How Pastors Write for Public Life

In partnership with Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. 

You preach on Sundays. You tweet or blog or post during the week. You take seriously, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s admonition that “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” You are not silent. Still, you wonder: Am I saying enough? Is anyone listening? What else can I do?

It takes courage and skill to move from the comfort of your congregation to engaging in a more public conversation. Join us for this 5-day workshop for clergy and leaders of faith communities who want to connect faith and public life with audiences outside the church through written communication. Participants will learn to listen well to different publics; expanding the language palette beyond insider words; adopting a collaborative practice; and finding their own public voice. Each participant will receive individual coaching, as well as instruction in specific writing strategies. Participants will leave with improved skills, new practices, and a strong draft of a piece to submit for publication.

Workshop facilitator Charlotte Gullick is the Chair of Creative Writing at Austin Community College. She holds an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from the Institute of American Indians Arts and an MA in English and Creative Writing from UC Davis. Her blog, “the spectacular vernacular,” explores writing, street wisdom, and the power of storytelling in the community. She is active on social media (Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook) and recently completed a day workshop “Writing to Change the World” with the Op Ed Project in New York. She sits on the advisory board for The Telling Project, which brings veterans’ stories to their communities. Ms. Gullick’s previous speaking and teaching engagements include the Writers’ League of Texas, the Associated Writers Program annual conference, Seton Cove Spirituality Center, Austin Memorial Burial & Information Society, and the Travis County Correctional Complex. Her own fiction and nonfiction aim to honor and explore people of divergent cultural experiences and faiths.

Application Process:

The application deadline for this workshop has passed.