Christian Writers United

I haven’t written a blog in a while and for that, I apologize. It seems that life gets busier every day and unfortunately, my blog is one of several things that end up on hold. But this morning, I felt compelled to write about a group to which I belong.

There is a Christian writers group that meets in Newnan, Georgia however, living in Newnan is not a requirement. There are several members who drive approximately thirty minutes to the meeting and one member whose drive is usually one hour or more.

We are a diverse group, from various denominations and yet, denominations are left at the door as we meet together. Our meeting opens with prayer – always. We pray for those who are absent that evening; we pray for the sick. We’ve been known to anoint members with oil, lay hands on them and pray for their healing. The husband of one of the group's co-founders lies critically ill, on life support, as I type this. We prayed for him Monday night. And we will continue to pray for him until he is completely healed.

Our group laughs together. Proverbs 17:22 says, “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit dries the bones.” I can assure you no one leaves our meetings with a broken spirit. It’s not possible because there is so much laughter in our meetings.

We’ve been known to get teary-eyed occasionally. And that’s okay because “Jesus wept.” (John 11:35). Our group loves one another and we have compassion towards one another. When one rejoices, we join in their rejoicing. And when one is sorrowful, we join with them in their sorrow.

And yes, we do talk about writing. Our group’s writings are very diverse. One of our members writes poetry based on Bible stories – perfect for children’s Sunday School classes. Another member writes fantastic news articles that have appeared on the front page of the Newnan Times-Herald. We have screenplay writers, play writers, fiction, non-fiction, devotional writers. We have members who are just beginning their writing journey and we have members who are published authors. But we are all equal. Our published authors help the “newbies” with answers to their questions and our “newbies” bring fresh ideas and suggestions. Just as we are equal in God’s eyes, we are equal in this group.

Each month we have a 30 minute presentation on a different aspect of writing, including research, how to edit, how to speak to a group (published writers must have a platform and must know how to speak to groups about their platform), etc. Occasionally, we will invite a guest author to come and share their experiences with us. Our line-up of presentations/teachings for the remainder of 2010 and into 2011 is excellent.

The purpose and goal of Christian Writers United is to equip Christian writers with the skills and encouragement needed so they may answer the call God has on their lives to write what He calls them to write.

Writing is oftentimes a very lonely job. Many times you may feel like you are the only one in the world struggling to get those words onto paper – or these days, into your computer. This is why it is so important to belong to a group such as Christian Writers United (CWU).

If you are an aspiring writer, or a multi-published author, I encourage you to find a writers group near where you live and join. The fellowship with other writers is well worth leaving your computer once a month. Believe me, I know.