Julie Polter (STH'90): Senior Associate Editor at Sojourners
Julie Polter joined the Sojourners magazine editorial staff in 1990. She has coordinated the award-winning Culture Watch section of the magazine for the past several years. In her time at Sojourners Julie has written about a wide variety of political and cultural topics, from the abortion debate to the working-class blues, and has coordinated in-depth coverage of Flannery O’Connor, campaign finance reform, Howard Thurman, the labor movement, food justice, faith and arts, and much more. She has received awards for both writing and editing from the Evangelical Press Association and Associated Church Press; her article “The Cold Reaches of Heaven,” about physicist Bill Phillips, was included in The Best Christian Writing 2004.
Julie graduated with distinction in English literature from Ohio State University. She earned an M.T.S. (focused on language and narrative theology) from Boston University School of Theology and an M.F.A. in creative nonfiction from George Mason University. She received a 2004 Artist Fellowship from the District of Columbia Commission on the Arts and Humanities for a project connected to her M.F.A. work.
Originally from a farm in the northwest corner of Ohio, Julie has been fascinated by the power of religious expression in and through culture since she can remember. Her older sister’s copy of the Jesus Christ Superstar cast recording was key to her early spiritual formation, as was listening to her mother argue often with a conservative uncle about Christian doctrine and the Bible.
She lives in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington, D.C. and is a member of St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church (where she had an unlikely four-year reign as rummage sale czarina). Her personal interests overlap nicely with her professional ones: Music, books, reading entertainment, culture, and religion writing, art, architecture, TV, films, and knowing more celebrity gossip than is probably wise or healthy. To make up for all that screen time, she tries to grow things, hike occasionally, and wonder often at the night sky.
What do you feel is your greatest accomplishment since graduating from STH?
One of the greatest privileges and joys in my life was to find work that is meaningful, interesting, and uses my skills and education. As an editor and writer at Sojourners I help tell stories about people doing brave, beautiful, and flawed things in the name of God, while learning about everything from housing policy to climate change to theologies of farming and food. I get to edit established, sometimes famous writers–and help novices find their footing and voice. As culture editor, some days I look at books, listen to music, watch film trailers, or follow internet rabbit holes about social protest in pro sports or Kendrick Lamar or outsider art–and it’s my job.
What advice would you give a current STH student?
Talk to as many other people as you can who might inform your call. What would they have done differently? What brings them joy in their work and what do they dread? What was the most useful class they took? Even if you’re on an ordination track, seek conversations with people who used their theology degrees in other ways.
Why did you choose to work as an editor?
As I finished up my undergrad degree I had a romantic or mystical (or both) devotion to the power of story to change lives. I was a good writer, but wasn’t sure what to do with that. And I had a deepening sense that faith was supposed to address concrete injustice in the world, not stay inside church walls. I came to STH because I was trying to figure out a way to combine all these things—perhaps in writing Christian education materials or church communications work for a denomination. By the end of my degree program I realized that I wanted more social activism and flexibility of expression than seemed possible at that time in a denominational setting. My roommate and I shared a subscription to a magazine called Sojourners, and I saw an ad for their internship program. I figured it would expose me to magazine work and buy me another year of discernment, so I applied, was accepted for the 1990-91 intern year…and never left. (The one-year internship program, with a variety of different positions, still exists—application deadline is usually March 1 .)
What skills or experiences would benefit someone wanting to work at Sojourners?
Sojourners has a print magazine, an extensive web platform, and does information and advocacy campaigns on different issues (including immigration, climate change, racial justice, and poverty). Writing, editing, research, reporting, coding, and/or multimedia skills and experience are needed for our publications. Organizing, advocacy, and policy work are useful in campaigns. And of course, we’re a nonprofit, so the full range of fundraising, management, and admin savvy is what keeps us going.
While a theology degree is not required for any of our positions, some of us have that training and it does come in handy, often. And whenever I come across the word ruach in an article I still hear it in my head with Katheryn Pfisterer Darr’s Kentucky accent.
Can you give us an example of a mistake you have learned from during your career?
Sometimes I’ve been too timid and missed stories or opportunities. I still have to push against a cautious nature, but have gotten better at being bolder.
What was the most important experience you’ve had that has helped you in your career?
My college pastor, John Keeny (at Summit United Methodist Church near the Ohio State University campus in Columbus), took seriously both my writing skills and my somewhat dreamy notion of wanting to “write for God.” It was his suggestion that I consider a theology degree. And while that didn’t lead where either of us perhaps thought it might, it was an early, important step to me finding work I love and a rich community of friends.