2019 was not just any year.  It was the final pre-pandemic year.  Our world has changed irrevocably since last year.  We do not really know how long we will live in the shadow of COVID-19.  In some ways, this Annual Report is like a family album assembled on the eve of a cataclysm like World War I.  We might view it with nostalgia for “the good old days,” or look at the people in it with a tinge of sadness--they have no idea of what is going to happen in a few months.  Someday it also may be an historic record of a way of life that no longer exists. 

 

Nonetheless, we are still here.  The Good News still needs skilled, innovative artisans to craft the communication of its unchanging core of love in way that is real for all peoples and all Creation.  Our work is no different from generations before us who had to proclaim the message in the aftermath of an event like World War I.  Being a light in the darkness then meant adopting new media like the radio and cinema, which is exactly what the founders of what became SIGNIS did.  We today must employ digital media.  So, this annual report is online and makes use of a range of  contemporary media to amplify its content.  Here are some ideas for using the SIGNIS 2019 Annual Report:

 

  • There are good initiatives represented in this report.  Perhaps the biggest challenge now is how to reimagine them as we live with social distancing and/or online.  Still, people need community and closeness.  We need to look for new models.
  • Think of it as a digital calling card. As a member of a world communication organization you can bring a global perspective to like-minded organizations in the Church and civil society struggling with pandemic.
  • We are especially grateful for the ongoing support of our funders as we enter difficult times. They will appreciate words of support—and ideas on how to continue the mission in the face of the pandemic.
  • If nothing else, post the report on your website or Facebook page, send it to colleagues and friends.  Spread the hope we find in the growing participation of young media professionals and of women in leadership.

 

You can download our annual report by clicking on this link.