Sojourners Magazine
Encyclopedia
Sojourners magazine, a progressive
monthly publication of the Christian social justice
organization Sojourners, was first published in 1971 under the original title of The Post-American. The magazine publishes editorials and articles
on Christian life, the church
and the world, Christianity and politics
, and the church and social issues
. Articles frequently feature coverage of fair trade
, interfaith dialogue, peacemaking
, and work to alleviate poverty
. The offices of the magazine
are in Washington, D.C.
The founding editor-in-chief is Jim Wallis
, author of God's Politics; the editor is Jim Rice.
Sojourners has consistently won awards from both the Associated Church Press and the Evangelical Press Association
. In 2008 and 2009, "Sojourners" won the first place “best in class” award from both religious press associations.
. The name was changed to "Sojourners" in 1975, when the community moved from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
in Deerfield, Illinois
to Columbia Heights in Washington, D.C.
. The mission of Sojourners is “to articulate the biblical call to social justice, inspiring hope and building a movement to transform individuals, communities, the church, and the world.”
The magazine was originally published quarterly, then every other month, and since January 2004 has been published eleven times per year, with a single issue published for September and October.
The Sojourners Collection is maintained by Wheaton College
in its Archive
s and Special Collections. Collected materials include magazine issues, correspondence
, original manuscript
s and administrative papers, as well as information on the Sojourners Community, founder Wallis, and other communities and organizations affiliated with the publisher.
In 2010, Wallis was interviewed in episode six of "God in America" a documentary featured on PBS from Frontline and American Experience.
Musician Moby recorded a three-part interview on Sojourners’ God’s Politics blog about his journey into faith and politics.
Sojourners CEO Wallis served as a member of President Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Community Partnerships, which advises the president and White House staff on a range of concerns. Sojourners has organized high-level meetings with the White House and political leaders on both sides of the aisle.
Then-Sen. Barack Obama gave his first major speech on the subject of religion in the public sphere at Sojourners’ Call to Renewal conference in 2006, talking about his personal faith journey and his vision for people of faith in public life.
in Davos, Switzerland, in a primetime plenary session titled “Rethinking Values in the Post-Crisis World.” Wallis is currently the chair for the Global Agenda Council on Values at the World Economic Forum, which is launching a moral economy dialogue to bring together faith leaders and top executives to advance the values that should inform the global economy.
Sojourners informed and mobilized faith leaders and their grassroots constituents to help pass financial reform through Congress. Wallis’ latest book, published in January 2010, is “Rediscovering Values: On Wall Street, Main Street and Your Street.” As part of his nationwide book tour, Wallis was interviewed on "The Daily Show
with Jon Stewart," Morning Joe
on MSNBC, and PBS’s The Tavis Smiley Show
. The Jon Stewart interview and the first chapter of Wallis’ book, “Sunday School with Jon Stewart,” are on Sojourners’ website.
. President Obama and Wallis spoke on a teleconference call about health-care reform. Audio from the call has now been played more than 300,000 times. Sojourners also organized a campaign challenging opponents of reform. Its constituents sent 100,000 emails to national media opponents of health-care reform and their advertisers. In addition, Wallis debated leading opponents of health-care reform on national television. Sojourners distributed health-care reform resources to 30,000 pastors. In 2009, Sojourners brought together 1,153 faith leaders and activists who met with the offices of 84 senators and 213 representatives to advocate for health-care reform.
. A reporter from CNN participated in the delegation and covered the Gulf Coast tour.
on Sept. 11, 2010. Wallis’ opinion piece in “The Washington Post
” Sunday Outlook section describes the role he and other faith leaders played. The article also highlights how the welcoming stance of a church in Tennessee had global implications in Pakistan and what that could teach us about interfaith understanding and fighting terrorism. The column was reprinted in newspapers globally, including in publications with predominantly Muslim audiences.
, Sojourners proposed a new way forward, calling on President Obama to pull together advisers from the most effective development organizations on the ground in Afghanistan. Sojourners engaged in a leadership campaign on Afghanistan that included conversations with the White House, a letter signed by 25 national interfaith leaders, and a grassroots advocacy campaign. More than 17,000 Sojourners constituents signed the letter and contacted the White House. Sojourners staff met with White House officials and hand-delivered the letter. InterAction, a coalition of 187 nongovernmental relief and development organizations focused on the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people, issued a letter of support for Sojourners’ approach.
, and International Justice Mission
jointly planned and led the advocacy track, and launched a new advocacy campaign: the Human Wrong Campaign that included an “advocacy campaign in a box” for students to implement on their campus. the campaign offered educational and action resources on child slavery, including bonded labor, sexual exploitation, and child soldiers.
Progressive Christianity
Progressive Christianity is the name given to a movement within contemporary Christianity characterized by willingness to question tradition, acceptance of human diversity with a strong emphasis on social justice or care for the poor and the oppressed and environmental stewardship of the Earth...
monthly publication of the Christian social justice
Social justice
Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. The term and modern concept of "social justice" was coined by...
organization Sojourners, was first published in 1971 under the original title of The Post-American. The magazine publishes editorials and articles
Article (publishing)
An article is a written work published in a print or electronic medium. It may be for the purpose of propagating the news, research results, academic analysis or debate.-News articles:...
on Christian life, the church
Christian Church
The Christian Church is the assembly or association of followers of Jesus Christ. The Greek term ἐκκλησία that in its appearances in the New Testament is usually translated as "church" basically means "assembly"...
and the world, Christianity and politics
Christianity and politics
The relationship between Christianity and politics is a historically complex subject and a frequent source of disagreement throughout Church history, and in modern politics between the Christian right and Christian left.-Foundations:...
, and the church and social issues
Social issues
Social issues are controversial issues which relate to people's personal lives and interactions. Social issues are distinguished from economic issues...
. Articles frequently feature coverage of fair trade
Fair trade
Fair trade is an organized social movement and market-based approach that aims to help producers in developing countries make better trading conditions and promote sustainability. The movement advocates the payment of a higher price to producers as well as higher social and environmental standards...
, interfaith dialogue, peacemaking
Peacemaking
Peacemaking is a form of conflict resolution which focuses on establishing equal power relationships that will be robust enough to forestall future conflict, and establishing some means of agreeing on ethical decisions within a community that has previously had conflict. In order to do so there...
, and work to alleviate poverty
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
. The offices of the magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
are in Washington, D.C.
The founding editor-in-chief is Jim Wallis
Jim Wallis
Jim Wallis is an American evangelical Christian writer and political activist. He is best known as the founder and editor of Sojourners magazine, and of the Washington, D.C.-based Christian community of the same name....
, author of God's Politics; the editor is Jim Rice.
Sojourners has consistently won awards from both the Associated Church Press and the Evangelical Press Association
Evangelical Press Association
The Evangelical Press Association is a professional association serving the Christian periodical publishing industry. Its members produce some 300 periodical titles with a combined circulation of over 20 million. EPA is a religious and educational non-profit corporation under the laws of the state...
. In 2008 and 2009, "Sojourners" won the first place “best in class” award from both religious press associations.
History
Sojourners magazine was originally published under the name "The Post American," coming out of the Sojourners CommunitySojourners Community
The Sojourners Community is an intentional community that was started in the early 1970s by a group of students at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. The founders had the desire to further explore the relationship between their orthodox Protestant faith and the social crisis that surrounded...
. The name was changed to "Sojourners" in 1975, when the community moved from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School is an evangelical Christian seminary located in Deerfield, Illinois. TEDS is one of the largest seminaries in the world, enrolling more than 1,200 graduate students in professional and academic programs, including more than 150 in its PhD programs...
in Deerfield, Illinois
Deerfield, Illinois
Deerfield is a village in Lake County, Illinois, United States and is located approximately 25 miles north of Chicago, Illinois. A portion of the village is in Cook County, Illinois, United States...
to Columbia Heights in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. The mission of Sojourners is “to articulate the biblical call to social justice, inspiring hope and building a movement to transform individuals, communities, the church, and the world.”
The magazine was originally published quarterly, then every other month, and since January 2004 has been published eleven times per year, with a single issue published for September and October.
The Sojourners Collection is maintained by Wheaton College
Wheaton College (Illinois)
Wheaton College is a private, evangelical Protestant liberal arts college in Wheaton, Illinois, a suburb west of Chicago in the United States...
in its Archive
Archive
An archive is a collection of historical records, or the physical place they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime, and are kept to show the function of an organization...
s and Special Collections. Collected materials include magazine issues, correspondence
Communication
Communication is the activity of conveying meaningful information. Communication requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, although the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus communication can occur across vast...
, original manuscript
Manuscript
A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
s and administrative papers, as well as information on the Sojourners Community, founder Wallis, and other communities and organizations affiliated with the publisher.
Other activities
Along with the magazine, Sojourners also produces a website. The organization publishes resources on a number of social justice and faith issues; it sponsors a year of voluntary service; and it engages the wider Christian community through mobilizing, media outreach, speaking, teaching, preaching, and public events. Over the years, Sojourners has provided leadership and support to various other activities including the Nuclear Weapons Freeze Campaign, the Free South Africa movement, and opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, among other concerns.In 2010, Wallis was interviewed in episode six of "God in America" a documentary featured on PBS from Frontline and American Experience.
Musician Moby recorded a three-part interview on Sojourners’ God’s Politics blog about his journey into faith and politics.
Sojourners CEO Wallis served as a member of President Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Community Partnerships, which advises the president and White House staff on a range of concerns. Sojourners has organized high-level meetings with the White House and political leaders on both sides of the aisle.
Then-Sen. Barack Obama gave his first major speech on the subject of religion in the public sphere at Sojourners’ Call to Renewal conference in 2006, talking about his personal faith journey and his vision for people of faith in public life.
Responding to the Global Economic Crisis
Sojourners CEO Wallis spoke at the World Economic ForumWorld Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....
in Davos, Switzerland, in a primetime plenary session titled “Rethinking Values in the Post-Crisis World.” Wallis is currently the chair for the Global Agenda Council on Values at the World Economic Forum, which is launching a moral economy dialogue to bring together faith leaders and top executives to advance the values that should inform the global economy.
Sojourners informed and mobilized faith leaders and their grassroots constituents to help pass financial reform through Congress. Wallis’ latest book, published in January 2010, is “Rediscovering Values: On Wall Street, Main Street and Your Street.” As part of his nationwide book tour, Wallis was interviewed on "The Daily Show
The Daily Show
The Daily Show , is an American late night satirical television program airing each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central. The half-hour long show premiered on July 21, 1996, and was hosted by Craig Kilborn until December 1998...
with Jon Stewart," Morning Joe
Morning Joe
Morning Joe is a weekday morning talk show on MSNBC, with Joe Scarborough discussing the news of the day in a panel format with co-hosts Mika Brzezinski and Willie Geist. It was created as the replacement for Imus in the Morning, which was canceled in April 2007 after simulcasting on MSNBC since 1996...
on MSNBC, and PBS’s The Tavis Smiley Show
The Tavis Smiley Show
The Tavis Smiley Show is an American public broadcasting radio talk show. A television show, simply titled Tavis Smiley, is a late night television program on Public Broadcasting Service . Both shows feature Tavis Smiley as host....
. The Jon Stewart interview and the first chapter of Wallis’ book, “Sunday School with Jon Stewart,” are on Sojourners’ website.
Health care reform
Sojourners served as a lead organization building support for Health care reformHealth care reform
Health care reform is a general rubric used for discussing major health policy creation or changes—for the most part, governmental policy that affects health care delivery in a given place...
. President Obama and Wallis spoke on a teleconference call about health-care reform. Audio from the call has now been played more than 300,000 times. Sojourners also organized a campaign challenging opponents of reform. Its constituents sent 100,000 emails to national media opponents of health-care reform and their advertisers. In addition, Wallis debated leading opponents of health-care reform on national television. Sojourners distributed health-care reform resources to 30,000 pastors. In 2009, Sojourners brought together 1,153 faith leaders and activists who met with the offices of 84 senators and 213 representatives to advocate for health-care reform.
Immigration reform
Sojourners is leading faith groups in support of comprehensive immigration work through its Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform campaign. As a June 2010 Brookings Institute panel on “Religious Activism and the Debate over Immigration Reform” affirmed, “largely because of the activism of these religious groups, immigration has remained on a legislative agenda crowded with other pressing domestic concerns.” Sojourners’ letter to President Obama – calling for leadership on immigration reform that reflects our nation’s best values – was signed by more than 40 prominent faith leaders and 28 national organizations. Sojourners was one of the primary faith organizers of the March 21, 2010, national immigration rally that brought 200,000 people to Washington, D.C.Climate change, green energy, and the Gulf oil spill
Sojourners urged constituents to reduce energy use and advocate for laws that hold polluters accountable, support green energy technology, and prioritize people and the planet above corporate interests. It mobilized its grassroots base and engaged in advocacy at the highest levels in support of climate change. Faith leaders called for increasing funding from Congress to help the most vulnerable communities worldwide who are affected by climate change. Wallis lead a delegation of faith leaders who traveled to the Gulf for a listening tour sponsored by the Sierra ClubSierra Club
The Sierra Club is the oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. It was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by the conservationist and preservationist John Muir, who became its first president...
. A reporter from CNN participated in the delegation and covered the Gulf Coast tour.
Countering extremism
Wallis and other faith leaders played an important behind-the-scenes role in preventing the Quran burning by pastor Terry JonesTerry Jones
Terence Graham Parry Jones is a Welsh comedian, screenwriter, actor, film director, children's author, popular historian, political commentator, and TV documentary host. He is best known as a member of the Monty Python comedy team....
on Sept. 11, 2010. Wallis’ opinion piece in “The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
” Sunday Outlook section describes the role he and other faith leaders played. The article also highlights how the welcoming stance of a church in Tennessee had global implications in Pakistan and what that could teach us about interfaith understanding and fighting terrorism. The column was reprinted in newspapers globally, including in publications with predominantly Muslim audiences.
Afghanistan
Leading up to President Obama’s decision on strategy on AfghanistanAfghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, Sojourners proposed a new way forward, calling on President Obama to pull together advisers from the most effective development organizations on the ground in Afghanistan. Sojourners engaged in a leadership campaign on Afghanistan that included conversations with the White House, a letter signed by 25 national interfaith leaders, and a grassroots advocacy campaign. More than 17,000 Sojourners constituents signed the letter and contacted the White House. Sojourners staff met with White House officials and hand-delivered the letter. InterAction, a coalition of 187 nongovernmental relief and development organizations focused on the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people, issued a letter of support for Sojourners’ approach.
Human trafficking
Sojourners served as one of the lead organizers for an advocacy track at Urbana, the largest evangelical youth missions conference in the United States. This was the first time Urbana has addressed advocacy as a topic. Sojourners, World VisionWorld Vision
World Vision, founded in the USA in 1950, is an evangelical relief and development organization whose stated goal is "to follow our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in working with the poor and oppressed to promote human transformation, seek justice and bear witness to the good news of the Kingdom of...
, and International Justice Mission
International Justice Mission
International Justice Mission is a U.S.-based non-profit human rights organization that operates in countries all over the world to rescue victims of individual human rights abuse. IJM works to combat human trafficking including the commercial sexual exploitation of children, forced labor...
jointly planned and led the advocacy track, and launched a new advocacy campaign: the Human Wrong Campaign that included an “advocacy campaign in a box” for students to implement on their campus. the campaign offered educational and action resources on child slavery, including bonded labor, sexual exploitation, and child soldiers.