Mapping the Geography of Grace: A Writing Workshop for Clergy

Sponsored by The Collegeville Institute in partnership with The Center for Ministry

For generations, the South has been known for its great writers: Faulkner, O’Connor, Wright, Welty.

Today, new voices join their ranks: Jessmyn Ward and Natasha Trethaway among them. These authors pull back the curtain on the heights and depths of the human condition. They invite us to wrestle with profound dilemmas and to exult in the surprises of grace.

Who among us now is writing to probe and illumine the ebb and flow of our spiritual journeys? Who is exploring the landscape of faith in ways that both bless and challenge today’s church and culture? Who among our clergy hear a call to articulate with clarity and resonance the hungers of 21st century hearts, minds, and souls?

If you can answer “Here I am” to these questions, consider applying for this workshop, offered by the Collegeville Institute in partnership with the Center for Ministry at Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi. Stretching over five full days, the workshop will feature teaching sessions with noted writer Robert Benson, time for writing, and evenings spent listening and responding to each others’ work.

Who May Apply? 

• Ordained or credentialed persons of all denominations
• Writing clergy with various levels of experience (no publication history expected)
• Ministry practitioners who desire to contribute substantive & imaginative theological reflection and who are willing to expand their capacity to write

About Robert Benson 

• His guiding principle: paying attention to the everyday things that point us to the presence of the Holy
• His favorite topics: prayer, liturgy, spirituality, vocation, travel, baseball, & the Rule of St. Benedict
• His books (partial list): Between the Dreaming and the Coming True, Living Prayer, The Echo Within, Dancing on the Head of a Pen, & a breviary, Venite

The workshop will be held at the Gray Center in the countryside north of Canton, Mississippi. All workshop fees, lodging, & meals are underwritten by the Collegeville Institute. All travel is the responsibility of participants. The program is limited to 12 persons.

Application Process: