Aspiring writers?

Aug 26, 2018

Numbers of you make use of the devotional booklet – The Upper Room – in your quiet times, and this week a group of us were given some extra insight into all that goes on behind the scenes in producing this resource. We hosted Roland Rink (director of Africa Upper Room) this last week when he came down from Joburg to lead a writing workshop at UMC.

Roland told us that the booklet was first published in 1935 - the initiative of a group of women in the USA who began writing devotions to encourage families battling during the height of the Great Depression. Upper Room ministries emerged from the success of these booklets and went on to grow into a significant book publisher under the auspices of the United Methodist Church in the USA (much of what we stock in our bookshop is published by the Upper Room).

The booklet publishes devotionals written by ordinary people from all over the world. Contributions are carefully edited by a central group and then contextualised and translated by various country teams. Our own John Bredenkamp has written a piece that will appear in March next year – look out for it!

If you have an interest in writing (whether for publication or not), here were some of the key points covered in the workshop:

  • we all have a story to tell – every one of us has something to share – don’t put yourself down!
  • writing improves with practice – a discipline like keeping a private journal is a fantastic way to begin to improve your ability to capture thoughts and communicate them effectively.
  • writing is a very effective way to practice the examen of consciousness (the prayer form taught by St Ignatius of reflecting on the day that has past).

If you’re interested in writing for the Upper Room chat to Joan Bredenkamp – Joan runs our bookshop and is our contact person for Africa Upper Room. Also, if you’d like to contribute something for our website blog (or these weekly notices) come and talk about it. Or fire off an email :)

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