Is Rational Faiths Shutting Down? (347)

The Rational Faiths Podcast - Keeping Mormonism Weird

Since 2012, Rational Faiths has been actively administered, managed, financed, and edited by the Barker brothers who built the blog and its community from the ground up. During that time Rational Faiths published nearly 2,000 blog posts from more than one hundred different permabloggers, authors, and contributors. Over the last three years, Rational Faiths has received more than 2.5 million page views from nearly half a million different readers. The Ask a Mormon Sex Therapist podcast continues to be amazingly popular and draws thousands of downloads a month.

After seven years, though, the Barkers have decided that it’s time to take a step back to be able to focus on other life priorities. A group of Rational Faiths permabloggers is now doing a search for a new primary administrator (or administrators) for our website. We hope that a new administration team will continue the tradition of promoting quality blogging about all things Mormon (or tangentially Mormon) and using the Rational Faiths blog and community to further its mission of Keeping Mormonism Weird. (For more about the purpose, mission, and identity of Rational Faiths, see the “Beginner’s Guide.”)

Responsibilities for the new administrator(s) include (but are not limited to):

• Assuming full responsibility for administration of the blog website and presence on the internet, as well as its various social media accounts.
• Cultivating a new vision for Rational Faiths for the next 5-10 years based on the perceived needs and demands of this generation of online Mormonism.
• Identifying and recruiting a new generation of bloggers, permabloggers, and podcasters with fresh ideas and new perspectives. (A few of us current permabloggers are interested in continuing on, of course!)
• Assuming full financial responsibility for the blog’s monthly hosting fees (approximately $200/month) and executing a donation funding plan (as well as perhaps looking for most cost-effective ways to host the website’s presence on the internet).

To apply, please submit a letter of interest that includes the following:

1. Your (or your group’s) background information – who are you and what are you about (basically, enough to assure us that that you’re not a secret axe murderer)
2. What is your relevant experience related to website hosting/administration as well as blogging/writing?
3. What is your vision for the identity of Rational Faiths going forward? What will its identity be in the universe of Mormon blogs?
4. What is your plan to identify and recruit a new generation of bloggers, permabloggers, and podcasters?
5. What is your plan to keep the blog financially sustainable?
6. Any other information that could help assess the strength of your application, interest, and motivation to become Rational Faith’s new primary administrator.
7. Contact information for 2-3 character/professional references

Applications will be reviewed by a search committee composed of various Rational Faiths permabloggers and emeriti. Please email application letters of interest, as well as any inquiries related to the call for applications, to oinc28 [at] gmail.com. (NOTE: we asked previous submissions to be sent to guestblogger [at] rationalfaiths.com but have been having technical difficulties with this email address. So please send to the gmail address and resend if you have already sent to the previous one. Sorry for the inconvenience.)

We hope to have a new administrator selected by March 31, 2019 who can assume responsibilities as soon as possible thereafter.

For more information and details about the next step in the Rational Faiths journey, check out this awesome podcast conversation in the link at the top of the page.