Sigh Together

A few people now have asked me where to send articles for possible publication. After all, articles get your name out there, as well as provide good writing experience. Unfortunately, I don’t have a handy list to hand out. Instead I have a few concerns and considerations (con and cons vs. pros and cons?) for Lutheran writers. I’ll mention them below so we can all sigh together.

The thing is, as Lutherans, sometimes we want to write things only another primarily Lutheran audience will really understand. No, I don’t mean jargon-swapping or self-righteous wallowing in any form. I mean that baptism, for instance, simply has more depth and significance than many Christians can imagine. Or God’s revelation of the efficacy of God’s Word!

I typically write for Lutherans, emphasizing Word and Sacrament, Law and Gospel, and liturgical worship. It’s just where I am and I’m not alone there!

If you want to write articles for fellow Lutherans, you should aim to submit to your denominational journal: The Lutheran Witness, The Evangel, etc. However, since these can be organized topically, it is sometimes harder to make an inlet. That is, writers are more likely to be contacted regarded a specific topic rather than a newer writer writes in with his or her own topic. See what I mean?

Likewise, there’s Logia. It’s Lutheran, but its website kindly posts the next theme so you can take that into account when you try to submit. Maybe Higher Things?

If you want to write articles within a broader Christian perspective, some turn to Lutheran/Calvinist/”Reformation” things. This offers a few more options, including Modern Reformation. 

Sadly, Lutherans tend to eat their own. Lutheranism can boast of the Gospel! But the devil often discredits us with hardened hearts, arrogant heads, and reluctance in a disproportionately wide array of areas. Recognizing this, we can sigh together. We are convicted, repent, and are forgiven with no merit or worthiness in us.

As writers, this affects us in this way. If you write with Calvinists, some may consider you crypto-Calvinist. If you write with Roman Catholics, some will think you’ll swim the Tiber. Eastern Orthodoxy, same swim with a different river. Baptists, etc. Maybe I’m wrong, and maybe I’ve just been around “wrong crowds,” but we may as well be aware of it.

If you write guest posts for blogs, it can likewise be mired. Politics, nit picking, and some substantial divisive issues. Sigh. I can’t belittle. I don’t want to overestimate. I simply can’t see anything within Lutheranism that offers us an “in” regarding writing articles in general or with wider audiences. I don’t think we have enough of an organized Lutheran audience for it.

Some Lutherans will only read synodically approved Lutherans. Some Lutherans actively avoid reading synodically approved Lutherans lest their hearts be further broken by those who theoretically should be more like-minded. There’s no way to win, because it isn’t a game but life.

We’ll have to sigh together and do our own research to find magazines/journals/etc., in our own interest areas. Meanwhile I’ll try to do a post on Lutheran Women’s Quarterly for tomorrow. I know someone who’s done some stuff with Relevant Magazine. We need to find our opportunities, especially because they usually take some digging.

Feel free to comment with additional suggestions!

PS. I don’t mean to dig against Lutherans (or non-Lutherans!) with this post. I hope that is apparent. Nor do I, in any way, mean to imply one should only write what is overtly Christian for other Christians. Write away in whatever field! I will wish you every blessing in Christ!