The Future of the Post-American

The Post-American began, as some of you will remember, as a quarterly tabloid in the fall of 1971 while most of us were still students at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. We moved into Chicago two years ago and now publish the Post-American as a monthly magazine from the context of a community of people seeking to share their lives together. The community, which has gone through many growing pains, is in a period of building and growing in the confidence that God has a future for us together. The everyday realities of Uptown, Chicago, have provided a sobering environment from which to publish the Post-American and it is teaching us many lessons about the meaning of the gospel in our own quest for discipleship.

For many months, the editorial staff and contributing editors to the Post-American have been engaged in review of the publication, which is now three years old. We have given much thought and prayer to questions regarding future directions and plans for the Post-American. Continued feedback from an involved readership has given shape to our discussions. Because we are a reader-supported publication, we felt it vital to share with you the progress of these discussions and the needs now facing the Post-American.

These past three years have given us an increasing clarity about what our editorial task is to be. We will continue to explore the implications of the historic confession, “Jesus is Lord,” and raise the issues involved in making our lives more consistent with that proclamation. The social and political order will be evaluated biblically, and the major cultural assumptions upon which it is based will be contrasted with the priorities of the kingdom of God. A major focus will center on the church as a new community, created by God’s Spirit to be a visible sign of the new order in the midst of the old. We will concern ourselves with the evangelistic commission of the church, its biblical responsibility to seek justice for the poor and oppressed, its need to speak prophetically to its society and to power while restructuring its own life by the standard of the kingdom, its relationship to the state and other “principalities and powers,” its role as God’s agent of healing in people’s lives and among the nations.

Continued growth, in three major areas, we believe, will provide a strong basis for the future development of the Post-American. First, our present plans are to further extend our range of concerns and coverage of issues. This past year we have significantly broadened our range of editorial concerns by publishing material dealing with Christian community, the rich and poor, discipleship and lifestyle, the Holy Spirit, power studies from church history, feminism, U.S. globalism, nonviolence, the state, an issue on the “radical Christian” which attempts some redefinitions of both radicalism and politics, and the upcoming December issue on the Incarnation.

In the future we will be presenting a wide variety of material and employ different writing styles: biblical and theological studies; more lessons from church history; practical articles on Christian community and lifestyle; commentary on social and political issues and events; profiles of people, communities, and models of action and ministry; descriptive looks at organizations and movements in the churches; investigative reporting; critical essays treating theological developments and biblical scholarship; serious attention to prayer and the devotional life as the root of action; analysis of the systemic character of social injustice, violence, abusive power and the social pathologies of racism, along with suggestions for concrete ways of making change; reviews of books, films and the arts; interviews; poetry; and fiction.

Second, we have chosen a magazine format and will continue to move in the direction of a more readable, durable, and visually appealing layout and design. This means better copy editing, a better mix between short and long articles, more graphics, and other means to “break up” the copy.

Third, we have been fortunate in enlisting the participation of an exceptional group of contributing editors, and more will be added. With their help, along with other new writers and a strong editorial staff, we will continue to improve the quality of the publication’s content.

With a broader range of editorial concerns and writing styles, a more readable format, and a solid writing base, we believe that the Post-American can reach a widening circle of readers. However, that can only be done with the strong support of our readers in your critical feedback, in your prayer, and in your financial support.

We have been greatly encouraged by the enthusiastic and supportive response to the Post-American thus far from those who have had exposure to the publication. The readership has continued to grow as the PA has spread from person to person. Beginning without financial resources, the PA has become one of few reader-supported publications in the country thanks to all of you. The whole endeavor has grown, we believe, because the message of radical biblical faith and discipleship is striking responsive chords among people from diverse traditions and backgrounds (evangelical, Anabaptist, reformed, mainline Protestant, Catholic, charismatic, and ecumenical groups)—people seeking to find the meaning of the gospel for their lives and their times.

And yet, most people, even within the spectrum of our present readership, have yet to become aware of the Post-American. Many who could be reading the Post-American are not due to the fact that we have never undertaken a significant effort to reach new subscribers by direct mail—the principal way publications increase their readership.

We have always sought to be a reader-supported publication sustained by those who believe in its message rather than being dependent on large outside sources of funding. Though that approach runs counter to the conventional wisdom of how publications survive, we feel we can continue by finding our support in an expanding readership. Therefore, because we need to be reader-supported and because most of our costs are relatively fixed (regardless of circulation), it is crucial that we continually attract new subscriptions, not only in order to grow but in order to survive financially.

By expanding our coverage of issues and concerns, by developing a more readable format and increasing the variety of writing styles, we believe we can commend the Post-American to more readers. Therefore, in order to carry the message of the PA to more people and to survive and grow as a publication, the editors have made the decision to undertake a major direct-mailing effort aimed at increasing our readership.

The most natural place for us to go to obtain the necessary funds for this effort is to you, our readers. You have supported us in the past and continue to sustain our operations each month. Many of you have written to express your thanks for the Post-American, to offer critical feedback, to share with us how it has influenced your lives, to suggest directions for our future. You are the people who have the greatest commitment to the continued existence of the PA and to its future development. So we turn to you at this very crucial time in the growth of the PA.

We need to raise between 25,000 and 50,000 dollars, which will be used solely for the purpose of getting the PA to new people. We have carefully selected lists of potential readers among groups where the PA has already received a positive response. The initial funds used for the direct mailing will return to us in the form of subscriptions from new readers and will then be used again in direct mail efforts each year. We need only the initial funds (rather than needing to ask for such funds each time) which will be used and then reinvested in continuing direct mail efforts to reach new subscribers.

Our ability to raise the necessary funds for this purpose has obvious importance for the continued survival and future development of the Post-American. We are asking you to contribute to this effort, and we are asking you to contribute sacrificially. If the Post-American has been helpful and encouraging to you and others close to you, we ask you to consider how you can sacrifice and give more than you normally would. In addition to seeking contributions, we also are asking for those able to make non-interest short-term loans available to the Post-American for the purpose of expanding our readership. Our agreement will be to return such loans in two to five years, determined by the request of the donor. Your sacrifice now in making a significant contribution and/or short term loan will make the crucial difference for the future of the Post-American.

Our editorial commitment is to a biblically-based and practical Christian faith which can speak with clarity to the issues of life as we confront them in our own lives and in this period of history. As long as we continue to raise the “uncomfortable issues” of discipleship, we believe a widely-read Post-American can make a real contribution to a visible Christian witness in this land. The funds for this direct mail enable the Post-American to survive and go forward to a highly significant ministry.

Jim Wallis is editor-in-chief of Sojourners.