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Dear friends,
This past year was filled with remarkable stories. Let me tell you one.
I had the honor of participating in the Fast for Families—a time of prayer and fasting on the National Mall in front of the U.S. Capitol—to call for immigration reform. While fasting in the tent, I witnessed a Congresswoman connect 
mother to mother with an undocumented immigrant woman who was weeping over being separated from her 10-year-old daughter. United by the bond of both having daughters this age, these two women held each other and cried together.
This interaction deeply touched me. It illustrated not only what we hoped to accomplish with the Fast for Families and our work with the Evangelical Immigration Table—breaking down the divisions between politics and people through the prayers, sacrifice, and stories of those participating—but it also highlighted the broader purpose of Sojourners.
Our work in partnership with you is focused on helping people connect, offering hope, and putting faith in action for social justice. Through our activism, books, events, Sojourners magazine, blog, and our presence in the news and on college campuses, we directly sustain hundreds of thousands of people and reach millions of people each year. Our work is grounded in the concept of the common good—the focus of my latest book, The (Un)Common Good—which transcends the usual ideological debates. We are bringing people together across political and religious divides to find real solutions to some of the biggest issues facing our world today.
In the pages of this Annual Report, you will read stories of the many ways you and others have worked with us to break down these barriers in the past year. You will read about our Faithful Filibuster; our work with the Evangelical Immigration Table, which led to an increase in evangelical support for reform, as was recently revealed in an academic study; our new leadership Summit; and our efforts to care for creation, speak out against gender-based violence, and mentor young leaders through our Emerging Voices and Sojourners Internship Program initiatives.
And this work continues to grow. In the coming year, we look forward to healing the wounds of racial injustice, taking on the injustices of mass incarceration, hosting another Summit, mobilizing the faith community around climate change, addressing poverty and inequalities, working to prevent sexual and gender-based violence, and much more.
If we have encouraged, informed, or inspired you to act this year, please know your support made all of this possible. I hope you enjoy reading about the many ways we have partnered together to be a voice of real, active, and inclusive faith in our society.
Blessings,
Jim Wallis
President
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Sojourners’ President Jim Wallis offered the closing remarks at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He called on 2,000+ business and political leaders to use their positions to reduce inequalities and embrace a New Social Covenant.
Watch now!
January 2014
How do we ensure that the poorest and most vulnerable are not forgotten by our leaders in Washington, D.C.? Through our work with the Circle of Protection—an alliance of denominational, relief, and development leaders—we regularly appeal to our nation’s powerbrokers.
Jennifer Brown and her son (pictured above) are from Charleston, SC. Jennifer sought help from the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Program when she found herself unexpectedly unemployed and expecting a child in 2010. The Circle of Protection seeks to protect WIC and other similar programs from federal budget cuts.
(Photo credit: Joseph Molieri)
Ongoing commitment of Sojourners
We created a short video about SNAP (formerly known as food stamps) with the support of Odyssey Networks. This video addresses many of the commonly held misconceptions about this essential nutrition assistance program.
Terri Acker (pictured above) is featured in the video. Terri tells her story about being a SNAP recipient.
Watch now!
March 2014
Just steps away from the U.S. Capitol, Sojourners launched the Faithful Filibuster—a vigil for the poor—in the wake of the 2013 federal government shutdown. Circle of Protection partners, clergy, passersby, and even several U.S. senators joined our witness each day of the shutdown. We publicly read all of the 2,000+ verses in the Bible about God’s care for the poor and vulnerable. We gave each member of Congress a copy of the Poverty and Justice Bible, which highlights each of those verses. A special thanks to the American Bible Society for donating the Bibles!
Jim Wallis, president of Sojourners (pictured below), reads from the Poverty and Justice Bible during the Faithful Filibuster.
October 2013
Uniting the faith community to speak out against poverty and economic inequality is at the heart of our mission to put faith into action for social justice. Through our many platforms—Sojourners magazine, the blog, speaking engagements, advocacy campaigns, and strategic partnerships—we are raising awareness about the underlying causes of poverty in the U.S. and empowering our audience to challenge national and local political leaders who want to cut programs that serve low-income families.
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Sojourners published more than 150 blog posts on Women & Girls themes over the last year, including the Sexual Violence & the Church blog series, which had more than 68,690 page views. Selections from this series were published as an e-book, “I Believe You.”
(Photo Credit: Kati Neudert/shutterstock.com)
January 2013 - Spring 2014
Sojourners conducted a national survey of 1,000 Protestant pastors on the current state of preaching and teaching in churches on domestic and sexual violence. The survey revealed that a majority of pastors do not speak about sexual and domestic violence in their churches, but 8 in 10 reported they would if they had the resources. Over the next year, Sojourners will be creating resources for just that purpose.
June 2014
The January 2014 issue of Sojourners magazine featured a cover article by Michelle A. Gonzalez on the church’s treatment of women as second-class citizens. Sojourners also invited readers to a Google Hangout with Gonzalez, Jim Wallis, and Sojourners’ senior associate editor Rose Marie Berger.
Watch now!
January 2014
The Summit—a three-day gathering of 300 faith and justice leaders—highlighted the Women & Girls campaign
(Pictured left) Dr. Iva Carruthers, Jo Anne Lyon, Mimi Haddad, Hyepin Im, Diana Butler Bass, and Rev. Sharon Watkins speak on “The Stained Glass Ceiling: Women's Leadership in the Church” at The Summit: World Change through Faith & Justice.
Onleilove Alston, pictured below, attended The Summit 2014. Onleilove is a community organizer with Faith in New York as well as a Sojourners Board member and Emerging Voice--a leadership initiative for up-and-coming public communicators launched by Sojourners.
(Photo credit: Brandon Hook / Sojourners)
June 2014
The understanding that God calls all Christians—regardless of gender—to exercise their gifts and talents with equal authority and responsibility in both the church and society has guided Sojourners’ witness and mission since its founding.
Our Women & Girls campaign focuses on three main priorities:
1| identifying and addressing structural changes needed in the church,
2| pastoral education on issues of domestic and gender-based violence, and
3| creating spaces for wholeness for both women and men.
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Sojourners hosted two river boat tours (pictured below) on the Bayou at the 2013 Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) conference in New Orleans, La. More than 100 participants witnessed firsthand the effects of climate change on the Bayou (pictured below).
September 2013
Sojourners and Oxfam America partnered to conduct a study on how evangelical Christians respond to various messages on climate change. The results of the study are reshaping the way we and our partners engage with this audience on climate change.
The study revealed that about 60 percent of evangelicals believe climate change is a reality:
(Photo credit: Ryan Rodrick Beiler)
August 2013
Our Creation Care Campaign Associate Liz Schmitt (pictured below) testified twice at the Environmental Protection Agency. She provided a faith-based voice in support of proposed rules to curb carbon pollution generated by existing power plants.
November 2013; July 2014
Sojourners worked with 200 evangelical scientists in writing a letter to Congress urging action on climate change. This work was covered through national media, including television spots in climate-denier states.
Dr. Hal Reed (pictured left) is an evangelical Christian and a biologist at Oral Roberts University, specializing in insects. In an interview with Tulsa, Okla. local news channel, News On 6, Reed said that the affects of climate change can be observed as different species of insects are migrating to Oklahoma.
(Photo credit: NewsOn6.com)
Watch now!
NewsOn6.com - Tulsa, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports - KOTV.com |
July 2013
By lifting up the voices of evangelical scientists and faith leaders, Sojourners is educating Christians on the links between climate change and poverty, environmental degradation, and global conflict. Our work is a call to action. We support Christians in exercising their role as stewards of creation through personal, political, and spiritual commitments.
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Sojourners’ Senior Director of Mobilizing Lisa Sharon Harper and President Jim Wallis joined in solidarity with the Fast for Families by participating in the Fast on the National Mall and the cross-country bus tour.
Participants assembled a quilt of prayers (pictured left) in the Fast for Families tent on the National Mall.
November/December 2013; Spring 2014
Sojourners released a powerful video telling the story of Rev. Luis Barco. As both a pastor and an undocumented immigrant, Barco counters negative stereotypes of undocumented immigrants through his ministry.
Watch Now!
November 2013
During the August 2013 congressional recess, Sojourners and our Evangelical Immigration Table (EIT) partners organized 23 town hall meetings between immigration reform supporters and their members of Congress.
Pictured on the left, Jim Wallis and other representatives from the EIT address members of the press in front of the U.S. Capitol.
The "I Was a Stranger" campaign is one of many initiatives that EIT partners have launched to encourage evangelicals--individuals, clergy and legislators--to engage with their faith on immigration reform.
Watch Now!
August 2013
We also worked closely with the Evangelical Immigration Table to shape the filming of The Stranger, a 40-minute documentary that profiles three immigrant stories and includes interviews with local and national Christian leaders. To date, the film has been shown in 2,207 locations across the U.S.
Bill Lemkes (pictured above) is a small business owner, featured in The Stranger, who is in favor of comprehensive immigration reform.
Watch the trailer now!
June 2014
Sojourners continues to shape the national immigration debate as a leading member of two faith-based immigration reform coalitions: the Evangelical Immigration Table (EIT), and the Interfaith Immigration Coalition. Our message of “welcoming the stranger” has shifted attitudes about immigrants. The coalitions have met face-to-face with President Obama and influential members of Congress to push for humane immigration reform that supports families.
(Photo credit: Ryan Rodrick Beiler)
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In June 2014 , Sojourners convened the first annual leadership gathering called “The Summit: World Change Through Faith and Justice.” More than 300 leaders gathered at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., to discuss, strategize, and seek solutions to the most pressing issues in our nation and world.
The Summit engaged big questions while making practical applications to justice issues: Immigration, Racial Justice, Creation Care, Economic Opportunity, and Women & Girls.
Many incredible leaders were present, including Sen. Cory Booker (pictured above), Dr. Jim Yong Kim of the World Bank; Rajiv Shah of USAID; Dr. Gail Christopher of the Kellogg Foundation; Mark Barden, the father of one of the children killed at Sandy Hook (see below the video of his testimony at The Summit 2014); and Rev. Sharon Watkins, the leader of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
Watch Now!
(Photo credit: Brandon Hook/ Sojourners)
June 2014
“The experience of being a Sojo intern helps form the whole person.” – Emily Peterson, Sojourners Intern, Cycle 30
Celebrating 30 years, the Sojourners Internship Program provides a year of Christian discipleship for 10 women and men who live, work, and serve with Sojourners. The program focuses on:
Life and Faith: Program participants live together as an intentional community in Washington, D.C., where they hold weekly house meetings, worship, cook, clean, and experience city life as a community.
Prayer and Formation: Interns grow personally through monthly educational seminars, retreats, and mentoring relationships. These are intentionally designed to provoke and challenge their perspectives on personal and social issues of faith.
Work and Mission: Interns work full-time in the ministry of Sojourners, where they contribute significantly to the overall mission of the organization.
Pictured above are the interns from the 30th cycle of Sojourners Internship Program.
Ongoing commitment of Sojourners
“I appreciate the comradery and shared ideas and passions. The cohort-style experience is great – it’s amazing to have all of these minds and hearts in one room.” –Emerging Voices Participant
Emerging Voices—a project of Sojourners—is lifting up the next generation of prophetic voices articulating the biblical call to social justice. Under the leadership of Jim Wallis, these leaders are participating in a conversation platform that is intentionally:
• Diverse, particularly along the dimensions of race, ethnicity, gender, and Christian traditions;
• Collaborative, as it seeks to build a community among its participants and its viewers;
• Equipping, as we want to help the participants to develop their unique calling and skills; and
• Elevating a common vision of biblical justice, not just through a single voice, but through many
Peggy Flanagan (pictured above), is a member of Sojourners’ Emerging Voices project as well as a member of the Board. Peggy is also the executive director of the Children's Defense Fund--Minnesota.
Ongoing commitment of Sojourners
Sojourners is committed to building the faith movement for social justice over the long term. A key component of this is found in our leadership development programs, which give people the opportunity to grow in their faith, expand their social and spiritual network, learn how to become prophetic advocates for the world’s needs, and develop their leadership skills for the movement.
Pictured above, Jim Wallis, president of Sojourners, interviews the president of the World Bank, Dr. Jim Yong Kim at the first Summit: World Change Through Faith & Justice.
Rob Wilson-Black, CEO of Sojourners, pictured below (center), is accompanied by Summit participants Grace Ji-Sun Kim (left) and Ron Sider (right).
(Photo credit: Brandon Hook/ Sojourners)
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More than 2.5 million people from more than 220 countries and territories visited Sojourners’ website this year.
Nearly 200,000 faith activists from more than 23 countries subscribe to Sojourners’ weekly e-newsletter SojoMail.
Sojourners’ active social media engagement reaches our audience with timely news stories and commentary on a range of issues. Sojourners’ social media audience includes:
Highlights from our award-winning blog:
A New Normal: Ten Thing I’ve Learned About Trauma – Catherine Woodiwiss
The Most Ignored and Undervalued People Within Churches Today – Stephen Mattson
To the Dying Church: Sharing our Wounds – Cindy Brandt
The Most Controversial Sentence I Ever Wrote – Jim Wallis
What If We Listened? – Kelli Woodford
10 Reasons Why Men Should Not Be Ordained for Ministry – Eugene Cho
Living with “An Illegal”: How a Friendship Changed My Perspective on Immigration – Stacey Schwenker
White People Need a Non-White Jesus – Drew Miller
That Our Creation Care Would Also Fight Racism and Poverty – Vanessa Carter, Rebecca Bacon
A Prayer for the Nation on the Event of Another Shooting – Mark Sandlin
Sojourners’ message reaches across the political and theological spectrum, from top television news programs and newspapers to Christian radio, as well as secular and religious publications nationwide.
We earned more than 2,600 media hits in the last year, including coverage on CNN, Fox, NPR, MSNBC, and Jim Wallis’ columns on TIME.com and The Huffington Post.
Our television broadcast reach is 12 million, our audience-reach through print outlets is more than 50 million, and our online reach has extended to millions more.
Sojourners magazine reaches 65,000 readers every month – educating, inspiring, and mobilizing readers to put their faith in action for social justice.
Sojourners magazine won numerous awards this year, including a gold medal from the prestigious FOLIO awards for best religious/spiritual magazine of the year. The FOLIO awards is the largest competition in media publishing, receiving more than 2,000 entries this year in various categories.
The magazine received the most Associated Church Press awards in its 43-year history. Of the 20 awards we received, four were Awards of Excellence (1st place).
Sojourners regularly reaches tens of millions of people every year through a variety of platforms and outlets, such as religious and secular news and media as well as our own magazine, website, books, and speaking engagements.
Jim Wallis, president of Sojourners, pictured below, was interviewed by Melissa Harris-Perry on msnbc about his views on immigration (June 2014).
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This summarized financial and graphic information is taken from Sojourners’ Fiscal Year 2013 financial statements, audited by independent certified public accountants. To order a copy of the complete audited financial statements, call 1-800-714-7474.
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Rev. Adam Taylor (Chair) | Lead, Faith-Based Initiative | The World Bank | Washington, DC
Anne Grizzle (Vice-Chair) | Family Counselor and Author | Washington, DC
Dr. Peter Borgdorff (Treasurer) | Deputy Executive Director and Executive Director-Emeritus, Christian Reformed Church | Grand Rapids, MI
Thomas Getman (Secretary) | CEO, The Getman Group | Washington, DC
Dr. Paul Alexander | Professor of Christian Ethics and Public Policy, Palmer Theological Seminary of Eastern University; Director of Public Policy, Evangelicals for Social Action | Wynnewood, PA
Onleilove Alston | Lead Organizer, Faith in New York | New York, NY
Kevin Carnahan | Formerly Senior Managing Partner, Accenture | Marin County, CA
Rev. Dr. Joseph Daniels | Lead Pastor, Emory United Methodist Church | Washington, DC
Rev. Joshua DuBois | CEO, Values Partnerships | Washington, DC
Peggy Flanagan | Executive Director, Children’s Defense Fund-Minnesota
St. Paul, MN
Rev. Dr. David Gushee | Professor of Christian Ethics, Mercer University | Macon, GA
Rev. Dr. Derrick Harkins | Senior Pastor, The Nineteenth Street Baptist Church | Washington, DC
Sister Carol Keehan, DC | President and CEO, Catholic Health Association of the United States | Washington, DC
Debra McLeod | Executive Director of Grant Me the Wisdom Fund; Yale Divinity School Board of Advisors; Former Buckner Orphan Cara International Foundation Member | Houston, TX
Lynn Muto | Board Member, International Bipolar Foundation | Rancho Santa Fe, CA
Dr. Stephen Schneck | Director of the Institute for Policy Research & Catholic Studies, The Catholic University of America | Washington, DC
Rev. Dr. Soong-Chan Rah |
Assistant Professor of Church Growth and Evangelism, North Park Theological Seminary | Chicago, IL
Alexie Torres-Fleming | Senior Fellow, Funders’ Collaborative on Youth Organizing | New York, NY
Rev. Jim Wallis | President, Sojourners | Washington, DC
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