A Hard Road, Better Traveled Together

A couple of months back, I made the decision that 1P5 needed to get re-focused. I felt that were off course, and had fallen somewhat into the trap of being too repetitive, even stagnant. Statistically, I saw engagement with our articles falling off, traffic dropping, and got the general sense that we were no longer providing the same level of value to our audience that we once had.

The buck stops with me. I had delegated too much, was too hands off, and was struggling with my own loss of focus and burnout. And in order to fix it, I knew I had to get my head back into the game.

So in August, I personally took back over reviewing and selecting all of our content. I also committed to spending more time on my own research and writing, which had been neglected in my focus on producing videos. And so, I also took a break from making videos for the summer.

The truth is, I’m not really a data-driven thinker. I don’t ignore it, but I draw more heavily instinct, empathy, and creativity. And so while I couldn’t put my finger on it exactly, I could feel that we needed to change something to reconnect with all of you. Because that had always been one of the big things that set us apart: being able to put into words what so many of you were thinking and feeling in a way that unites us and helps move the discussion about our collective ideas and concerns forward.

I took a tentative step forward with that in my recent cri de coeur, No More Platitudes. This was a shift in vision and tone for us, but it felt necessary — like the thing I suspected that so many of you were also thinking and feeling — and you proved it by responding more positively than I could have hoped. The number of supportive emails, comments, and messages I’ve received in the past few weeks has been really encouraging.

We’ve also been blessed, recently, with not just one, but two contributions from His Excellency, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano. The sense that I’m getting from our readers is that we’re moving in the right direction.

This is reassuring. But there’s still a lot of work to do. Breaking free of the malaise that has set in as a result of years of constant battering of the faithful — most of it coming from Rome — is going to take time, and effort. We’re going to have to stumble forward through parts of it, because as we all know, there are no maps for where we are right now. The Church is in uncharted territory.

In other words, there’s no candy coating the fact that we’ve got a hard road ahead. It’s going to be a lot more bearable if we can travel it together.

And we can’t do what we do without you.

To be honest, I woke up at about 4AM this morning, haunted by a nightmare about financial insolvency. Running a non-profit publication is always a roller coaster. Since we give our work away for free and ask only for voluntary donations in return, revenue is never certain, and there are always more bills to pay. Every month, we take it on faith that enough is going to come in to make ends meet. And most months, that’s what happens, even if, like right now, the bank accounts are running on empty and we’re far short of our fundraising goal with very little time left on the clock. Other months, we don’t, and each time that happens we seem to fall a little further behind.

So with two days left in September, I’m here to ask for your help in hitting our numbers. It’s only going to take a little push to get there.

Many of you have already given, and for that, I want to sincerely thank you. Every day, every month, every year, we move forward together with you, because of you. Without you, we wouldn’t still be here.

If you haven’t supported us lately, and you enjoy the work we do here, please prayerfully consider making a tax-deductible* contribution today. We’ve had over 200,000 visitors to the site in the past 30 days. Even the smallest investments in our work are a big help if everyone chips in.

If you’d like to join us in our mission to educate and inform the faithful, to rebuild Catholic culture and restore Catholic tradition, we hope you’ll support our cause with a contribution right now:

If you prefer to donate by mail, you can do so here. If you have comments, feedback, or suggestions, please let us know via our contact form. As always, we thank you for your readership and support.

Sincerely,

Steve Skojec
Publisher & Executive Director
OnePeterFive

*OnePeterFive, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) public charity (EIN: 47-2159793). Your contributions make this work possible and are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.