As the clock strikes 2017, we wanted to give you a brief update about all that’s happening with Mockingbird. It’s been quite a lively year, praise God: in addition to keeping the website humming with fresh content, we hosted three fantastic conferences, released two beautiful issues of The Mockingbird magazine (Church and Mental Health), and published a pair of brand-new books, Churchy and More Theology & Less Heavy Cream.
The audience of our weekly podcast, The Mockingcast, grew to nearly 2,000 downloads per episode, placing it in the top 15% of podcasts on iTunes. In fact, it’s proved so popular–and fun–that last month we launched a fresh broadcast, the lectionary-focused Same Old Song. Meanwhile, our website registered more than a million pageviews for the second straight year. All this with only three full-time staff and four part-time.
We have some terrific projects on tap for 2017: topping the list would have to be our 10th Annual Spring Conference in New York City (4/27-29), for which we’re pulling out the stops. We’ll also be back in Tyler, TX on February 2/24-25 (contrary to the dates listed in the letter we sent out – whoops), and in a few short weeks we’re hosting a free event in Dallas (1/13-14) and helping with a men’s conference in Birmingham, AL (1/27-28). There are rumblings of another SoCal shindig in September, as well as a Fall Conference in Virginia. Stay tuned.
On the print side, the Food & Drink issue of The Mockingbird hits in January, followed by Love & Death in April. We are hard at work readying another four titles by the late Robert Capon for re-publication. There’s also talk of a prayer collection, a kids’ picture book, and possibly even another devotional. And let’s not forget the 500th anniversary of the Reformation…! (Keep your eyes peeled for the cover of the January issue of Christianity Today, wink wink nudge nudge.)
How You Can Help
Mockingbird relies on the generosity of individual donors and churches to fund its operations. Specifically, we need to raise $290,000 to keep fulfilling our mission in 2017. For more information about where the money goes, click here. Three easy ways to help might be:
- Become a monthly supporter. Almost 200 people give automatically to Mbird every month, anywhere from $5 to $1200. We would love to see that number increase! Anyone who signs up for monthly giving (any amount) will receive a complimentary subscription to The Mockingbird. If you’re already subscribed but want to start giving monthly, we’ll send you the publication of your choice as a thank-you.
- See if your church can help. A handful of ‘partner’ churches support us every year with funds from their mission/outreach budgets. Others give via discretionary accounts. If you attend or work at a church that is benefiting from our ministry but hasn’t gotten behind Mbird “officially” yet, be our advocate! Email us at info@mbird.com if you have any leads.
- Spread the word. If you’re not in a place where you can give, there are other ways to pitch in. Write a review of one of our books on Amazon. Or rate one of our podcasts on iTunes. Publicize Mbird events and articles (like this one!) on Twitter or Facebook or Instagram. Use one of our resources at your church or in your small group (both Churchy and the Mental Health issue are ideal for this). Above all, please pray for us!
If you believe in what we’re doing and want to ensure that it continues, consider making a donation to Mockingbird today. Thanks for reading, and we wish you a happy (brand) new year.
P.S. We’re extending the discounted earlybird pre-registration for our NYC Conference until January 3rd!
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