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Christian Voices: Leading Women's Writing Groups in Churches

by Mary Mortimore Dossin

161 pages; Black coil; catalogue #07-1637; ISBN 1-4251-4021-1; US$20.00, C$20.00, EUR13.66, £10.33

Women's writing groups support the achievement of discovery, witness, and personal history by giving writers what they need most: the opportunity to be heard in a supportive and encouraging environment.

About the Book

Christian Voices provides a program that benefits both individuals and congregations. It gives potential leaders over 50 writing exercises that have been used successfully in many church settings. In addition, such helps as general group guidelines and a format for sessions give a leader everything she needs to work effectively with a writing group.

Leaders need to experience the power of writing in their own lives, believe in the creative genius in each person, and understand what is truly important in writing: the power of the individual voice and story. In addition, they need to be practicing Christians who are devoted to making the group a safe place for writers, respectful, confidential, and honest.

The program offers superior flexibility. It has been successful with small groups of four or five up to larger groups of as many as 20 participants. It works well both as a short course of six to eight sessions and as an ongoing, year-round activity.

Participants have described the program as extraordinary, stress-free, thought-provoking, memory-stirring, life-changing, inspirational, and spiritually rewarding.

About the Author

Mary Mortimore Dossin has been a writer and a teacher of writing for over 40 years, currently at the State University of New York in Plattsburgh. She has been extensively published in academic and religious journals and anthologies and has been a speaker at numerous national writing conferences.

Mary served as head of the writing center at SUNY Plattsburgh for 15 years. In that role, she trained peer writing tutors to assist writers without taking over the task and did much individual tutoring herself. She learned the importance of pointing to what's good in a person's writing so that the writer can learn to do more of it rather than focusing on error. These positive principles underlie the instructions and exercises in her book.

Years of encouraging and guiding writers in high schools, adult night schools, colleges, and now in churches have taught her that people everywhere long to write their stories. Helping them do so has become her life's calling.

Mary has been active in congregational life since she was a child and received her undergraduate degree at Valparaiso University, which is affiliated with the Lutheran church. She has held many offices in congregations and has worked on countless committees and tasks related to the church.

Her long experience in church life has convinced her that most congregations need more intergenerational activities that lead to close bonding of members and shared laughter and tears. Women's Writing Groups fill this need superbly.