1000 posts - an awesome responsibility

W

hen Geoff Ryan took me for a stroll down Beaches Park in Toronto last May I knew what was coming. He was going to formally ask me to adopt (or at the very least, foster) his precious baby theRubicon. We’d previously talked around the idea but at that moment it was crunchtime.

He didn’t have to sell the worth of the publication, after all I was a prolific and enthusiastic contributor and my experience as a producer/director/writer of television, radio presenter and teacher of journalism meant that I had the required technical skills for the job. But did I have ”the bottle” (as the English say) to follow in the footsteps of the Fabulous Ryan Boys ? (Apologies to the Bridges brothers)

Most of my life as a Salvationist I have been waiting (in desperate hope but without really expecting it ) for the re-emergence of an incarnational “Mission sensibility” that would recapture the original essence of TSA for the hurting people that we left behind in the 50’s and 60’s (when we got all respectable like). For me that dream finally became a reality with initiatives like Geoff and Sandra’s 614. If I had my way my wife and I would be ensconsed in running a 614 right now - such is our commitment to that particular way of thinking and living completely for God. But that’s not what the SA (and quite possibly the Lord) wants for us at the present time, so editing theRubicon is my small contribution to the spirit of the fight.

I love the idea of theRubicon because I love the idea of the SA and more specifically what it could be. The last decade has been amazingly tumultuous because we have witnessed on one hand some of the most brilliant, brave, inspiring, innovation and on the other hand some disturbing, retrograde timidity that if allowed to continue could ultimately kill us off without a trace. An important part of all of this is (relatively) freespeech, beyond the tight reins of very strictly monitored official publications.

At this point in time theRubicon is very healthy. Aside from the 1000 posts, we have published over 3380 comments. In October 2009 we clocked a record number of unique visits of 16 250 (yes, seriously!), the whole site is almost 2 GB in size, we have expelled 19 125 pieces of spam and we have over 800 facebook followers.

There are so many faithful team members behind the scenes, most of their names are familiar from their contributons - Joe Noland, Maxwell Ryan, Jonathon Gainey, Barry Gittins, Wayne Rumsby, Dion Oxford, Gordon Cotterill, Eleanor Burne-Jones, Grant Sandercock-Brown, Jason Davies-Kildea , Adam Couchman, Lucy Aitken Read, Danielle Strickland, Harold Hill, Mark Braye, David Whitthoff, Andrew Clark, Keith Hampton, Craig Campbell, Dana Libby, Cameron Horsburgh, Sally Joy Morgan, Terry Camsey and many others.

But what of the future? Do we believe some of the research that says that blogs are going the way of newspapers, that people want their information tweeted at them as 140 characters? Or is there are a real thirst for niche news and discussion that will become more and more interactive and user-driven?

It’s up to you folks. I’ll keep puttin’ ‘em up as long as you keep visiting the site, commenting, contributing and getting your friends to do the same. Your feedback and suggestions are always appreciated. Send them to rubiconeditor@gmail.com or add them below.

Let’s continue to work together to post another 1000 pearls of SA wisdom!

1 Comment to 1000 posts - an awesome responsibility

1. Thanks for all the late nights and tiresome work Bruce…

   The opportunity that theRubicon provides to aspiring writers, theologians, thinkers, and dreamers is incalculable and as one of those “aspiring apprentice theologians” I offer a heartfelt thanks to the past and present Editors, as well as readers who have provided helpful, refining feedback.

   The Lord bless your ministry. The Army needs to a location where the prophetic voice can be heard, tested and refined. TheRubicon is one such location.

   Every blessing.

   Adam C.
Adam Couchman on April 15th, 2010

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