George Bush's new world order. No one should be surprised. The Bible warns that we will reap what we sow. The disintegration of the economy, the environment, the social infrastructure, and the moral fabric of the country and the global system are a direct result of the values we have pursued and the structures we have accepted. The results for the poor, the Earth, and the human heart have become an absolute disaster.

As people of faith, we need to rediscover who we are called to be and decide where we're going. We need to understand the spiritual connections among all the issues we face. In essence, we need to return to our spiritual roots and our identity as the children of God.

The Gift of Hope

The good news is that there is an alternative. That must be our message and mission. Helping to create the visions we need and build the local communities that will put them into practice should be a primary goal.

Sojourners has offered many opportunities for public witness and action: during the Gulf war, in combating racism and sexual violence, in response to the nuclear arms race, against U.S. policies in Central America and South Africa, and more. We will continue to provide that leadership. But now we also want to forge a community-based network that combines prophetic action with spiritual grounding, nurture, and challenge. By helping to make connections at the local level, offering resources, and providing biblical reflection, we hope to support the development of small communities within and alongside the churches and to connect them together both ecumenically and multiracially.

As we enter this new decade on the eve of a new millennium, Christians and other spiritual pilgrims could play a very critical role. In our vocation as sojourners, we must claim the gift of hope given to us by God and develop the capacity to read the signs of the times--for the sake of the larger society.

Fresh new voices are emerging in the religious community. From many corners and different streams, a more prophetic church is aborning. Creative leadership is being offered from places in the churches where genuine faith is placed ahead of political expedience and cultural conformity. It is, indeed, many of you who are offering that leadership.

Our future course must grow out of serious biblical reflection together--opening up the scriptures and their dynamic meaning for the crises and dilemmas we face today. In all that we do, we will seek to recover and rediscover the kind of spirituality that can ground our lives, center our activity, and sustain our commitments over the long haul. We'll need to offer each other practical help with everything from raising children, finding creative and responsible lifestyles, seeking the renewal of our churches, putting together our work and our commitments, becoming involved in the things we believe in, and getting connected to people around us that share a kindred spirit.

Sojourners is more than a magazine; we are a community-based network with the feel of a family. Sojourners doesn't want to become a national organization; we want to help link the organizations who could be working together more fruitfully. Sojourners certainly doesn't want to become a new denomination; we want to help unite the forces of radical renewal in all of them. Sojourners isn't the movement; we want to serve one--connect it, nurture it, and help prepare for its fuller emergence.

Finally, we want you to know that we pray for you and for all the sojourners literally every day before we start work. And we ask you to pray for us. That's the bond that will make us a powerful network and a true community.

We know that nothing we do will last unless it is rooted in God, centered in Christ, and inspired by the Spirit. No, it's not easy. But God is with us, and we can be with each other. It's the next step.

Sidebar: More Than a Magazine

For several years, Sojourners has been caught in a paradox. On the one hand, the response to the magazine and all the other work we do continues to be very strong. Daily we hear from people across the country and around the world.

If anything, the affirmation and appreciation have increased in recent years--in regard to the magazine itself, the study guides and other resources we produce, our work during the Gulf war and other political initiatives, broader public commentary in places such as National Public Radio and newspaper columns, our speaking ministry, "Let Justice Roll" tours, the 20th anniversary festival, and more.

At home, among Sojourners Community members and staff, the vision is alive, growing, and felt to be needed now more than ever. The work of Sojourners Neighborhood Center in inner-city Washington, D.C., continues to thrive, empowering children and adults through tutoring, literacy, computer training, and food programs. We are grateful to be a part of something far beyond ourselves.

Simply put, Sojourners is, and always has been, more than a magazine. The magazine is an instrument and a ministry toward the larger purpose of helping to build a faith-based movement for justice and peace in the churches and beyond; to be a catalyst for both spiritual and social transformation. Sojourners has provided a voice, a connection point, and a mobilizing energy for action. It has also been a tool for community building among diverse constituencies with common commitments.

The paradox lies in the fact that while a monthly magazine is a powerful vehicle, it is also a very limiting organizational structure.

Magazines generally offer analysis, commentary, and reflection--as we do--but they don't often bring people together and inspire them to action--as we've done since the beginning. In fact, as Wes Granberg-Michaelson reminded us during a meeting of our contributing editors at the anniversary festival, "Those who began Sojourners didn't just want to start a magazine, they wanted to make something happen." Something has happened which now leads us to some changes.

FIRST, Sojourners needs a clearer and better organizational configuration and structure to do the work to which we feel called.

SECOND, Sojourners requires a broader identity than a magazine provides in order to do the kind of outreach we want to do, and in order to attract the amount of financial support we need to survive and avoid the periodic crises we've experienced these last several years.

IT'S TIME TO CHANGE MISPERCEPTIONS. Many already understand the broader mission of Sojourners. When that more accurate perception is made explicit, we suspect many more people will want to support the mission and become involved in it. But if the perception of Sojourners is limited to "just a magazine," chances are that we won't get our message across. With this issue of the magazine, we hope to begin to change that perception.

Often, we're competing with the scarce commodity of time (everybody's problem these days). If the question among readers is, Do I have time to read all these magazine articles? the answer will sometimes be no. If it is rather, Do I support this voice, this outreach, this perspective, and do I want to be part of it? the answer may be yes. A renewal each year could become an occasion for recommitment to the mission of building up the faith-based peace and justice community and reaffirmation of its importance, rather than the question of whether there is time to read everything in the magazine.

In the future, people will be offered the invitation to join rather than to subscribe. Sojourners won't just relate as a magazine readership, but rather as a network of faith and action, an ecumenical community on a journey together, an extended family to be nourished through mutual relationships. Don't worry, we are still going to publish Sojourners (which everyone who joins will receive) but we'll do much more than that (see "Beyond the Pages of the Magazine," page 18).

What You Can Do

• If you haven't already, start thinking of Sojourners as an extended community that you have joined. You're a sojourner, too, not just a subscriber.
• Decide to renew not by whether you've read all the magazine articles this year; instead, reaffirm your commitment to the vision and the community of sojourners everywhere.
• Become a financial partner with Sojourners ministries, perhaps in the form of a tithe or sliding-scale contribution. Ask yourself what you can give to support a whole network of communities and ministries through Sojourners, not just to pay for a magazine subscription.
• Ask your church to make Sojourners a part of its annual budget.
• Share Sojourners with friends, co-workers, or students from a local college; get the magazine onto a local newsstand or bookstore.
• Join a small community or help start one, in your church or with sojourners from other churches (We'll help you find them; see "Communities Sharing the Sojourn," page 17).
• If you're already part of a community and/or active in a local church, link up with others in your area. We can help with all of that, too.
• Invite a speaker from Sojourners, sponsor "Let Justice Roll" in your area, or help bring a Sojourners festival to your region of the country.
• We want to support you, and we need you to help support us. That's how community works. And I believe this extended community can work, in marvelous ways we have yet to imagine.

Jim Wallis is editor-in-chief of Sojourners.