2023 Annual Report by First Things

2023 Annual Report

3 Founding Editor Richard John Neuhaus Current Editor R. R. Reno Editorial Office 9 East 40th Street 10th Floor New York, NY 10016 212-627-1985 firstthings.com What follows serves as the 2023 Annual Report for the Institute on Religion and Public Life, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and the publisher of FIRST THINGS. Contents Letter from the Editor Featured Article A Word from Our Editors By the Numbers Film Nights Intellectual Retreat Public Lectures Erasmus Lecture Public Conversations ROFTers Your RecordBreaking Support FIRST THINGS Editor’s Circle Recognizing Keith L. Smith Year in Review 4 6 8 10 11 12 13 14 16 17 18 22 23

Letter from the Editor

Dear FIRST THINGS Supporters,

You should be proud of what you accomplished last year through your charitable support of FIRST THINGS. It was a banner year.

I want to be clear that this is your document, not ours: a catalogue, however partial, of what your giving made possible at FIRST THINGS in 2023 and a celebration of what we accomplished together. Thank you for your generous giving to FIRST THINGS.

Of course, you have already—I trust!—observed some of the fruits of your generosity in the pages of FIRST THINGS magazine, our daily articles on firstthings.com, and our two podcasts. Your reading and listening offer a fuller picture than a twentyfour-page Annual Report ever could.

As such, our aims for this Annual Report are modest: to celebrate the best and most popular articles and podcasts your support made possible and to highlight a few other ways your giving advanced the mission of FIRST THINGS last year. In the enclosed you will find:

n An excerpt from the most popular print essay of 2023 (pages 4–5) and a list of our most popular podcasts and articles (pages 8–9).

n Reflections from our two junior fellows (page 6) and editors Mark Bauerlein and Dan Hitchens (page 7).

n A recap of our 2023 events, including a Hillbilly Thomists concert, the thirtysixth annual Erasmus Lecture with Carl R. Trueman, and a conversation with NFL kicker Harrison Butker (pages 10–15).

n A celebration of your charitable support, including individual recognition of our nearly five hundred Editor’s Circle supporters and a remembrance of Richard John Neuhaus Society legacy donor Keith L. Smith (pages 17–22).

Thank you for advancing the mission and work of FIRST THINGS through your generosity. The past year has made clear that America needs the voice of FIRST THINGS. And it has made equally clear that FIRST THINGS needs you. I’m honored to stand shoulder-toshoulder with you as we wage this critical battle for the future of our nation and the church.

With sincere gratitude,

R. R. Reno Editor, FIRST THINGS

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We Are Repaganizing

by Louise Perry

Modern technologies such as ultrasound allow us to identify undesirable characteristics (for instance, female sex or Down syndrome) earlier than our ancestors could, but the most common reasons given by women seeking abortions today—poverty, fetal disability, and simple unwantedness—were the same reasons given by mothers and fathers who killed their newborn infants in other times and places.

It was the arrival of Christianity that disrupted the Romans’ favored methods of keeping reproduction in check, with laws against infanticide, and then abortion, imposed by Christian emperors from the late fourth century.

In theological terms, pagans are oriented toward the immanent. The pagan gods, in all their beauty and terror, are elements of this world, in contrast to the transcendent God of the Abrahamic faiths.

We should understand Christianity’s impact on morality in much the same way—not as a process of replacement, but rather as a process of blending. The supremely strange thing about Christianity in anthropological terms is that it takes a topsy-turvy attitude toward weakness and

strength. To put it crudely, most cultures look at the powerful and the wealthy and assume that they must be doing something right to have attained such might. The poor are poor because of some failing of their own, whether in this life or the last. The smallness and feebleness of women and children is a sign that they must be commanded by men. The suffering of slaves is not an argument against slavery, but an argument against allowing oneself to be enslaved.

Most cultures—perfectly logically—glorify warriors and kings, not those at the bottom of the heap. But Christianity takes a perverse attitude toward status and puts that perversity at the heart of the theology. “God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong” is a baffling and alarming claim to anyone from a society untouched by the strangeness of the Jesus movement.

As Canada slips down its slippery slope, the legalization of infanticide is being discussed quite calmly within its government. In October, Louis Roy of the Quebec College of Physicians told the Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying that parents should be able

An excerpt from our most popular print essay of 2023.

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“God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong” is a baffling and alarming claim to anyone from a society untouched by the strangeness of the Jesus movement.

to arrange the deaths of babies up to one year old who are deemed to have “very grave and severe syndromes.” If infanticide is again legalized— first in Canada and then, inevitably, across the dechristianized world—we will know for sure that Christianity has retreated to the catacombs. And the date will come to be seen, I suspect, as a bright historical line: the moment at which we arrived at T. S. Eliot’s fork in the road and chose the older, darker path.

The forest is paganism: dark, wild, vigorous, and menacing, but also magical in its way. For two thousand years, Christians pushed the forest back, with burning and hacking, but also with pruning and cultivating, creating a garden in the clearing with a view upward to heaven. But watch as roots outstretch themselves and new shoots spring up from the ground.

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Masthead

R. R. Reno Editor

Dan Hitchens

Julia Yost

Senior Editors

Lauren Wilson Geist Managing Editor

Ramona Tausz Deputy Editor

Veronica Clarke

Justin Lee Associate Editors

Jacob Adams

Claire Giuntini

Junior Fellows

Mark Bauerlein

Shalom Carmy

Carl R. Trueman

Contributing Editors

James Nuechterlein Editor at Large

Francis X. Maier Consulting Editor

Our present age is a disembodied, twodimensional world. You don’t need me to tell you this—many FIRST THINGS authors have written astutely about it over the past year. However, it’s one thing to write about a dilemma and another thing to provide a solution. Thankfully, FIRST THINGS has never neglected the material world, and one of my favorite moments from the past year exemplifies our salutary attention toward the third dimension.

In August, we hosted an evening with the Hillbilly Thomists—a bluegrass band comprised of Dominican friars. The concert brought together readers of FIRST THINGS present and future with bourbon, bluegrass, and biblical allusions, all at the Union League Club of New York. If you haven’t attended a FIRST THINGS gathering yet, don’t hold back in 2024. If there isn’t an event in your area, beseech us for one. We all need to do our piece in reminding our fellow men of the third dimension. For my part, I’m glad FIRST THINGS already is.

Junior Fellows

Jacob Adams holds a B.A. in history from Georgetown University.

FIRST THINGS changed my life before I became a junior fellow. When I was a somewhat isolated conservative in college, I took to reading FIRST THINGS web articles, especially Carl R. Trueman’s column. Trueman embodies— and FIRST THINGS possesses—a virtue sorely lacking in the world today: courage. My experience as a junior fellow has underscored what I trust you already recognize in the editors of FIRST THINGS: peerless professionalism, diligence, and talent.

Tucked into open corners of each issue, it’s easy to overlook the poetry in FIRST THINGS. This would be a huge mistake! My involvement in the poetry submissions process sparked a newfound admiration for the art form and appreciation of the incredible poetry we publish here. I will leave my time at FIRST THINGS with a greater respect for the institution and a genuine hope in the philosophy and art of the Church. Its ability to bring the best thinkers in the Abrahamic religions together is without parallel. FIRST THINGS is truly one of a kind, and I’m grateful to have this opportunity to advance its mission and work.

Claire Giuntini holds a B.A. in Classics from the University of Dallas.

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A Word from Our Editors

Mark Bauerlein, Contributing Editor

In looking over year 2023 at the magazine, my first response is to give thanks to my fellow editors relative to one particular issue: classical education. It’s a matter of special importance to me. I became an English professor in the 1990s just as the discipline entered a steady slide into identity politics and diminishing enrollments. The passion for Great Books that drew me in gave way to contemporary social concerns and ressentiment. That’s why I withdrew from higher education, first working in the federal government and then coming to FIRST THINGS in 2014.

When I noted around 2019 a small phenomenon of secondary classical education, it appeared a diamond in the rough, surprising and inspiring in an age when screens were crowding out the printed page. I looked more closely and made some staggering findings: schools that were flooded with applications and building long waiting lists, and none of the malaise

Dan Hitchens, Senior Editor

One morning last year I left a draft article on Rusty’s desk and awaited his response with some curiosity. The article, a review of his own book, The End of Interpretation, by the Oxford Scripture scholar Markus Bockmuehl, mingled praise with some stern criticisms: The book was, Bockmuehl alleged, marred by “slippery double entendres.” He concluded with the recommendation that “Perhaps Rusty and his team might occasionally venture forth beyond Midtown Manhattan” to broaden our narrow horizons.

Fifteen minutes later Rusty emerged, brandishing the review.

and cynicism that afflicts so many people in public schools. People were happy and enthusiastic, most importantly the kids themselves.

This was a mission to investigate further. I have attended meetings and conventions, toured classrooms, interviewed teachers, and welcomed leaders to my podcast. FIRST THINGS has supported me all the way, becoming a clearinghouse of good news and useful information about the field.

I’ll be frank. What has happened to the humanities in higher education has been deeply dispiriting. To see the old vision coming back in the schools and doing so well heartens me. That FIRST THINGS agrees and puts its resources behind the movement is a second inspiration. I hope you agree and act to help us in that effort.

“Fantastic!” He enthused. “Don’t change a word.”

That moment stays with me as an instance of FIRST THINGS’s intellectual openness: a willingness to debate and discuss which is, of course, the flip side of having firmly held principles. As the articles in this Annual Report show, FIRST THINGS stands for vital truths. But that doesn’t mean the reader can predict what each issue will contain. In the next year I hope we can continue to strike that difficult balance.

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FIRST

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Unique Visitors 423 Web Exclusives Published

THINGS by the Numbers

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Film Nights

In 2023 FIRST THINGS began hosting monthly film screenings at our editorial office with the goal of building community among young conservative intellectuals in New York City and to situate FIRST THINGS as a leavening influence on the energetic rightwing avant-garde arts and literature scene that has emerged since the pandemic. The first year was unequivocal success.

Each month we invite a different writer or influencer to select the film, give a short talk on its significance, and then facilitate an open discussion about its interpretation. These discussions have proven quite fruitful and even resulted in reviews for FIRST THINGS (see Jarrett Stepman’s “Samurai Nationalism,” on Akira Kurosawa’s Ran). One of our most illuminating discussions was of a film chosen

by senior editor Dan Hitchens, This Is England, which is set in the 1980s and tells the story of a young boy who falls in with a gang of neo-Nazis after the death of his father in the Falklands War. One of our guests, the writer Jack Buckby, shared his own story of being ensnared by England’s far right as a teenager, and shed light on the allure the National Front held for the left behind among working-class whites.

Other notable evenings include presentations of Apocalypse Now by editor R. R. Reno, MirrorMask by fashion designer Elena Velez, Ordet by novelist Jordan Castro, Afterimage by Inez Stepman, Barbie by associate editor Justin Lee, and Manchester by the Sea by board president Colin Moran.

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Intellectual Retreat

On August 11, eighty FIRST THINGS

readers convened in New York’s stately Union League Club for a two-day Intellectual Retreat on “Creation and Fall.”

Buoyed by a rousing Friday evening lecture from Michael Legaspi of St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary on “Scripture, Creation, and the Question of Nature,” participants spent Saturday immersed in some of the great texts of the Judeo-Christian intellectual tradition, from John Milton’s Paradise Lost and C. S. Lewis’s The Great Divorce to the beginning and end of Sacred Scripture in Genesis and Revelation.

After a full day of discussing great texts, retreat participants then donned their dancing shoes for dinner, cocktails, and a magnificent evening of music from the Hillbilly Thomists, a band comprised of Dominican friars. The band regaled the packed crowd with a full set list of bluegrass numbers, including one from their forthcoming album “Marigold” (to be released in May 2024). Some surmised that this must have been the first time in the 161-year history of the Union League Club that bluegrass music sounded through its hallowed halls. It was about time!

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Public Lectures

Austin Lecture

Bearing the FIRST THINGS standard in the great state of Texas is an annual highlight of our educational programming. Despite being a proud Oklahoma Sooner in the heart of Texas Longhorn country, Kyle Harper impressed our large crowd of readers with his insightful talk on “Christianity and the Idea of Human Dignity” on September 11.

Atlanta Lecture

On February 20, contributing editor Mark Bauerlein returned to the city of Atlanta (where he served as professor of English at Emory University for many years) to give a lecture on “Living a Christian Life in an Increasingly Secular World” to nearly a hundred FIRST THINGS readers at Holy Spirit Catholic Church.

FIRST THINGS Lecture in Washington, D.C.

On March 7, philosopher and motorcycle mechanic Matthew B. Crawford delivered our sixth annual lecture in Washington, D.C. on “Antihumanism and the Post-Political Condition” to nearly two hundred readers. FIRST THINGS also brought together D.C. area Editor’s Circle supporters for a pre-lecture reception and local authors, journalists, and scholars for a fullday seminar with Crawford on March 8. His lecture was published in the August/September 2023 issue of FIRST THINGS as “The Rise of Antihumanism.”

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Erasmus Lecture

Four hundred FIRST THINGS readers packed the Union League Club’s Lincoln Room to capacity for contributing editor Carl R. Trueman’s Erasmus Lecture on “The Desecration of Man.” His lecture, the thirtysixth in the history of the Erasmus Lecture, did not disappoint, as Trueman elaborated on many of the themes that will be familiar to those who read his biweekly columns and print articles.

“The Desecration of Man” was published in full in the January 2024 issue of FIRST THINGS

As is Erasmus tradition, readers also gathered in the FIRST THINGS office for a Sunday evening poetry reading (given by Catharine Savage Brosman), Editor’s Circle supporters enjoyed a post-lecture dinner with the honoree and other FIRST THINGS authors and editors, and Trueman participated in a colloquium the following day with a group of leading scholars.

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Magnanimity in a Polarized World with Harrison Butker

It was a distinct privilege to host a public conversation with Super Bowl–winning Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker on July 10. Butker has spoken eloquently in many public settings about his strong Catholic faith, and this FIRST THINGS conversation on “Magnanimity in a Polarized World” was no exception.

The crowd of five hundred people was comprised of many faithful FIRST THINGS readers but also included a number of new faces. FIRST

THINGS is profoundly grateful to Butker for generously offering up his time and wisdom in this magnificent evening conversation—but one instance of his intentional effort to use his platform to stand up for and spread God’s truth in an increasingly secular culture. We are grateful to him both for introducing the vital voice of FIRST THINGS to hundreds of new people and for taking the time to personally meet some of our most generous Editor’s Circle supporters in the Kansas City area.

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The Future of the Religious Right with R. Albert Mohler Jr.

On November 10, editor R. R. Reno sat down with Southern Baptist Theological Seminary president and WORLD Opinions editor R. Albert Mohler Jr. for an evening conversation on “The Future of the Religious Right” in Chicago’s beautiful Athenaeum Center for Thought and Culture. Mohler and Reno examined the current political and cultural landscape and charted a few possible paths forward for religious believers who will embrace the call to remain engaged in the public square, before fielding a number of thoughtful questions from FIRST THINGS readers. The conversation flowed seamlessly into a post-event reception. After November’s conversation and New York Times columnist Ross Douthat and Reno discussing “Christian Faith and Political Power” in 2022, FIRST THINGS is excited to officially establish the Chicago Conversation as an annual event.

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Groups

Thanks to the tireless efforts of our volunteer leaders, FIRST THINGS maintains a network of 104 Reader of FIRST THINGS (ROFTer) groups: ninety-nine in the United States and five internationally (Australia, Canada, and Japan).

ROFTer groups meet monthly to socialize and discuss the most recent issue of FIRST THINGS. See below for a map of our current groups.

If you would like to join an existing group or help start a new one, please contact us at rofters@firstthings.com.

99 internationally (Australia, Canada, and Japan)

5 ROFTer groups in the United States

& Reader of FIRST THINGS

FIRST THINGS 16

Your Record-Breaking Support in 2023

Thanks to your generous giving, FIRST THINGS set the following new records in 2023:

TOTAL GIVING rose 17.7% to $2,963,777

TOTAL DONORS rose 22.9% to 3,483

EDITOR’S CIRCLE MEMBERSHIP rose 14.6% to 488

With donors from all 50 states and 29 countries!

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FIRST THINGS

Editor’s Circle

The FIRST THINGS Editor’s Circle celebrates readers who advance the mission of FIRST THINGS by generously giving $1,000 or more each year. Membership in the Editor’s Circle confers a number of benefits, all of which aim to encourage members to participate more intimately in the FIRST THINGS intellectual community of editors, writers, and scholars.

It is our distinct privilege to recognize this record-breaking cohort of 488 Editor’s Circle members here.

Pillar

($25,000 or more)

Mr. and Mrs. Frederic H. Clark

Mr. and Mrs. Robert Cummins

William S. and Nadine C. Haines Jr.

Mr. Thomas D. Klingenstein

Camille and Sandy Kress

Dr. John F. Lang

Mr. Robert L. Luddy

Noel and Michele Moore

Mr. Colin Moran

Edward and Sara Nowak

Mrs. Mary Osborne

Mr. and Mrs. James N. Perry Jr.

Dr. and Mrs. Russell R. Reno III

Larry and Victoria Smith

The Henry and Mary Vandergoot Family Foundation

Two anonymous donors

Foundations

Adolph Coors Foundation

Anthony and Christie de Nicola Foundation

Arthur N. Rupe Foundation

Carson-Myre Charitable Foundation

Church Communities International

Considine Family Foundation

Gerardine L. Connolly Foundation

Sarah Scaife Foundation

Sarkes and Mary Tarzian Foundation, Inc.

V. & R. W. Svendsen Foundation

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Patron

($10,000–$24,999)

Robert N. Allen Jr.

Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Arbogast

John and Ann Bushnell

Mrs. Johanna Cinader

Brian T. Clingen

Annie and David Colquitt

Corbalis Family Foundation

Mr. Robert Ford

Richard Gilder III

Ms. Leslie Graves

Benefactor

($5,000–$9,999)

Dr. Richard Eric Bernstein

Mr. Jay Betz

Dr. and Mrs. David L. Bodde

Mr. and Mrs. C. Larry Bradford

Mr. and Mrs. William J. Burke

III

Anne and Bill Burleigh

William R. and Karen M. Carlson

Alietia Caughron

Mr. and Mrs. Matthew J. Cesarz

Don Chakerian

Creed and Culture Fund

Mr. Robert A. Croft

Supporter

($1,000–$4,999)

Mr. and Mrs. Maximillian Amster

Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Ankarlo

Jose and Rosemary Arvizu

Mrs. Lois Ann Atkinson

Mrs. Janet Baker

Fred and Beth Balzarini

George and Sharon Barth

Mr. Peter Baur

Dr. Jeremy Beer

Mr. Erik Bell

Mr. and Mrs. Robert W. Helm

Kazimierz J. Herchold

Mr. Roger Hertog

Mr. Richard Kreitzberg

Mr. and Mrs. Vincenzo La Ruffa

David Lumpkins

Mr. and Mrs. George McCann

Charles W. Mulaney Jr.

Mr. and Mrs. Grayson Murphy

J. Mark Mutz

Thomas Noell MD

Stanley Payne

James and Paige Price

Christopher DeMuth

Stuart and Ellen Dykstra

Mr. Mark Green

Mr. and Mrs. Richard R.

Hough III

Dr. and Mrs. Robb Koether

Rev. Msgr. James L. Le Blanc

Lemont Fund

Laura and Ted Leonard

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Robert T. Means Jr. MD

Mrs. Maureen A. Molloy

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Sen. Pete Ricketts

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Rooney

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Julia Smith

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Thomas Tarzian

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Kathy and Penn Wyrough

Seven anonymous donors

Edwin Cardinal O’Brien

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Martha Rochelle

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Nancy Burke Solomon

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Richard Spady

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Six anonymous donors

Rev. Frans J. Berkhout

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Philip Bess

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Dr. and Mrs. John Bressett

Mr. Edward M. Bridge

Dr. Diane Wilder and Mr. Porter

Briggs

Mr. Trevor Brock

Brian C. Broderick

Ms. Catherine Bolton Brown

Elizabeth Browning

Sheila and Stephen Brzica Jr.

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Melissa Buckley

Mr. Christopher K. Burke

Mr. Ross Burnam

Mr. Jackson P. Burwell

Jack and Katie-Scarlett Calcutt

Mr. Steve Caldwell

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The Rev. William D. Carr

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Lewis Memorial Fund

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In Memory of Gene and Lillian Loughlin

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Mr. Daniel Oliver, The George E. Coleman Jr. Foundation

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Russell R. Reno Jr.

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Kenneth Smith

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Thomas and Tami Triller

Dr. and Mrs. Peter Turk

Mr. Charles Urlacher

Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Vandermey

Drs. Arielle Vansyckel and Brandon Brown

Mr. and Mrs. Richard Vaughan

Mr. and Dr. Loren Vredevoogd

Mr. and Mrs. Robert C. Weber

Dr. Amy L. Wax

Mr. Matthew Weaver

Mr. and Mrs. Richard E. Weicher

Mr. George Weigel, St. Florian Foundation

J. H. H. Weiler

Mr. Craig White

Lisle and Lauren Whitman

Mr. and Mrs. David G. Whittington

Dale G. Wilkerson

Mr. Brian Williams

Robert. A. and Nancy H. Williams

Williams Family Fund

Simon Wing

Jon Wolfshohl

Mr. Jared Woodard

Rev. George F. Woodliff III

Mr. and Mrs. John Halsey Wood Jr.

Ms. Donna Worthen

Mr. and Mrs. Mark Wyman

Dwight and Carolyn Yoder

Bernard Zablocki

Mr. Fares Zaki and Mrs. Jane F.

Kirby-Zaki

Mr. Chris Zubyk

Fifty-four anonymous donors

21 ANNUAL REPORT 2023

Recognizing

Keith L. Smith A

native of South Dakota, Keith served for twenty-five years as pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church and Zoar Lutheran Church in Revillo, South Dakota. He was a longtime reader of FIRST THINGS and an Editor’s Circle member since 2012. His brother Curtis notes that Keith never owned a computer and consented to the ownership of a cell phone (which he kept in his car’s glove box) strictly for emergencies, allowing plenty of undistracted time for the reading of theology.

It gives us great pleasure to recognize—in print!—his generous bequest to FIRST THINGS

Thank you, Keith, for all that you did to advance the mission of this magazine.

Thank you to the many other readers who have included FIRST THINGS in your estate plans and become members of the Richard John Neuhaus Society:

To discuss an estate commitment to FIRST THINGS or notify us of an existing pledge, please contact Carter Skeel, Director of Development, at 212-627-1985 or cskeel@firstthings.com. A pledge can be as simple as including FIRST THINGS in your will.

n Anonymous (4)

n Joseph Bennett

n Anthony Black

n Charles Burke†

n John A. and Ann C. Bushnell†

n Mr. John F. Cannon

n B. G. and Kay† Carter

n Mr. Arnold J. Conrad

n Nina Cunningham

n Charles R. Disque

n Richard Elphick

n Robert R. Ford†

n Kay Guiles†

n Harry L. Hogan†

n James Jereb†

n Ms. Cynthia Kase

n The Honorable Alonzo L. McDonald†

n Ann E. C. R. Miko

n Rosalind Mohnsen

n Richard John Neuhaus†

n Elizabeth A. Nolan

n Mr. Edward Nowak

n Thomas C. Oden†

n Maxine E. Poinsatte†

n Francis and Jennifer Ruffing

n Keith L. Smith†

n Keith D. Stottlemyer

n Joseph A. Swanson

n William Ronald Toth

n Mr. Karl von Bock†

n Rob Williams

FIRST THINGS 22

Year in Review

Thanks to the faithful generosity of FIRST THINGS readers like you, the Institute grew substantially in 2023. With your renewed support, we anticipate even more growth in 2024!

Financial Summary

Note: These are unaudited figures.

Thank you for advancing the mission and work of FIRST THINGS through your generosity.

23 ANNUAL REPORT 2023

2023 Actual 2024 Budget Revenue Sales & Program $1,051,876 $1,121,967 Individual Contributions $2,607,822 $2,475,000 Foundation Grants $320,000 $320,000 Total Revenue $3,979,698 $3,916,967 Expenses Magazine $1,347,811 $1,571,735 Institute $1,280,635 $1,016,753 Management & General $1,469,468 $1,443,288 Total Expenses $4,097,914 $4,031,776

“We need organizations

showcase

the good,

like F

IRST T HINGS in the culture

the true, and the beautiful and to fight against the errors of our society . . . It gives me great confidence in the future of our society when I see so many men and women who aren’t afraid to step into the arena and make their voices heard.”

— HARRISON BUTKER — KICKER, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS