Christianity Today Features Extensive Coverage of Phoenix in September Issue

Phoenix, AZ, September 06, 2012 --(PR.com)-- Christianity Today magazine, founded by Billy Graham and providing news and cultural analysis to over 2.5 million readers each month, will feature extensive coverage of Phoenix, Arizona, in its September 2012 issue. Phoenix is one of six cities being featured as part of This Is Our City, a multi-year, multi-media project highlighting stories of how Christians are contributing to the flourishing of their communities. The project documents a notable shift in how evangelicals think about cultural engagement in the twenty-first century.

This Is Our City was conceived by Andy Crouch, author of Culture Making (InterVarsity Press, 2008). Noting that “it is not enough” to condemn, critique, copy, or merely consume culture, Crouch suggests that “the only way to change culture is to create culture.” This Is Our City embraces that ethos. Through film, printed and online articles, and social media, This Is Our City reports on stories of Christians contributing to the comprehensive flourishing of the cities in which they live, embodying what author and pastor Timothy Keller (The Reason for God) has called “a counterculture for the common good.”

This Is Our City focuses on six regionally, economically, and demographically diverse metropolitan areas throughout the United States, giving a comprehensive picture of Christians bearing witness to their faith as they work for cultural renewal in arenas like business, government, public health, education, and the arts. Major features in Christianity Today (print and online), photo essays and short documentary films will be the primary means of telling these stories. The first city in the project, Portland, Oregon, was featured prominently in the November 2011 issue of Christianity Today, as well as through robust online coverage. Richmond, Virginia, was featured in April, and the remaining cities include New York, Palo Alto, and Detroit.

In addition to the six primary cities, the project also features “7th City” stories, which will come from “everywhere else” in North America. Readers are invited to submit their stories by emailing connect@thisisourcity.org.

The cover section on Phoenix includes a feature article by Skye Jethani and Katelyn Beaty on how Christians in Phoenix are responding to people who live in the United States illegally. Additional profiles document Christians working in various sectors of public life in Phoenix to contribute to flourishing and “shalom” in the public square.

The September issue of the magazine will be given out at a launch event on September 6 at The Rock at 32nd Street. The This Is Our City Phoenix Celebration will feature the team behind the project (Andy Crouch, Skye Jethani, Katelyn Beaty, Nathan Clarke, Christy Tennant Krispin, and Roxanne Weimann), as well as Phoenicians Gary Kinnaman, Lad Makinde and Dabi Adeyemi (Raise Up Music), with musical performances by Suzy from Sam and Suzy Music and Nichole Deborah. Christians from throughout the city will participate in roundtable discussions aimed at fostering “common-good decisions” being made throughout all areas of culture in Phoenix.

Details and RSVP information may be obtained by emailing ctennant@christianitytoday.com.

For more information on This Is Our City, please visit www.thisisourcity.org or by email at connect@thisisourcity.org.