A year of anniversaries–Mockingbird’s 10th and the Reformation’s 500th–is now behind us, and what a year it was. We published our first children’s book, released two issues of our magazine (Food & Drink and Love & Death), held three conferences, racked up 1.2 million pageviews on our website. We hired our fourth full-time and fourth part-time staff members (which makes a total of eight!). David Z enjoyed a rejuvenating summer sabbatical.
One of the first things we did upon his return was convene a group to brainstorm about the next stage of our work. Together we developed a slew of new projects and initiatives (and tweaks to old ones) that we’ve affectionately termed “Mbird 2.0”. The guiding principle was just as it’s ever been–to bring the “same old song” of the Gospel to people in fresh and creative ways.
The first wave of 2.0, due in early 2018, will include a native Mbird app for mobile devices, a reconfigured Mockingcast, and the introduction of curated weekly digest emails. The second wave will launch a revamped website with triple the number of pastoral resources, our first-ever set of mini-videos, and a second 365-day devotional.
All this in addition to our slate of regular activities: conferences in Tyler, TX (2/23-24), New York (4/26-28), and Oklahoma City (10/12-13); new volumes of our print magazine (Humor will be out in a few weeks!); more reissued titles from Robert Capon; not to mention the continued parade of awesome daily content on here.
Suffice it to say, the adventure continues–and we need your help! Scroll down for a few suggestions of how to do so.
How You Can Help
Mockingbird relies on the generosity of individual donors and churches to fund its operations. Specifically, we need to raise $360,000 to keep fulfilling our mission in 2018. For more information about where the money goes, click here. Three easy ways to help might be:
- Become a monthly supporter. More than 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 (our Law and Gospel is 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 the happiest of new years.
P.S. Discounted earlybird pre-registration for our NYC Conference (4/26-28) only lasts until January 15th!
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