All in the family

Over all of the 30 years since several of us launched WORLD in 1986, it’s typically been a family affair. By that, I’m not referring primarily to the involvement of my own blood relatives—although that too has often been both critical and encouraging. Instead I’m taking note of the many times you readers (readers first of our magazines and more recently website visitors and podcast listeners), have treated us as if we were your brothers or sisters or aunts or uncles.

You’ve called us and said that later this week you were coming through our town, and that you’d like to stop for breakfast, or at least a cup of coffee. You’ve put us up in your own homes when we visited your town, and you’ve taken us to your church, and introduced us to your pastor and his wife. You’ve sent us pictures from around the world of you and your family reading and showing off a recent issue of WORLD at the Taj Mahal or the Great Wall of China.

Now, really! This is a notably unusual relationship. I’m pretty sure you don’t treat National Geographic and Popular Mechanics this way. You’ve told us you respect us, and trust us, and use us to shape your worldview. That sobers me.

Then comes a week like this one. Even the closest of family members now and then get crosswise with each other. And in this topsy-turvy presidential campaign, with the most unexpected twists and turns any of us had ever seen, WORLD too took a few hits. A number of you took strong issue with our Oct. 29 issue, in which our editorial team called on Donald Trump to step down.

WORLD is indeed a ‘family’ place—a place to remind ourselves that the best families never quit loving each other and never quit praying for each other.

My column here is not the place, at least right now, to rehearse or reargue that highly volatile issue. But it is the place to remind you how critically important it is to maintain the presence of a journalistic voice like WORLD in our culture, where Christian citizens can, in civil and moderate discourse, reflect on issues like the candidacy of Donald Trump. It is the right place to engage in vital family discussions on the huge variety of topics WORLD takes on, issue by issue. It is indeed a “family” place—a place to remind ourselves that the best families never quit loving each other and never quit praying for each other, especially when we disagree on some matters.

And this is most assuredly the place where I, as autumn every year drifts toward winter, call on you to express your support of this important journalistic project. As founder of WORLD, I want to remind you that when you invest $60 or so in your WORLD membership, we regularly deliver another $30 in valuable content—$30 that is provided by your generous gifts.

Viewed from another perspective, we take on the task each year to find about $3 million beyond your membership fees to add depth and color to our reporting, our checking, our design, and our overall presentation of the news.

I’ve asked that a self-addressed envelope be inserted in the print issue of WORLD to make it easy for you to participate in our effort to find that $3 million for this year. Or you may prefer to use our website for a safe and secure transmission of your gift. Any gift to WORLD is tax deductible—whether it’s $30, $250, $1,000, or more.

And here’s a special request. Almost every year since WORLD’s earliest appearance, I’ve asked whether there might be a handful of WORLD members willing to commit to an annual gift of $5,000 over the next three years. Through the years something over 50 such “WORLD Movers” have rallied to the cause. Might you consider joining them?

But mostly, don’t forget that we’re a family. Whether we’re 100 percent in agreement all the time, or almost 100 percent most of the time, I think we can all agree the world needs WORLD’s Biblically objective journalism that informs, educates, and inspires. We very much need each other.

How about enclosing your family photo with your gift? After all, we’re family.

Email jbelz@wng.org