Before the clock strikes 2015, we wanted to give you a brief update about all that’s going on with Mockingbird. 2014 was quite a year for our little organization. In addition to keeping the website humming with fresh content, we hosted two conferences (New York and Houston), produced a pair of publications (Eden and Afterward and A Mess of Help), and launched our biggest project yet, the quarterly print magazine The Mockingbird, which Daniel Jones of The NY Times called “a beautiful, thoughtful, and utterly contemporary publication, with a quality matching that of the best literary journals.”
Meanwhile, our online audience grew by more than 40%, from roughly 520,000 unique visits in 2013 to over 750,000 in 2014. We even gave a series of pre-game devotions to The Atlanta Falcons (kid you not!) and found time to put out both kindle
We have some terrific projects lined up for 2015: In addition to our annual Spring Conference in New York City (4/16-18), this summer we are leading our first ever week-long program at Camp Kanuga in North Carolina (6/21-26)! On January 24th, we’re hosting a book launch party for A Mess of Help in NYC, and in February, we’ll be playing a significant role again at the Liberate gathering in Ft. Lauderdale, FL (2/19-22). There are rumblings of a Fall Conference in a fresh location, too–stay tuned for an announcement in the not-so-distant future.
Those are just the events. In the next few weeks, this website will receive a long-awaited facelift, freshening it up and making things more inviting for newcomers, while expanding functionality in a number of exciting ways. The next issue of The Mockingbird, the Work and Play Issue, should be out in February, and is coming together beautifully. The first quarter will also find us kicking off a series of mini-publications zeroing in on specific topics (social media, law and gospel, etc). More details on those as they develop. Suffice it to say, the adventure continues.
How You Can Help
Like any non-profit or ministry, Mockingbird relies on the generosity of individual donors and churches to fund its operations. We need to raise $225,000 to keep fulfilling our mission in 2015. Part of the increase from last year has to do with subsidizing the cost of the magazine – it is on track to be self-sustaining, but that’s still a few years away. For more info about where the money goes, click here. Three easy ways to help might be:
- Mbird currently has just over 100 supporters who give automatically 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, we’ll send you the publication of your choice as a thank-you.
- 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.
- 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. Spread the word about Mbird events and articles on social media like Twitter or Facebook. Use one of our resources at your church or in your small group (Eden and Afterward 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, please consider making a donation to Mockingbird today. Thanks for reading, and we wish you and yours a very…
P.S. Earlybird rates for the NYC Conference expire on January 16th.
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