1000 posts - what have we learned?

A 30,000-foot view marking 1,000 posts by Bramwell Ryan (former editor)                                                                                                               

I

t was only the first few hundred posts that were tough. After that it became easy, routine, normal. Or that’s the trick my memory plays on me and like most nostalgia reels it’s all soft focus, long cross fades and seen in compressed time. 

In reality putting theRubicon together every day was a grind, punctuated by moments of joy, laughter and despair. Editing copy, sourcing illustrations, creating each post, moderating comments, pushing through two site-wide design changes and putting out technical fires was simply hard work that usually came after a day of hard work elsewhere. Being the editor of theRubicon was not unlike most ministry tasks, especially volunteer ones - a blend of duty and boredom, calling and regret. 

But to be a part of the formative years of one of The Salvation Army’s only instances of independent and responsible media (i.e. a magazine not an id-centred blog with a nuanced and varied editorial roster not single issue rants) was rewarding. Like editors of all journals, the position offers a perch with a wide view of the horizon.

More than a year after offering our child up for adoption what remains clear when I pick through what fell to the cutting room floor in the making of theRubicon nostalgia reel is five things about today’s Salvation Army:

1. Across the range of opinion and practitioners there is little acknowledgment that elsewhere in the church (the church catholic), people are wrestling with many of the same issues confronting those within the Army. There is startlingly little sense that we might learn from them.

2. A stubborn clinging to distinctive - what is it that makes the Army unique and how do we hold onto it? Fair questions in moderation but after awhile it’s like a lad asking his buddy if he thinks his girlfriend is pretty - on one hand charming but on the other, quite pathetic.

3. Lots of internal disdain - the inner city girls barely conceal their loathing for the suburban guys. Those who practise outside of blighted areas get impatient with the voices of the incarnational prophets. Corps officers choke when divisional leaders make decisions and middle management at DHQ is convinced that those in the field don’t know what work really is. It reminds me of my recent reading about the history of Afghanistan - the tribes could never seem to move ahead because when they weren’t fighting the enemy, they were fighting each other. Sigh…

4. A surprising lack of innovation. Either because of a lack measurables for whether an innovation is worthwhile or because risk is often enough a synonym for failure and that’s a career millstone. Instead there seems to be a continual updating of early-Army techniques rather than creation of wholly new endeavours that may or may not work… but at least they speak to the present age.

5. A huge emphasis on what you do rather than what you believe.

As I stumble through the momentous changes transforming our world, I am ever more convinced that in times like ours the primary task of communities of faith is not to try to fix what was but rather to create a new reality that makes the old one obsolete. That’s what The Salvation Army once did. Might it again? And after 1,000 posts, theRubicon is a key part of that effort to create a new reality.

Writer: Bramwell Ryan was editor of theRubicon for three years. He is a journalist and producer. As a content creator and controller, an ex-publisher, ex-editor and ex-producer of newspapers, magazines and radio/television, Ryan is fascinated by the collapse of the media (as we know it). There are parallels between the panic and angst in today’s media and the spiritual exhaustion with the state of the church when Martin Luther grabbed a hammer and headed to the cathedral in Wittenburg.

Bramwell specializes in multi-platform content and creates video, audio, print, photographic and web material for media outlets and NGOs. His stories range from coverage of the largest caribou herd in the world to underage prostitutes in Bangladesh; grave robbers in Haiti to post-tsunami rebuilding in Sri Lanka.

4 Comments to 1000 posts - what have we learned?

1. Thanks Bram for your reflections. Congrats to all on the 1000th post. I particularly appreciate where you see the Army today. I think you have hit the nail on the head. May your comments help us accept the diversity, love and respect for each other I believe is required today to effectively “serve the present age”.
John Nelson on April 14th, 2010

2. I love the 5 ‘things’ about today’s Salvation Army, and have to agree with them.

   I know that I’ve been guilty of this myself too many times.

   Addressing them could well be a series of posts in and of itself, but address them we must if we are to ever move this small part of the church catholic forward into the 21st Century.

   Graeme Smith
Graeme Smith on April 15th, 2010

3. Bramwell… Thanks for all the hard work that you have put into theRubicon over the years. It is invaluable to have a location where we can discuss matters of important to the Christian Church in a relatively “safe” environment. I firmly believe that what has been created here is an opportunity for the “prophetic” voice of The Salvation Army to be “tested”.

   I like your 5 points too, especially 2. I’m tired of the whole “Salvationist Distinctive” debate, even though I’m pretty sure I’ve contributed to it… and probably here at theRubicon too! What troubles me is that it’s actually the question of an immature teenager - “What makes me different from my parents?” “Am I unique?” “What makes me special?” etc etc.

   As I get older (and I’m only 33 at the moment) I start to ask different questions than the ones I asked when I was desperate to break away from the family mould. I have a deep interest in my Christian heritage (and beyond 1865 at that). I want to know how and by whom I’ve been formed and what unites me with the Christians who have trod the path before me… So the Army needs to stop asking the “distinctive” questions and start asking the “unity” questions - “What unites us to the Christian Church?” “Where are we the same?” “Who are we all in Christ?” That’s a mature question… and we’re in exciting times because these are the questions that other traditions are asking. Even the Orthodox and Catholics are asking these questions in the pursuit of unity. Remarkable, really. And exciting! The century of demoninationalism (20th Century) could perhaps be followed by the century that sees some of the most divisive splits in the church be healed and restored…. Maybe….

   Could The Salvation Army actually be a part of that?

   I pray that we would. Lord may it be so.

   Thanks for a great post and fantastic website.

   Every blessing.
   Adam
Adam Couchman on April 15th, 2010

4. Thanks, Bram, for all the work that you’ve put into The Rubicon. I’ve enjoyed reading the articles and blogs, and especially all the comments. I’ve enjoyed writing for The Rubicon as well. Without volunteers so much wouldn’t come to fruition - so kudos to you and Geoff for your contributions!

   grace… Kathie
Kathie Chiu on April 16th, 2010

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