by Jeff Munroe
A few years ago, when a group of Perspectives leaders were discussing the history of the journal, someone decided the best way to capture it was to quote Deuteronomy 26:5 and say, “My father was a wandering Aramean.” This was sort of a biblically tongue-in-cheek way of saying, “It’s complicated.”
Part of the ancestry of Perspectives was the Reformed Journal, which was technically owned by Eerdmans Publishing. Part of the ancestry was a charter as a publication of the Reformed Church Press, which was its own corporation but functioned as an agency of the Reformed Church in America. A few years ago the Reformed Church Press was disbanded. The RCA provided a temporary home for Perspectives with the understanding that the journal would eventually stand on its own. This is as it should be – Perspectives would lose its value if it were the house publication of any institution.
Journals and magazines are an endangered species. We live on because we aren’t trying to make money and because we’re a volunteer effort. Progress on becoming independent has been slow because we all have more-than-full time jobs. But we are in the process of becoming a free-standing 501c3 non-profit organization and should accomplish that soon.
We have some modest financial needs which must be met. For example, last year the wild success of one of our blog posts – which has had over a million views – cost us money for internet hosting fees we weren’t planning on. Things like that, and doing the 501c3 work, and physically producing the magazine, don’t cost much but do cost something. Our budget is small potatoes, but we need some help covering the cost of the small potatoes.
You know how fundraisers always say, “Your gift makes a big difference”? In this case, it actually is true.
[callout type=”left” title=”Financially Support The Twelve!” message=”Supporting The Twelve and Perspectives Journal is easier than ever! Get started by clicking on the following button to give a one-time donation today!” button_text=”Donate Today!” href=”https://reformedjournal.com/donate/once” target=”blank”]Jeff Munroe is the Vice President of Operations and Advancement at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan.
