Author: Faith & Culture

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The Invitation: My Faith and Culture Story

by Velynn Brown

I know faith. I accepted Jesus into my little heart at the tender age of eight. Grew up on turquoise pews, and church potlucks. I even bore the title “PK” (pastor’s kid).

I know culture. I’m African-American through and through. This is the wrapping God chose for housing my spirit.

But sometimes, my faith and my culture clash. At least that’s how it feels when I’m the only brown-skinned believer in the room.

Our doctrines say we are all Christians—that we all come from the same family. It’s true. We all have the same Heavenly Father. But do our pews, our platforms, and our publications reflect all God’s children?

No. Unfortunately we missed some folks when we snapped the “family of God” photo. I’ve got a problem with that. And to my surprise, I’m not the only one.

My girlfriend Ashley Larkin and I had been coffee-meeting, text-praying and blog-inspiring for several months before she extended an invitation to me. I was apprehensive about going to Writers Connection meetings she kept encouraging me to go to during our soul-sister-sharing times together. I didn’t want to tell her that I knew I’d be the only chocolate chip in the room. Or that even though it was a “Christian” event, my faith experiences and religious palette would not be understood or met. I would be alone.

She agreed that I could very well be the only person of my skin complexion there. But she disagreed that I’d be alone. She said she’d be right by my side. She wanted me to share my journey and my story. Had Ashley not first shown she could be trusted by bravely attending my predominantly African-American congregated church first, I would have kept her invitation at a distance.

Ashley placed herself in my world, embracing the opportunity to hold and carry out publicly what we had been talking about privately: to become the change we needed to see in our own Christian worlds. Now it was time to share in this exchange of life, story, and depth of relationship in one another’s lives.

I was a little embarrassed that at forty-one, I was still struggling with a color complex. I should be over the shock of the lack of diversity in Portland, Oregon, right? My people only make up six percent of the population in the city. So why was this invitation bothering me so much? Being a native Oregonian, I knew the hand we’d been dealt.

Truth was, I was not excited about crossing the bridge to Lake Oswego and I wasn’t thrilled about being the “bridge” again.

“Why me, Lord? Why do I have to go and be the only sistah in the room?”

It took a while for me to pinpoint my struggle. This was a “see the speck in your own eye first” confession, but eventually I got to it. We don’t get to chose the family we are born into, but it’s are still our family. As a member of the extended body of Christ, I’ve often felt adopted into, not tied-to-blood-related. It’s subtle. Christian radio, bookstores and platforms represent majority white Christian culture all the time.

Why aren’t we representing the entire family of God?

We all speak the same God-language, but our translations are as different as King James and The Message versions of the Bible. Yet this diversity of parallel texts brings out a more vivid, 3D-panoramic view of our lives and the God we serve, if we let it.

I think it’s because I want God’s people to act different, be different, and to look different. I want the world to stop and take notice of how we include and not exclude one another. I’d like them to see how Christians freely share our resources, our privileges, and our pews with each other on both sides of the rainbow and everything in between. But the truth is we don’t.

In my journey as a writer, I was told by a well-respected and profitable publishing house that my voice as an African-American writer was needed and desirable, but it probably wouldn’t sell well in mainstream Christian market because of my color.

So why go? Why keep putting myself out there only to be rejected by my “Christian family”?

Sarah Thebarge was the guest author the first night I attended the Writers Connection. I’d never met her before, but when she opened up her mouth to share her story, we had several things instantly in common: cancer and embracing others’ lives, stories, and cultures.

One of my best friends was right smack in the middle of battling cancer and I needed a tangible testimony of hope to pass on to her. Sarah was a cancer survivor, so I bought her book. And although I was the only chocolate-skinned Christian in the audience that night, when she began to share the story of her spiritually adopted Somalian family, I began to feel at home—right there, in Tualatin, Oregon.

God met me that night on the outside with what I was wrestling with on the inside. I needed a tangible story of culture, and the acceptance of being woven in, right where I was, in the color that I’m in. I needed to know I truly wasn’t alone and that where I’m from matters dearly to the Lord.

Cornelia Seigneur, the monthly Writers Connection leader, whom I also met for the first time that night, asked me to meet her for coffee a few weeks later. She shared with me the vision for the annual Faith & Culture Writers Conference and would soon extend to me a second invitation to serve on the conference leadership team, a position I have been humbly honored to hold. She asked me to be a part of constructing this year’s conference.

At this table of the conference leadership team, I am seen as an equal, as sister in my chocolate covering. I am embraced with a shared faith in our God who is committed to diversity, culture and community.

I extend the same invitation to you:

Come . . . have the courage to be yourself.

Come . . . share the story God is crafting in your life.

No matter what shade of the kingdom-rainbow you are wrapped in, come meet the rest of your family. Let your soul, your God-given creativity, and your unique purpose find a little bit of home.

Come join us at the Faith and Culture Writers Conference.

See you there!

I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. (Philemon 1:6- NIV)

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In the Beginning was the Word

By Phil Long

As a poet, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about how to say common things creatively. I also think about saying creative things commonly. I love the struggle to capture the universal in a tiny particular or manufacturer fresh insight through surprising combinations of language that trigger fresh synaptic connections. I feel like an alchemist wielding a magical formula transforming familiar things into wonderful things. I wonder how difficult things might be said more plainly and I wonder if impossible things can truly be said at all. I think about how truth that is really understood might be too hard to express and whether truth that is too hard to understand might be found in new expressions. I wonder where things come from and how they exist. I wonder. Cosmology. Ontology. Philosophy. I think about the uncanny power of words and ideas. I enjoy gleefully exceeding the comfortable boundaries of language to unleash the unexpected – the unintended. I wonder if it’s working. I wonder if it’s worth it. I wonder if the conceptual grammar required for a greater understanding of the mystery that is reality could ever be found in the winsome wanderings of a willing wordsmith; if a poet in a staircase might somehow connect the dots or generate a flash of light.

And lately, I’ve been thinking,

            what if its all poetry?

 

Since science can only concern itself

            with the physical emanations of Ultimate Reality,

What if the most fundamental particles

            are really verbs and nouns?

            adjectives and adverbs, the stuff of worlds

            cuplets and rhymes, the elements

            sonnets and ballads, minerals

            and the light… it comes from a person?

 

What if it’s all poetry?

What if matter is actually made of what really matters;

            our perception of meaning,

            an electron-scanning microscope

            looking closer at the smallest patterns of existence?

What if atoms are iambs

            and rocks are merely metaphors?

 

What if it’s all poetry?

 

What if relationship is a star

            exploding with the source of ultimate meaning

            and conscious awareness is the fuel?

What if fools are pollution

            and broken hearts the black-holes

            of fundamental reality;

Selfishness and greed, genetically altered absurdities

            propagated by brokenness and hurt?

What if love is the source, and the goal

            and there have been too many mutations?

 

What if it’s all poetry?

 

What if we thoughtful sparks

            slipping through the biochemical cracks

            of bio-logical creatures

            are composed of material… innuendo

            as real as we feel

            as important as we hope

            as loved as we want to be

And the stuff that makes us,

            dependent upon the words of a Lover?

 

What if it’s all poetry?

 

What if ancient wisdom had it right all along

            and modern science is only catching up?

What if Higgs is a field, of dreams,

            giving weight to God’s ambition;

            forming particles from echoes

            of His kindness and patience?

 

If 96 % of the physical world

            seems to be dark energy and matter

            maybe it’s because we’re still living in the dark – ages

            and what matters most is moral and wise

            and we are only making matter worse – by inversion.

 

What if the extra dimensions we find in our math

            are the places we should have gone to

And the infinite universes birthing infinite possibilities

            are infinite poetry

            flowing from an infinite Poet?

 What if it’s all poetry?

 

What if the Large Hadron Collider is telling the truth?

And everything that is comes from nothing

            but ideas?

What if we are words – generating fields

            that give rise to particles – shaped by laws

            that are molded and connected – by ele-mental attractions

            being used as ink on this cosmic page

            for the poetry?

In the language of life;

            with words, that are personal?

 Us, written in dust

            with care and precision

            and a vision for the future that ages of edits

– mutations of circumstance and egotistical intent –

            have only managed to alter the reflection of perfection

            still finding the Author’s intention?

 

What if it’s all poetry?

 

And we find ourselves reading in wonder

            as our science plunders the pages

            denying the Poet,

            insisting on chance

Meter and rhyme unfolding in intricate geology

Language and story in physics, and biology

The weight of scribbled matter, psychology

The search for reason in unreasonable space

The search for purpose

            in meaningless traces of eternity,

 

Just chance.?

What if it’s all poetry?

What if spirit is deeper than flesh?

What if what matters is what makes up matter

            what makes us matter

            and all that matter

            is now holding this tale like a book?

 

Look,

What if it’s all a poem spoken to become us;

            broken lines with an ultimate purpose?

It’s the only way a Poet would create us

            or know us.

 

CosmoLyrical.com

Phil Long is our conference Spoken Word contributor and Breakout Session Leader. 

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Widening our View is the Essence of Faith & Culture Writers Conference

Cornelia Becker Seigneur

“Most people come to know only one corner of their room, one spot near the window, one narrow strip on which they keep walking back and forth.”-Rilke

About a month before the start of the 2013 Faith & Culture Writers Conference at Multnomah University, I received an email from a pastor at a local church.

He asked why I would let William Paul Young, the author of The Shack, speak at our conference. After all, the pastor said to me, how could an event that was being held at a reputable Christian university “invite a ‘heretic’ like Young onto the campus?” as he worded it.

The pastor went on to inform me that he would not promote our conference nor would he tell others at his church about it. At the time of the event, I was an adjunct professor at Multnomah, where I served as the faculty advisor for MUSE, the student publication I founded at the school.

My first response to the pastor was to ask him if he had read the book.

“No, I have not,” he confessed.

I offered, “I know there has been controversy surrounding Paul’s work over the years, especially regarding his (fictional) portrayal of the triune God, but we are a faith and culture conference, and if nothing else, whether you agree or disagree with the way Young portrays God, we must admit that the words and story Paul created has affected culture in a big way: 20 million books sold.

May we ask the hard questions? Can we start a conversation on topics where we have differing views? Can we question the way we have done things over the years? Are we able to sit in the same room with others who have a different creative way to express their story?

That is the essence of what the Faith & Culture Writers Conference is about.

On the top of my website, I have a tagline “Live the Questions,” which is a quote by the German poet Rilke. This is my mantra. And perhaps the mantra of the conference. We should not be afraid of hard questions. We should not be threatened with differing view points, with people stretching our worlds; we should not fear discussion around a subject we feel uncomfortable with, but rather embrace the difference and see life from someone else’s world. To get beyond that one spot near the window, as Rilke notes.

I say, let’s talk.

This year as the Faith & Culture Writers Conference moves to George Fox University, we once again have invited some speakers and authors whose views and takes on issues not all attendees may agree with. Heck, not everyone is a C.S. Lewis fan. He did have witches in his books and he prefers in infant baptism, to which some object.

Our speakers are thoughtfully sparking dialogue in their work, musing over long-held practices, pushing boundaries and borders, and asking questions that open up fresh perspectives, challenge presumptions, and stretch views.

Take Sarah Bessey, as an example. In November 2013, she released her first book, Jesus Feminist, the title itself stopping people from giving her a voice. Yet, if you can get beyond stereotypes and open up the pages of Bessey’s book, you’ll find the mother of three captivated by Christ while at the same time challenging the church to reconsider gender-based restrictions on women in ministry.

We welcome speakers — who are at once authors, professors, theologians, bloggers, journalists, movement starters, activists, editors — at the Faith & Culture Writers Conference to open up the doors to dialogue on issues in our current culture and we trust they will do so with grace, humility, vulnerability and the Spirit leading them. Can we bathe in discussions with differing views, and allow ourselves to listen rather than immediately criticize, and engage without feeling threatened? Instead of judging, let’s perhaps ask, “Hmm, I wonder what they mean by that? Let me find out.”

Other speakers this year — Tony Kriz, Paul Louis Metzger, Randy Woodley, Micah J. Murray, Natalie Trust, Emily Maynard — have also written and spoken on topics that might have made some people uncomfortable. That’s okay.

We’re about engaging culture, starting conversations, expanding our worlds.

And, maybe make new friends along the way.

Which makes me think about a story I read in Christianity Today about how, after writer Tim Challies calls into question Ann Voskamp’s theology, calling her popular book One Thousand Gifts “dangerous.”

And, how did Ann respond? Why invite him and his family to dinner, of course.

He accepted and during their time together, he apologized to her. In our online world, it’s easy to criticize someone we cannot see face to face. It’s a click of a button to publish judgment. But, when you are face to face with someone, it’s a whole different ball game. Being present matters.

Now, I realize of course things don’t always have a happy ending like this, but it illustrates that we can at least be in the same room together, maybe even share a dinner. Or coffee. We can extend grace and mercy and humility toward others and not be defensive.

And maybe, just maybe we can do just as Rilke said:

“I live my life in widening circles that reach out across the world.” Rilke

www.corneliaseigneur.com

 

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We Cannot Do This Alone

By Cornelia Becker Seigneur

When the leadership team for the 2013 Faith & Culture Writers Conference had our celebration dinner last June, we reminisced over wine and salmon and salad, discussing the big event. I am so grateful for the service these wonderful ladies gave: Bethany, our executive administrative assistant, Kari Patterson, our communications director, Ashley our agent and mentor coordinator, and Ana, our marketing specialist.

They sacrificed countless hours to put on what turned out to be a fabulous conference last April at Multnomah University. When you serve with people on a team to put on such a large event, you bond over late night brain storming sessions, sipping tea and wine and agonizing over speakers and schedules and wanting every detail to be perfect and lots and lots of prayer. I got teary eyed at the end of the conference saying our goodbyes. We are all dear friends now, and I will always be thankful these four ladies that said yes. ,

And, during that final meeting last June at the downtown waterfront restaurant, the subject of the next conference eventually came up. Kari — who came to our 2011 inaugural conference at Western Seminary who had introduced herself to me after my talk, and then returned in 2013 to serve on the planning team — said she needed a year off to breathe and that she actually thought we should keep our conference an every other year event, and wait until 2015 again. And Ashley said she needed a year off as well. And, my right hand, Bethany, though she didn’t tell me that night, later shared with me that family and health issues required her immediate attention this next year.

A month or so later, Bethany called me up to meet. She brought flowers. I should be giving HER flowers! She had tears in her eyes and said, “Cornelia, God has given you a vision and you need to keep this vision alive no matter who comes alongside you. God will provide.” She said to trust and believe and move forward and to give it to God. She said people would come forward, new people, and I need to have faith. We both cried and prayed and I said I would listen to her.

I started calling and emailed people about the conference, and I asked for people to be on the advisory board and I met with others who had experience with events envisioning businesses and non-profits, like Ken Wytsma and Don Jacobson and my good friend Paul Louis Metzger, whose been a supporter of our conference from Day 1.

In discussing this event with these friends, the consensus seemed clear: have the event yearly.

But, then there is reality. I cannot plan this conference alone. I know it is God’s vision, yes, but I told God, I cannot do this alone.

I began to pray, that if it is meant to be, people would come forward.

I love how God works. I got a phone call from Christal, a speaker last year. And a text message from Ana. Separately mind you. Both messages were clear- “Cornelia, what date in 2014 is the next Faith & Culture Writers Conference? I think you need to have it next year, and not wait a year.”

Then, I got an email from Melanie, a professor of English at George Fox, with whom I’ve been connected off after teaching a course at Fox a while back. We have a mutual friend in Pam, who spoke at our 2013 conference. Melanie wanted to meet to talk writing and life. When we met, the subject of the conference came up. And, after I noted my vision is to move the Faith & Culture Writers Conference to different campus each year, and I’d love to be at Fox sometime, she said, “Well, George Fox is looking to host more events on campus.”

I love how God works!

I’d see certain people at my monthly Writers Connection and think, hmm, they would be great on the leadership team. And, I was reminded of names I had written down after the last event, who had said that if there is a need for help, to please contact them.

So, I met for coffee with people and we prayed and dreamed and looked at calendars and talked and here we are. It’s a go.

And, this planning team is fabulous.

Starting with the only returning member, Ana, whose digital and social media expertise is amazing. Then there’s Velynn, our executive administrative assistant, who is such a passionate, driven, dynamic person, whom Ashley brought to one of our monthly Writers Connection meetings.

And, Taylor, our new communications director, is such a sweet, kind, deep soul who happens to work at The Oregonian, where I freelance. Grateful to Michelle Watson for introducting Taylor to FCWC and me last spring.

And, Brooke, our new agents and mentor coordinator who attended the last conference, wrote a note to me after the last conference offering to help. Wow, she has energy and many talents she is bringing to the table. Nicole introduced Brooke to our event last spring.

Melanie is our GFU laision. It is so good to get to know her better. She’s an excellent writer and thinker and we both have boys the same age!

And, Lynn is our new prayer coordinator and scribe, whom I met at the Oregon Christian Writers Conference last summer where I served as a mentor, and Lynn’s been a faithful Writers Connection attendee ever since. And, finally there’s Matthew, our writing contest coordinator who attended our 2013 FCWC and has been reaching out the past couple of months on Facebook. When we met a couple of weeks ago at my Writers Connection at Rolling Hills, we touched on the next conference. The subject of writing contests came up, which is wild because Velynn had suggested that idea during our first brainstorming meeting in the Pearl District.  Yet, excitement is one thing, feet to pavement is another. I know how much time and work it takes, and again I say, I cannot do it alone. But, I love affirming others in their enthusiasm, so with Matthew’s excitement about the writing contest I suggested he help organize it. I figured he’d say no or ignore the question. He did neither, but instead tossed so many great ideas my way. I chuckled that he could organize the event. And, again, I did not really think he’d be serious about it as I made the suggestion in a light-hearted manner. But, he surprised me once again.

After a few days and many emails later, I invited Matthew to our first large get-it-done planning meeting last week. Matthew arrived before me with his trademark positive spirit and enthusiasm. Okay, I tell  God, I get this. I don’t have to go it alone.

And, there are so  many others who have affirmed the conference, helping with direction and connections and ideas. Aaron Smith, aka the cultural savage, for one. He showed up at our first larger FCWC brainstorming meeting in November. We happened to be meeting for coffee that day anyway, so I just said, hey come at the tail end of the meeting. Aaron is on our advisory board and we are grateful for his insight and belief in our event.

So, for that first meeting with all these official positions in place, we opened the meeting with prayer. For God’s guidance and direction. There was so much positive energy and passion and drive, and the ideas were flowing and moving and being shaped.

And, there was a lot to do after leaving that meeting. Yet, there are enough people to make it happen.

I love our theme verse, which we chose during our first brainstorming session in the Pearl: “And God has filled us with the Spirit, with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship for work in every skilled craft.” Exodus 35: 31-33. And our five theme words this year: diverse, fresh, craftsmanship, voice, and wisdom. The words that our amazing designer Martin French will weave into our new logo!

I am incredibly grateful to the 2014 FCWC leadership planning team, for our advisory board and others who have believed in this event, and to George Fox this year for being our sponsoring host.

And I’m ultimately grateful to our creative God, who fills us with His Spirit to guide us with craftsmanship and creativity and voice and wisdom. The God who continually reminds me, through His Spirit and through others, this is His event. He is with us. Just as in life, He is with us. We don’t have to walk through life alone. I am desperate for Him to show up. That’s a good place to be.

And, for this specific event — and in life in general — I am desperate for Him, and He is making Himself known, providing so many others to walk alongside, so many wonderful people to share the load, so many others who are excited to see this conference return in 2014. Indeed, we don’t have to go it alone.

CORNELIA BECKER SEIGNEUR

 

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Encouragement for Writers

By Pam Lau

 

Many years ago, Madeleine L’Enlge wrote, “We’re never sure that what we write is true and honest. We try to make it true and honest. How much I succeed is really beyond my control. It happens if I am given the Spirit to write the work.”

Her words are truer today than ever before. If we have something to say – through a blog, a poem, a story, a song, an article, a stage, a sermon – we often wonder if what we say is true.

But the world has never been more complex than it is today and simply “telling it like it is” doesn’t help us much if we don’t take the time to observe the changes in our culture, in ourselves, in our small and big worlds: It’s really a New Day.

If you’re like me, you take some time most days to sit alone crafting a message through writing or speaking or singing. I’m 45 years old and I’m still in wonder how it is only through the gifts of the Spirit that my art comes – that love spills into my work. The problem is I’m human and I still doubt, I’m unconvinced that I served my message long enough or intensely enough. I’m never quite satisfied – but that’s pride – that’s not love and suddenly it’s not about my audience anymore.

My session on Saturday is all about truth-telling as a writer/speaker/communicator in a culture where there’s a divide between the generations spiritually, theologically and geographically.  This is not about being “right” or being at the center of attention with your “truth.”  It’s about writing or speaking something of value to others and finding your most powerful tools to get that message across to others who are waiting for it.

I’m not an ordained minister and I don’t see myself as having all the answers.  But I do see myself as the lead learner on this subject as I’ve been researching and interviewing for my next book.  We all want truth.  Your audience is looking for the truth that Jesus promises will set us free.

Here are a few of the truth-telling tools I will talk about on Saturday:

  • Live in Real Time; not with Nostalgia
  • Test Words for Balance and Diversity
  • Write with Open Accountability, Not with an Image

What are some obstacles you see in our culture that keep us from telling the Truth well?  I hope to meet you there and continue this conversation.

 

 

 

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Radio Show About Faith & Culture Writers Conference 4/1

Faith touching culture through multiple genre is what we’ll be talking about on 4/1. Writers and everyday people who love words and the Word, and feel led to share their message with others, will hear Cornelia Becker Seigneur, founding director of the Faith and Culture Writers Conference, and Adjunct Professor at Multnomah University, share what’s happening at the upcoming Faith and Culture Writers Conference in Portland, OR April 5-6. The faculty that’s been assembled is reason enough to attend.  Ask a friend to listen in with you. Be inspired to push on to greater excellence with your writing goals.

Link to Show to Stream it LIVE Monday, April 1st and 2pm

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/krvr/2013/04/01/faith-and-culture-writers-invite-you

 

 

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What is your story?

By Christal M.N. Jenkins

 

Life is so interesting. It is full of twists, turns, challenges, mountain tops, etc. Everyone’s life tells a story. Even though the situations may have unique elements, the circumstances by which a person may find themselves in may not be a unique as one would think. It is easy to convince ourselves that no one understands or may have shared life experiences. That is the beauty of humankind. Although we may have our differences, it is through our similarities that we are brought closer together.

The question I pose to you is “What is your story?” This was a question I pondered as I began to write. At the time I had no idea that what I was composing would become something much greater than I could ever imagine. Many times we assume that what we have experienced or gone through has little value, when God sees every bit of our journey as an amazing story. It is a masterpiece waiting to be displayed. Sure, our stories may be filled with pain, shame, difficulty, and obstacles but I can also bet that if we took a moment to reflect we can find the joy, victory, and triumph even in the midst of it all.

Despite what that voice inside you may be telling you, there is someone out there that needs to hear it! We were not called to live our lives in isolation. We were created to live in communion with one another. Our lives are living testimonies that are not a depiction of perfection but of grace, mercy, redemption and salvation.

The awesome part about being story tellers is that we can tell our story in so many different ways. Maybe your story is told through comedy or satire maybe you take us on an adventure through lives of fictional characters, etc. You can decide how your story is told!

As I began to share my story, I was amazed at how many people could relate or even make connections to their own lives. There is power in your story! I strongly encourage you to step out and tell your story. I can guarantee you that if your story reaches just one person, it was all worth it! I hope and pray that you will be encouraged to share the amazing gift God has given you—your story!

If you are reading this and you are not sure of your next step, I would urge you to check out the Faith and Cultures writers’ conference. This will be a place where people from all walks of life, having various interests, each with their own story, will be gathered in one place, at one time, to share in a phenomenal experience that will be life changing. This is more than just a typical writer’s conference; don’t allow this awesome opportunity to pass you by!

I look forward to seeing you there!

 

 

 

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Why do you write?

By Keith Turley

 

“Talent develops in tranquility, character in the full current of human life.”

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

 

It was two years ago that nothing less than a miracle occurred that allowed me to be a participant at the first Faith & Culture Writers Connection in 2011. While it may be cliche to say that those events and the conference “changed my life”, in so many ways I can never go back to where I was before.

In 2010 I had made a decision that I was going to write a book, something that I had put off and resisted for many years, though I was encouraged by several close friends. I had been writing a devotional email several times a week to a dear group of “peeps” that had grown from what was at one time just my bible study to a group of nearly 100 people that I now considered friends. So, as I began to formulate how to go about writing a book I began to look at writing groups, and then writing conferences. I was a writer of devotional emails, not an author of a book. What did I know about the process, let alone the qualifications?

In my Google wanderings I found out about the 2011 Conference. It was fairly easy to make the decision to go, but finding a place to stay (coming from Bellingham, WA) was a struggle as I didn’t have the resources to commit to a hotel room. But I did find a place to stay with friends in Portland. Then, literally on the Wednesday before the conference those housing plans fell through and I gave in to my not wanting to drive down at 5:00am Saturday morning. I shared as much with Cornelia, as we had shared many emails to this point. She encouraged me to not give up. So, I made literally one last desperate call to some friends up river in White Salmon, and found I had a place to stay.

Probably my most powerful experience of the conference was finally meeting Cornelia. She was the only person I “knew” so I sought her out right away, and despite her other duties she made me feel part of a community that was new to me. Paul Louis Metzger’s keynote paved the way for incredible breakout sessions. Each session I attended was so valuable. In between sessions and during lunch I was able to meet not only other writers, but got a chance to talk with speakers and agents. Every conversation I had was so encouraging that I left with new contacts and friends, and the confidence that I could not only write but also publish book. I had the content. As a graphic designer and writer I had the skills, now I had new encouragement from new friends and other writers, I had new information, I had new confidence. I knew I could self-publish a book, which began another journey that has resulted in two published books…a journey which I will share at this year’s conference.

Fast forward…I still have the email from October 2012 where Cornelia invited me to speak at this year’s conference. Me? From a guest to a speaker? Once I picked myself off the floor, it only took me a few minutes to get past my fear of speaking and say yes. Cornelia’s friendship and support, even from a state away, made it so easy to say yes. Then the next day the topic of “why I write” was already formulating as the main subject, a topic I am so looking forward to sharing with others, as I believe it is foundational to all writers. For me, knowing the “why” of my writing gets me through many days I simply don’t want to or feel I can find the time to write.

I can not wait to be a speaker and participant at the Conference this year, it is such an honor, and such an invitation from Cornelia, who has become an incredible gift in my life.

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From Behind the Pages to In Front of a Crowd

By Leanne Sype

 

As an editor, I spend the majority of my time buried in the pages of unpublished books, blogs, and other beautifully blunder-filled prose.  I am energized by what I do, and I enjoy (prefer) being behind the scenes helping my writers polish their message so it shines for the world. I take what I do very seriously because writing is hard… and for most authors, editing is excruciating.  I respect that.  I honor it.  Hey, I’m a writer too, so I get it!

I love editing, though.  It’s my favorite part of the entire writing process because it is where the smoke clears and the destination you were trying to reach comes into view.  But more than editing, I love cultivating relationships with other writers.  I am inspired, intrigued and taught by my community of fellow writers, readers, and life-livers.  I find great joy in learning from others and engaging in discussions of or relating to reading and writing and life–life is what gives us the material about which we write.

So imagine my delight when I was asked to speak at this year’s Faith and Culture Writer’s Conference!

*hand to mouth gasp*

Oh yes!  I’m coming out from behind the pages and getting in front of a crowd.  EEP!  I’m stoked!

Why?  Several reasons but here are the main two:

1) Community!  Writing is a solitary (and sometimes dark) endeavor that requires community engagement.  Our craft, as writers, messes with the psyche, causing both doubt and euphoria regarding our skills in a matter of seconds.  A writer’s conference brings us together with others who understand the celebrations and commiserations associated with the writing process.

Writers are also a community of creators who share a common DNA for an art we simply must share with others, yet each individual is as unique as the stories he/she creates.  We come together at an event like this and gather knowledge, perspective, and inspiration that help us keep creating and sharing with the world– better than we did before.

2) Learning.  I hope to forever be a scholar of the writing craft–always learning how I can be better.  Though I am excited about the opportunity to speak, I’m looking forward to being part of this event at a student.  Reading through the session-topic schedule is analogous to walking through a See’s Candy shop… everything looks so good I just don’t know which ones to pick!

The bottom line is this: when it comes to writing, the rules are changing, the publishing arena is changing, and what readers want from content and its authors is changing.  I want (need) to know how to better connect with my readers.  I need to know how to better help my clients so they can reach their publishing dreams.  And everyone who’s speaking at this conference will offer perspective on how to be better.

Plus, the two keynote speakers are Ken Wytsma (founder of The Justice Conference) and William P. Young (author of The Shack), both of whom I respect and believe will offer outstanding insight/testimony!  To be honest, I am a bit geeked-out about hearing them live.

So what will I speak about?

My session is called “Beyond the Mechanics: Editing for Audience Connection versus Proofreading for Mistakes.”  I will illustrate the differences between editing and proofing, how to craft your message so it connects with your reader.  A reader does not connect with pretty words and perfect punctuation; however, good word choice and clean grammar are necessary for a reader to understand your message and take it to heart.  That is to say both editing and proofreading are crucial to your writing process…and completely different from one another.

I’ll be unpacking what all this means and how to approach this phase.

Enough about me! If you’d like to come to the conference, you should definitely come because you are invited!

You can also hop on over to the Faith & Culture Writers Connection Facebook page for updates and announcements.

Thanks for reading through this awfully long post, my friends. It truly is a always a wonderful opportunity for all who come, so I wanted to be thorough about why this is so from my perspective.  I hope to see you there… would love to meet you!

 

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“See, I am doing a new thing!”

By Ashley Larkin

 

Doubt and insecurity can cling heavily to those who experience the stirring to create. Even for those who confidently call themselves writers, the process of bringing forth words can at times breed feelings of discouragement and loneliness.

Writers of faith, like other writers, may ask, “Who cares about what I have to say? Is anyone listening? Do I have something unique to share with the world? Is it worth making myself vulnerable to do it? What if I put myself out there and fail?”

In large part, the Faith and Culture Writers Conference exists to speak to those very places of unbelief and struggle. To proclaim that God is doing a good thing – a new thing – in and through you, as you partner with him in bringing forth words.

This year’s conference theme verse proclaims this very truth: “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.” Isaiah 43:19

The conference planning team desires that each one who attends leaves feeling not only equipped with useable skills, but also with a new sense of confidence and hope in this God-given calling to write. In short, we desire for you to be encouraged.

In Acts 27, we see a powerful picture of encouragement, as the apostle Paul speaks confidently about what he knows to be true: God controls the situation and will bring a good end.

Though Paul has advised against this sea voyage, soon he finds himself on a ship with 275 other people, thrown about by a violent storm. Days pass, and eventually those on board lose all hope of being saved and begin to throw their provisions overboard.

In the midst of this impossible-seeming situation, an angel of God visits Paul and assures him that none on the ship will be lost. Paul returns to the men and tells them that God’s hand is upon the ship and none of them will die. They do not believe him at first, but Paul continues to encourage them (in verses 33 and 34) and tells them to eat. Paul takes the lead, breaking bread, giving thanks to God and eating.

His example inspires those aboard. Verse 36 says the once hopeless men are encouraged and take in enough food to fill themselves. In fact, after eating, they believe they will make it to shore and proceed to lighten the ship further (by tossing wheat overboard) to ensure this will be the case.

The men feel encouraged when Paul proclaims to them the good God has spoken to him. It is a good even Paul does not yet “see,” but he chooses to believe and move forth in faith with hope. When the men are encouraged, they take in what they need for their sustenance. Then, they willingly lighten the boat’s load, getting rid of what is no longer needed, not from a place of defeat, but of hope.

For you who walk with Christ and embrace this calling to partner with the Word made flesh in sharing words, you, too, can believe in what God says, though you do not yet see the outcome. You can freely take in that which you need for your encouragement, including the emboldening, support and care of others on the journey. Once encouraged, you can walk in new lightness, gradually casting aside what is no longer needed.

We do not know all the pieces of the story, but like Paul, we can choose to agree with and believe in the good end that God knows.

Be encouraged.

 

Ashley Larkin writes several times a week about the good of living fully awake at her blog Draw Near.