The lower decks Welcome to the lower decks, where you'll find material about the inner workings of Ship of Fools, plus contact details, press coverage and other features. See the links below to find the stuff you're looking for. In this section... About the Ship Contact us Support the Ship   Ship of Fools in 300 words Ship of Fools was first launched in 1977 as a studenty print magazine, but sank in 1983 after ten issues. It was raised again on April Fool's Day 1998 as a website, and quickly grew into an online community as well as a webzine. "We're here for people who prefer their religion disorganized," says the Ship's editor and designer, Simon Jenkins. "Our aim is to help Christians be self-critical and honest about the failings of Christianity, as we believe honesty can only strengthen faith." Regular features include the Mystery Worshipper, the Caption Competition, and Gadgets for God. Ship of Fools has also run a number of projects, including The Ark, an online gameshow, and Church of Fools, an early experiment in online 3D church. The Laugh Judgment, our investigation into funny and offensive religious jokes, prompted journalist Julie Burchill to say of us: "If one must choose a modern symbol of what is so good about Britain, I would choose Ship of Fools." Alongside these is a thriving online community, including the famed Heaven, Hell and Purgatory bulletin boards, where shipmates debate everything from "Religion and Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "The status of Mormonism" to "Hitchcock and Catholic Guilt". Over 13,500 people joined the boards in its first ten years online. Ship of Fools' co-editor is Stephen Goddard, who met Simon Jenkins at theological college in London in the late 70s. "As committed Christians ourselves, we can't help laughing at the crazy things that go wrong with the church, and we're also drawn to those questions which take us beyond easy believing. In the end, we want to make sense of the Christian faith in today's complex world." Fully independent, Ship of Fools currently attracts more than 150,000 unique visitors a month accessing more than 2.5 million pages. Iconoclastic and debunking but also committed to the ultimate value of faith, Ship of Fools attracts readers more interested in searching questions than simplistic answers. Mission statement In place of a mission statement, see here.   We rely on voluntary donations to stay online. If you're a regular visitor to Ship of Fools, please consider supporting us. Read the highs and lows of our first 10 years online.