Posts, Tweets, Blogs, and Faith: Writing for the Digital Public Square—A Week with Verity Jones

along with Sari Fordham – writing coach

What if the new digital landscape in which many people now communicate with friends, family, colleagues, strangers, and church communities is something like a new public square? A public square in which people of differing views and common opinions, varied experiences and shared stories, all bump up against each other in increasingly new and creative ways. Why shouldn’t people of faith claim space in this new public square as well? What sort of impact might we have if we learned the practices, nuances, and etiquette of this digital public square? How shall we write in order to contribute in this kind of space?

In this week long seminar, we’ll explore forms of writing that are common and compelling in the digital world, along with formats that work and don’t work so well. We’ll raise questions about genre and voice and story telling in this kind of space. We’ll practice turning good content into something that people might actually read and share online. We’ll consider what traditional and digital journalism still have to teach us about good writing. We’ll learn the latest from the New Media Project about the best social media practices and strategies for getting your message heard, viewed and read online. Participants will share their own writing and practice new skills for this new digital public square.

The Collegeville Institute will cover travel expenses to and from the workshop, all workshop fees, and room and board. Those who join the workshop will be expected to reside at the Institute throughout the entire week. Participants will share apartment space, though each person will be assigned a private bedroom. The program is limited to 12 participants.

Verity A. Jones is the executive director of the Center for Pastoral Excellence at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, Indiana, which hosts, among other initiatives, the New Media Project, a project she founded in 2010. She is a former magazine publisher and editor, and has published numerous articles in periodicals and chapters in books. She is ordained in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

Verity Jones’s use of social media tools as a part of her presentation were wonderful for illuminating content and gave me ideas for my own teaching in other settings.

–participant in “Posts, Tweets, Blogs, and Faith,” Summer 2013

Application Process:

Application deadline has passed. We are no longer accepting applications for this workshop.

Complete applications include three pieces:

1. Application form
2. Current resume or c.v.
3. Writing sample: We request 4 – 8 brief submissions that you have already posted or intend to post digitally. The submissions can be as short as 140 characters or as long as 600 words. The total of all submissions together should not exceed 1,600 words. The material may be officially “published” content (as in something on an organization’s blog like Christian Century, a church blog, or a church e-newsletter) or it may include content from personal blogs, provided the content is intended to be shared publicly.

After the workshop concludes, each participant is encouraged to submit an original 500-word essay on a topic of his/her choice, intended for a general audience. Participants’ essays may be used as blog entries on the Collegeville Institute’s website or featured in other Collegeville Institute publications. Workshop participants should submit their essays to the Collegeville Institute within three months after the conclusion of the writing workshop.