Geez is an independent quarterly magazine dealing with issues of spirituality, social justice, religion, and progressive cultural politics. The byline of Geez was "holy mischief in an age of fast faith".[1][2] In 2015 the byline was changed to "contemplative cultural resistance".[3]Geez is based in Detroit and distributes in Canada, the U.S., and abroad.[4]
Geez was founded in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 2005 by Aiden Enns and Will Braun. Geez looks at religion, spirituality, and politics through the eyes of its readers. Geez is known for its pointed illustrations,[5] graphics and unique combination of satire, critique, social consciousness, and quirkiness.[6] The magazine says it's for "people at the fringes of faith".[7]
History
The founder of Geez magazine, Aiden Enns, originally had the idea of the magazine in 2003 while he was working as managing editor at Adbusters in Vancouver.[8] Enns then moved to Winnipeg and recruited writer and activist Will Braun who came on board as co-editor and co-publisher.[8] The graphic design for the magazine is done by Darryl Brown.[9]Geez has hosted annual sermon contests.[9]
The first issue of Geez was published in Fall 2005 with an initial 500 paying subscribers and no advertising revenue. In the first year, the number of subscribers climbed to 2,000.
In 2009, Geez moved its hub from Enns' home to a community-minded church in Winnipeg's inner-city (Knox United Church).
In 2010, Aiden Enns did an interview on CKUT-FM discussing Geez.[15][16]
In 2010, Geez celebrated its 5th anniversary. At the time, Darin Barney, the Canadian Research Chair in Technology and Citizenship said, Geez is one of the "smartest kind of progressive, critical, lefty magazines."[17]
In 2012, Geez sponsored an Earth Day tent revival service with Charleswood Mennonite Church.[11]
From the beginning, the aim of Geez was to "put the 'geez' into Jesus."[18] A religious magazine for a new generation of Christians and post-Christians, the up-and-coming magazine wanted a short, provocative name that risked offending more conservative readers. Some consider the name blasphemous because it is an expletive derived from the name of Jesus.[19]
In 2019, Geez relocated to Detroit, Michigan.[20][21][22] Aiden Enns stepped down from his position as the editor and Lydia Wylie-Kellermann filled the role.[23]
In February 2024, the Geez editorial board announced that the upcoming 73rd issue would be the final one, citing insufficient revenue.[24]
Award of Excellence for theme issue (Geez 54: Climate Justice)
Won
Award of Excellence for interview (with Siwatu-Salama Ra in Geez 53: Mothering)
Won
Award of Merit for personal experience (article by Lucia Wylie-Eggert in Geez 53: Mothering)
Won
Honourable Mention for editorial (by Lydia Wylie-Kellermann in Geez 54: Climate Justice)
Won
Honourable Mention for letters to the editor
Won
Honourable mention for photography (in Geez 54: Climate Justice)
Won
Honourable Mention for podcast/audio series (Geez Out Loud)
Won
Regular sections
In addition to a large feature section, Geez has several different sections: Culturosities (arts and culture), Experiments, Civil Disobedience, Reviews, Feministry, updates from Christian Peacemaker Teams, the Catholic Worker Movement, and highlights from the LGBTQ community.
In July 2007, the National Post called the presentation of the magazine "intriguing".[32]
Geez is a "unique combination of satire, critique, social consciousness, and just plain quirkiness," Brenda Suderman, August 2007, the Winnipeg Free Press.[6]
"Restless questioning gives the magazine its edgy tone," Caley Moore, November 2007, the United Church Observer.[33]
"In each quarterly issue of Geez, people of faith are invited to challenge structures of power and embody joyful alternatives," Christina Crook, January 2008, BC Christian News.[34]
The magazine is an "exasperated exclamation derived from Jesus' name that some Christians consider to be blasphemous," Julia Duin, July 2009, The Washington Times.[19]
"Readers were so in love with the cheeky, contrarian 'post-Christian' quarterly that many were paying more than the annual $35 subscription to ensure its survival," Leslie Scrivener, January 2011, the Toronto Star.[17]
"It pokes, piques and prods Christians, and the unconverted among its readers to lie out the revolutionary values of Jesus in a consumer-driven, post-modern, materialist world," Nancy Haught, The Portland Oregonian, April 2006.[36]
"A stylish magazine in the tradition of Adbusters and Mother Jones . . . a surprisingly hip, bold take on Christianity," Gloria Kim, Maclean's, January 2005.[18]
"The magazine tries to ask questions that we normally don't ask . . . They take the work they're doing seriously. But they don't take themselves all that seriously," Bill Phipps, as quoted in United Church Observer, November 2007.[33]
Geez pushes "the edge of respectability in a subversive, ecological, visionary way," Douglas Todd, Vancouver Sun, March 2007.[5]
"Shows no signs of disappearing," Lauren Parsons, The Uniter, December 2010.[37]
"Geez is very good at opening minds to creative ways of seeing the world and pursuing social justice," Samantha Rideout, January 2011, United Church Observer.[38]
Related Research Articles
Anabaptism is a Christian movement which traces its origins to the Radical Reformation. Anabaptists believe that baptism is valid only when candidates freely confess their faith in Christ and request to be baptized. Commonly referred to as believer's baptism, it is opposed to baptism of infants, who are not able to make a conscious decision to be baptized.
Mennonites are a group of Anabaptist Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Reformation. The name Mennonites is derived from the excommunicated Roman-Catholic chaplain Menno Simons (1496–1561) from Friesland, part of the Holy Roman Empire, present day Netherlands. Menno Simons became a prominent leader within the wider Anabaptist movement and was a contemporary of Martin Luther (1483–1546) and Philipp Melanchton (1497-1560). Through his writings about the Reformation Simons articulated and formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss Anabaptist founders as well as early teachings of the Mennonites founded on the belief in both the mission and ministry of Jesus. Formal Mennonite beliefs were codified in the Dordrecht Confession of Faith (1632), which affirmed "the baptism of believers only, the washing of the feet as a symbol of servanthood, church discipline, the shunning of the excommunicated, the non-swearing of oaths, marriage within the same church", strict pacifistic physical nonresistance, anti-Catholicism and in general, more emphasis on "true Christianity" involving "being Christian and obeying Christ" as they interpret it from the Holy Bible.
The Church of God in Christ, Mennonite, also called Holdeman Mennonite, is a Christian Church of Anabaptist heritage. Its formation started in 1859 under its first leader, a self-described prophet named John Holdeman (1832-1900), who was a baptized Mennonite. The Church of God in Christ, Mennonite is Conservative Mennonite that has distanced itself from other Conservative Mennonites because of its one true church doctrine. In 2013 the church had 24,400 baptized members.
The Brethren in Christ Church (BIC) is a Christian denomination. Falling within the Anabaptist tradition of Christianity, the Brethren in Christ Church has roots in the Mennonite church, with influences from the revivals of Radical Pietism and the holiness movement. They have also been known as River Brethren and River Mennonites. The Canadian denomination is called Be In Christ.
The Mennonite World Conference (MWC) is an international Mennonite Anabaptist Christian denomination. Its headquarters are in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada.
Mennonite Church Canada, informally known as the General Conference, is a Mennonite denomination in Canada, with head offices in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It is a member of the Mennonite World Conference and the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada.
The Mennonite Church USA is an Anabaptist Christian denomination in the United States. Although the organization is a recent 2002 merger of the Mennonite Church and the General Conference Mennonite Church, the body has roots in the Radical Reformation of the 16th century.
The Fellowship of Evangelical Bible Churches (FEBC) is a small evangelical Christian denomination with an Anabaptist Mennonite heritage. Most of the denomination's approximately 5000 members are in congregations located in the U.S. and Canada.
The Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches (CCMBC) is a Mennonite Brethren denomination in Canada. It is a member of the Mennonite World Conference and the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada.
The Mennonite Brethren Church is an evangelical Mennonite Anabaptist movement with congregations.
Anabaptist theology, also known as Anabaptist doctrine, is a theological tradition reflecting the doctrine of the Anabaptist Churches. The major branches of Anabaptist Christianity agree on core doctrines but have nuances in practice. While the adherence to doctrine is important in Anabaptist Christianity, living righteously is stressed to a greater degree.
Peace churches are Christian churches, groups or communities advocating Christian pacifism or Biblical nonresistance. The term historic peace churches refers specifically only to three church groups among pacifist churches:
John Howard Yoder was an American Mennonite theologian and ethicist best known for his defense of Christian pacifism. His most influential book was The Politics of Jesus, which was first published in 1972. Yoder was a Mennonite and wrote from an Anabaptist perspective. He spent the latter part of his career teaching at the University of Notre Dame.
Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) is an Anabaptist Christian seminary in Elkhart, Indiana, affiliated with Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada. It was formerly known as Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary until its name was changed in 2012.
The Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute (MBCI) is a Mennonite Brethren private middle and high school in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
The Amish, formally the Old Order Amish, are an ethnoreligious group with Swiss German and Alsatian origins. Consisting of several Anabaptist Christian church fellowships, they are closely related to Mennonites, a separate Anabaptist denomination. The Amish are known for simple living, plain dress, Christian pacifism, and slowness to adopt many conveniences of modern technology, with a view neither to interrupt family time, nor replace face-to-face conversations whenever possible, and a view to maintain self-sufficiency. The Amish value rural life, manual labor, humility and Gelassenheit. As they rarely accept converts, maintain a separate language and culture from surrounding populations, and hold their faith in common, they have been described by scholars as an ethnoreligious group, combining features of an ethnicity and a denomination.
Mennonites in Argentina belong to two quite different groups: conservative and very conservative Plautdietsch-speaking group of Russian Mennonites who are descendants of Frisian, Flemish and Prussian people, and converts to the Mennonite faith from the general Argentinian population. The Russian Mennonites are the third largest community of Mennonites in South America, with six colonies in Argentina. While Russian Mennonites have their own language and customs and live in colonies, converts to the Mennonite faith normally live in cities and speak Spanish and do not differ much from other Protestants in Argentina. Conservative ethnic Mennonites normally do not engage in missionary activities but look for a quiet and remote place where they can live according to their tradition. More liberal Mennonites are engaged in worldwide missionary work like other North American Protestant denominations. About one third of Mennonites in Argentina are conservative ethnic Mennonites who belong to the Altkolonier branch.
Anabaptist/Mennonite Church sexual misconduct cases are cases of acts by theologians, educators, pastors, chaplains, and staff or people in positions of power in Anabaptist/Mennonite churches, institutions, or affiliated organizations deemed as sexual misconduct by church organizations. Some of these cases may also be deemed as sexual abuse by law. There have been a number of cases of sexual misconduct involving notable and influential Anabaptist Christian theologians of the late 20th and early 21st century in North America, and scholarship, media reports, and church magazines have revealed that there have been numerous cases of sexual abuse throughout the history of the Anabaptist/Mennonite Church.
The Sin of Certainty: Why God Desires Our Trust More Than Our "Correct" Beliefs is a book written by Peter Enns.
↑ Ward, Stephen J.; Todd, Doug (2008). "2008 Award Winners". Canadian Church Press. Archived from the original on February 14, 2009. Retrieved January 4, 2022.
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