The Writer Chaplain
We all struggle in the publishing world. There are highs and lows (and sometimes many more lows than highs). We can internalize rejections, delays, and other obstacles in our writing journey to the point that we believe there is something wrong with us: we’re not good enough. We’re not really a writer. We suck. And the list goes on. How do we get past the negativity?
Many writers I’ve met in the speculative fiction world are coming out of a fundamentalist or restrictive religious upbringing that helped shaped the pathways of negative internalization. You may have been brought up to believe that something is inherently wrong with you. When deconstructing from those beliefs, sometimes I have discovered this is the last piece to deconstruct from. Because being “born in sin” is so central to much fundamentalist Christian teaching and even the overall Christian culture, it can be hard to rebuild those pathways so that we hear and experience something different: we are beautifully and wonderfully made. We are created for good works. We are made out of goodness. Refining your craft does not mean you were a bad writer to begin with; it means you are continuing to learn and grow.
Along with my writing, this is part of the work I feel called to do in our creative communities. I’m not here to convert you, or to try to turn you back to a path that has been harmful. I’m here to listen and not judge. I’m here to help. My hope is that you find within yourself the gift you know you have: to write. To create. To find and experience and make joy in this world that desperately needs it. And if you want to talk spirituality on that journey, I hope to come alongside you and help.
My StoryI’m an ordained American Baptist minister, currently serving as the Regional Executive Minister of the American Baptist Churches of Wisconsin. Prior to this, I served as a pastor of four different churches in Massachusetts and Washington, and spent some time as a hospital chaplain in Oklahoma.
I knew when I was thirteen that I was called to be a minister, but I knew when I was eight I was going to be a writer. Though I always had stories inside me - stories with unicorns and dragons and magic - I set those stories aside for a while because I thought I needed to be more “serious” in my writing. But it was the love of the Biblical stories of wonder and awe that brought me back to fantasy and science fiction.
I’ve met many writers over the years who have struggled with wanting to be connected to God or spirituality but finding it at odds with how they were raised and what they believe now. As I attend writing and SFF conventions, I’ve found myself in long conversations with people who needed someone to listen. I’m glad to do so, and to let you know that you, too, can find a way to be your whole self, and that your writing is needed and valued.