“There’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for.” –Samwise Gamgee
If you are reading this, you might be wondering why we keep trying with Conciliar Post. After all, blogging is far less popular than it was ten years ago. We have not become a podcast. We are not behind a Substack paywall. We do not ask for your $3 donation every time you load up an article.
And, frankly, the internet itself feels different than it did when we started. The pace is faster. The noise is louder. Attention is harder to hold, and thoughtful conversation can feel increasingly out of step with the medium.
Those of us involved in this project are not as young and carefree as we once were. We are pulled in many directions by family life, careers, ministry, ordinary life, medical diagnoses, and more. None of us have the leisure we once had.
So what are we doing?
In short, we are attempting that slow process of the long obedience in the same direction, to co-opt Eugene Peterson’s phrase about the Christian life. Not because everything we have done here has been interesting or important, and certainly not because we expect to recapture some imagined glory days of Christian blogging. But because anything really worth doing is worth coming back to again and again as we mature and life moves on.
Conversations across traditions are worth having, even when they are not easy. Perhaps especially when they are not easy. Making stories and articles and conversations available is worth it, even when it is not lucrative for those involved. Creating a place where Christians can disagree seriously, charitably, and in public still seems like worthwhile work.
Furthermore, I think Master Samwise is correct: “There’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for.” Few of those involved in Conciliar Post at any point are going to be Wikipedia-article-worthy world changers (though we have an eye on a couple of past contributors). But each of us can play our small part in pushing back the darkness of our times.
That may sound grandiose for a small theological website. I do not mean it to. But I still believe that most truly worthwhile work is small work: a conversation had well, an idea expressed clearly, a disagreement handled graciously, a reader encouraged to think again.
And so we carry on. Conciliar Post continues.
Mostly as an archive of our past work. But also as a space for occasional publication of dialogues across Christian traditions, and hopefully a Round Table now and then. We will not publish constantly. We will not chase the algorithms. And that is okay. The goal at this point is not to be everywhere. It is simply to remain a place where worthwhile Christian conversations can still happen.
Because these conversations are important. And—once again—we invite you to be a part of them with us.
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