catapult magazine

A home for *cino

by Kirstin Vander Giessen-Reitsma

Building a home is a great metaphor for many aspects of our lives, including faith, politics, family and relationships. The metaphor also serves well when describing the development of an organization. Launching into a new fundraising effort, the Vision Campaign, has caused us to evaluate where we are in building the structure necessary to realize our vision.

Speaking specifically about our financial structure, we might say that the foundation for *culture is not optional has been laid by a few faithful contributors who, even if they couldn’t quite picture what the house would look like or imagine how such a huge structure would ever come to be, trusted relatively inexperienced craftspeople to do what they promised.

One year after our first campaign, we have successfully published 37 issues of the online magazine, gathered nearly 300 members for the online discussion board, displayed and spoken in five states and one Canadian province, received one significant grant and made progress toward the completion of an online cultural discernment curriculum. As impatient as we might be sometimes and as tempted as we might be to demand the fulfillment of the vision tomorrow and not a minute later, I’m very proud of the progress we?ve made so far and the progress we stand to make in the coming year.

However, the burden of running an organization does not get lighter with each success. Rather, the sense of urgency deepens the more we understand the need for Christian cultural engagement. To continue building a house that will serve its function well, we need to dedicate more time ourselves and find others who are skilled in complementary crafts to take over portions of the building process.

Toward this end, we are seeking in the Vision Campaign to be stewards of the creative human beings who commit to this work. We hope to raise enough money in monthly donations to partially compensate our current staff members and potentially initiate an internship program for college and post-college age individuals who wish to aid *cino in its mission and prepare themselves for transformational callings. Ultimately, we seek to have a broader and better impact as we equip and connect Kingdom servants to obediently cultivate our culture.

In case an inspirational vision is not enough to convince folks to contribute financially to the building of this house, we are prepared to offer several incentives for certain levels of giving.

• A commitment to give at least $10 a month comes with a yearly bonus of fair trade coffee or tea.

• A commitment of at least $25 a month will be rewarded with fair trade coffee or tea every quarter.

• Contributors who commit to $50 or more each month will receive quarterly coffee or tea in addition to being greeted once a year with the opportunity to choose a free book from a tantalizing list, which currently includes David Dark’s Everyday Apocalypse, Philip Yancey’s Soul Survivor and Anne Lamott’s Traveling Mercies.

• And to the generous contributors who commit $100 or more a month to *culture is not optional, we will give quarterly coffee or tea, one book each year, and the opportunity to choose an individual who’s doing model work in Christian cultural engagement to be featured in an issue of catapult magazine.

And, of course, all of these levels of giving include the quarterly road journal and monthly update letters. In fact, even if you’re interested in contributing but can’t afford to, please send your name and mailing address along to kirstinvgr@cultureisnotoptional.com and we will put you on the quarterly mailing list.

We are very excited about growing the group of individuals who are committed to realizing the vision for *culture is not optional. We know that not everyone can drop everything and volunteer to barn-raise for a young non-profit organization, but there are many other ways to contribute to this work. We would be blessed if you saw fit in the faithful stewardship of your funds and your time to help build a home that welcomes and spreads the word about the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit to transform us for cultural engagement.

If you would like make a one-time donation or commit to contribute monthly, please visit our donation site.