Three Years In: Supporters Update 15

Anabaptist Perspectives is now over three years old. Our founders released the first video on January 4, 2018. Later that year we officially organized as a ministry of Wellspring Mennonite Church.

In this special annual report (and three year report!) edition of Supporters Update, I have several things to share.

• Our new office space and other infrastructure
• Quotes and notes from our audience interaction
• Our new audio essay podcast, Essays For King Jesus
• A glance at our audience numbers and financial numbers

To boil it down, we are thankful for fruit we have seen and for what God has provided. At the same time, we keenly sense the need for roots to sustain the work.

Office and infrastructure

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Office space here is Athens, TN has been donated for our use. Along with another organization we have done some renovations and are ready to move in. While most of our work will still be mobile or work from home, this provides a much-needed space for meetings and equipment.

We are working hard on workflows and digital infrastructure as well. Various software upgrades are in process or coming soon. Our goal is to publish higher quality content and make better use of staff and volunteer time through efficient work processes.

Dialoguing with our Audience

The three years have brought some assurances of fruitfulness as we see appreciative responses to the messages our guests have brought to our audience, and have been able to dialogue with various audience members.

Audience comments, of course, bring both encouragement and rebukes, misunderstandings and demonstrations of our own lack of understanding. Sometimes the critics are right.

This was wonderfully helpful. I can’t tell you how much time I’ve spent wrestling with JW on doctrine and felt like it never went anywhere of benefit. This was encouraging.

Many people have written to us, lamenting the lack of an Anabaptist church in their area. We have been struggling to learn how to best encourage such individuals.

I am British and we have no Mennonite churches here. Can I become a Mennonite without being attached to a Mennonite community?

Some people probed to know more about our stance on political involvement. We will be responding to the quote below in a special Q & A episode later this year.

Here in Brazil voting is mandatory for every citizen between 18 and 60 years old! If I don’t vote I’m not following the rules of the country that I live. What is your perspective for nations [where] voting is mandatory?

Other people worry that Anabaptist rhetoric conceals the fact that we are too comfortable and self-satisfied.

anabaptist folks have always been more worried about business and hunting than the reality of life for dark skinned folks or other pressing life and death issues that they insulate themselves from. Family and church. Ya no. Direct action is not against any of Jesus commandments but pretty sure the hoarding of money and resources is.

Essays for King Jesus

Our blog is now in audio! We published a sporadic blog since we launched, and have been publishing regularly since January of 2020. Now we have started recording these essays audio-book-style and releasing them on their own podcast. “Essays for King Jesus” is our new name for the blog. New essays will be released simultaneously in audio and we will also be releasing audio versions of older essays on the podcast.

By the Numbers: Audience and Finances

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We are grateful for God’s provision. 2020 saw us build a slight operating reserve financially. Our staff needs continue to grow which will require increasing our budget as we go forward.