Welcome to the new “Christopher Closeup” blog!

Welcome to the new “Christopher Closeup” blog! January 16, 2012

After two years of freelance writing for Patheos, today marks the launch of the new “Christopher Closeup” blog here. It’s an honor to officially move into a ‘hood with such talented writers (though I hope they don’t play loud music at night).  In the past, when I’ve mentioned I work for The Christophers, some people have thought we’re a family like The Flintstones or a religious order like the Franciscans.  We’re actually neither. The name was chosen because the word in Greek means “Christ-bearer.”  It’s anyone who takes the principles and truths that Jesus shared in the gospels, and lives them in their home, workplace, church, community, etc. 

The Christophers were founded by Father James Keller in 1945 in order to call people to a greater awareness of their power and responsibility to be Christ-bearers in our society.  Father Keller had read a study that said most of the world’s problems were caused by 1% of the people.  He theorized that if you could get another 1% to be a force for good and who would let the light of Christ shine through them, it would produce a dramatic change in the world.  Father Keller also believed that message crossed denominational boundaries.  Based on response to his work at the time, he was right on both counts. That idea – along with the motto Father Keller chose for us, “It’s better to light one candle than to curse the darkness” – guides all our work.

This blog will exclusively share new podcasts of our “Christopher Closeup” show, articles and stories about our other work, links that might be of interest and, occasionally, my own opinions on what’s going on in pop culture and the world. Thank you for your interest in this blog. I hope the contents can make all of us -myself included – better Christ-bearers in the future.


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