When I first discovered Ekstasis I felt a sense of homecoming, I felt seen and connected in a place that is often quite lonely and solitary. I proclaimed loudly to my friends that there exists a magazine that endlessly beautifully marries the two worlds I love most: art and Christianity. I understood the urgency of projects like this because without this marriage, we have a church impoverished of art or art impoverished of the spirit. It felt like a gift to stumble upon a publication and a community that felt the same call and urgency for beauty that I held in my own depths but often felt alone with. There is an ache for beauty within me and a longing to see beauty be born into the visible that Ekstasis achieves so elegantly.

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Stephanie Stampfer