Summary

Mary Gallagher, a writer for Koinonia, reflects on her successful experience co-hosting a session on Medium Day, discussing the challenges and rewards of writing about faith in the modern world.

Abstract

Mary Gallagher, a seasoned Medium writer since 2019, shares her experience of co-hosting a session titled "Writing About Faith in a Post-Christian World" during Medium Day. She emphasizes the importance of simplicity in her writing, aiming to avoid Christian jargon and instead focus on genuine expressions of faith that resonate with a broader audience. The event, which she co-hosted with Julie Ranson and fellow writers Grace Okubo and Diane E. Tatum, was well-attended and featured insightful discussions, including how to handle skepticism when writing about Christian faith. Gallagher encourages writers to not be deterred by negative comments, viewing them as opportunities for meaningful engagement and reflection of personal faith. She also highlights the impact of her writing on both believers and non-believers, reinforcing her belief in the power of storytelling to convey spiritual messages.

Opinions

Mary believes in the power of simplicity in writing about faith, steering clear of 'Christianese' to make her message more accessible and relatable.
She views negative comments and naysayers as minimal concerns and encourages other writers to persist in sharing their faith openly.
Gallagher values the ability of her writing to move and connect with people, including those who are secular, as evidenced by feedback from her writing coach.
She advocates for kindness, respect, and intelligent debate when responding to negative feedback, seeing it as an opportunity for dialogue and potential heartfelt connection.
Mary is passionate about her faith and believes that writing about it is an act of obedience, trusting that her words will reach those who need them.
She agrees with Roz Warren's sentiment that writers should be opinionated and passionate, and she encourages writers to share their passion for Jesus in their work.

I Just Co-Hosted a Session on Medium Day!

And it was a huge success — thank you all for coming!

Hi, my name is Mary Gallagher, and I’ve been writing on Medium since 2019 and writing for the publication, Koinonia, since I started writing on this platform. It’s been a wonderful, consistent space for me to share my thoughts about faith.

I’ve found that my message is one of simplicity. When we clear out the things that don’t matter in life, we have more room for love, healing, gratitude, and of course, faith.

When it comes to writing about faith, my motto is “Keep it simple”. Early on in my writing career, I asked God to help me stay away from Christianese — those words that sound like we belong to a secret club or sound overly religious and tend to put up barriers between Christians and those outside of the faith.

I want my writing to show, not just tell, about who God is. I want my words to spur others to taste and see that he is truly good!

The Phrases That All Christian Writers Should Avoid

Using storytelling to reach everyone

medium.com

Co-hosting on Medium Day

Being asked to co-host Koinonia’s session, Writing About Faith in a Post-Christian World was an honor. I got to work with longtime online friend and fellow writer Julie Ranson, who now is the owner of the Koinonia publication. I also got to meet fellow writers that I had not interacted with before, Grace Okubo and Diane E. Tatum.

We had 45 writers and would-be writers who participated in the chat and asked some thought-provoking questions. One question that I spoke to was: How do I handle naysayers when writing about my Christian faith?

Honestly, the naysayers and antagonists have been few. If that concern is what scares you about writing publicly about your faith or has been holding you back from sharing fully and honestly, I encourage you to rid yourself of that concern here and now. That’s just the enemy trying to convince you that your words don’t matter. Trust me, they do.

Of course, some readers will leave negative comments. I don’t let that bother me. It’s far from the worst thing that has happened to me! I’ve been much more criticized by Christians in the church than I ever have been in the world.

My friend and writing coach, who is not a believer, once said to me. “I am probably the most secular person you will know and yet, your writing moves me.”

I’ve written about many topics from asking a controversial televangelist to pray for my sick baby to how I believe God uses animals and nature to speak to me and to why Jesus wouldn’t eat at Chick-Fil-A.

I had one person tell me that I was not giving the doctors credit for my son’s healing. I explained in the article that the doctors had saved his life but made it clear they had done all they could do and that his condition was chronic and uncurable. That wasn’t the end of his journey, so God has to factor into his story somehow. Would I change that article because of that comment? Not at all!

A Televangelist Prayed for My Sick Baby; Does That Make Me a Whacko?

Faith in man or faith in God?

medium.com

Answering naysayers or negative commenters

Like best practices when interacting on social media, it’s best to answer people with kindness and respect, ask questions if you want to probe more, and encourage conversation and intelligent debate.

Some people feel the need to leave a derisive or sarcastic comment, which always leads me to believe there is conflict in their hearts. You might be the only Christian to connect with them, so don’t assume that the negative comments should be ignored.

However, we all know there are some people who like to cause controversy for controversy’s sake. Ask God for wisdom and guidance and if doing or saying nothing is the best option. After all, Jesus said don’t cast your pearls before swine.

As writers who write about faith, it comes down to an act of obedience. We tell our story and trust God that our words will make it to the readers who need them.

Later in the day during Medium Day, I attended a session hosted by Roz Warren, a prolific Medium writer who said you can’t be a writer if you’re not opinionated and passionate about something. So why not share your passion for Jesus in your writing?

Mary Gallagher writes about how letting go has opened up a rich world of possibilities that allows her to live a simple, authentic life of faith. You can read more about her journey from stressed to rest at Pick More Daisies.