Sojourners Records

SC-23
103 Boxes (45 linear feet)
1971-2004 (bulk: )

Introduction
The Sojourners Collection at Wheaton College details the history and activities of the Christian social action and community group Sojourners. Sojourners is a group of Christian people dedicated to the application of Biblical ethics and social justice to contemporary American society. The organization publishes Sojourners magazine and operates a community in Washington, DC. Included as well is information about the Sojourners community itself and the group’s co-founder Jim Wallis.

Provenance: The establishment of the collection at Wheaton College dates to 1988, when the first of several shipments arrived from the Sojourners' office in Washington, DC. The donation became official in 1990.

Restrictions: There are no specific restrictions on this collection. Duplication may be restricted if copying could cause damage to items.

Collection Description
The Sojourners Collection (SC-23) contains the archival papers of the Christian social concern and community group known by that name. Sojourners traces its origin to a group of seven students at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, who called for a new and rigorous application of Biblical ethics to American Culture. Believing that the church was losing the current generation, they spoke of a need for "an orthodox Biblical theology and the total Gospel of Jesus Christ [which] necessitate a radical commitment to and activism for social justice." The organization began publishing a newspaper in 1971 and was incorporated the next year as The People's Christian Coalition. Housed in the collection are items relating to Sojourners magazine, the Washington, DC community, and co-founder, Jim Wallis. Occupying approximately 28 linear feet, the material is divided into the following series: The first five series deal with the official organ of the organization; Sojourners magazine. First published in 1971 as Post American: Voice of the People's Christian Coalition, the periodical changed its title in 1975. A complete run of the magazine is housed with the collection. The "Postmark" series contains subscribers' letters to Sojourners, where they are published under that name. The original order of these documents was topical through 1984, and chronological after that date. This order was maintained. Original article manuscripts and "residue" from Sojourners, dating back to 1974, are filed by date in the third series. "Residue" refers to papers created in the process of publication: copy edit sheets, articles from other publications, unpublished items, etc. Administrative and clerical records relating to the magazine are arranged alphabetically by topic. Included in this category are circulation reports, direct mail packets, founding documents, IRS correspondence and tax returns, and reprints of articles. Letters to Sojourners have been arranged alphabetically by the writer's surname. Writers who have significant correspondence, or who are prominent figures in Christian social action have individual files following the general folders. Material dealing with the Washington, DC Sojourners community is arranged alphabetically by topic under the "Sojourners Community" series. File headings in this category include Bulletins, Calendars, Finances, Groups and Leadership, and News Articles about the community. Included among the Bulletins are "Updates," in which community news and information is published. Correspondence and articles by or about Jim Wallis are filed topically in the seventh series. Wallis is the editor of Sojourners and a co-founder of the group. The series "Other Communities" contains correspondence with similar groups as well as information on the Summer Festival 1984. In addition to written documents, non-print media is housed with the collection. Video tapes of selected addresses by Jim Wallis, films produced by the organization, as well as audio tapes are included.

Biographical/Historical Sketch
In 1970 a group of students at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, IL began meeting to discuss the relationship between their Christian faith and troubling social and political issues, particularly the Vietnam War and the decay of ethics and values within American society. In 1971, the group created a publication entitled The Post-American: Voice of the People’s Christian Coalition, dedicated to their cause of radical Christian commitment and social justice. The editorial on the first page began with the assessment, “[W]e find ourselves in the midst of a radical awakening, among people who are raising basic questions about the quality of life in the world we inherit … [w]e are characterized by our protest and our frustrated search for counter-cultural alternatives more amendable to justice, peace, human values, and spiritual meaning.” From the beginning, the Post-American posited the “revolutionary nature” of Christian faith, a faith that requires total commitment to Christ, as the cure to the ills of contemporary society. However, the group not only criticized the “status-quo” of society and politics, but also the American church for its non-confrontational silence on many social issues. For the People’s Christian Coalition, there was no place for social complacency in Christianity. Their mission is “to build a movement of people who seek to demonstrate the vital biblical connection between spiritual renewal and social justice." In 1975 the group continued its mission by moving operations to Washington, D.C., starting an outreach ministry in the inner-city neighborhood of Columbia Heights. There, the group adopted the name “Sojourners,” reflecting their status as Christian pilgrims “present in the world but committed to a different order.” The Sojourners lived in a communal setting and continued to publish their social action periodical, also re-named Sojourners, as well as organizing and participating in peace events and similar demonstrations. In the decades since the founding of their small community, Sojourners has developed into an international organization, still dedicated to a common “rule of life” and emphasizing Christian community and social action in the name of Christ. The group still publishes the bi-monthly Sojourners magazine, and partners its devotion to social justice with a devotion to witnessing the Good News of Christ to a distressed world. Sojourners represent the radical nature of Christian faith, a set of values not well understood by an individualistic, competitive society.

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