Your Support Matters

Image is both a quarterly journal and an integrated suite of programs, making it the leading organization promoting cultural renewal through a reawakening of the religious imagination.

Image would not exist were it not for volunteers willing to labor for it without pay and generous donors who keep Image alive with their financial gifts. Charitable contributions make up a third of our livelihood, allowing Image to produce the journal and other high-quality programs and extend their reach to others.

Your help will ensure that Image can respond to the increasing demand for our programs and remain at the forefront of cultural renewal in our time.

Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution today.

As a small, tightly run ship, every dollar you give makes a big difference, be it $35, $50, $100, $500, $1,000 or more.

We ask that you read our annual appeal letter below and consider whether you might join the ranks of our supporters. As the late spiritual writer Henri Nouwen once said, in a talk entitled “The Spirituality of Fundraising”: “Asking people for money is giving them the opportunity to put their resources at the disposal of the Kingdom.”

2008 Annual Appeal Letter

November 1, 2008

Dear Friends of IMAGE:

Earlier this year a friend wrote to me comparing what IMAGE does to the film The Lives of Others. Even if you haven't seen that film, you may know the plot: in the last days of Communism, an East German agent sits in an attic listening through headphones to the lives of a playwright and his lover in an apartment below. Over the course of his surveillance the human drama he encounters, and the beauty of the music and literature he hears, transform him. By the end an abstracted ideologue has become an empathetic human soul--a participant, not just an observer.

When I asked my friend what he meant by the comparison he told me that IMAGE and its programs are like the drama taking place in that apartment--a place where beauty and truth are enacted--and the culture at large is like the agent listening in, fascinated.

Perhaps you need to see the film to feel the full impact of the comparison, but the analogy moved me--it's as poignant an icon of our mission as any I've encountered.

And that's saying something, because IMAGE is on the verge of celebrating its twentieth anniversary in 2009. Whether you are among the few who have been with us for most of those two decades or have recently subscribed, we're grateful for your support of our mission to renew the culture through the "ever ancient, ever new" dialogue between art and faith.

Twenty years! It's hard to believe what began in a damp basement home office in rural Virginia in 1989 has led to 60 issues of an acclaimed journal, more than two dozen life-changing Glen Workshops and conferences, an enriching annual study tour to Florence, Italy, more than twenty writers supported by the Milton Center as they labor to complete their first books, and the exponential growth of a website with a daily blog and an ongoing e-newsletter that surveys contemporary culture.

Twenty years provide some perspective. Looking back, I believe IMAGE can take pride in building a beautiful stage and finding exquisite actors--the artists and writers we've featured and supported--to dramatize the human search for meaning.

Another blessing of time and perspective is that a younger generation can provide its own testimony about how it has been changed by that drama. That's why I'd like to share a few thoughts by the brilliant, young observer of culture Andy Crouch.

Andy's important new book is entitled Culture Making: Recovering our Creative Calling. In it he argues that the best way for people of faith to transform culture is not to endlessly analyze it or, worse, to try to ape every passing bit of pop culture and merely insert a religious message within it. Rather, he says, the way to change the culture is to make culture, serious culture. Human beings are transformed not by polemics or apologetics but through the vision embodied in enduring works of high art and profound thought.

When we asked Andy to assess the role of IMAGE in the larger culture he was kind enough to respond at length:

Perhaps it's inevitable that as the author of a book about Christian cultural creativity, the most frequent question I hear is, "So, who is actually doing this? Who is making culture in the way you call for in your book?" My questioners are usually looking for examples of Christians situated along the most visible axes of culture: in Hollywood or Washington, Wall Street or Harvard Yard. And there are Christ-followers, in fact, doing good, creative work in all those places.

But one of history's most hopeful lessons is that influential creativity very often happens far off the grid of power and popularity. The grid is impatient, but true creativity takes time. The grid demands a quarterly return, but true creativity is not quickly profitable....

So Christians who seek to invest in lasting cultural change must seek out the centers of excellence that nourish the kind of creativity that only happens with time, risk, and exploration. And at this moment in history, I simply don't know of a more fruitful such place than Image.... It is not as widely known as it should be and will be, but as long as it stays true to its mission it will never be fully "on the grid." It is too important for that.

I believe there is every reason to hope that the twenty-first century will see the return of full-bodied, wholehearted, intelligent works of Christian imagination in every medium. Image is at the heart of that renaissance. It is one of the treasures of our time--and one of the best answers to my readers' most frequent question.

As you can imagine, Andy's words mean a great deal to us, but they also remind us why IMAGE needs your financial support: since we've chosen to go for excellence rather than lighter fare, it takes far-seeing individuals to comprehend the value of our mission.

Of course, I'm acutely aware of the distressing economic situation that is impacting us all. But I hope you believe that the beauty and truth we present are more vital in this time of crisis than ever before. The world is listening in.

Your gift--whether $30, $50, $100, $500, or $1,000--will enable us to continue to renew culture through art. And if the current crunch makes it difficult for you to give much now, would you consider taking advantage of our new monthly giving option? Thanks, as ever, for your steadfast support.

Cordially,

Gregory Wolfe

P.S. If you'd like to know more about our vision for the coming years and can give at a higher level, I would be happy to send you our new, comprehensive strategic plan. Just e-mail me at gwolfe@imagejournal.org. In any case, I'm always happy to hear from you.

To make a financial contribution to Image, click one of the links below.