TWENTY-TWO YEARS after our founding in 2002, Ekklesia will cease its work as a think tank and daily provider of news briefings on September 3, 2024 – but we are pleased to announce that book publishing, a newsletter and an informal network via social media will be maintained independently for the time being.
This decision was made a long time ago. Over the past few years, we have had numerous conversations with friends and allies about how best to continue the legacy of Ekklesia, which has sought to bring creative and transformative ideas to debates about faith, politics and ethics.
There was hope that an academic institution or NGO might be able to continue the think tank dimension of our work. Currently, this is not an option, but we remain open to inquiries from interested parties. (Lack of resources and time is obviously a major reason why we have to stop most of our work at the moment. But so are many other challenges.)
Where to next?
Our founding creed was the radical peace and justice tradition within Christian thought and action. But we have also tried to work creatively with people of other faiths and with people of “good faith” outside of religion, which in its organized forms is all too often part of the problem and not part of the solution in our beautiful but fragmented world.
Archiving, publishing and networking
We know that voices offering hopeful alternatives to the systems of injustice, war, domination and environmental destruction that still dominate our world are needed now more than ever. Those who have contributed to Ekklesia over the years will continue to speak out, through the channels listed below and many others.
This website (now in its fourth virtual incarnation) is an important hub and gateway to our activities. From September 2024, there will be a comprehensive online archive containing most of the material we have published since 2006, in particularIt comprises around 30,000 pages and contains all our reports, position papers and press releases.
Ekklesia Publishingwhich was founded in 2016 and has produced 15 books so far, will continue. We will update and revise its website. A new Substack newsletter, Lightingwill begin shortly, written by our current Director, Simon Barrow, but with guest contributions. Other Ekklesia staff have similar plans, which we will keep you updated on. Those of you who have been in touch with us over the years can also informally hear about our Social Media Channels on X/Twitter and Facebook, which will be renamed Ekklesia Network.
All this information, as well as links to a number of organizations and networks with which we have had a special affinity and connection over the years, appear on the Live homepage of our archive site in September (with the exact same URL as this one). So we are not disappearing completely, and there will still be opportunities for reflection, publication, and action that will carry our legacy forward.
Closing events and book
In addition, Ekklesia Publishing and the informal network will co-sponsor a few final events through the summer of next year to celebrate Ekklesia’s work highlighting new, transformative approaches to peace, justice and sustainability in the challenging 21st century. More information to follow.
Finally, in 2025, Ekklesia Publishing will also publish a collection of new essays, materials from our work over the past two decades, and signposts for the future. This will be entitled Thinking without armor: A new look at faith, politics and ethics.
Thank you!
The only appropriate way to end this announcement is with a huge thank you to everyone who has contributed to Ekklesia’s activity, work and provocations over the past 22 years, both paid and (mostly!) unpaid. Our founder Jonathan Bartley deserves special mention, along with all of our staff – past and present – as well as our former COO Virginia Moffatt and our administrator Henrietta Cullinan. Since 2002, we have had hundreds of donors contribute.
A very special thank you to Bob Carling, who has long led our web and publishing operations; to Jill Segger, who has written commentary on a wide range of topics and overseen editorial matters with great care; to Bernadette Meaden, who contributed commentary on social justice and disability issues and provided the bulk of the content for our news service in recent years; and to Sean Reilly of CanMarket for his expertise in dealing with website migrations. There are others who need to be mentioned, and we will try to do so before we say goodbye…
If you are reading this, we couldn’t have done it without you!
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Simon Barrow
Director, Ekklesia
