Write Now
An Invitation to Join the 2022 GCD Writers' Mentoring Cohort
By the end of January 2021, I could barely leave my bed. The pain in my spine was—and still is—excruciating, but with each passing day, the medicine I was on made the experience all the worse as it played havoc with my body and my mind. I was left bereft of community and physical freedom, only coming downstairs for an hour or so to make dinner for my household. During this time I could have given up, after all, it wasn’t the first time I’d been seriously ill, and due to Covid restrictions, my world was limited to my four walls and the 13” digital window on the bed beside me. With God’s help, I supported my wife as she processed the reality that this could have been her life from then on, I moved all of the discipleship I was responsible for onto zoom, and then there was the cohort.
I could be a husband, I could disciple others, and then, with the help of a group of other writers, as well as the team at GCD, and the cohort’s unbelievable guest mentors, I was able to wake up each day and say:
“Write now, right now.”
I don’t know what life is like for you, I won’t pretend to understand the highs and lows that you might be facing in the midst of parenting, pastoring, weddings and funerals, giving birth or mourning loss. What I can say is that for some of you out there you feel a tug on your heart right now which is saying, “write now.”
If that’s you, why not join the GCD Writers’ Cohort this year, starting in September? Whether you’ve been writing for years or you’ve just heard of this amazing new invention called the pen, this is an opportunity to learn not just how to write, but what it looks like to write for the glory of God. You won’t be alone, instead, you’ll write as part of a community, and stand side by side with other writers who will encourage, critique, and bolster your writing over the course of six months. This process was so helpful to me that over a year later I still meet every month with a smaller group of writers from the cohort, and I’ve even met another member in person in a cafe in London.
I’m thankful to be up and about again—despite the ongoing health issues—but I’m still glued to this 13” digital window, and if it could, it would talk for hours about the countless words written on it and how each one was penned for the glory of God and the good of his people.
Grace and Peace,
Adsum Try Ravenhill is married to Anna and together they are passionate about seeing young men and women discipled within the context of the local church. You can find Adsum through his writing at The Raven’s Writing Desk and alongside Anna as the co-host of the Consider the Ravens Podcast, you can also find Adsum’s articles for GCD here.
What is the GCD Writers’ Mentoring Cohort?
Every writer needs a community. A team of committed allies to help encourage, sharpen, and spur them on in their craft.
The GCD Writers’ Mentoring Cohort is just that environment. Over six months, a small cohort of writers will be given access to community and coaching to help shape and sharpen the writer, their process, and their craft. Each month writers jump onto a video call with a small group of writers and high-calibre coaches. If you join us you will be equipped to write resources that make, mature, and multiply disciples of Jesus.
The cohort involves:
Six monthly video coaching calls with the GCD team and a respected, published writer in the Christian book industry.
Jen Wilkin: Why Write?
Jared C. Wilson: What Makes for Good Writing?
Barnabas Piper: Writing for the Head
Ronnie Martin: Writing for the Heart
Hannah Anderson: Writing for the Hands
Drew Dyck: Writing for Publication
Monthly feedback and resourcing from the GCD editorial team to help hone and sharpen your voice.
Peer-group community and feedback from other members of the cohort.
Reading and writing exercises to help you become the writer God intended you to be.
A Sample of Writers’ Cohort Graduates
We thought we’d close today with some articles from Writers’ Cohort Graduates for you to read. These cover subjects like:
Discipline
Affliction
Temptation
Sex Education
The Meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything
Enjoy!
Receiving Grace Through Gospel Disciplines
— By Mitch Everingham (Resilient Rhythms / @resilient_rhythms)
“…I was left dazed and confused when at sixteen, the wheels began to fall off my version of faith. I had the right beliefs—just ask me and I could tell you them—but something was missing. It took me a few years and plenty of bumps along the road, but after some lengthy, even painful reflection, I was able to articulate the problem: I knew how to have a relationship with God, but I didn’t have one.”
Three Men in The Cellar of Affliction
— By Adsum Try Ravenhill (The Raven’s Writing Desk / @atravenhill)
“Five years ago, in an Underground station in London, whilst dealing with some major health issues, I found that the elevator was unfortunately out of order. Cane click-clacking as I slowly, painfully, descended a flight of stairs, I smiled upon seeing a young boy playfully running up and down the platform. His mother, seeing an opportunity, grabbed the boy by the arm and, pointing at me, said in a stern voice, “If you keep running around this station, you are going to end up like that.”
The whole platform took a second to look, but no one said anything. These glances were not altogether uncommon, most onlookers didn’t see a person but death on legs.”
Reflections On Temptation from Peter’s Sifting
— By Wendy Willard (Gracefully Slathy / Slathy)
“No matter how many times Satan tries to make us believe otherwise, God always provides a way out (1 Cor. 10:13). We can admit our failure to God, accept his unfailing love and grace, and turn back to him. And when we do so, the true beauty is that God doesn’t waste our experiences, even when we are culpable for sin. Like Peter, he guides us to use what we’ve learned to encourage and strengthen one another along the way.”
The Sex Talk Every Parent Should Be Having with Their Toddler
— By Aanna Greer (Author of Darling / @aannagreer)
“There are many ways to integrate the truths of biblical sexuality into your family’s daily experience. Start with one of the following practices, implement it with grace for yourself and your child, and once this practice becomes habit—add another. Remember, you’re both learning a new practice together!”
Finding Meaning Doesn’t Require Striving
— By Jessica Trevena Miskelly (@jtmiske)
“Ecclesiastes demolishes the flimsy notions of meaning expounded by the secular world. The ancient book rebukes the idea that lasting meaning and worth can be found in the things of the world. Such attempts try and squash eternity into the lumpenly finite. “Meaningless! Meaningless!” (NIV) or “Vanity of vanities!” (ESV), “a chasing after the wind,” the author forcefully says of humanity’s fixation on worldly goals (Eccl. 1:2, 14) while at the same time pinpointing the reason for our experience of elusive meaning”