Window Light is Moving to Paid Subscriptions!

Free and Paid Options Available

When I started the Window Light newsletter back in February, it was just an idea. I didn’t know if anyone would read it or subscribe, but I took the risk. Since then, my writing for Window Light has been featured in America magazine and has contributed to conversations about the future of theology at the Catholic Theological Society of America and the College Theology Society. Every week, hundreds of people interested in theology and ministry are reading the newsletter. I have run into readers at conferences, and I receive emails from readers excited about what they’ve read and who share ideas for things they’d like to see included in the newsletter (and I’m working on them!). I want to thank all of the subscribers and readers who have contributed to the current success of the newsletter.

With the growth of Window Light over the past few months, I think it is time to take another risk and transition to offering paid subscriptions, something that has been part of the plan from the beginning. What this means is that some content will remain available for free, while paid subscribers will have access to additional content. So, as a free subscriber, you can continue with your free subscription, but you will not have access to all the newsletter’s contents.

Photo: “Monk’s Cell at Monastère de la Verne”, Egon Wegh (CC BY-NC 2.0)

There are three subscription options:

Free Subscription: You will continue to have access to some of Window Light’s analysis of current events in the field of theology, interviews with exciting scholars and practitioners, and historical explorations.

Paid Subscription ($5/month or $50/year): You will have access to all of Window Light’s content and full access to the archives. In the future, you will also have access to things like live online events, discussion or reading groups, and other writings I share. A paid subscription also allows you to comment on posts and participate in the community in other ways.

Window Light Patron ($100/year): As a Patron, you get all the benefits of a paid subscription, but you are also generously supporting my work and helping the newsletter to grow. I will also create a Wall of Patrons, where Patrons will be recognized.

You can also give a subscription to someone else as a gift, which would be perfect for a student.

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Prize Drawing

To make things more exciting, for the first month, new paid subscribers will be entered in a drawing for the following prizes:

First Prize (1 winner):

A copy of The Oxford Handbook of Vatican II, edited by Catherine E. Clifford and Massimo Faggioli ($175 value) AND 1-year free subscription to Window Light ($50 value)

Second Prize (2 winners):

A copy of my Interrupting Capitalism: Catholic Social Thought and the Economy ($130 value) AND 1-year free subscription to Window Light ($50 value)

Third Prize (3 winners):

1-year free subscription to Window Light ($50 value)

New paid subscribers through July 31, 2023 will be included in the drawing (family members excluded), although the deadline may be extended depending on the number of subscriptions. But you can’t win if you don’t subscribe!

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Window Light Highlights

One of the main areas of focus for Window Light is offering commentary on the current state and future of Catholic theology and ministry. For example, over the past few months:

• I’ve discussed my vocational struggle after resigning from my job as a professor at a university where the theology program was cut and reflected on the future of theology;

• Noted contemporary trends in Catholic parish ministry in response to the Los Angeles Religious Education Conference;

• Explained the Catholic Theological Society of America’s plan to divest from fossil fuels so that other Catholic organizations can learn from it;

• Responded to discussions of the future of Catholic theology at the CTSA and CTS annual conventions;

• And commented on what the appointment of a new prefect at the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith means for theology.

I’ve also interviewed academic theologians and other scholars on the edges of theology who are doing exciting work:

• M. Therese Lysaught and Jason King, editors at the Journal of Moral Theology;

• Mary Kate Holman, now Assistant Professor of Theology at Fairfield University, on the twentieth-century Dominican theologian Marie-Dominique Chenu;

• Becket Gremmels, System Vice President for Theology and Ethics at CommonSpirit Health, on ethics and mission in Catholic health care;

• And Eleonora Rai, Assistant Professor of History at the University of Turin (Italy), on the seventeenth-century Jesuit theologian Leonard Lessius.

Other articles in the newsletter have focused on the craft of theology. These include:

• A reflection on writing with a co-author;

• An exploration of the art of ethical casuistry, drawing on the TV show “The Good Doctor”;

• Some thoughts on the motivations behind researching and writing in theology;

• An explanation of how I have taught introductory theology to a changing student body;

• And criticism of the role of “debate culture” in contemporary theological discussions.

A few posts have offered a theological perspective on current events. These include:

• An analysis of the revelation that a group of Catholics had purchased app data to track the online behavior of Catholic priests;

• An overview of recent discussions on theology and artificial intelligence;

• And some ethical reflections on what the war in Ukraine can tell us about the changing nature of war crimes.

I have also written reflections on theological themes too numerous to list here.

If you want to see more work like this, consider taking out a paid subscription or even becoming a Window Light Patron! More great articles and interviews are in store in the weeks ahead.

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Some Other Considerations

Substack, the web site that hosts Window Light, provides subscribers the option of donating a subscription. If you donate a subscription, that means I can then provide that subscription to someone who is not able to pay for a regular subscription. You can donate a subscription by going to http://windowlight.substack.com/donate or by clicking the button below:

Also, Stripe, the payment processing platform Substack uses for subscriptions, offers the Stripe Climate program, where 1% of your subscription will be invested in companies developing carbon removal technologies. Window Light is participating in the Stripe Climate program, so your subscription is not just supporting good theological writing, it’s making a small difference in combatting climate change. See here for more information.

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Thank you again for being a reader and subscriber, and I hope you will take the leap with me and take out a paid subscription.

And one last note: Over the next few weeks and months, I will be experimenting with what content should be free and what should be available only to paid subscribers. I am sure it will be a process of trial and error, but gradually we will see what works!