Shepherd gathers talented flock Lutheran writers drawn to creative community Paul Shepherd is like the servant in Jesus’ parable who was given five talents and doubled them for his master (Matthew 25:14-30). But Shepherd’s talents aren’t monetary — they’re spiritual gifts he has multiplied through wisdom, generosity and hard work.  Shepherd is a writer. He’s a poet, an award-winning novelist, a former writer-in-residence and teacher at Florida State University, Tallahassee—and the founder and director of the Lutheran Writers Project .Though he was probably born a writer, he wasn’t born a Lutheran. “I was raised a Baptist. I married into this church and into grace,’’ said Shepherd, a resident of Charlottesville, Va., where he attends St. Mark Lutheran Church. The Lutheran Writers Project is a resource-rich Web site that’s an extension of the first Lutheran writers conference. “Called to Create: A Lutheran Festival of Writers 2007” brought together writers of all kinds—published and unpublished, fiction and nonfiction, poets, essayists, biographers and journalists. The festival was born in the wake of Shepherd’s first published novel, More Like Not Running Away (Sarabande Books, 2005). His publisher asked Shepherd where he’d like to promote it. “I had worked in higher education for 20 years and I’d worked with Lutheran youth, so I toured Lutheran colleges,’’ he said. ‘‘Along the way I met incredible students, people who were so energetic about writing and literature. I found a wealth of talent and interest.’’ Inspired by those encounters, and with support from host Luther College, Shepherd organized the writers festival. More than 250 participants from across the country gathered in Decorah, Iowa, drawn by their shared faith and love for the written word. It was a special weekend. “Even (keynote speaker) Walt Wangerin said it struck a chord with him,’’ Shepherd said. Now Shepherd is fine-tuning that chord to expand the reach and appeal of the Lutheran Writers Project. “A key thing that came out of the conference is the role we might have in re-energizing the imagination of the church,’’ he said. To that end the the project offers a resource-packed Web site, an online newsletter, a Facebook page, the Lutheran Writers Book Club and the Pastor-Writer Sermon Workshops. Paul E. Walters, co-author of Called by God to Serve and Christ in Your Marriage from the Lutheran Voices series (Augsburg Fortress), endorses the sermon workshops. The pastor of Grace Lutheran Church near Spotsylvania, Va ., said: “It’s good to have someone look at your sermons from an outsider’s perspective. We clergy can use the insights of laypeople.’’ And writers can use the insights of other writers. For prize-winning poet Jill Alexander Essbaum, a member of First English Lutheran Church, Austin, Texas , the writers project is vital. “Thematically, my work tends to be spiritual and carnal, orthodox and heretical, religious and secular all at once,’’ said Essbaum, whose latest collection is Necropolis (neoNuma Arts, 2008). “The explicit benefit of the Lutheran Writers Project is that I don’t have to explain this to any of them,” she added. “My fellow writers get it. This is a tremendous source of creative liberation and personal support. I cannot underscore enough how comforting this is to me.’’ |
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