Something New

New job, new format

I have a new job. I’m overjoyed to announce that I’ve joined Mere Orthodoxy as their Director of Communications and Marketing.

I’ve been a fan of Mere Orthodoxy for years. Some of the most influential articles on the way I think have come from Mere Orthodoxy. As a long-time reader and some-times contributor, I’m beyond excited to get to not just read and support, but to be a part of building a media institution that I believe in.

When you survey the evangelical media landscape, a place like Mere Orthodoxy is crucial. One of my favorite pieces that I’ve returned to often is Constructing Toward Catholicity by Jake Meador. Not only is his description of his personal faith journey familiar to mine, but the vision Jake lays out of catholicity, of being deeply rooted in the things that unite Christians across time and tradition, is exactly what I hope to build too.

I love this section in particular.

Whether people leave and go to another church or leave and deconstruct before ultimately apostatizing, the thing that virtually never happens is a reconstruction ending with a more catholic Christianity.

Those who stayed Christian would found or find other churches that were usually just nicer, tamer versions of what they'd left. Those who left dismissed Christianity altogether, while still maintaining the rather bizarre and ahistorical idea that "Christianity" is synonymous with the thing they encountered in that church and, quite understandably, rejected.

What's odd, in other words, is that for all the thousands of people who have at one time attended this church and then left, very few found their way to a Christianity that isn't all those things mentioned above. They didn't find something historically rooted in the creeds and confessions of the church, something marked by traditional Christian piety, something that self-consciously saw itself as belonging to that thing C. S. Lewis described once as "terrible as an army with banners," the church catholic as she sprawls across time and space.

If you’ve read Walking Through Deconstruction, then you understand why I find this so appealing. You also understand how important I believe media to be. For most of my working career, I’ve worked in media. What this new role with Mere Orthodoxy does is it combines my passion for helping a particular vision for the church flourish through media.

What does this mean for Back Again?

To be honest, I’m still working this out. But for now, it means a few things.

1. My primary writing outlet will now be Mere Orthodoxy. It makes sense that if I want to write, I write for the publication I work for first. So I expect to be contributing more there soon, including a longer piece on beauty, media, and formation I’m finishing up that I imagine will be published before the end of the month.

2. For now, I’ll be using this newsletter for a monthly resource round-up. If I write for Mere Orthodoxy, I’ll include a link to it along with other resources that month that I found particularly helpful. I find what Haley Baumeister has created over at Life Considered inspiring. While I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to do something to the same caliber, maybe I’ll be able to attain that level of intentionality over time. Next week, I’m going to be running an excerpt from a recent book that I love and I hope you read from Kyle Worley. After that, I’ll be moving to the new format.

3. In light of this, I’m pausing paid subscriptions and opening up my archives for free. I’m so thankful for everyone who has supported me financially. It honestly blows me away that anyone has at all. Those who have supported me have done so not because I’ve been able to provide any extra value to them, but because they believe in the vision of what I’ve been trying to write about here. But I don’t feel like I can keep paid subscriptions alive with the direction the newsletter is going. Maybe it’ll make sense again in the future. But not today. To everyone who has supported me: thank you, thank you, thank you.

If you want to continue to support me, the best way to do so is to become a Member at Mere Orthodoxy. It’s the same amount but you get much more, including the three incredible print Journals we put out each year.

I believe in what we’re building at Mere Orthodoxy. Even though it’s been around for 20 years at this point, it honestly feels like we’re only just beginning. Along with Jake Meador and our new Executive Director Mark Kremer, we have what we need to build on the remarkable foundation that has been laid over the last two decades.

So, Back Again isn’t going away, but it is changing. But it’s because I believe in building institutions that will outlast you and that’s what I hope to help with at Mere Orthodoxy. I love Substack and I’m staying here. I think it might be the best platform on the internet. I’ll still be over on Notes engaging with the incredible community that is here. I’ll just be using my effort on building Mere Orthodoxy instead of my own platform (ugh, I hate that word).

I’m really excited for this next adventure. I hope you stick around and join me on it.

Let’s build something beautiful.

— Ian Harber