This Month's Cover
Magazine

Sojourners Magazine: November 2022

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How do marketing techniques, such as surveillance and data gathering, fit with the mission of the church?

Features

Side profile of two hands resting on an open laptop; the screen shows an image resembling surveillance footage of a congregation taken from the rear of the church

Congregations are entering the murky world of online surveillance and data gathering. What could go wrong?

by
Emily Beth Hill
Magazine
Features

Three ways churches can decenter themselves and economically empower their communities.

by
David E. Kresta
Painting by Frederic Edwin Church with (left to right) a twisted tree, a red earth path, and rocks in the foreground. Storm clouds gather in the background, with lava and dark ground below them.

A look at the roots of a world aflame.

by
Stephen J. Pyne

Voices

Voices
Grain of Salt
Raised hands lift up banners with cartoon-style clouds on a sky-blue background with a bright yellow sun in the center. Behin the banners, blue-gray cartoon clouds are shadowed on a dark gray background

People of faith can help Starbucks workers and others in their pursuit of economic equity.

by Jim Rice
Voices
From The Editors
Surreal illustration of an Indigenous woman with dark hair and a purple dress. The bottom and sides of the image are covered by cartoon water in shades of green, blue, and purple, and the top of the image features raised fists in orange, yellow, and red.

Longtime Sojourner Julie Polter becomes the third editor of the magazine in its 51-year history.

by The Editors
Voices
Commentary
Blue and red arms and hands extend from sides of image, gathering in the center as they drop voting ballots into the slot of the visible top of a dark-gray ballot box. A row of white stars extends across the bottom of the image.

One purpose of “stolen elections” conspiracies is to discourage people from democratic participation. People of faith must speak out against these narratives.

by
Samuel L. Perry
A birds-eye view of a textured gray background overlaid with a maze in the shape of a brain. In the top third of the brain, a figure silhouetted by golden light walks through an open door.

But empathetic listening led me to understand the experiences and perspectives of pro-choice women.

by
Rob Schenck
Voices
Columns
Aerial view of a group of people holdings hands and spiraling out; the cluster is to the center left of the image. Background is light tan with blobs of darker tan, salmon, and pink overlaid.

If you want a chance to show that Christianity means something real to you, you're going to have an unprecedented opportunity in the years to come.

by
Bill McKibben
Two rows of four faces are overlaid on geometric backgrounds; illustrated faces are white, orange, medium-brown, and dark brown. Background includes lines and blocks of green, shades of blue, pink, and other bright geometric shapes.

Should we burn bridges with “those” family members?

by
Liuan Huska
Voices
Eyewitness
Photo of a cerulean blue billboard with black text that reads "Jesus Warned Us About Mike Flynn's ReAwaken America Tour." Foreground features a group of people facing the billboard; one protestor's sign reads "We Are Awake to Your Traitorous Lies"

An Episcopal priest reflects on resisting the ReAwaken America Tour.

by
Nathan Empsall
Voices
Contributing
A black-and-white headshot of a Black woman with a hoop earring and dark curly hair is overlaid on a teal blue outline, with yellow dots on a darker yellow background behind the blue outline.

“The places that we came from aren’t necessarily the same places that we once knew.”    

by Liz Bierly
A black-and-white headshot of a white man with large glasses, short hair, and collared shirt overlaid on a light pink outline on top of a dark red background with slightly lighter red half-moon shapes.

“Are we just playing church, or are we actually being salt and light?”

by Liz Bierly

Vision

Vision
Culture
A close-up screenshot from Alien 3; an alien creature with its mouth open is seen from the side, with its teeth next to the shiny face and ear of a white woman who directly faces the camera.

Horror can reveal truths about systems and structures that work to protect the status quo.

by
JR. Forasteros
A white woman with dark brown hair directly faces the camera but looks slightly right; she wears a dark blue jacket and there is an industrial background behind her.

Emily the Criminal is the millennial version of classic gangster noir — and an indictment of our exploitative economy.

by
Abby Olcese
 A Black man in a royal blue suit with a white collared shirt stands at a podium; background of the image is dark, with two vertical stripes of blue light extending top-to-bottom to the left of the man.

The legacy of Denmark Vesey, Mother Emanuel AME Church, and the stories that resist removal.

by
Josina Guess
Vision
Books
Foreground of image shows Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hiking in a green forest. She wears a geometric sweater and a blue backpack; her boyfriend is pictured hiking behind her, slightly out of focus

Three culture recommendations from our editors.

by
The Editors
Book cover is divided into thirds, with a dark top and bottom block and a yellow-gold middle block. Bright yellow text on top third reads "Rest Is Resistance" and middle third reads "A Manifesto"; bottom third reads "Tricia Hersey"

Rest Is Resistance on trading in grind culture for the pursuit of a slower, richer life.

by
C. Christopher Smith
Book cover: A black background in the shape of a coffin is framed by a green light silhouetting trees with brown trunks and no branches in the shape of curtains; white text on black reads "All the Ways Our Dead Still Speak"

All the Ways Our Dead Still Speak reminds us that remembering our ancestors — both the good and the bad in them — is a loving act.

by
Jennifer C. Martin
Vision
Poetry

A poem.

by
Muriel Nelson
Vision
Living The Word

November reflections on the Revised Common Lectionary, Cycle C-A.

by
T. Denise Anderson
Vision
H'rumphs