Collegeville Institute

Bearings Online

  • Home
  • About
  • Events
  • Podcasts
  • News
  • Giving
  • Comprehensive Campaign

Title of the document Make A Gift Now

Menu
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Bearings Online
  • Calling Initiatives
  • Fellows Program
  • Giving
  • News
  • Podcasts
  • Comprehensive Campaign
  • Residency Programs
      • Scholars, clergy, church leaders, thinkers, artists, and writers who are seeking to discern and communicate the meaning of Christian identity and unity in a religiously and culturally diverse world are invited to apply for our residency programs.
      • Get Practical Information »
      • Apply for a Fellowship »
      • View 2024-25 Scholars »
      • Resident Scholars Program

        for those looking to stay a semester or a full academic year

      • Program Details
      • Work and Scholarship
      • Housing and Facilities
      • Application Process
      • Former Resident Scholars
      • Short term Residencies

        for those looking to stay for a shorter period of time

      • Program Details
      • Living and Working
      • Application Process
      • Former Short Term Scholars
      • Learn More »
    • Close
  • Writing Programs
      • Each year, the Collegeville Institute opens its doors to writers of faith for intensive writing workshops. In addition, the Collegeville Institute partners with other institutes, seminaries, or churches to coordinate regional off-site workshops.
      • Apply Now »
      • 2025 Workshops

      • Pop-Up Writers Workshops
        • Pop-Up Writing Workshop, March 22, 2025 (Colorado Springs, CO)
        • Pop-Up Writing Workshop, March 29, 2025 (Birmingham-Vestavia Hills, AL)
        • Pop-Up Writing Workshop, April 5, 2025 (Asheville, NC)
      • Flesh and Blood: Crafting a Communal Constructive Theological Anthropology, May 27-30, 2025
      • Apart, and Yet A Part, June 9-18, 2025
      • A Sparked Imagination, June 23-27, 2025
      • Deep and Wide: Longform Prose Revision, July 9-18, 2025
      • The Release:  How Writing in an Economy of Gifts Liberates Writers, September 29, 2025
      • Fifty Pairs of Eyes: Creating Characters in Fiction, Non-Fiction and Poetry, October 27-November 1, 2025
      • Waiting for Words: An Advent Writing Workshop with Lauren Winner – 2025, December 2-6, 2025
      • 2026 Workshops

      • Writing in the Wilderness: reflecting on the immigration stories that have shaped our lives, led by Isaac Villegas, March 2-7, 2026
      • Reading and Writing with Joan Didion (a workshop with Alissa Wilkinson), March 16-22, 2026
      • Writing in the Wilderness: reflecting on the immigration stories that have shaped our lives, led by Isaac Villegas, May 15-19, 2026
    • Close
  • Calling Initiatives
      • The Communities of Calling Initiative invites congregations into a 5-year project on vocation.
        The Called to Lives of Meaning and Purpose Initiative, coordinated by the Collegeville Institute, funds 13 innovation hubs from across North America.
      • Calling Initiatives Overview »
      • Research Seminars on Vocation »
    • Resources on Vocation:

      • BridgeIntroducing Calling & Discernment – language of calling, models of discernment, and calling across the lifespan
      • gabriel-brito-80atz53Th9o-unsplash-2Prayer & Worship – prayers, hymns, sermons, spiritual practices, and liturgical year resources
      • Vis-Group-2Small Group Series – adult education and faith formation guides for congregational use
      • FrancoisVideos & Interviews – video storytelling projects on vocation from Christian and interfaith perspectives
    • Close
  • Fellows Program
    • Bringing together an ecumenical group of gifted Minnesota faith leaders, the Collegeville Institute Fellows Program focuses on leadership development with the goal of strengthening religious leaders’ sense of themselves as civic leaders.
    • Fellows Program Overview
    • Rural Minnesota Fellows Program
    • Multi-Religious Fellows Program
    • Close
  • Participant Publications
  • Search
You are here: Home / News / 2021 Virtual Summer Writing Workshops Kick Off in June

2021 Virtual Summer Writing Workshops Kick Off in June

June 28, 2021 By Collegeville Institute Leave a Comment

To kick-off our 2021 summer writing program, the Collegeville Institute hosted three virtual writing workshops that originally were scheduled to be in-person in Minnesota during summer 2020.

Despite the challenge of moving to a virtual format, participants met over zoom during the workshop week and were given a stipend to help secure a private place away from daily responsibilities for independent writing time. They shared and critiqued personal writing, as well as learned from workshop leaders who gave craft lectures.

Apart, and Yet a Part: A Workshop with Writing Coach Michael N. McGregor was held via zoom on Wednesday, June 2 – Wednesday, June 9th, 2021. Writers briefly met each morning, worked independently on personal writing projects, and had the opportunity to connect individually with Michael for specific feedback and coaching. They also gathered on zoom for several evening conversations.

2021 Apart, and Yet a Park participants (from top left to right): Michael N. McGregor (leader), Carla Durand (CI staff), Betsy Johnson, Liz Charlotte Grant, Robin Bartlett, Kerlin Richter, Andrew Zirschky, David Clark, Richard Peterson, Jessica Mesman, Karen Guzman, and Kaya Oakes.

One participant reflected on the virtual experience: “I really appreciated the one-on-ones with Michael, which really shifted my understanding and confidence in myself as a writer, and in my ability to discern prose and personal essay from sermon writing. I learned so much… It was therapeutic in exactly the way I needed it to be.”

Another commented: “The Collegeville Institute offers something that writers of faith have a hard time finding these days: a supportive, understanding and professional community that really wants to see them succeed in sharing their gifts with the world.”

 


Enuma Okoro

The Exploring Identity and (Dis)belonging through the Personal Essay writing workshop (Monday, June 14th – Saturday, June 19th, 2021) was led by writer and speaker Enuma Okoro. Participants workshopped individual writing samples and discussed sterling examples of personal essays, as well as met in small breakout sessions. Participants were Christina Causey, Melissa (Mel) Champs, Joanna Currey, Lucia Edafioka, Laura Everett, Katrina Huffman, Karen Reed, Laura Jean Truman, and Shamethia Webb. Following the workshop, Okoro wrote about the experience of being a writing mentor for the Collegeville Institute in her weekly column for the Financial Times.

In their evaluation, a participant wrote: “The richness of the course was equally derived from the input, feedback, and serious engagement of each student.” Another reflected: “Enuma’s a great facilitator who positively brims with insight and writing wisdom.”

 


The final writing workshop this month was Our Own Deep Wells: Writing on Vocation Across Race and Culture led by Dori Baker and Patrice Gopo, which met via zoom Friday, June 18 – Friday, June 25, 2021. This workshop explored the power of writing from lived experience to help others – young people, peers navigating their own vocations, and faith communities – to explore the “why” of their lives with intention and creativity.

2021 From Our Own Deep Wells participants (from top left to right): Patrice Gopo (leader), Stina Kielsmeier-Cook (CI staff), Dori  Baker (leader), Christine Valters Paintner, Liz Miller, Kathryn Stanley, Ristina Gooden, Naomi Washington Leapheart, Mashaun D. Simon, Anne Walker, Zeena Regis, and Elsie Lo.

 

 

 

Drawing from her research with Collegeville Institute’s vocation projects, Kathleen Cahalan spoke to the group on their first day together about the theology of vocation. Participants also had the opportunity to meet with Patrick Reyes, who wrote the groundbreaking books on vocation Nobody Cries When We Die and, most recently, The Purpose Gap. Guest speakers from the publishing industry, Patnacia Goodman, Acquisitions Associate at Bethany House Publishers, and Bob Ratcliff, Editor-in-Chief at Westminster John Knox Press, shared their expertise in acquiring and editing theological books with the group.

In their evaluation, one participant wrote: “The excerpts on vocation from diverse and marginalized communities were eye-opening and very much appreciated.”

When asked what insight they will take with them following the workshop, one person reflected: “It’s okay to write for myself, my people. Not everything has to be for public consumption.”

Like this post? Subscribe to have new posts sent to you by email the same day they are posted.

More from my site

  • Called to Life: Vocation Stories about IdentityCalled to Life: Vocation Stories about Identity
  • Writing the Whole SelfWriting the Whole Self
  • All the Colors We Will SeeAll the Colors We Will See
  • Apart, and Yet a Part: A Week with Michael N. McGregorApart, and Yet a Part: A Week with Michael N. McGregor
  • Called to Life: Vocation Stories about Food and BelongingCalled to Life: Vocation Stories about Food and Belonging

Filed Under: News Tagged: 2021 summer writing workshops, 2021 writing workshop, summer writing workshops

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

News Categories

  • At the Collegeville Institute
  • Alumni News
  • Opportunities
  • Artists in Residence

Collegeville Institute Tour

Check out our virtual 360-degree tour experience and see our beautiful campus with its many amenities!

CI 360 Tour

Latest News

Dr. Aizaiah Yong appointed as new Executive Director of Collegeville Institute 

April 14, 2025

Collegeville Institute welcomes Andrew McNeil as its new Director of Communications.

March 11, 2025

Meet a Resident Scholar

March 11, 2025

Subscribe

Sign up for our email newsletter today, and keep up to date with what's going on at the Collegeville Institute.

Sign Up Today

Get Involved

Give online

Check out our writing workshops and our residential programs.

Contact Us

2475 Ecumenical Drive
PO Box 8000
Collegeville, MN 56321

Phone: 320-363-3366
Email: staff@collegevilleinstitute.org

Map/Directions

Copyright © 2025 Collegeville Institute. Read our Privacy Policy.