by Kate Kooyman

I remember a moment, after the election, when a preacher I respect a great deal called this moment we are living through an “apocalypse,” which named and settled something within me that felt adrift and undefined. I needed that word.

It might sound to some like liberal snowflake catastrophizing, but it spoke to me.

Apocalypse, Nadia Bolz-Weber explained, means uncovering. And this is just what this year has been for the church, I believe.

It is an uncovering, an exposing, of what has been below the surface of American Christianity for some time. The dehumanization of black and brown people, the abuse of women, the scapegoating of the poor, the collusion of partisanship and the pulpit — all this has existed implicitly for a long time. It’s just that now it has come out of the shadows, into the light, brazenly and unapologetically. What has been uncovered is not the church.

And so I have needed to redefine where to fit, who to join, how to belong as a result.

During this apocalypse, I have needed — more and more — this blog. I have needed a Christian space, a Reformed community, in which to anchor myself. There’s a lot that passes as “Reformed” these days that actually looks more like that exposed sin-soaked “church” than anything that resembles our identifiers of sola gratia or an eschatology of all-things-new.

I think the voices gathered on The Twelve deserve to be heard in this desperate moment of uncovering for North American Christians. But we can’t do it for free. We need more than just the hard work and dedication of a handful of folks who believe in it enough to do this for free — we need actual money. Web hosting and marketing and all the other parts that I don’t understand…they need funds in order to sustain — and hopefully, to grow — the gift that this blog has become to so many of us.

I hope you’ll donate to The Twelve if you’re one of the many readers who have found it ballast these past months. As we continue to reckon with what we’re uncovering, I believe we need the thoughtful, faith-filled, inspiring, and challenging voices that are part of this community more than ever. Thank you.

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