By Dave Bruno
Let’s Celebrate and Look Ahead
Dear Rabbit Room Community,
May was a remarkably busy month for me this year; I only spent 9 days at home. My travels took me to England, California, and Washington, DC, for three conferences and countless conversations in pubs, bookstores, conference centers, and cathedrals. As I talked to folks, I encountered the same reality again and again: people love The Rabbit Room.
At Yarnton Manor, just outside Oxford, my wife, Leanne, and I joined in that community’s rhythm of morning prayer using Every Moment Holy. At a conference in California, I spoke to an inspiring entrepreneurial couple from Nigeria whose teenage son is a celebrated TEDx speaker, aspiring author, and avid fan of The Rabbit Room. At a conference in Washington, DC, a literature professor from a renowned Christian college in the United States told me how important The Rabbit Room is to her family as well as her students. These are only a handful of dozens of stories.
You can imagine my feelings as I compared this May with last May. Last May, my mid-year update was urgent and appealed to you for financial help. Through your generosity and God’s provision, The Rabbit Room navigated that challenge. I’m so proud to tell you that for the past year, we’ve maintained a strong financial position. Moreover, we’ve done this while experiencing even more of the growth and demand for our resources that had previously put pressure on our operations. This summer I’m marveling at God’s faithfulness and celebrating the goodness He’s seen fit to share through the ministry of The Rabbit Room.
Tales of the Goodness
For about a week late in the month of May, Galahad and the Grail, Malcolm Guite’s first book in his Merlin’s Isle series published by Rabbit Room Press, was the 46th-best-selling book on Amazon. This Christ-infused story, written as an epic poem, gloriously illustrated, and beautifully bound, was one of the top-selling books in the world. In fact, it only slowed down when the first print run sold out. (Don’t worry, it’s back in stock.) What’s more, the next book, The Coming of Arthur, arrives this fall.
This year, The Rabbit Room received its first multi-year grant. This $250,000 grant is in participation with the Beautiful Stories Collective of the Eugene Peterson Center for Christian Imagination at Western Theological Seminary. For the next five years, it will fund Rabbit Room Sessions, a new offering combining live acoustic EP-style recordings from Rabbit Room musicians with personal interviews about how their lives have intersected with the ministry of The Rabbit Room. The first Rabbit Room Sessions recording includes Andy Gullahorn, The Still Point (Sandra McCracken and Ben Shive), The Arcadian Wild, Buddy Green and Jeff Taylor, and Sarah Kroger.
And these milestones are only the beginning; as we imagine the future, we envision even more exciting opportunities.
Opportunities for Imagination and Capacity
Imagine Housemoot. Earlier this year, we surveyed more than a hundred Housemoot hosts, listening to your comments and feedback with the goal of making Housemoot’s fourth year its best yet. What we heard was deeply encouraging. Housemoot hosts are serious about their faith. They long for deeper connection. They want to create spaces where people can gather, listen, pray, make, sing, eat, and grow together in Christ.
So far over 10,000 people have participated in Housemoot. Now imagine what could happen in the coming years if that seed keeps growing. Imagine 10,000 hosts welcoming 100,000 people a year into gatherings shaped by beauty, fellowship, and faith. Imagine local artists, musicians, writers, and makers connecting at those gatherings so that new creative artifacts are made, relationships are born and deepened, songs are sung, and stories are shared.
That is the future we are working toward: thousands of local gatherings, each one modest in size but meaningful in impact, helping families, churches, small groups, neighborhoods, and communities become more attentive to Christ and more fruitful in love.
Imagine Place. The Rabbit Room is in its sixth year of hosting gatherings at North Wind Manor. On a week that includes a Local Show or author talk, along with open hours, we can see well over 200 visitors. And that’s with us intentionally limiting numbers; the demand is far greater. Imagine an additional place, one that isn’t open only six hours a week and isn’t limited to groups of 50 or fewer. Then North Wind Manor would be able to host many more smaller gatherings, while another place would respond to The Rabbit Room community’s desire for the space to linger and commune.
Looking Ahead
Imagining these possibilities in the light of faithful stewardship involves continuing to improve our offerings and strengthen the generous fundraising efforts that make The Rabbit Room durable and resilient. Yet, while these tasks are important, it is even more important to remember that the best systems and most robust bank accounts don’t make a ministry successful. If the Lord is in it, it will thrive. That’s why Christians believe prayer is among our boldest actions.
Would you join us in praying for discernment? We want to constantly ask God for wisdom and guidance as we discern what The Rabbit Room should look like in 2030 and beyond. Our hearts long to lean into opportunities and follow God’s leading.
Would you also pray for capacity? The Rabbit Room is a nonprofit. Even when our books are in high demand and our conferences are selling out, we’re structured in a way that leans on community. In order to flourish, we must invite supporters to partner with us generously. So many have already done so, and we could not be more thankful. As we look ahead to exciting opportunities, your support will become even more important for helping these become realities.
It’s our twentieth year of doing ministry together with you, our dear friends. Together, we’re celebrating God’s goodness to The Rabbit Room and the communities—your communities—blessed by this ministry. Thank you for your faithful generosity, your abundant creativity, and your heart for the Kingdom. Even as we celebrate what’s taken place, we recognize that in God’s timing our story is only just beginning, and we cannot wait to write the next chapter with you.
In Christ,
Dave Bruno
Executive Director
Dave! I didn't realize that this is what you are doing now! Awesome! The Rabbit Room is in good hands.