People often ask what’s different about your event from other writers conferences. There are a number of answers to this question but one of the most important is that the size of our event provides an opportunity for writers to really connect with each other and our faculty and staff.
Much like your family reunion, the writers contreat is a time for friends and colleagues to gather, catch up on one another’s lives and projects and learn from the experts that we bring in to teach and mentor. There are some that come every year and then we always have some new family members join us.
Each year we entrust the contreat into God’s very capable hands and get out of the way. He never fails to show up and provide divine appointments and moments of grace that never could have been predicted. A big part of that comes through the faculty we invite.
This year is no exception. God has brought together a dynamic team who come to us with many years of experience. These men and women are committed to investing in the lives of our participants.
Bill and Kristi Gaultiere are the founders of Soul Shepherding, a ministry that helps pastors, ministry leaders and in our case, Christian communicators cultivate intimacy with Jesus. (soulshepherding.org) This is an absolute must for writers and speakers who are sharing their God-given message. Bill and Kristi will be leading our devotional time each morning. Speaking on the Heart and Soul of a Writer, they will provide tools that will draw us closer to our Lord. Close enough so that we can hear what He is trying to tell us about our writing career.
Gloria Penwell is back with us again this year in her new role Acquisitions Editor with Bold Vision Books. She brings a wealth of experience to our contreat. Gloria has a precious heart for the Lord and will be sharing about the importance of writers having a strong, effective prayer life.
New to the 2016 contreat is fiction author, Golden Keyes Parsons. Golden loves to share her encouraging story of how she got her first agent at a writers conference. It’s a great story. Make sure you get her to tell you. Golden will also be teaching on fiction techniques this year.
This year our contreat focus will be blogs. Chad Spriggs will be teaching on why blogs are important, how to use a blog to promote your ministry and most importantly how to write a blog post that will get attention. Every day our attendees will work on a blog that will be posted on the CLASS website.
Something else that makes our contreat different is that we take the retreat part of the event serious. We provide time for you to “just write.” Or rest. Or listen to God. There really is something for everyone.
There is a lot of mentoring going on, both scheduled and behind the scenes, between more advanced writers and those just getting started and with all of the faculty and staff.
If you are looking for something or someplace that will give your writing a shot in the arm or just give you a chance to step back and regroup. Join us next week. There’s still time. We have a place for you and would love to invest in your writing career.
For more information visit our CLASS Writers Contreat Page at http://www.classeminars.org/writers-contreat.html