80% of seminary and bible school graduates will leave the ministry in the first five years. While their spirit and intellect are passionate for Jesus, in many cases they’re unprepared or unsupported for the labor of ministry, which can be very different from their expectations.
Writers similarly suffer from a romantic idea of their work. They imagine their future in a loft apartment, working at the coffee shop, or typing away in a converted woodshed overlooking the mountains. Maybe there’s some kind of black tie release event on the weekend. This may be unrealistic.
Whether it’s ministry or writing professionally (both in the case of our students), when it’s time to do the job for 40-50 hours per week…it turns out it’s a lot like a job.
Our role is to train students with the mindset and discipline to show up every day, and put in a full day of work. Our job is to set their expectations realistically, and to give them the tools and self-control to do the full job—even the parts that aren’t fun.
That includes the ability to sit down and create content day in and day out, to set deadlines and execute projects with minimal oversight.
It also includes training our students to do all of the other jobs an independent writer has to do. Marketing and self-promotion, small business administration, self-employment taxes, selling and distributing work, and so much more. Not only must they do these things, but they must learn to strategize, budget, and compartmentalize their time so that both the creative and administrative portions of their world thrive.
We will treat our students like staff, subjecting them to the rigors and expectations of a professional work environment. We use a marketplace standard to determine what is good, and what needs improvement.
They will take these values and work structures with them whether they’re employed in a professional environment, or work independently from home.
After two years, our students will be in the habit of creating good work from 9am to 5pm, and then doing something important—putting it away and recharging.
Knowing “how to write” isn’t enough. There are plenty of writers who can do that. Our students will understand what they’re stepping into, and have a complete suite of skills to reach hearts and minds for Jesus. And they’ll know how to pay their bills while they do it.
Our first full-time classes launch in fall 2021. Want to stay in the loop until then?